Our industry has certainly transformed over the past decade. Much of this transformation stems from new rules and regulations, some of which are aimed at addressing the use of technology in the futures industry. As we are all aware, effective March 1, 2016, each and every NFA Member firm must adopt and enforce an information systems security program (“ISSP”). If you are not aware that this requirement exists, we encourage you to attend this session! NFA issued an interpretative notice approved by its Board of Directors on August 20, 2015 that provides guidance regarding information systems security practices that Member…...

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 [email protected] 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 NFA and NIBA members open, not to fix any specific individual concerns. This month’s questions were selected from those submitted by NIBA members. The answers were supplied by NFA…...

March 16, 2016 Mr. Christopher J. Kirkpatrick Secretary of the Commission Commodity Futures Trading Commission Three LaFayette Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW Washington, DC 20581 RE: Proposed Rulemaking on Regulation Automated Trading (“Reg AT”) RIN 3038-AD52 VIA ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION Mr. Kirkpatrick: NIBA appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (“Commission” or “CFTC”) proposed rulemaking on Regulation Automated Trading (“Reg AT”). Founded in 1991, NIBA is a trade association of registered derivatives professionals whose members include Introducing Brokers (“IBs”), Commodity Trading Advisors (“CTAs”) and Associated Persons. Our members handle transactions for customers in the futures, options, forex…...

For the last several months Cybersecurity has been on everyone’s radar. Now that the implementation deadline has passed, many NIBA IBs have put something basic in place. For those NIBA members who may still be looking to fine tune their program, policy and/or procedures, we’d like to offer a potential solution. Courtesy of Turnkey Trading Partners, the NIBA has obtained the following Cybersecurity questionnaire for you. Turnkey has been using this document to best determine how to implement Cybersecurity policies for nearly 100 CFTC registrants since the beginning of this year. If you have any questions or concerns after reviewing this…...

1. During the course of an NFA audit, when an item is noted in the audit report, how is that viewed internally by NFA?  This depends on a number of factors. The purpose of examinations is to review compliance with NFA rules and CFTC regulations. NFA’s philosophy has always been to provide education and direction to its members to ensure they understand their regulatory obligations. When instances of non-compliance are noted, firms are expected to come into compliance and demonstrate how it will be achieved. There are several factors NFA considers when evaluating examination findings: number of violations, repeat nature…...

The cyber security industry has gotten great at boundary defense.  “Firewalls, Firewalls, Firewalls” – that’s all you heard for a long time emanating from the boardroom.  Well the times they have changed.  Now there are so many regulatory bodies and frameworks to be in compliance with, it is a struggle to keep every mandate straight.  Questions like: ”Is your networking properly segmented?”, “How often are passwords changed?”, “what is your password complexity?”, “Is anyone checking those firewall logs?”  Meanwhile the bad guys are waiting for your cyber defenses to fail, or worse, finding their own way in.  The way they…...

The National Futures Association (“NFA”) Rules and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) regulations that govern the futures, forex, and swap trading industry are subject to continuous interpretation, amendment, and update. Staying abreast of these changes is a critical component of maintaining regulatory and operational compliance for your next examination. NFA regularly emails member firms to advise them of pertinent rule changes, amendments, and interpretive notices. These Notices to Members are archived on the NFA website and are an excellent resource for Introducing Brokers (“IB”) and Commodity Trading Advisors (“CTA”) to stay up to date with the most recent industrywide regulation…...

announces Dashboard webinar on February 25 In preparation for the launch of the NFA Dashboard, the new entryway to NFA’s Online Registration System (ORS), NFA will conduct a webinar on Thursday, February 25, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. CST. ORS is the web-based application that allows firms and individuals to apply for CFTC registration and NFA membership, and to manage their numerous filing requirements. Given that ORS is primarily a tool for Members, NFA staff solicited and received valuable Member feedback to improve the system’s usability and efficiency. The new Dashboard will summarize all of a firm’s outstanding compliance and registration…...

The NFA recently adopted an Interpretive Notice titled “Information Systems Security Programs” (Cybersecurity Interpretive Notice). This new NFA policy, which goes into effect March 1, 2016, requires FCMs, IBs, CTAs, CPOs, RFEDs, SDs and MSPs to implement a cybersecurity program in order to meet existing obligations to diligently supervise trading activities. Every registrant will be required to put in place policies and procedures reasonably designed to monitor and mitigate the risks of unauthorized access or attack on its information technology systems and to respond appropriately if such access or attack should occur. The new cybersecurity requirement is in addition to…...

Brian Clark is the CEO of Ascent Technologies, Inc. (www.Ascent.is), a company that offers a compliance platform for users to help them identify, track, and manage the vast amount of regulations with which their firm has to comply. Businesses on the wrong side of the law often feel as if they’d been bludgeoned by instruments of jurisprudence, bearing a distinct scarlet letter from the administration of executive-based (re: administrative) and judicial-based (re: State/Federal Court) actions. Gone are the days of quiet settlements, and second chances: regulators in all industries increasingly look for large and small regulatory violations alike. Playing defense…...