Investor Newsletter
April 20, 2017
This April, National Futures Association (NFA) is celebrating its 11th year of participation in the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Money Smart Week, which runs from Saturday, April 22, 2017 through Saturday, April 29, 2017. This national initiative is dedicated to promoting financial literacy and education through events and workshops.
NFA will host a free webinar on Monday, April 24, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. CT/ 12:00 p.m. ET to educate investors about how to avoid financial scams and the importance of conducting thorough due diligence. The one-hour webinar includes presentations by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Office of Customer Education and Outreach, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.
During the webinar, experts from each agency will provide attendees with tools to help them identify investment fraud warning signs.
In addition, on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 NFA will join regulatory and enforcement agencies during the Financial Regulators Fair in Chicago. At this event, participating organizations, will distribute information on financial protection and investing, among other information.
Increased transparency for retail forex transactions
Customer protection is one of NFA's top priorities. To enhance customer protection for retail forex customers, NFA recently amended NFA Compliance Rule 2-36 to require forex dealer members (FDM) to provide customers, upon request, with certain transaction execution data.
The amendment, which became effective on March 31, 2017, provides retail forex customers with a framework for obtaining execution information to review the quality of the execution a customer received compared to that of other customers of the FDM. Under the amendment, an FDM is required, within 30 minutes of a customer request regarding an executed forex transaction of that customer, to provide the customer with the following transaction data for the 15 transactions in the same currency pair that occurred immediately before and after the customer's transaction (limited to those transactions that occur 15 minutes before and after the transaction).
- Execution date and time (to the nearest millisecond in Eastern time);
- Customer side (i.e., buy or sell);
- Quantity;
- Currency Pair;
- Execution price (including any mark-up);
- Commission and other charges assessed by the FDM (if applicable); and
- Currency denomination of commission or other charges.
For more information, please read NFA's November 25, 2016 submission letter to the CFTC.
SEC's nationwide public service campaign: Investor.gov
This content was written and provided by the US Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy.
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is extending the first nationwide public service campaign in the SEC’s history. The campaign encourages investors through television, radio and social media to research the background of investment professionals by using Investor.gov. In addition to raising awareness about investment fraud, the campaign will highlight how easy it is for investors to use their phones to conduct an investment professional background check. View the latest campaign videos.
Get the basics on the derivatives markets
Are you interested in learning the ins and outs of the derivatives markets? Check out FuturesFundamentals.com, an initiative launched by the CME Group in February 2014. Futures Fundamentals was created in an effort to offer risk management education to learners at all levels. The site incorporates a number of interactive elements designed to simplify complex market topics. The website also explains the role of futures markets in everyday life and provides an overview of derivatives to investors.
Ways you are revealing your password and how you can create a stronger one
When it comes to personal information, it is important to protect against potential threats. Although you may think you are using unique passwords, hackers have found ways to get to know their targets using social media and the Internet. It is crucial to understand that the information you share online can be viewed by the public (or hackers), and may be the key to cracking the code on your personal passwords. Find out how you may be accidentally revealing your password to hackers and ways to create stronger passwords.
In the first quarter of 2017, NFA issued Decisions, Complaints and Final Orders against the following NFA Member firms and individuals. Click on the name for more detailed information.