NIBA Journal

NIBA NYC Conference: Macroeconomists Markets in a Natavist World

NIBA NYC Conference: What to do When the Inquiry Arrives

 

Agricultural Options Update

Get the latest on volatility, volume, spreads and more...... This month's update includes: Low implied volatility for Grains & Oilseeds Call skew higher for Grains & Oilseeds Hog & Feeder volatility elevated     VIEW FULL REPORT  

E-mini Russell 2000 Futures and Options Return to CME Group on July 10

The launch of E-mini Russell 2000® Index futures and options will extend an already broad selection of benchmark U.S. index contracts and offer you even more ways to manage risk and tap into liquidity. With more products, more ways to trade, and more capital efficiencies, get ready for a great return. Sign Up to Stay Up to Date  

Joint NIBA/DePaul Symposium (July 20th)

Mark your calendars now for the 4th Annual Joint NIBA/DePaul University Symposium at the DePaul downtown campus, Jackson and State Street from 1:30 - 6:30pm. Sessions are currently being confirmed. Tentative: When was the last time you reviewed your marketing approach? Are you getting the results you want? How confident are you, your approach is meeting current compliance standards, including those for social media? Hey, CTAs/FCMs -- are your operations watertight? Will the allocator you want to do business with, see it that way? All sessions are open to all industry professionals - FCMs, CTAs/CPOs, IBs and APs, as well as Service Providers. There is no charge for the event. Registration to open shortly. Jerry Nolan, jnolan@countycorkllc.com is the NIBA board member chairing this event. His committee includes Steve Petillo, Mike Burke, Katy Tervin, Charles Starnes, Andrew Straussman, Mark Shore and Mark Washack. Contact Jerry to volunteer or with questions...

Chairman's Letter - May 2017

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture has general jurisdiction over federal agriculture policy and oversight of the CFTC. Recommendations for funding for the Commission, as well as for its various programs and activities, originate in this committee. The committee was formed in 1820 in order to give ag-issues equal weight with manufacturing and commercial issues in member deliberations. Chairmen have included Federalists and Whigs, as well as representatives from the Union during the Civil War years. Mike Conaway (R-TX) has been the committee chair since 2015. The Committee supports several subcommittees such as the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit. This group oversees all policies, statutes and markets relating to commodity exchanges, among other responsibilities. Austin Scott (R-GA) is the current chairperson of the subcommittee. On March 18, I will represent the NIBA at a reception hosted by the NFA at the U.S. House Committee Room in Washington, DC....

NYC Conference Highlights

This year's spring conference was a large success.  Our speakers covered a wide range of topics and were very well received.  For those of you who were not able to attend in person we were able to record the entire program and will be releasing video of the event in the near future inside our new member portal.  Thank you to all of our members who continue to support this organization and contribute to the success of our conferences.  A special thank you to our sponsors who make what we do possible.  Options City, CME Group, Phillip Capital, Gain Capital and Straits sponsored this year's conference. Here are some highlights from the conference with more to follow in upcoming editions of the newsletter:  

NFA NYC Workshop May 10th 2017

Seats are still available for NFA's Member Regulatory Workshop in New York on May 10 and Chicago on May 11 Seats are still available for NFA's upcoming Member Regulatory Workshops for commodity pool operator (CPO) and commodity trading advisor (CTA) Members. If you've already registered, thank you. We look forward to your participation. The half-day workshops will be held at the New York Marriott Downtown in New York, N.Y. on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, and Summit West in Chicago, Ill., on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Each workshop includes two sessions—one on NFA Members' regulatory obligations regarding cybersecurity and one on reporting CPO and CTA financial information on Forms PQR and PR. During the cybersecurity session for all NFA Members, NFA staff will provide updates on NFA's cybersecurity examination findings and a panel of experts will share best practices. During the financial information session for CPOs and CTAs, NFA staff will...

Ask NFA - April 2017

As your industry advocate, the NIBA provides many services which help your business stay in compliance with NFA regulations. “Ask the NFA,” is the way you can ask questions about those regulations and compliance requirements without having to call NFA directly. Just email us at nfacomments@theniba.com and we will get the answers for you. Please keep in mind the purpose of this contact is to keep the lines of communication between the NFA and NIBA members. This month’s questions were selected from those submitted by NIBA members. The answers were supplied by NFA staff. What are the guidelines for commission to equity ratios and do those change if a customer is trading with a CTA? NFA reviews commission to equity ratios during examinations. NFA does not have an established ratio that may or may not be acceptable. Rather, NFA views several factors in evaluating whether a ratio raises red flags...

Housekeeping, Reminders and Updates - April 2017

Written by: Mark E. Ruddy, Esq. Jessica I. Brown, CAMS FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT NETWORK Update to FATF List of Jurisdictions with AML/CFT Deficiencies On April 5, 2017, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an advisory announcing that the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) updated its lists of identified jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their frameworks to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation. The purposes of FATF’s lists are to track and monitor compliance with the international anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”) standards. The changes to FATF’s list may affect US financial institutions’ obligation and risk-based approaches with respect to relevant jurisdictions. As per FATF’s February 2017 Public Statement, the list of jurisdictions have been updated to include the following: Jurisdiction subject to effective counter-measures Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Jurisdiction subject to enhanced due diligence Iran Jurisdiction identified as having AML/CFT...