J. Christopher Giancarlo
The Honorable J. Christopher (“Chris”) Giancarlo served as 13th Chairman of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Giancarlo was first nominated as a CFTC Commissioner by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed in June 2014. He was subsequently nominated as CFTC Chairman by President Donald Trump and again unanimously confirmed in August 2017. He departed the CFTC in July 2019 following the expiration of his five-year term.
Named as one of “the most influential individuals in financial regulation” (International Financial Law Review), Mr. Giancarlo’s opinions on matters of financial market regulation are widely sought after and readily accepted for publication in major online and print media. As CFTC Chairman, Chris served as a member of the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Committee, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, and the Executive Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions and participated in meetings of the Financial Stability Board. Giancarlo has testified twenty times before the US Congress and the UK and European Parliaments.
Mr. Giancarlo is Senior Counsel to the international law firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher. In addition, he serves as Chairman of the Board of Common Securitization Solutions LLC, a joint venture between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and on the Advisory Board of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. Mr. Giancarlo also serves as an independent director of the American Financial Exchange, the sponsor of Ameribor and Ameribor Futures.
Before entering public service, Giancarlo served as Executive Vice President of financial services firm GFI Group Inc., leading its initial public offering, and as Executive Vice President & U.S. Counsel of Fenics Software. He also served as Chairman of the French American Academy. Previously, he practiced law in New York and London as a partner in the law firms of Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner and Giancarlo & Gleiberman and an associate with Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle.
Giancarlo is a renowned blockchain technology advocate, a “Top 25 Crypto Lawyer” by the American Crypto Association and key contributor to the global discourse on digital assets. Under his administration, the CFTC oversaw the launch of the first bitcoin futures contracts, created LabCFTC as the agency’s stakeholder in the digital evolution of derivatives trading markets, published primers on virtual currencies and smart contracts and entered into FinTech cooperation agreements with several overseas regulators. Mr. Giancarlo was Founding Co-Editor In Chief: eSecurities: Trading and Regulation on the Internet (Leader Publications). Mr. Giancarlo has discussed digital technology on broadcast television and radio and numerous conferences and podcasts.
Mr. Giancarlo is the founder of the Digital Dollar Project (DigitalDollarProject.org), a partnership between Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and the Digital Dollar Foundation to advance exploration of a United States Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The purpose of the Project is to encourage research and public discussion on the potential advantages of a digital dollar, convene private sector thought leaders and actors, and propose possible models to support the public sector.
Mr. Giancarlo received his J.D. in 1984 from Vanderbilt University School of Law and graduated with a B.A. in 1981 Phi Beta Kappa from Skidmore College. Mr. Giancarlo is a member of the bar (1985) of the State of New York. Among other honors, Mr. Giancarlo has been awarded: “Contribution to Regulatory Reform” by IFLR Americas (2020);“The Freedom of the City,” from The City of London (May, 2019); and “Person of the Decade,” from The French American Academy (October 2017).
