Congressional lawmakers confirmed the nomination of Rostin Behnam, a commissioner on the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee who had been serving as performing chairperson, to imagine his place on a extra everlasting foundation.
In a Wednesday night voice vote, members of the U.S. Senate approved President Joe Biden’s choose to steer the CFTC. Behnam has served as a commissioner since 2017 and performing chair following the departure of Heath Tarbert in January.
Confirmed by voice vote: Government Calendar #539 Rostin Behnam to be Chairman of the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee.
— Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) December 16, 2021
At his affirmation listening to earlier than the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Vitamin, and Forestry in October, Behnam requested lawmakers contemplate increasing the authority of the CFTC, given the rising digital asset market. He mentioned that the CFTC had been “aggressively pursuing enforcement circumstances” within the crypto area, likening its method to law enforcement officials doing their responsibility.
“Given the dimensions, the scope and the dimensions of this rising market, the way it’s interfacing and affecting retail clients, and with the dimensions of the expansion being so fast, potential monetary stability dangers sooner or later, I believe it’s critically essential to have a main cop on the beat,” mentioned Behnam on the time.
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The affirmation got here the identical day President Biden introduced his picks for 2 further commissioners on the CFTC. A Wednesday discover from the White Home reveals he plans
There are at present solely two commissioners at present serving on the CFTC out of the conventional 5, and with the anticipated departure of Stump in February 2022, Biden could have the chance to utterly reshape the Fee with 4 open positions. In December, the U.S. President introduced he deliberate to appoint Emory College legislation professor Kristin Johnson and Christy Goldsmith Romero, a former senior counsel within the Securities and Trade Fee’s Enforcement Division.
CFTC commissioner: Company doesn’t have enforcement sources with out Congress
Such a big change to the CFTC management might simply have an effect on regulation and enforcement of the crypto area. At the moment, the Securities and Trade Fee, CFTC and Monetary Crimes Enforcement Community deal with digital asset regulation within the nation, however with totally different jurisdictional claims, leading to a patchwork method corporations should navigate to legally function. Throughout Benham’s time as performing chair, the Commissions has slapped Tether and Bitfinex with a $42.5 million nice and reached a settlement with crypto change BitMEX to pay a $100 million civil financial penalty.
