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…...

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…...

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,…...

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…...

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 ([email protected]), Steve Petillo ([email protected]) and Melinda Schramm ([email protected]).  Please feel free to reach out with suggestions on sessions topics or speakers. Register here for NIBA NYC Spring 2019...

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]...

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…...

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…...

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…...

Executive Representative Reminder and Board and Nominating Committee Members Whose Terms Will Expire at the Board’s 2019 Regular Annual Meeting Executive Representative Reminder In August 2016, NFA’s Bylaws were amended to implement an electronic voting process for Directors’ elections, contested Nominating Committee member elections and Articles’ amendments approval votes. If elections are necessary, NFA has engaged Corporate Election Services (CES), a third-party service provider, to administer the electronic voting process. To facilitate the electronic voting process, each Member shall designate an Executive Representative who will have the Member’s sole authority to sign nominating petitions, receive notices of Member meetings and…...