Futures Industry Association (FIA)
The Futures Industry Association (FIA) is an international association of futures commission merchants, brokers, banks, and trading advisers operating in the United States, European, and Asian futures markets. The Futures Industry Association (FIA) is an international association of futures commission merchants, brokers, banks, and trading advisers operating in the United States, European, and Asian futures markets. With offices located in global financial centers, FIA's membership includes clearing firms, exchanges, clearinghouses, trading firms, and commodities specialists from 50 countries; as well as technology vendors, law firms, and other professional service providers. The Futures Industry Association (FIA) is a global industry organization for the futures, options, and listed derivatives markets. FIA currently represents futures clearing and trading firms, commodities specialists, vendors, and other industry-related professionals in some 50 nations with more than 350 companies.
What Is the Futures Industry Association (FIA)?
The Futures Industry Association (FIA) is an international association of futures commission merchants, brokers, banks, and trading advisers operating in the United States, European, and Asian futures markets.
The FIA provides information and education on futures markets and trading. It also represents the interest of its members by lobbying regulatory bodies and exchanges.
History of the Futures Industry Association
The FIA was established in 1955 in New York as the Association of Commodity Exchange Firms. It changed its name to the Futures Industry Association in 1978 and moved to Washington, D.C., which remains the site of its current headquarters. It began accepting overseas organizations in the mid-1980s.
A European outpost (FIA Europe) was founded in 1993 and an Asian office (FIA Asia) in 2012. The two merged with the original U.S. organization in 2016.
FIA currently represents futures clearing and trading firms, commodities specialists, vendors, and other industry-related professionals in some 50 nations with more than 350 companies. It maintains offices in Brussels, London, Singapore, and Washington, D.C.
The Mission of the Futures Industry Association
The FIA was founded to serve as a forum for ideas and discussion surrounding the futures industry. Since its inception, the FIA has promoted fair trade, worked with exchanges, educated consumers and customers, studied ways to reduce costs, prevented abuse of current market rules, and protected members against fraud.
The association states its mission as:
It regularly publishes white papers and sends letters and position papers to government agencies, regulatory authorities, and politicians on issues of interest to its industry.
Walt Lukken is the FIA’s current President and CEO (as of August 2021). Before joining FIA in 2012, Mr. Lukken was CEO of New York Portfolio Clearing, a capital-efficient derivatives clearinghouse jointly owned by NYSE Euronext and the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp (DTCC).
In order to promote competition, the FIA has lobbied governments and regulators against taxation on futures contracts and the mergers of futures markets.
Futures Industry Association Publications and Events
Like other trade groups, the Futures Industry Association offers online training and education for members. It hosts a variety of gatherings and events, including the Annual International Futures Industry Conference in Boca Raton, Fla., where it announces new inductees into its Futures Hall of Fame.
FIA also publishes industry-related research and opinion pieces along with advocacy, legal, and operational work for regulators and exchanges around the world. This also includes practical pieces aimed at derivatives education and training.
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