US CFTC chair Behnam to step down as Trump prepares to take office

Source: Reuters

January 7, 2025 9:06 AM EST Updated 26 min ago


Jan 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Rostin Behnam will step down on the day Donald Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as president, a spokesperson for the agency said on Tuesday.

His departure on Jan. 20 would pave the way for Trump to name a successor who could be more aligned with his deregulatory agenda as Washington prepares for a new cadre of federal regulators.

Trump is expected to replace Behnam with one of the agency's Republican CFTC commissioners - Summer Mersinger or Caroline Pham - as acting chair. A permanent chair would need Senate confirmation and Trump's transition team is also considering external candidates.

A commissioner at the derivatives regulator since 2017, Behnam became acting chair in 2021 and was later given the role permanently. Prior to his CFTC stint, he was a senior counsel to Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-cftc-chair-behnam-step-down-jan-20-ft-says-2025-01-07/