Rostin Behnam served as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s 15th Chairman after serving as both Acting Chairman and Commissioner from 2017 through 2021.

As chairman of the agency, Commissioner Behnam focused on transitioning the CFTC from the rule-writing era that dominated its implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act to an agency that moves in lockstep within its mandate in addressing the issues presented by the rapidly evolving derivatives markets. With technology as a predominant driver of change, recognizing new risks and the need to adapt the agency’s oversight responsibilities, he has worked to implement rules and dedicate resources to enhance risk management and resilience, strengthen customer protections, promote efficiency and innovation, improve reporting and data policy and promote international comity. In addition, he prioritized modernizing and updating CFTC’s administration, including appointing the first-ever Chief Diversity and Artificial Intelligence Officers, and its first Chief Data Scientist.

Behnam received his B.A. from Georgetown University and worked as a proprietary equities trader before pursuing a Juris Doctorate at Syracuse University. He recently was named a Distinguished Fellow of Georgetown’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife and three children.