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Member Announcements

January 14, 2016

2 min read

NIBA Celebrates 25th Anniversary

This year marks the 25th Year the NIBA has been serving the futures industry. There have been plenty of good and bad times within the industry over the last quarter of a century but one thing remains the same, the NIBA has been here at your side trying to fight the good fight. NIBA has elected to make some changes moving into the next 25 years of the association. A facelift has been given to our logo and association tag line. Please visit www.theniba.com to have a look at the new logo and tag line. The NIBA has been known to all as "the National Introducing Brokers Association" and moving forward the NIBA will be "NIBA: The Association for Derivatives Professionals" This initiative is part of an outreach program to expand the membership of the association and service a wider range of commodities and futures professionals. NIBA is still the...

Chairman's Letter

Dear Members - The primary objectives of the NIBA have remained the same since we were founded in June 1991: To help members find greater success through education and networking, and, To provide members with a voice in regulatory and industry matters. To name just a few noteworthy objectives accomplished through regular member meetings, newsletters and representation of your interests and opinions at the CFTC, NFA and with exchanges and FCMs, they are: Lowering of NFA dues from $1,000 per year to $750 for IBs and CTAs. Requiring registration for offerers of hedge-to-arrive contracts. Opposing the merger of CFTC and SEC -- several times. Supporting greater certainty of regulating forex transactions. Supporting including two IB representatives on the NFA board when the proposal was for only one. Testifying before U.S. Congress on various issues, including proposed Farm Bill amendments and CFTC reauthorizations. Participating in CFTC Roundtables, including development of AML...

Michael T. Burke, CEO HighGround Trading LLC NFA Board of Directors IIB Representative, President NIBA

It has been my great pleasure for the last year to serve as your NFA Board of Directors IIB Representative. I appreciate your continued support and it is my honor to be allowed to serve a second one year term in this position in addition to serving my first term as President of the NIBA. I am pleased to report that during my first term on the NFA Board my suggestion to NFA staff to offer electronic voting to NFA members in NFA elections has been approved by the NFA Board and will come to fruition. While on the face this initiative may not seem to be a major accomplishment, it will allow for changes to be made that will give IB owners the ultimate control over who can be nominated as their representative for NFA board positions, who can sign petitions for individuals to be placed on the ballot...

NIBA Special Edition: NFA Elections 2016

Most of us have received our ballots for the upcoming NFA elections. NIBA is excited and looking forward to working with Paul Georgy and Mike Burke as the representatives for GIBs and IIBs on the NFA Board of Directors. They have both shown a deep understanding of the IB community and its needs. Paul and Mike are respected by both the IBs they represent and the regulators, and will continue to be effective voices for our opinions. NIBA has been asked to endorse all four candidates running in the contested races for CTA/CPO positions. There are currently 18 members of the NIBA board. Eleven are NFA-registered in the IB or CTA category, and therefore, eligible to vote on this issue. All non-registered members and FCM representatives were deemed ineligible to vote. NIBA board members were split on which candidates to support this year with John Roe and Doug Bry slightly...

POSITION PAPER OF JAMES L. KOUTOULAS, ESQ. AND JOHN L. ROE

Dear Members, It is time for another NFA Board of Directors election. If it seems like we just asked you for your vote, it’s because we did as you elected us to two-year terms less than a year ago. However, due to changes to the Board’s composition, we currently find ourselves up for election yet again in the only two contested races on the whole Board. We know that the constant stream of elections may seem unimportant, but as someone who makes their living subject to ever-increasing regulation, taking the time to vote for effective Board representation directly benefits your business. One of the unique things about NFA is that it is chartered as a democratic, Member-run self-regulatory organization. This carries with it substantial responsibilities for both Members and Management to balance maintaining the rights of Members with protecting customers and avoiding regulatory capture whereby the organization could be run...

Joint Statement of Douglas Bry and Ernest Jaffarian Candidates for NFA Board of Directors CTA/CPO Seats

Dear CTA/CPO NFA Member – Two of the CTA/CPO Board Seats are contested this year, your vote is critical, and we would appreciate your consideration. We’ve served on the NFA Board for the past 4 years, running in and winning contested elections in 2012. The decision to run was driven by our disappointment with NFA’s response to the bankruptcy of MF Global, and our belief that a fresh perspective was needed to move the organization forward. Each of us has experienced over 25 years of growth and evolution in the futures industry, and we bring a small business entrepreneurial spirit to a Board that is for the most part dominated by large Wall Street firms who do not share our view on quite a few issues. Often in the minority, we have been strong, polite and persistent advocates, and have good working relationships with the other Board members and NFA...

NFA Board GIB Rep Paul Georgy, President of Allendale Inc.

Paul has been involved in the IB business for more than 30 years. He has served the NIBA in all officer positions before being elected to the NFA Board of Directors. Paul has served on several committees at the NFA as well as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. IB owners, office managers, and compliance personnel; 2016 will be another year of adjustments and likely more consolidation in the futures industry. Since Congress passed the Dodd-Frank bill, the CFTC has been developing regulation to meet the goals of this legislation which continues to impact our business. In recent conversations with the CFTC Chairman and other commissioners, it appears they may be willing to revisit the scope and benefit of some of post Dodd-Frank rule making. The NFA continues to provide guidance to the Commission on the impact to the industry caused by current policy and suggests possible adjustments for...

2016 Member Events

The following association events are currently scheduled for 2016. Please mark your calendar now to save-the-dates. If you are interested in being on the planning committee for any meeting, please contact the meeting chairperson. April 20: New York City - Annual east coast meeting held at the New York Athletic Club. Two or three business sessions beginning at about 1:30pm followed by a networking cocktail hour. (CTA Expo NYC is scheduled for April 21, the following day) Chairman: Howard Rennell, hrennell@e-windham.com July 14: Chicago - Co-sponsored event held at DePaul University, downtown Chicago campus. Two business sessions beginning at about 1:30pm followed by a networking cocktail reception. Chairman: Jerry Nolan, jnolan@countycorkllc.com September 14: Chicago - Annual membership membership meeting held at CME Group Building. A full-day program including a demonstration hall, lunch and speaker and a cocktail reception. (CTA Expo Chicago full-day is scheduled for September 15) Chairman: TBA --...

Chairman Letter December 2015

Dear Members - The NIBA was founded in June 1991. During the past 25 years, we have become known as the association who educates and speaks for the retail professional community. We have earned the respect of our regulators and our industry by participating in the rule- making process at both the CFTC and NFA, and submitting position papers on everything from ethics training requirements to increased transparency for FCM financial reports. As we enter our 25th Anniversary Year, NIBA will continue to represent your opinions. You will also see some changes. Originally, the NIBA’s membership was almost entirely made up of Introducing Brokers. A few years ago Commodity Trading Advisors and inpidual Associated Persons were invited to join the association. Today about one-third of the membership is registered in the CTA category, either as a dual registration or stand-alone. CTAs and APs are represented on the board of directors...

NIBA in DC

On November 9, 2015, Steve Petillo, Mike Burke and I travelled to Washington, DC to meet with members of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission at their offices. Here’s a summary of that meeting as well as the other meetings we had while there. We brought three issues which were suggested by NIBA members to the attention of Chairman Massad and Commission Bowen. Both Commissioners, along with their staff, told us that monitoring the effectiveness of Regulation 1.35 (Recording Communication that may lead to a Transaction) and Regulation 1.22 (“Residual Interest”) is ongoing. We reiterated that we believe Reg. 1.35 in its final form may not have taken into account revenue numbers from all Introducing Brokers, only from IIBs. Both Commissioners agreed to look at any additional information we are able to provide. We voiced our support for pushing back the automatic start of next phase of Reg. 1.22, and renewed...

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