NIBA Journal

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

Member Announcements
2 min read

Chairman's Letter - Jan 2019

Month-Long Celebrations: National Soup and National Prune Month For some, January is the opening to new beginnings. For the NIBA, it means the continuation of our commitment to our members to provide education for your business growth and a forum in which to exchange ideas. Mark your calendar now to attend the three in-person programs scheduled for 2019: April 10: NIBA Spring Meeting, New York Athletic Club, NYC July 11: 6th Annual DePaul University/NIBA Joint Symposium, DePaul University, Chicago Sept. 12: NIBA Annual Members Meeting, Illinois Tech, Chicago On January 17, the FIA will present a webinar on spoofing, surveillance and supervision. The CFTC continues to aggressively pursue spoofing cases against traders and has expanded its enforcement efforts to target firms for failing to supervise their traders. Check the FIA website for details on how to attend the webinar. CME Group has a new post by Blu Putnam entitled “Is...

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Member Announcements
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Important Changes coming to Illinois STM Insurance Plans

Illinois lawmakers have taken steps to limit the maximum duration of short-term medical plans (STM plans) from 360 days to 180 days. Earlier this year, Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill that would apply this limitation, but Illinois lawmakers had enough votes to override that veto. Bill SB1737 is due to go into effect on 1/1/2019. The bill states that STM plans can only be for a duration of 180 days. When a STM plan ends there is a mandatory 60 day break before starting another STM plan. United Healthcare and other carriers are stating that any plan that has been signed up before 1/1/19 will be honored for the duration of the contract. The STM contracts in force prior to the implementation of the 180 day duration of the term rule, will be honored for the duration of the term that was written in the members original STM contract....

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Member Announcements
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NIBA NYC 2019 Keynote Speaker "Father of Financial Futures"

The NIBA is pleased to announce renowned financial innovator and entrepreneur, Dr. Richard Sandor will deliver the keynote address at our NYC Conference. If you have not yet registered please take a minute to do so as this event tends to fill up quickly. Richard L. Sandor is chairman and chief executive officer of Environmental Financial Products LLC, which specializes in inventing, designing, and developing new financial markets with a special emphasis on investment advisory services. EFP was established in 1998 and was the predecessor company and incubator to the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the European Climate Exchange (ECX) and the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange (CCFE). Dr. Sandor is the author of Good Derivatives: A Story of Financial and Environmental Innovation, published in 2012, and the lead author of Sustainable Investing and Environmental Markets: Opportunities in a New Asset Class, published in 2015 (by World Scientific). His new book “How...

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Member Announcements
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NIBA Advisory Group

On November 29, the Advisory Group (AG) of the NIBA held its annual meeting at the Union League Club, Chicago. This committee meets one afternoon each year to discuss ideas which are intended to help the NIBA grow and to remain effective and valuable to our members. This year’s meeting overwhelmingly confirmed the Association’s mission of education and recommended several initiatives to the Board of Directors, including new levels of communication between NIBA’s committees and its members. Rodney Dow, The Dow Corp. is the NIBA board member chairing this committee for the third year. Board members Melinda Schramm, Mike Burke, Steve Petillo and Tom Sandy also sit on the AG committee. Thank you to Mark Haraburda, Barchart; Kelly Hartman, CME Group; Mark Shore, Shore Capital Management; and Ginger Szala, Ginger Szala Ink - all of whom rotated off the group after serving three year terms. 2018 Advisory Group Members include:...

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Member Announcements
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Chairman's Letter - Dec 2018

December got its name from the Latin word decem, meaning ten, because it was originally the tenth month of the year in the Roman calendar which began in March. The winter days following December were not included as part of any month, and later were added to the beginning of the calendar as January and February...but December kept its name. In addition to Hanukkah, celebrated this year from Dec. 2 through Dec. 10 and Christmas, Dec. 25, December brings both National Egg Nog and National Fruitcake Month. The CME Group has completed its acquisition of NEX Group, PLC and its sub-brands including BrokerTec, EBS, Traiana and TriOptima. CME Group announced the acquisition will enable them to provide more efficient access to futures, cash and OTC markets, as well as post-trade services and data offerings which it believes will support more cost-effective trading and risk management. For more information, contact the...

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Member Announcements
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NIBA NYC Spring 2019

Planning is well under way for this spring's annual NIBA NYC event.  The date for the event has been set for April 10th and will be held at the prestigious New York Athletic Club in New York City.  Registration is open for this event which tends to fill up quickly so be sure to take a minute and reserve your spot.  This year's planning committee is Mike Burke (mike@highgroundtrading.com), Steve Petillo (spetillo@straitsfinancial.com) and Melinda Schramm (melinda@futuresrep.com).  Please feel free to reach out with suggestions on sessions topics or speakers. Register here for NIBA NYC Spring 2019

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Member Announcements
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Options on Futures as Strategic Investment Vehicles

A new report from Tabb Group explores why more companies are using instruments like options on futures. From explosive growth in electronic trading to regulatory tailwinds incentivizing their use, options on futures present expanded opportunities in today’s financial markets. Read case studies on how options on futures enhance many hedging and trading strategies – and deliver more cost efficiencies than over-the counter alternatives. [Read Report]

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Member Announcements
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Chairman's Letter - November 2018

When January and February were added to the Roman calendar and November became the eleventh month of the year, it retained its original Latin name novem meaning nine -- I think I’ve got that right this month Rob! (See last month’s correction) November in the United States means Thanksgiving, National Apple Cider Day (18th) and Black Friday (23th). Most of us are also familiar with Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year. But Cyber Tuesday, organized and presented by DePaul University, Downtown Campus is a not-to-be missed event for NIBA members. Now in its 5th year, this year’s program theme is CyberRisk Evolution, and it will focus on four main topics: * Emerging cyber threats * Supply chain security * Evolving Insurance * Privacy Issues I’ve enjoyed all the previous years’ events, and find that perspective from businesses which include but are not solely focused on the...

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Member Announcements
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NIBA Advisory Group

Four years ago, NIBA created an Advisory Group (AG). The AG includes participants from all areas of the derivatives industry --including among others, regulation, agriculture, marketing, legal, education and brokerage. The purpose of the group is to advise, suggest and create dialogue which will help the board of directors develop and implement programs which meet its mission to provide education, compliance information and revenue-generating ideas to our members. Rodney Dow, (The Dow Corp) is the NIBA board member who currently chairs the AG, which meets once each year. This year’s meeting is scheduled for November 28. The Advisory Group for the 2018 Meeting includes: * Mackenzie Billings, CME Group (Exchange Issues) * Mike Dancey, Managed Accounts Research, Inc. (Managed Funds) * Rob DeMuria, Compliance Supervisors, Inc. (NFA Regulation/Compliance) * Paul Georgy, Allendale, Inc. (Agriculture & IB Issues) * Dr. Carl Luft, DePaul University (Education Initiatives) * Tom McCarthy, Liccar (Accounting/Tax...

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Member Announcements
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A Correction from Melinda Schramm...

Rob DeMuria, Compliance Supervisors Inc., noticed something wrong in the October Chairman’s Letter posted two weeks ago. I wrote: “In Latin, ‘octo’ means eight. October, the eighth month of the year is recognized traditionally throughout the world as the gateway to winter.” October is obviously not the eighth month of the year!  I went wrong when I edited my own writing, and deleted a portion of the paragraph. It should have read, “In Latin, ‘octo’ means eight. October, the eighth month of the year in the old         Roman calendar (prior to the addition of January and February into the calendar    to make a 12-month year), is recognized traditionally throughout the world as the gateway to winter.” No, I wasn’t inserting wrong info just to see if anyone reads the Chairman’s Letter -- I just goofed! Thanks to Rob, longtime NIBA Service Provider and Advisory Group member, for the correction.

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