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

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Member Announcements
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Chairman's Letter - June 2018

Scholars generally agree that June is named after Lucius Junius Brutus (545-509 BC), the soldier-legislator credited with founding the Roman Republic after he overthrew its longstanding monarchy. In addition to being the most popular month for weddings in the United States, June also includes National Ice Cream Soda Day (June 20) and National Take Your Dog to Work Day (June 23). On June 5, NFA announced its intent to develop proficiency requirements for individuals who engage in swaps activities. The program will be applicable to all APs at FCMs, IBs, CTAs, CPOs and APs at swaps dealers and accessible online. NFA has formed an Advisory Committee to develop the requirements, and invites members to provide input or suggestions. Call Kristen Scaletta, Associate Director of Communications at (312)781-7860 or send her an email, kscaletta@nfa.futures.org. The CFTC held an open meeting on June 4 to discuss among other issues: (i) proposed rule...

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Member Announcements
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CME SOFR Futures

CME Group: Now Available: SOFR Futures Based on extensive customer input, CME Group has launched 3-Month and 1-Month SOFR futures contracts. Endorsed by the Alternative Reference Rate Committee (ARRC) in June 2017, the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) is a broad Treasuries overnight repo financing rate published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in cooperation with the U.S. Office of Financial Research starting April 3, 2018. SOFR Futures trade alongside highly-liquid Eurodollar, Fed Fund and Treasury futures to offer enhanced spread trading capabilities via CME Globex intercommodity spreads and capital efficiencies through margin offsets. Launched May 7, in the first two days of trading, sixty global firms participated in trading activity and open interest reached 2,500 contracts. Learn more

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Member Announcements
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Chairman's Letter - May 2018

During the late Russian Empire (about 211-476 CE), May or “mayovka” literally referred to a picnic in the countryside in the early days of the month. Will complying with NFA Anti-Money Laundering regulation changes be a “picnic in the countryside” for registrants? Under the changes FCMs and IBs must identify, and be able to verify the identity of the beneficial owners of legal entity customers opening new accounts after the effective date of the rule change, May 11, 2018. Additionally, FCMs and IBs must include risk-based ongoing Customer Due Diligence (CDD) procedures in their AML programs. Many FCMs began modifying systems and requirements to implement these changes from approximately August, 2016 when they were announced by FinCEN, so for many IBs, rule change will not cause difficulties. Contact your FCM for assistance in understanding the requirement and implementation. Also on May 11, NFA issued a Notice to Members regarding a...

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Member Announcements
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NIBA NYC 2018

NIBA at NYAC Over 360 individuals registered for last week's NIBA Event at the New York Athletic Club, making the biggest meeting NIBA has ever presented in New York. Thank you to all our sponsors and expert speakers who provided a program that educated and informed, alongside a wonderful reception where colleagues networked and old friends met to catch up. Thank you also to Traders Fulcrum who directly reached out to industry professionals in the New York area to include them in the event. The University of Chicago and Columbia University attended NIBA's New York meeting for the first time. These universities, along with several others, will be in the Quant Corner again at our September 13 Annual Membership meeting in Chicago. Program sessions from this NYC meeting will be posted on the NIBA website in the next few weeks. For follow-up, questions or suggestions for next year's program, contact...

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Member Announcements
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What is SOFR?

New Whitepaper: What is SOFR? This note offers an introduction to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) and CME One-Month and Three-Month SOFR futures. It compares the underlying interest rate exposures for SOFR futures versus those for other short-term interest rate futures, both to indicate normal spread relationships and to highlight characteristics that futures users should bear in mind when hedging or spreading. Read Paper

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Member Announcements
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NYC Compliance Session Preview

The second session of this year’s NYC meeting will concentrate on three areas of compliance which are most often queried by our members. The session will begin at 2:35pm, and will consist of three 15-minute presentations on the following issues: (i) Recording - I need to record that? Presented by Rob DeMuria, President, Compliance Supervisors Intl., Inc. (CSI). CSI, established in 1994, provides full compliance and financial services, as well as online training courses in ethics, AML and Cybersecurity to NFA Members. CSI is headquartered in New Jersey, and maintains an office in Chicago. rdemuria@compliancesupervisors.com Rob will focus on the extreme challenges our community faces with supervising, recording and storing various forms of communications/solicitations between brokers and leads/customers. He’ll offer some reasonable compliance solutions for small to mid-size firms. (ii) Cybersecurity - What you need to know about NFA Interpretive Notice 9070. Presented by Arthur Kenigstain, Manager, New York Compliance...

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Member Announcements
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Annual Thank You Reception

A Great Big Thank You! Over 35 NIBA sponsors and supporters attended our annual Thank You Reception held March 3 at the Union League Club, Chicago. FCMs, exchanges and service provider members got together with NIBA board members to catch up on sponsorship opportunities and preview association events currently scheduled for 2018. If you would like to become a FCM or Exchange member or join as an NIBA Annual Sponsorship, contact Mike Burke, mikeb@highgroundtrading.com. Mike can answer questions about your current membership status, too. If you would like to become a Service Provider member or have questions about your current membership, contact Steve Petillo, spetillo@straitsfinancial.com.

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Member Announcements
3 min read

Chairman's Letter - April 2018

The Romans gave this month the Latin name Aprilis. While scholars debate the exact derivation of the name, traditionalists believe it is most commonly refers to the “season when trees and flowers begin to open.” In Finnish, April is huhtikuu, the time for burning and clearing farmland. In Slovene, recorded as far back as 1466, mali traven is the month when plants start growing. To “open” April, the CFTC has posted a new podcast on their website www.cftc.gov presented by Professor Scott Irwin, an expert in the importance of speculation and its effect on the markets. They also started out the month by issuing an order in a spoofing case originated in the CME wheat market which resulted in a $150,000 fine. NFA announced amendments to customer due diligence requirements which will become effective May 11, 2018. The rule will require the beneficial owners of legal entity customers be identified,...

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