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To: long-gone who wrote (30950)	3/31/1999 3:13:00 PM
From: Alex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116976

Futures Regulators Online To Fight Fraud <Picture> By Andrew Clark WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. futures industry regulators Wednesday launched a new Internet resource to allow investors to check the backgrounds of firms and individuals before doing business with them. The Web-based clearinghouse of disciplinary information, gathered from the National Futures Association, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and 14 major U.S. futures exchanges, covers more than 50,000 futures firms and salespeople. The Background Affiliation Status Information Center (BASIC) can be accessed through the Web site of the NFA, the industry"s self-regulatory organization, at nfa.futures.org. ''The BASIC system will help investors to protect themselves from fraud and abuse by making the disciplinary history of commodity professionals readily available,"" CFTC chairwoman Brooksley Born said at a news conference. ''While the Internet may be providing a new medium for con artists to perpetrate fraud, this system gives regulators and the public an Internet tool to fight back."" BASIC allows investors to search for companies or individuals with whom they may be considering doing business, and find detailed information on their disciplinary records. This includes any regulatory actions taken by the CFTC or NFA, as well as actions launched by specific exchanges since 1990. Also available are details of any NFA arbitration awards or CFTC reparations that they may have incurred. ''By providing tools that empower individual investors with the information needed to make smarter choices, market overseers can become...more focused on their core function of investor protection,"" NFA President Robert Wilmouth said at the news conference. The site will also make it easier for the public to file complaints against fraudulent futures market operators. Problems can be detailed online and will be automatically routed to the NFA"s compliance department for follow-up. Born said the futures market -- particularly at the retail level where the general public was involved -- still included a ""substantial level of fraudulent activity."" She said fraudsters were increasingly moving away from traditional tools like cold-calling toward ''spam"" e-mail and Internet advertising, and on-line investors should be wary. ''Our message is, don"t deal with people who won"t give you their background,"" she said. ''If you can"t get solid information about a firm or investment, you probably shouldn"t part with your money."" The NFA has provided similar information to the public through a toll-free number since 1991, but the group said it hoped the accessibility of the Web resource would allow more people to make use of the service. With the growing popularity of online trading, regulators in other sectors of the financial services industry are considering similar initiatives. The National Association of Securities Dealers said in January it would allow online access to its members" disciplinary records once it had cleared up legal issues related to the possible disclosure of criminal convictions.

To: long-gone who wrote (30950)	3/31/1999 4:39:00 PM
From: sea_urchin	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116976

I am not the one who decides who or what is subversive but the establishment that feels threatened. And, I can assure you, they are not concerned about you or your God-given rights --- whatever those are. To my understanding, God only gave Commandments. If you threaten the establishment it will take action against you --- like in any other country. Even though the US proclaims itself as a "free" and democratic country, I am quite sure that the establishment has its ways and means of dealing with those whom it regards as trouble makers. I didn't make the rules. Nor am I telling you to keep them. You can decide on the relative costs and benefits of keeping them or breaking them. But, whatever you choose, you will pay. No choice is for free.