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....
HOUSEKEEPING, REMINDERS AND UPDATES
NATIONAL FUTURES ASSOCIATION CPO and CTA Quarterly Reporting Requirements for Period Ending March 31, 2016 Each commodity pool operator (“CPO”) Member and commodity trading advisor (“CTA”) Member with reporting requirements under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Regulation 4.27 is required to comply with National Futures Association (“NFA”) quarterly reporting requirements. NFA Compliance Rule 2-46 imposes quarterly reporting requirements on CPOs operating commodity pools and on CTA that direct trading of commodity trading interests. The CTA quarterly report (“Form CPR”) is used to collect general information about the reporting CTA and its trading program(s). For the period ending March 31, 2016,....
Oil and Gas: All Stored Up with Nowhere to Go – NYC Session Preview
At What Price will Crude Futures End 2016? Current forecasts for the end-year price level for US crude oil are in sharp disagreement, as market observers’ debate the effect of record high oil inventories, strong demand, and the impact sharp cuts to capital expenditures for drilling and expected energy company bankruptcies will have on new production. Price volatility for West Texas Intermediate futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange was high in the first quarter, with market participants whipsawed with a price plunge to a $26.05 bbl nearly 13-year low before rallying 61% to $41.90 five weeks later. Sentiment turned....
Changing Ownership of Crude Futures Open Interest/Status of Barrel Ownership- NYC Session Preview
Over the last 6 years the crude oil market has had a material change in market structure.The changing landscape of regulation, capital requirements and the withdraw of participation by certain market participants has changed the open interest formation. Open interest has basically double in this period while volumes have remain relatively unchanged. With the shift of the geographic demand to Asia across all commodities , it is interesting to note some of the uniqueness of Asia demand. The other feature of the market is the dramatic change in the forward curve.$100 crude had a backwardation of $20, now we live....
Celebrate CFTC SmartCheck Week
Celebrate SmartCheck WeekSM with us, April 11?17, by following us at our new U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) SmartCheck pages on Facebook and Twitter. SmartCheck Week is an effort to encourage all consumers to check the background of their financial professional at least once a year. The CFTC?s Office of Consumer Outreach encourages you to promote this week to your audience through social media, newsletters, and email. Templates for these communication methods are below and available for your use. Through these channels, we look forward to increasing contact with you and striving to improve investors? financial health. Everyone benefits....
April Chairman’s Letter
Dear Members – On March 1, 2016, the NFA’s Cybersecurity Interpretive Notice became effective. It requires NFA Member firms to adopt and enforce written policies and procedures to secure customer data and access to their electronic systems. The notice applies to all membership categories including IBs, CTAs, CPOs, swap dealers and forex dealers. During the past month and a half I’ve had several discussions with IBs and CTAs who were not aware of their obligations under this Notice, and what actions were needed in order to remain in compliance as NFA Members. On April 20, NIBA will host a panel....
The How, Why and When of Selecting a Fund Auditor
How or when to select or change a fund audit firm for your hedge fund, CTA or other alternative investment business can seem like a daunting decision for any fund manager. However, it can be done with the right considerations and processes in place. WHEN TO SELECT A FUND AUDITOR Many fund managers are under the assumption that since fund audits are typically performed at year end that they don’t need to search for a fund auditor until much later. However, it’s actually in a fund managers’ best interest to select their fund auditor as soon as a fund is....
The Value of Strategic Partnerships – Maximize Your Rate of Returns
Whether you are running a hedge fund, Introducing Broker, CTA, or CPO you are required to spend most of your time managing your investors, investments, and returns. In our regulated industry, you also need to hire an attorney, an auditor, a compliance expert, and an administrator that compiles your monthly performance results. These hires can be considered necessary evils. But if you hire the right team, you can extract more value to drive efficiency and reduce your business risk so you can focus more time on working with you investors, managing investments, and more importantly, making money. I have been....
NYC Cybersecurity Panel Preview
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....
Ask the NFA
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....