NIBA - Celebrating 35 Years

NIBA Journal

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

CME has deal to acquire Kansas City Board of Trade
Marketing
1 min read

CME has deal to acquire Kansas City Board of Trade

CME Group said it is buying the Kansas City Board of Trade for $126 million in cash. The derivatives exchange said buying the bourse, its first exchange purchase in five years, is a way to expand its agricultural products. The KCBT's board selected CME over other exchanges, including BATS Global Markets and IntercontinentalExchange, sources said. The proposed deal makes the Minneapolis Grain Exchange the last independently owned agricultural exchange in the U.S. Reuters (10/17), Crain's Chicago Business/Reuters (10/17), Bloomberg Businessweek (10/17), Fox Business/Dow Jones Newswires (10/17), Reuters (10/18)

By NIBARead article
Vision to take over PFG accounts
MF Global Updates
1 min read

Vision to take over PFG accounts

By: Daniel P. Collins | Futures Magazine An agreement has been reached between Vision Financial Markets and the trustee for Peregrine Financial Group, pending court approval, that will bulk transfer up to $123 million that was part of the trustee’s planned interim distribution to Vision along with customer accounts qualifying for that distribution. Vision has agreed to pay the trustee $325,000 for the bulk transfer according to a statement on the trustee’s web site. The trustee will submit a proposed order to the Bankruptcy Court on Oct. 5, to authorize the bulk transfer. > Read the full article on the Futures Mag website.

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District Court Overturns CFTC Position Limit Rule
Marketing
2 min read

District Court Overturns CFTC Position Limit Rule

FIA Special Alert Sept. 28, 2012 District Court Overturns CFTC Position Limit Rule Today the US District Court for the District of Columbia struck down the CFTC's position limit rule, which was scheduled to go into effect on October 12, 2012. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs?the International Swaps and Derivatives Association and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The court found that the CFTC "fundamentally misunderstood" the relevant provisions of Dodd-Frank and rejected the CFTC's interpretation that Dodd-Frank makes the imposition of position limits "mandatory," rather than "as appropriate" to prevent excessive speculation. The court stated that the case revolved around the question of whether a plain reading of section 6a of the Commodity Exchange Act "clearly and ambiguously requires the Commission to make a finding of necessity prior to imposing position limits." Based on its reading of the statute, the court concluded, "The answer is...

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Chicago 2012 Conference Speakers
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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Chairman's Message | September 2012
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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NFA announces second New York regulatory workshop for entities that currently operate commodity pools whose exemptions expire on December 31, 2012
Marketing
2 min read

NFA announces second New York regulatory workshop for entities that currently operate commodity pools whose exemptions expire on December 31, 2012

September 25, 2012 NFA announces second New York regulatory workshop for entities that currently operate commodity pools whose exemptions expire on December 31, 2012 NFA will present an encore workshop in New York for entities that, due to the recent CFTC rule amendments, are operating or advising commodity pools that had previously been exempt from registration as CPOs or CTAs. The addition of this second workshop is in response to the significant demand for the initial workshop, which will be held on September 27. The day-long, encore workshop, presented by NFA staff and other futures professionals, will focus on the registration process, disclosure document preparation, performance reporting, financial reporting requirements, sales practices and the NFA audit process. The second workshop is scheduled for October 23, 2012, and will be held at the NYMEX Building (One North End Avenue). The fee to attend the workshop is $200. This fee includes continental...

By NIBARead article
Your FCM; Hero or Villain? Part II
Marketing
5 min read

Your FCM; Hero or Villain? Part II

Although it seems like only yesterday the National Introducing Brokers Association (“NIBA”) panel on “Assessing FCM Risk” took place over two weeks ago. If you were part of the standing room only audience thank you for attending! Your support meant a great deal to NIBA, Turnkey Trading Partners, and the other panelists. If you weren’t able to attend this year’s Chicago conference the following is a quick overview of what was discussed. If you’d like more details please see my pre-conference article “Your FCM; Hero or Villain?” or feel free to contact Turnkey Trading Partners at any time. 1. Review Previous Regulatory Violations: Remember that not all regulatory violations are created equal. As an example violations for sales practices and advertising can be much different than violations in capital sensitive areas. Investors should approach with caution firms that have previous anti-money laundering or capital level infractions. Also, always be sure...

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CFTC Regulation 1.71 – Conflicts of Interest
Marketing
6 min read

CFTC Regulation 1.71 – Conflicts of Interest

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently adopted CFTC Regulation 1.71 to implement new section 4d(c) of the Commodity Exchange Act, which requires FCMs and IBs to implement a conflict of interest system and procedures with respect to its research function and its trading and clearing activities. Except as for the requirements under Regulation 1.71(d) related to clearing activities, FCMs and IBs were required to be in compliance with Regulation 1.71 by August 3, 2012. Although the final rulemaking set a June 4, 2012 compliance date, the Commission issued a No-Action letter on June 1, 2012 extending the final compliance date for Regulation 1.71(a)-(c), (e) and (f) to the August 3, 2012 date. A copy of the final regulation is available at http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@lrfederalregister/documents/file/2012-5317a.pdf. Under CFTC Regulation 1.71, FCMs and IBs are required to adopt written policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to ensure that the firm and its employees...

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Family Farmer & Rancher Fund Applications Due
Marketing
2 min read

Family Farmer & Rancher Fund Applications Due

Following the insolvency of PFGBest, CME Group has been accepting applications from farmers, ranchers and agricultural co-operatives to register for benefits under the CME Group Family Farmer & Rancher Protection Fund. In order for CME to begin paying benefits to qualifying customers under this Fund, Applications must be received by the close of business at 5:00pm Central Time, Friday, October 5, 2012. Following the October 5 deadline, CME Group expects to pay benefits to qualifying customers in the fourth quarter of this year. The following requirements apply to be considered for benefits: The applicant must be a farmer, rancher or agricultural coop and must complete the application for the registration available on CME Group's website. The applicant must submit photocopies of appropriate tax documentation along with the application, as described in the application's instructions. The applicant must have held one or more positions in CME Group agricultural products covered by...

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The PRICE Futures Group | September 2012 Focus on the Membership
Focus on the Membership
4 min read

The PRICE Futures Group | September 2012 Focus on the Membership

Primary Markets Traded The PRICE Futures Group trades and specializes in each of the domestic and global futures and options markets which include grains, softs, energies, metals, equities, currencies, and interest rates, among others. How did you get started? How did the firm get started? President & CEO, Walter Thomas Price, III, has been involved in the securities, cash commodities, and commodity futures markets for more than 40 years as both a trader for his own account and as a broker. In 1988, Mr. Price founded The PRICE Futures Group, Inc. as a full service futures and options brokerage company. Over the years, The PRICE Futures Group, along with our various associated firms, have expanded into a full service financial services business which now form Price Holdings, Inc., an employee-owned company. Does the firm provide additional services besides brokerage? As a division of Price Holdings, Inc., The PRICE Futures Group...

By NIBARead article
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