Rostin Benham

Rostin Behnam is an American lawyer and government official who serves as Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission at the moment.

On January 4, 2022, Rostin Behnam was sworn in as the 15th Chairman of the CFTC after being unanimously approved by the Senate. Chairman Behnam was proposed by President Biden as the agency’s head.

Chairman Behnam formerly held the position of CFTC Commissioner from September 2017. The Commission’s members chose Commissioner Behnam to serve as acting chairman beginning on January 21, 2021.

Chairman Behnam worked as a proprietary equities trader in New York City following his graduation from Georgetown University before attending Syracuse University to earn his law degree. Chairman Behnam worked as an intern with the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement in the New York Regional Office while he was a law student.

Following graduation, he returned to his home state of New Jersey and joined the state’s Office of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Securities. Chairman Behnam practiced law in New York City after leaving the Bureau of Securities.

Behnam stated in October 2022 that he was “impressed” by cryptocurrency exchange FTX’s application to allow its US operation, FTX.US, to clear customers’ margin-backed derivatives trades without the use of intermediaries.

• Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman