Insights, analysis, and updates from the National Introducing Brokers Association
Congratulations to ADMIS on a terrific IB Conference. It was well-planned, well-executed and well-attended! Thank you to all at ADMIS for including us at the event and for the continued support of the NIBA
Washington, DC — Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo was designated per seriatim as Acting Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on January 20, 2017. Mr. Giancarlo joined the CFTC on June 16, 2014 after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 3, 2014, to serve as a Commissioner of the CFTC, the federal agency that oversees the commodity futures, options and swaps industry. Commissioner Giancarlo succeeded Timothy Massad who has served as Chairman since June 5, 2014. Last Updated: January 20, 2017
Happy New Year! We hope the NIBA membership had a successful 2016. The beginning of a new year is typically a time when firms are focused on plans for growing their book of business. While the launch of new marketing or trading campaigns is certainly important, attention to operational and regulatory issues is just as critical for a successful firm. Compliance matters, in particular, are often overlooked when evaluating firm activities and planning for improvements going into a new year. The start of 2017 is the perfect time for registered firms to take an inventory of their regulatory obligations and implement a strategy that ensures requirements are met on an ongoing basis. To help NIBA kick off the New Year right, this article will discuss ten of the top things to consider for your 2017 compliance program. These ten things are what Turnkey Trading Partners staff most commonly encounters with...
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. Is a 3rd Party audit of my firm's cybersecurity policies and procedures required by the new reg? NFA's Cybersecurity Interpretive Notice states that Members should monitor and regularly review the effectiveness of their written Information Systems Security Program (ISSP), including the efficacy of the safeguards deployed, and make adjustments as appropriate. A Member should perform a...
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Advisory on FATF List of Jurisdiction with AML/CFT Deficiencies On January 19, 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 lists may affect US financial institutions’ obligation and risk-based approaches with respect to relevant jurisdictions. Updates to the FATF lists are outlined in FinCEN Advisory FIN-2017-A001. New Due Date for FBARs FinCEN has changed the due date for filing Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) to coincide with the federal income tax due dates. The new annual due date for filing an FBAR...
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the hottest topic in service industries these days, and compliance is no exception. AI can be roughly divided into two categories: General, which we see in movies and read about in science fiction novels, and Specific, which is what will have the greatest impact in 2017. The new year is upon us, bringing promises of a variety of breakout technologies to help companies more easily comply with their regulatory requirements. Much in the way that manufacturing was forever altered by machine automation, service industries will be increasingly disrupted, resulting in significant cost savings and efficiency gains for all business owners. Intelligence Targeted for You If smart data is akin to information, then smart information is equal to intelligence. Intelligent compliance programs will be targeted to your activities: you will receive specific information about regulatory changes, laws, and actions that are applicable acutely to your firm. You’ll...
By Shane Stiles and Sarah McNabb Whether you’re a fund manager, investment advisor or broker, whether you’re selling retail or institutional trading, or raising assets for a fund—marketing starts with a process. The goal of a well-defined marketing process is to generate leads that can then be converted to clients through the efforts of automated marketing and sales tactics. Marketing Infrastructure Before you begin to define your offers and campaigns, your marketing infrastructure --the engine for your marketing fuel-- must be defined. The leads generated by your offers are best managed within a customer relationship management (CRM) software. A good CRM allows businesses to not only store client info and track a sales process, but to gain insight into customer and lead behaviors so they can be marketed to according to their actions. Better CRM systems integrate data from your website, providing measurable stats, segmenting interested contacts who have completed...
“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” Oprah Winfrey, 1954- Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, actress, producer & philanthropist. Looking back on 2016, I thought her words were particularly appropriate to our industry going forward into the new year. CFTC Chairman Massad has indicated he will leave the Commission on January 20, before his term is officially over. He has been outspoken in his support of AT regulation, particularly in favor of allowing certain proprietary information, sometimes referred to as “the secret sauce” of a trader’s program, to be accessed by the Commission without the use of a subpoena. As Chairman, he has also overseen the heavily criticized position limit proposals. It is rumored the new administration favors current Commissioner Giancarlo to take over the chairmanship at the CFTC. During our meeting with Mr. Giancarlo in October, we reiterated NIBA’s...
The 2017 NIBA conference schedule kicks off the year in toasty Southern California on February 23, in beautiful Newport Beach. This will be followed by our spring meeting in New York City in late April and then our fall event in Chicago. The SoCal conference brings a little bit of Chicago and New York - the centers of futures trading to distant Southern California. Attendees are afforded the rare opportunity to hear a panel of experts on important topics critical to the growth and success of their businesses. The afternoon conference will consist of three business sessions followed by a hosted networking reception: Macro-economic Outlook 2017 - Erik Norland - Executive Director and Senior Economist of CME Group. Erik Norland, Executive Director and Senior Economist of CME Group will present his overview of the entire economic spectrum in his presentation on the 2017 macro-economic outlook. Topics will include: The impact...
Email marketing continues to be one of the most effective and cost-efficient tools in the marketer’s toolbox. But strategic and compliant email marketing is not easy. Marketing automation and emerging technologies supporting account-based marketing allow you to make emails far more relevant and personalized. Marketing automation allows you to segment and deliver emails to just the right audience at just the right time. However, before you experiment with these advanced strategies, it’s important to start with the basics. Here are some steps to help you establish your basic strategy for effective and compliant email marketing. Email Marketing – Cutting Through the Noise The average business executive receives hundreds of unsolicited emails every day and is getting very good at blocking unwanted messages. Consequently, mass marketing techniques no longer work. You can’t treat email marketing like a simple numbers game. For your emails to get noticed, they have to cut through...
