Biden nominates Democrats to lead U.S. commodities regulator

September 13, 2021

By Pete Schroeder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House announced Monday that President Joe Biden had nominated Rostin Behnam as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Kristin Johnson to serve as a commissioner at the agency.

Behnam is serving as acting chair of the derivatives regulator, which he has been leading since Biden was sworn in in January. Benham has been a CFTC commissioner since 2017, and previously served as senior counsel to Senator Debbie Stabenow, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Johnson is a law professor at Emory University, where she specializes in financial risk management law and derivatives. Both would fill Democratic posts at the five-member bipartisan commission.

If confirmed, Johnson would ensure Democrats retain a majority at the CFTC. Democratic Commissioner Dan Berkovitz announced Thursday he would be stepping down from the agency on Oct. 15. His exit will leave the agency split between Behnam and Commissioner Dawn Stump, a Republican.

(Reporting by Pete Schroeder; editing by Grant McCool)

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