What is Intelligence as a Service? Intelligence-as-a-Service (“IntaaS”) is the combination of automated domain expertise with traditional internet software. Imagine if your CRM came pre-filled with customer information, your taxes were pre-loaded and completed in your tax software, or your digital compliance system was pre-filled with all your data: this is the promise of IntaaS. Software-as-a-Service reduced the marginal cost…

Written by:      Mark E. Ruddy, Esq. Jessica I. Brown, CAMS Commodity Trading Advisors (“CTAs”) Third-Party Record Keeping Relief CTAs now have the ability to request relief from certain Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Regulation 4.33 and 4.7(c)(2) record-keeping requirements. CFTC Exemptive Letter No 17-24 provided CTAs relief from the requirement that books and records must be kept at the registrant’s…

Written By: Leslie Sutphen, President, Financial Markets Consulting, LLC There has been much talk about repealing most of the Dodd-Frank act now that we have a change of party in the Presidency. To many in the futures industry, this seems like a good thing; however, in determining whether the Volcker Rule and Title VII of Dodd Frank should be repealed,…

By: Scott Kruse – Turnkey Trading Partners The State of Illinois is bankrupt. Whether anyone will acknowledge that or not is up for debate. Readers who are not familiar with the perilous state of financial affairs in Illinois need look no further than any major news publication over the last two weeks. The situation has gotten so dire that even…

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry this morning voted overwhelmingly to confirm the nomination of J. Christopher Giancarlo as Chairman for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He has served as Acting Chairman since January. This paves the way for his nomination to move forward to consideration on the Senate floor. Read full CFTC Press Release Here

Recently, a new rule went into effect at the Department of Labor that may have some implications on your business.   To the extent that you recommend trading systems, CTAs or make investment recommendations to clients with retirement accounts, you should carefully review this information and possibly consult with an attorney on the implications to your business. On a high level,…

Written by: Matt Kluchenek, Patricia McDonald & Michael Sefton, Baker&McKenzie If you’ve been thinking about starting a hedge fund, you’ve likely encountered a byzantine array of options and requirements. Sorting through these options and requirements can be overwhelming. However, planning ahead and identifying key issues can clear a path and help you efficiently achieve your goal. In this article, we…

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…

By: Greg Baracy, Turnkey Trading Partners As everyone in the Commodity Futures Industry surely knows during March of 2016 the CFTC and NFA implemented cyber security obligations which were applied to all member firms. At that time Futures Commission Merchants (“FCMs”), Commodity Pool Operators (“CPOs”), Introducing Brokers (“IBs”), and Commodity Trading Advisors (“CTAs”) were all obligated to put in place…

Written by:    Mark E. Ruddy, Esq. Jessica I. Brown, CAMS COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION  Revisions to Form 8-R The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has revised Form 8-R, at the request of the National Futures Association (“NFA”).  Form 8-R is the application form for individuals registering as an associated person (“AP”), floor broker, floor trader or to be listed as…