NIBA - Celebrating 35 Years

NIBA Journal

Insights, analysis, and updates from the National Introducing Brokers Association

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Member Announcements
2 min read

John Walsh: Founder of the Walsh Agency Passes Away

When brokers mention the Walsh Agency it's usually followed by a John Walsh story. Everyone I have spoken with in the past few months have told me what a character he was. It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that John passed away earlier this year. He was lucky, he played golf, and bridge on Wednesday, got sick on Thursday, and never woke up. His faith was very strong, and I have no doubt John is making people laugh in heaven. Here is a link to his obituary. John started the Walsh Agency over 43 years ago, and he was passionate about ethics, and anti-money laundering. He truly felt it was his responsibly to keep brokers, and IBs informed. He was a natural teacher, and his knowledge, and understanding of the material made him a valuable resource to many of us. I was very lucky to call...

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Member Announcements
2 min read

The Top 21 Chief Technology Officers in North American Electronic Trading

We have compiled a list of the top 21 Chief Technology Officers in the electronic trading industry, operating in North America. The 21 CTOs were selected based on a survey distributed through our Total Trading blog with the following criteria in mind: Excellence in building and maintaining technological infrastructure Respected selection of technological products Influence on the electronic trading industry We want you to gain a true insight into North America’s top technology officers, so we asked all of them the same questions: 1.) What has been your biggest achievement or accomplishment as CTO? 2.) Which future technology or advancement do you see playing a large role in the electronic trading industry in the future? 3.) What is a skill, trait, or experience that you discovered early in your career, which has enabled you to be successful today? 4.) What is a fun or interesting fact that people might not...

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Member Announcements
4 min read

Futures Magazine Acquired by The Alpha Pages

CHICAGO—The Alpha Pages, LLC recently acquired Futures Magazine and its digital properties, including Futuresmag.com, ResourceInvestor.com and all related e-newsletters from Summit Business Media. The Alpha Pages is a new media firm focused on alternative investments. The firm was founded and is led by Kristin Fox and Jeff Joseph, two seasoned alternative investment industry veterans. Fox has spent more than 20 years creating print and digital platforms in the alternative investment space, including HedgeWorld.com, which was sold to Reuters in 2005. Joseph was the former managing director of Alternative Investment Strategies at Rydex Investments where he developed and introduced a number of groundbreaking alternative investment products including the first managed futures mutual fund. Fox and Joseph were attracted to the Futures Magazine print and digital properties because of the quality of the content offering, the loyalty of its subscribers, the engagement metrics of the digital users and the solid 41-year-old brand....

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Member Announcements
3 min read

Letter to the NIBA Membership

Dear NIBA Members - 2013 is going to be busy! Last month’s tri-sponsored get-together in Southern California was a terrific success. Fifty-five industry professionals - many at their first-ever NIBA event, gathered in Newport Beach, CA, on January 24. Along with our partners, the CME Group and the NFA, the NIBA plans to make this meeting an annual event. We are in the midst of our membership campaign, and have already welcomed 18 Vendor Sponsors to the Association this year. We have great FCM and exchange support too, and will have an updated listing next month. NIBA is proud to announce that members now have access to Great Lakes Credit Union, and to health insurance and human resources administration through Viaquest. These two member benefits can make a real difference in your office’s bottom line. The NFA has announced three new members to its Board of Directors - all NIBA...

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Member Announcements
2 min read

Chairman’s Letter - October 2012

Dear Members - As Swaps Dealers began to register this month, I started thinking once again about the current state of Introducing Brokers (IBs). An IB’s role in the industry is to have direct contact with the market end-user - soliciting and servicing the customer. But what is the value of an IB to a customer? Why do customers open their accounts directly with IBs? Well, Your IB helps new investors understand the risks of the futures market. Your IB has the training that can prevent a customer from making an easily avoidable, costly mistake during the order placement process. Your IB has the experience necessary to evaluate market moves, and to spot opportunities a customer might miss. Your IB does or has access to a great deal of research, including cash markets and global situations, which customers don’t typically have. Your IB stays up to date with regulatory changes...

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Member Announcements
1 min read

Chicago 2012 Conference Speakers

On September 12, 2012, over 200 IBs, CTAs, FCMs and APs attended the 21st Fall NIBA Conference. Each session taught something about compliance, business or marketing. Every presentation sent members home equipped to put lessons learned into action. All the speakers at the fall conference invite you to contact them with any questions or to follow-up their presentations. Mike Tannura, T-storm Weather - mike@t-storm.net David Oppedahl, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago - david.oppedahl@chi.frb.org Mike Coglianese, Michael Coglianese, CPA - mike@cogcpa.com John Roe, BTR Trading - jroe@btrtrading.com James Bibbings, Turnkey Trading Partners - james@turnkeytradingpartners.com Steve Pherson, Schuyler, Roche & Crisham - sphers@srcattorneys.com Jennifer Sunu, National Futures Association - jsunu@nfa.futures.org Ann Shuman, CME Group - ann.shuman@cmegroup.com Joy Bond, National Futures Association - jbond@nfa.futures.org Betsy McCarthy, National Futures Association - emccathy@nfa.futures.org Rusty von Sternberg, Viaquest (Insurance) - rusty@viaquest.com John Biesboer, Telvent DTN - jbiesboer@telventdtn.com Steve Dickey, Telvent DTN - sdickey@telventdtn.com

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Member Announcements
3 min read

Chairman's Message | September 2012

Dear Members - The NIBA is committed to providing education to its members about issues and events that impact compliance duties, enhance ability to generate revenue and generally affect business. On September 10, 2012, we notified the PFG bankruptcy trustee that NIBA opposed one of his options to distribute funds and customer information to a single highest bidder FCM rather than directly to prior PFG customers. The bankruptcy court has since authorized a transfer of up to $123,000,000 total directly to commodity customers on or before October 8, 2012. On September 12, 2012, over 200 IBs, CTAs, FCMs and APs attended the 21st NIBA Fall Conference. Every session was very well received - some presentations were standing-room-only! Follow-up articles written by the speakers, in addition to their contact information, are included in this month's newsletter. Also about September 12, John Corzine, former CEO of MF Global (MFGI) was interviewed for...

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Member Announcements
2 min read

Chairman's Message | August 2012

Dear NIBA Member - Finding the right FCM to clear customer business is the #1 priority of most IBs right now. We know that over 50% of the IBs transferred from MF Global, Inc. have subsequently transferred out of the FCMs to which they were transferred - many because of a “bad fit.” Sources are reporting that up to 50% of the IBs and CTAs who did business with PFG have not found a new clearing FCM a full six weeks after the firm’s demise. As registered industry professionals - IBs, CTAs or APs, you have many responsibilities and obligations to your clients. One of those responsibilities is to assure that the relationship you have with the FCM clearing your customer’s transaction is the the best relationship for your customer’s needs. Of course, this also help you develop and implement a good business plan for your firm. NIBA’s FCM Members...

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Member Announcements
4 min read

Questions Regarding FCM Failures and NIBA’s Role

Dear NIBA Membership: The collapse of Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. (‘PFG’) represents the second time within nine months that a FCM failure accompanied by a shortfall in customer segregated funds has severely impacted the businesses of NIBA members. Many of you have asked why the PFG trustee has not distributed any funds, whereas the MF Global, Inc. (‘MFGI’) trustee made distributions early on in the bankruptcy and continues to make such distributions. You have also asked what role NIBA plays in both these situations. Second question first. NIBA is organized as a membership trade association. NIBA is mandated by its Bylaws to provide education and a forum for learning and networking in order to support the business efforts of the membership. Conferences, newsletters and communications with the CFTC and other regulators are some of the ways NIBA distributes the information and provides educational support. NIBA has been committed to this...

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