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Thank you to Brookings for inviting me to give my farewell remarks as I depart from the Commission and retire from 23 years of federal service. For the last time, I will give the disclaimer that my views are my own as a Commissioner and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission or my fellow Commissioners.
I have been reflecting on my public service under four Presidents and today I am feeling nostalgic. I have had such a good run. I want to express my gratitude to so many. First and foremost, I’m grateful to my wife and children. I am grateful to President Biden and President Obama for believing and trusting in me with three Presidential nominations. I’m grateful to those Senators in both parties who have actively supported me and unanimously confirmed me twice. I am grateful to the leaders with which I have had the privilege to serve, including my fellow Commissioners. I am also grateful to all my staff, the hundreds of people who have worked for me and put their trust in my leadership.
Never could I have planned or envisioned such a meaningful and fulfilling career. All I knew was that I was following my passion to make a difference in our financial system. I have always wanted our financial system to serve everyone, not just powerful interests. And along the way, I learned from each of the leaders I worked for—my SEC enforcement leaders, SEC Chairs Chris Cox and Mary Schapiro, and at Treasury, Neil Barofsky, the first Special Inspector General for TARP (or SIGTARP) before me.
Never could I have imagined that my work would get the notice of President Obama who appointed me as the SIGTARP in 2012. I can share that it was entirely daunting to be a 41-year-old career staffer sitting on the same Senate Banking confirmation panel with Jay Powell. Of course, that meant that I did not get many questions.
But don’t worry. Senate Banking would make up for that this past summer when I got two plus hours of questions in my confirmation hearing for FDIC Chair.
At SIGTARP, I was forged by fire, as were all of us who worked to strengthen the financial system in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair supported me for FDIC Chair this summer drawing on the work that we did during the financial crisis. Last year, I was at Treasury and ran into former Secretary Paulson who remembered me and said, “Those were the days. Look at what we did for the economy.”
SIGTARP is also where I honed my leadership of white-collar law enforcement. We worked closely with DOJ to bring justice and accountability to just about every major Wall Street financial institution and 465 criminal defendants. This includes 76 bankers who courts sentenced to prison for crisis-related crimes.
I continue to feel tremendous affection and gratitude to all those who served at SIGTARP as I learned invaluable lessons about how to lead an organization. SIGTARP is where I found my voice and the courage to speak truth to power. It was a necessity when testifying before Congress and meeting with Treasury Secretaries, the Federal Reserve Chair, the FDIC Chair, and Attorneys General.
As SIGTARP was winding down, I was fortunate to be contacted by several Senators and President Biden’s White House about a possible next appointment. Various financial regulators were discussed.
I raised the possibility of the CFTC. First, I had always enjoyed being a market regulator. Second, I was interested in climate-related financial issues, and the Chairman had sponsored a climate report and was speaking a lot on climate issues. Third, the CFTC was the only regulator of cryptocurrency trading, and I had been teaching cryptocurrency regulation at two law schools. As a Commissioner, I was pleased to prioritize all three of these areas, broadening crypto out to technology, as I sponsored the Technology Advisory Committee.
The accomplishment that I am most proud about in my tenure is that derivatives markets worked well, that they remained resilient, vibrant, and had integrity. Since my testimony at my CFTC confirmation hearing in 2022, I have always said that ensuring that markets worked well would be my highest priority. This was so critical because the markets the CFTC regulates tie directly to the economy. That tie is something that I have had the privilege to see firsthand. What incredible experiences I have had to get out of Washington and go on agriculture tours and energy tours, to meet with people who are feeding and fueling our world. To truly understand the way markets work, you have to engage with those who rely on the markets and who need them the most.
I’m also proud of the Technology Advisory Committee for its work on future of finance issues. I’m grateful to the Committee members who we picked because they are well regarded experts in cryptocurrency, stablecoins, blockchain, AI, cyber, and Fintech, and who come from all different viewpoints. We held public forums, and the Committee issued two landmark reports, the first on Decentralized Finance, and the second on Responsible AI in Financial Markets.
As I contemplate the future of financial services regulation, my thoughts keep returning to an area that I speak a lot about—promoting market resilience. Resilience is defined as the ability to bounce back quickly from setbacks. U.S. markets and global markets have and will continue to experience periods of volatility and stress.
I arrived at the Commission in early 2022, in a time of geopolitical uncertainty. The economy was recovering from the pandemic, suffering supply chain disruption, and oil and gas markets were at record-high levels of volatility and prices after the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Fortunately, what I found was that the post-crisis reforms through the Dodd Frank Act, other regulations, and regulatory supervision, have built up resilience. As a result, our markets have withstood significant stress and volatility, including last month. Our economy has been better for it.
As the current Administration pursues a deregulatory agenda in the name of growth, care should be taken not to remove the load-bearing resilience built into markets—resilience that has resulted in financial stability and protected our economy. Regulators should not have to sacrifice growth for financial stability. These are not mutually exclusive goals. Regulators should promote both. Growth is important for markets. Growth requires a regulatory environment where markets are financially stable and resilient during times of volatility, uncertainty, and stress.
I am concerned about big swings between more regulation and deregulation with each change of party in the White House. This leads to uncertainty in markets. It would be better for our markets and financial system if regulators could follow a steady, consistent path. That would create the foundation for a resilient, stable, and vibrant financial system and economy.
It’s a really tough challenge—one that requires independent regulators engaging with each other on a bipartisan basis and engaging with many stakeholders who use and need U.S. markets. I plan to continue to share my voice, and I will always be rooting for the CFTC. After all, you can take the girl out of public service. But you can’t take public service out of the girl.
