In a single
day, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig
replaced the heads of three of the agency’s most consequential offices, making
clear he intends to run a CFTC that looks and acts very differently from the
one he inherited.
The trio of
appointments, a former federal prosecutor to lead enforcement, a Goldman Sachs
and FCA veteran to handle international affairs, and a Capitol Hill insider to
manage Congressional relations, amounts to a near-complete overhaul of the
agency’s senior operating layer.
The
question now is what Selig actually does with that team.
The Chairman
took over from Acting Chairwoman Caroline Pham, whose tenure
reshaped the CFTC’s stance on prediction markets, perpetual futures, and
digital assets.
Selig has signaled continuity on crypto, but his enforcement pick in particular
suggests the agency won’t be soft on bad actors even as it pushes a
pro-innovation agenda.
Whether
those two goals can coexist at the CFTC is the central tension his new team
will have to navigate.
Former Prosecutor Takes
the Helm at Enforcement
David I.
Miller will lead the Division of Enforcement, joining from private practice
where he was a litigation partner at Greenberg Traurig and then Morgan Lewis.
His work there spanned white-collar defense, government investigations,
securities and commodities enforcement, and digital asset matters.
Before his
years at the defense bar, Miller spent nearly a decade as a government lawyer.
He served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York,
where he worked in the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force alongside
CFTC enforcement staff. He also prosecuted terrorism cases for the Justice
Department, served as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District
of Virginia, and worked as assistant general counsel at the CIA.
“He
brings to the Commission decades of experience as a federal prosecutor and
white-collar defense attorney, with a proven track record of defending market
participants against the novel legal theories of overzealous regulators,”
the Chairman said, adding that the division should be “focused on its core
purpose of policing fraud, abuse, and manipulation rather than setting
policy.”
Paul
Hayeck, who has served as acting enforcement director since June 2025, will
remain at the agency as chief of the Enforcement Division’s Complex Fraud Task
Force.
Goldman Sachs Veteran
Returns to International Office
Mel
Gunewardena gets a dual title: director of the Office of International Affairs
and Senior Markets Advisor to the Chairman, an unusual pairing that puts him
simultaneously in charge of cross-border regulatory coordination and inside the
Chairman’s advisory circle.
Gunewardena
has navigated between Wall Street and Washington more than once. He spent years
as a managing director in global markets trading at Goldman Sachs, Deutsche
Bank, and State Street, running prime brokerage and derivatives businesses
across three continents.
He then
joined the CFTC as chief market intelligence officer from 2019 to 2022, where
he led internal task forces during the COVID-19 disruptions and extreme
volatility in the crude oil, natural gas, and electricity markets. Most
recently, he served as a senior advisor for global markets to the chief
executive of the UK Financial Conduct Authority and chaired its Secondary
Markets Advisory Committee.
“I am
committed to helping ensure the United States, as the world’s largest
commodities and derivatives market, remains the most competitive and attractive
marketplace,” Gunewardena said. “I look forward to delivering
data-driven, forward-looking insights on market structure and risk management,
and providing guidance during periods of uncertainty.”
Mauricio
Melara, who has run the international office on an acting basis since January
2025, will stay on within the division.
The
appointment comes as Selig and SEC Chair Paul Atkins push forward a joint
initiative called “Project
Crypto,” aimed at coordinating rulemaking across both agencies on digital
assets.
Congressional Insider to
Handle Legislative Relations
Alan
Brubaker takes over the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs,
the CFTC’s primary interface with Congress and other federal bodies. He comes
from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where he served as
a senior advisor to Chairman James Comer of Kentucky and worked across multiple
oversight and investigation matters involving federal agencies.
Before
that, Brubaker was vice president of external affairs at Prudential Financial.
His background in agricultural and financial policy was a selling point for
Selig, who said Brubaker’s “congressional experience handling economic,
agricultural and financial policy matters” would be an asset as the CFTC
works with lawmakers on what the chairman described as “free market,
pro-innovation policies.”
“Agriculture
is arguably one of the most critical sectors of our economy,” Brubaker
said, “and I’m excited to help ensure America’s farmers, ranchers, and
food suppliers have fair and liquid markets for managing their global
risk.”
Selig has
moved quickly to assemble his team since taking the chairmanship. Last month,
the CFTC also flagged integrity
concerns in prediction markets after exchange operator Kalshi sanctioned two
traders for
alleged insider trading.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.
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