The U.S. Senate has confirmed Heath Tarbert as the new head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal derivatives regulator.
Tarbert, who most recently served as acting under secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Treasury, was confirmed Wednesday as the next chairman of the CFTC. He will take over from Christopher Giancarlo as the top derivatives regulator on July 15.
Before joining Treasury in 2017, Tarbert was a partner at Allen & Overy LLP, a London-based global law firm. He also has served in various branches of the U.S. government.
In addition to being a lawyer, he is a certified public accountant and holds a chartered financial analyst designation.
Giancarlo said in a statement that Tarbert is “highly qualified to lead the agency.” He noted that his priority has been to transform the CFTC into a “21st-century regulator for today’s digital markets.
“With Dr. Tarbert’s confirmation, I know the agency is in safe hands to continue this transition,” Giancarlo added.
Separately, the CFTC also named Nadia Zakir, executive vice president and deputy general counsel at the Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC (PIMCO), as the new chairwoman of its Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC).
“Ms. Zakir’s deep experience and knowledge of financial markets and regulatory policy will benefit the MRAC as it continues to tackle a number of critical market issues,” said CFTC commissioner Rostin Behnam.