An FIF member would like to discuss whether FINRA could develop a technology-focused examination for technology professionals who require the Operations Professional registration as an alternative to the current Series 99 examination, which is operations focused. FIF created a sub-group for this topic and hosted a call in August. FIF has scheduled the next call for this sub-group for Thursday September 26 at 1 pm ET. If you are interested in participating in this discussion and are not a member of this sub-group, please contact fifinfo@fif.com, and we will add you to this sub-group.

FIF has scheduled a webinar on best execution for Monday October 7 at 3 pm ET. The moderator will be Chris Montagnino of Jordan & Jordan. The panelists will be from BXS, S3, The Karn Group and Trading Technologies. FIF has invited the members of the Compliance and Surveillance, Rule 605 and Rule 606 Working Groups to participate in this webinar.

FIF is excited to announce our annual Chicago event, sponsored by Cboe Global Markets. The event will take place on Wednesday October 9 at Cboe's offices at 433 West Van Buren Street, Chicago, IL 60607. After opening remarks from a Cboe representative, there will be two panels, one focusing on options market developments and the other focusing on technology and market data. Registration in the lobby begins at 2 pm CT. The speaking engagement will be from 3-4:30 pm CT, with refreshments and networking afterwards from 4:30-6 pm CT. FIF would like to thank Cboe Global Markets for sponsoring this event. Please register here to secure your spot. FIF events are free to attend for FIF Members. If you have any questions, please contact fifinfo@fif.com.

FIF posted three new PowerPoint outlines during August. The first outline reviews the calculations in the recent FINRA rule filings for prospective CAT costs. The second outline provides background on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by the SEC and other financial regulators to implement the Financial Data Transparency Act. The third outline covers the rule filing by the Options Clearing Corporation to implement a margin add-on charge for intraday and overnight trading activities. These outlines include links to relevant regulatory filings.

The next call for the OFR Repo Reporting Working Group will be on Tuesday September 3 at 11 am ET. The Working Group will review and discuss the FAQs recently published by the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research relating to the reporting of non-centrally cleared bilateral repos.