NIBA - Celebrating 35 Years

NIBA Journal

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

Ask NFA - March 2017
2 min read

Ask NFA - March 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. I am an AP of an IB and also want to become a CTA. What considerations are there for both firms if I decide to proceed with this setup? All NFA Members must meet the compliance and registration requirements associated with their categories. Visit NFA's and the CFTC's websites for additional information regarding registration and compliance...

By NIBARead article
Housekeeping, Reminders and Updates - March 2017
4 min read

Housekeeping, Reminders and Updates - March 2017

Written by: Mark E. Ruddy, Esq. & Jessica I. Brown, CAMS NATIONAL FUTURES ASSOCIATION Financial Reporting Requirements of Commodity Pool Operators The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) amended certain items of Part 4 regulations applicable to commodity pool operators (“CPOs”) and their financial reporting requirements. As per the amendments, CFTC regulations now permit the following: The use, in certain circumstances, of specified additional alternative generally accepted accounting principles, standards or practices; A CPO to provide unaudited Annual Report for a pool’s first fiscal year, is specific criteria are met; and A CPO to provide an unaudited Annual Report, if, during any fiscal year, the pool only had insiders as participants. In response to the Part 4 amendments, the NFA published Notice I-17-08. To claim the relief now available to CPOs, as part of the amendments to Part 4 regulations, a notice or exemption filing must be submitted to the NFA....

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8 Reasons Why Every Financial Services Firm Needs a CRM
Marketing
5 min read

8 Reasons Why Every Financial Services Firm Needs a CRM

Whether you are a single fund manager or an advisor with 10-100 agents, you’re under pressure to meet ever-changing compliance requirements while running and growing your business. No small task. However, there are plenty of technology solutions available to help you succeed. A CRM enables you to manage prospect and client relationships—and the data associated with these contacts—from one central hub. 40% of salespeople still use informal means such as Microsoft Excel or Outlook to store its lead and customer data. (HubSpot, 2016) Not sure if you’re ready to trade your Excel spreadsheets for a CRM? Here are 5 signs that your financial services firm needs a CRM: You lack a centralized data location across your organization Reporting and analysis is tedious and time-consuming. You’re losing track of data. You’re unable to stay in touch or call up data on the go. You treat every customer the same. #1 Fill...

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Intent to Nominate J. Christopher Giancarlo as CFTC Chairman
Member Announcements
1 min read

Intent to Nominate J. Christopher Giancarlo as CFTC Chairman

President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate a number of key administration officials. This announcement included nomination for Chairman of the CFTC. Below is from the White House Office of the Press Secretary: J. Christopher Giancarlo of New Jersey will serve as Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Mr. Giancarlo was confirmed to be a Commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission by unanimous consent of the Senate on June 3, 2014. He was designated as Acting Chairman of the Commission on January 20, 2017. Before entering public service, Mr. Giancarlo served as the Executive Vice President of GFI Group Inc., a financial services firm. Prior to joining GFI, he was Executive Vice President and U.S. Legal Counsel of Fenics Software and was a corporate partner in the New York law firm of Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner. He attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New...

By NIBARead article
Nurturing Mid and Late Stage Leads
Marketing
3 min read

Nurturing Mid and Late Stage Leads

Financial technology marketers are steadily improving at creating awareness-stage marketing content. Many who were once verbose and blustery are now producing more customer-centric thought leadership. The white papers, blogs and articles they produce today provide substantially more value to the audience and are doing a better job of attracting leads into the funnel. However, fin-tech marketers’ ability to convert those leads into qualified sales opportunities and revenue is still lagging behind other industries. They need to get better at nurturing mid- and late-stage leads. Awareness content may attract leads, but if marketers really want to contribute to revenue, they have to keep leads engaged and influence buyers deeper in the evaluation process. For content to deliver ROI at these later stages, it has to answer the questions that prospective customers are asking as they progress through the decision process. But Marketing can’t create this content on its own. Success at...

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Chairman's Letter - March 2017
Member Announcements
2 min read

Chairman's Letter - March 2017

“I don’t mind going back to daylight saving time. With inflation, the hour will be the only thing I’ve saved all year.” Victor Borge, 1909-2000 Victor Borge was an Danish and American comedian, conductor and pianist, popular on radio and television in Europe and the United States. He was often referred to as “The Clown Prince of Denmark.” I am writing this during the snowstorm following the Sunday we “sprung forward” to change our clocks to daylight saving time, and, like Victor Borge, I want to make the most of my “saved hour,” and let NIBA members know how to use theirs too. First I’m going to the Members Resources portal on theniba.com in my “saved hour.” I’m going to read “How to Use Twitter” submitted by Shane Stiles, Gate 39 Media Then I’m moving on to the submission from Great Lakes Credit Union and finally, the article entitled “Decoding...

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NIBA SoCal Conference Wrap Up
Member Announcements
4 min read

NIBA SoCal Conference Wrap Up

SoCal Conference Summary On February 23rd the NIBA held its first conference of 2017 in Newport Beach, California. Promoted as being held in “toasty” southern California many attendees from the Chicago area commented that the weather they left back in the windy city was actually quite a bit warmer! In spite of the unseasonably cool 61° the conference was a great success! I believe NIBA’s SoCal conferences are a bit different and in a way special from our conferences in Chicago and New York – the centers of the futures industry in the United States. The participants in the futures industry in California are spread out without a central location thus greatly diminishing the opportunity for building personal relationships that are so critical for success. There is no chance to run into another industry professional in the lobby of the Chicago Board of Trade building or perhaps to meet down...

By NIBARead article
Ask NFA--February 2017
3 min read

Ask NFA--February 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. Are there any scenarios when a CTA might be required to also register as an IB? An introducing broker (IB) is an individual or organization that solicits or accepts orders to buy or sell futures contracts, options on futures, retail off-exchange forex contracts or swaps, but does not accept money or other assets from customers to...

By NIBARead article
Housekeeping, Reminders & Updates February 2017
Housekeeping
4 min read

Housekeeping, Reminders & Updates February 2017

NATIONAL FUTURES ASSOCIATION December 31, 2016 NFA Form PQR The National Futures Association (“NFA”) emailed a reminder to commodity pool operators (“CPOs”) regarding quarterly reports and possible late fees. The 2016 fourth quarter CPO quarterly report (“Form PQR”) is due in March. CPOs that have more than $1.5 billion in assets under management (“AUM”) are required to file Form PQR no later than Wednesday, March 1, 2017. The due date for CPOs with less than $1.5 billion in AUM is March 31, 2017. In order to avoid a later fee, CPOs must file the 2016 fourth quarter Form PQR by the applicable due date based on AUM. CPOs with less than $1.5 billion in AUM must update Box 0155 on the Form PQR cover page and save the filing. This action will amend the due date from March 1st to March 31st. Failure to file Form PQR or update Box...

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