NIBA Journal

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

January 12, 2017

Chairman's Letter - Jan 2017

“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...

NIBA SoCal Conference around the corner - February 23, 2017

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...

Roadmap to Strategic and Compliant Email Marketing

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...

CME Fee Increase Jan 2017

Pending CFTC regulatory approvals and review periods, below provides a summary of the January 1, 2016 pricing changes for each of the product exchanges: CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX. Please see link below for a detailed breakdown of the CME Group's fee increase CME Group Exchange & Clearing Fees

Save the Date: NYC 2017 Event

The NIBA is excited to announce the date has been set for this year's NYC program. Please mark your calendars for April 26, 2017. We have established new partnerships and are finalizing an exciting line up for this year's program. Look for additional details to be announced in upcoming newsletter publications. Please contact the NYC Program committee chairman with any questions or comments: Howard Rennell, hrennell@e-windham.com

Seven of the Most Noteworthy Trading Days of 2016

With the big changes of 2016 still fresh in our memories, we take a look back at the year’s seven most interesting trading days to review what we may have learned (or not) about managing risk. The U.S. elections and UK’s Brexit referendum highlighted the need to manage political event risk, especially since opinion polls proved unusually unreliable. Monetary policy was on the move around the world. Following the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) surprise move into negative rates at the end of January 2016, the European Central Bank (ECB) pushed further into negative rate territory in March 2016. In contrast, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) hiked rates in December 2016 for only the second time since the financial panic of 2008. With the unemployment rate below 5% and inflation creeping higher, the Fed signaled that more rate hikes are to come in 2017. Gold was challenged as sentiment rose that...

December 2016 Housekeeping, Reminders and Updates

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION Inter-Affiliate Swaps Transactions No-Action Extension The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) announced the extension of relief outlined in Letter 15-62 and Letter 16-81 until December 31, 2017. Non-U.S. jurisdictions are still constructing mandatory clearing regimes. The no-action relief extension allows for market participants to more easily satisfy clearing and trade execution requirements while foreign jurisdictions implement these regimes. Additional details regarding the no-action relief extension are available on the Ruddy Gregory, PLLC (“Ruddy Gregory”) website. Risk Disclosure Requirements No-Action Relief Granted In a no-action letter dated November 30, 2016, the CFTC granted the request by futures commission merchants and introducing brokers to combine risk disclosure statements for non-intuitional customers into a single document. The consolidation of the two separate but similar forms formerly required is expected to reduce customer confusion and provide a more efficient process for industry firms. Additional details regarding Regulation 4 rules amendments...

NIBA Election Results-2016

At the December 1 meeting of the Board of Directors, the NIBA elected the following officers for 2017: President - Mike Burke, Highground Trading Vice-President - Shane Stiles, Gate 39 Media Vice-President/Secretary - Ryan Griffeth, Postrock Brokerage Treasurer - Mike Coglianese - Michael Coglianese, CPA Past President - John Jensen, Heritage West Financial Immediate Past President - Steve Petillo, Nevermore Alternatives NIBA officers also serve as the Executive Board of the Association. Melinda Schramm, MHS Capital Resource serves as the Chairman of the Board. John Jensen was elected by the membership to serve a one year term on the board. All other members remain for the year 2017. Committees for 2017 are being formed during December and will be announced in the January newsletter.

December Chairman's Letter

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. William Arthur Ward, 1921-1994 William Arthur Ward was an American writer, author and editor of the Pertinent Proverbs column which appeared weekly in the Ft. Worth Texas Star-Telegram for over 40 years. Credited and quoted frequently by public speakers, I thought the above sentence was particularly applicable to the events of 2016, and to how industry participants will be adjusting to the possible changes 2017 will bring. With a change of administrations, the agenda at the CFTC is likely to change too. Commissioner Massad, a Democrat and current chairman, is overseeing an agenda which includes AT registration and position limit proposals -- both of which have been heavily scrutinized, and often criticized by the industry. Additionally, The White House will have the opportunity to nominate candidates to fill the two currently vacant positions....

NIBA Advisory Group Recap

On November 30, the NIBA Advisory Group (AG) met in Chicago. The AG is a group of industry participants, each of whom has expertise in a specific area of the business. Expertises range from marketing to education, from legal to cybersecurity. This group met for the first time in 2015; members committed to a 2-year term. The mission of the AG is to share ideas for the growth and continued relevance of the NIBA. As a result of the first AG meeting held in December, 2015, the following three suggested topics were selected by the NIBA Board of Directors to implement because of their value to association members, and reasonable cost/speed of implementation. Intern Program: We are currently working with De Paul University, Chicago to place students with NIBA members and service providers. Jerry Nolan (jnolan@countycorkllc.com) and Tom Sandy (ts@ricedairy.com), Co-chairs. Resource Program: In the past year, we opened a...

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