Reports said that Congressional lawmakers confirmed the nomination of Rostin Behnam, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) who had been serving as acting chairperson, to assume his position on a more permanent basis.
It has been reported that members of the US Senate approved President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the CFTC. Behnam has served as a commissioner since 2017 and acting chair following the departure of Heath Tarbert in January.
However, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry in October, Behnam requested lawmakers consider expanding the authority of the CFTC, given the emerging digital asset market. He said that the CFTC had been “aggressively pursuing enforcement cases” in the crypto space, likening its approach to police officers doing their duty.
Behnam said:
“Given the size, the scope and the scale of this emerging market, how it’s interfacing and affecting retail customers, and with the scale of the growth being so rapid, potential financial stability risks in the future, I think it’s critically important to have a primary cop on the beat.”
The report said that the confirmation came the same day President Biden announced his picks for two additional commissioners at the CFTC. There are currently only two commissioners currently serving at the CFTC out of the normal five, and with the expected departure of Stump in February 2022, Biden will have the opportunity to completely reshape the Commission with four open positions.
Likewise, in December, the US President announced he planned to nominate Emory University law professor Kristin Johnson and Christy Goldsmith Romero, a former senior counsel in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division. Such a large change to the CFTC leadership could easily have an impact on regulation and enforcement of the crypto space.
Currently, the Securities and Exchange Commission, CFTC, and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network handle digital asset regulation in the country, but with different jurisdictional claims, resulting in a patchwork approach companies must navigate to legally operate.
Thus, during Behnam’s time as acting chair, the Commissions has slapped Tether and Bitfinex with a $42.5 million fine and reached a settlement with crypto exchange BitMEX to pay a $100 million civil monetary penalty.
Source: Cointelegraph