White House Weighs First Democratic Nominees for CFTC (1)

The White House is considering a bipartisan slate of nominations for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be the first Democratic picks for a major Wall Street regulator during the second Trump administration.

Among the contenders for two open Democratic commissioner positions are Matt MacKenzie, a lobbyist at market-making firm Optiver, Bill Rockwood, general counsel to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Ari Officer, a trader that helps oversee prediction markets at Jump Trading, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified as no final decisions have been made on the nominations.

Among the people under consideration for two GOP slots are Nathan Anonick, Republican counsel to the Senate Agriculture Committee who oversees the panel’s CFTC and derivatives portfolio, and Chelsea Pizzola, a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher who previously served as a senior aide to former CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert, said some of the people.

The White House intends to nominate “America First” candidates in the near future, a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss plans. The official declined to address whether any Democrats would be nominated and said everything is speculation until President Donald Trump makes an announcement.

Pizzola, Rockwood and Gillibrand’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment. Anonick declined to comment through the Senate Agriculture Committee’s spokesperson. The CFTC, MacKenzie and Officer also declined to comment.

Currently, newly-arrived Chairman Michael Selig is the only member of what’s intended to be a bipartisan, five-person commission. Typically, the chairman is from the party that controls the White House and the other four commissioners include two Democrats and two Republicans.

Trump hasn’t nominated people for Democratic seats at a range of key regulators, including those overseeing Wall Street such as the Securities and Exchange Commission. The lack of picks has drawn criticism from some lawmakers and fueled speculation over whether the administration would look to fill those seats at traditionally bipartisan agencies.

The CFTC historically regulates the swaps and derivatives markets but now also oversees surging prediction markets, where participants place money on real world events.

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The agency is also poised to gain greater oversight of the digital asset industry if Congress passes crypto market structure legislation under consideration. The US House passed a version in July and the Senate Banking Committee is set to consider its version next week.

Key senators have pushed for Democratic CFTC commissioners as they negotiate a path forward on the legislation.

--With assistance from Josh Wingrove.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Lydia Beyoud in Washington at lbeyoud2@bloomberg.net;
Isis Almeida in Chicago at ialmeida3@bloomberg.net;
Nicola M White in Washington at nicwhite@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Megan Howard at mhoward70@bloomberg.net

Ben Bain

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