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On November 2, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a press release announcing organizational changes to several areas of the agency’s operating divisions. According to CFTC Chairman Heath P. Tarbert, these changes are intended to better align the agency’s structure with its strategic objectives.

As depicted in the agency’s new organizational chart, the changes create new divisions and reorganize existing divisions as described in the following:

  • Division of Data: The CFTC receives and reviews troves of market data on a daily basis. Expanding its ability to accurately capture, review, and utilize the data has been a years-long objective of the agency. This new division centralizes the agency’s data functions, which were previously spread out between the Division of Market Oversight (DMO) and the Office of Data and Technology (ODT). The CFTC brought in Dr. Tamara Roust to oversee the new data division with Dan Bucsa, formerly Chief of Staff to Commissioner Dawn DeBerry Stump, as Deputy Chief responsible for policy and standards concerning data reporting across the agency. The Division of Data will report to the Commission as a whole.
  • Market Participants Division: The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) has been combined with the Office of Customer Education and Outreach, under the leadership of current DSIO Director Joshua B. Sterling. This division will continue to report to the Chairman.
  • Legal Division: This Division combines the Office of General Counsel (OGC) with the Office of the Executive Secretariat, to be led by current CFTC General Counsel Daniel J. Davis. The Legal Division will continue to report to the Commission as a whole.
  • Division of Administration: Anthony C. Thompson, former director of the Office of Executive Director, will lead this new division that combines the Executive Director functions with the customer service elements of the former ODT. With ODT’s personnel being moved into this division and the Division of Data, ODT will cease to be an operating division of the agency. The Administration Division will report to the Commission.

Finally, the CFTC moved personnel from the former DSIO’s examinations team based in New York to become an examination team under the oversight of the Division of Clearing and Risk, in recognition that many of the registered clearing organizations are located in New York.

These organizational changes likely will not significantly impact the day-to-day operations of the agency’s staff or their interactions with market participants, but the changes do highlight the areas of agency focus, such as market data in particular.