David Gillers to Step Down as Chief of Staff
WASHINGTON, D. C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today
announced that David Gillers will step down as Chief of Staff to
Commissioner Behnam on February 7. From 2021 until January 20, 2025,
Mr. Gillers served as Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer of
the agency, in which capacity he was the lead advisor to then-Chairman
Rostin Behnam on legal, policy and administrative matters, and was
responsible for the commission’s daily operations and its 1,000
personnel. Mr. Gillers joined the agency in July 2019 as Commissioner
Behnam’s Chief of Staff, and has not announced plans.
“David
has been my trusted Chief of Staff for over five and half years, and a
key part of everything I have done at the Agency. He has led efforts
to engage, negotiate and coordinate with members of Congress, fellow
regulators, the White House and industry on all matters of the
agency’s pressing needs and ably oversaw all agency operations,” said
Commissioner Behnam. “He’s directed the most sensitive policy and
legal conversations, while still delivering on our priorities. I wish
him well as he turns to new opportunities in his career. ”
“It
has been an absolute pleasure to work with such a talented team at the
CFTC,” said Mr. Gillers. “Our division directors and staff,
Chairman’s Office staff, and the other Commissioners and their staff
have been second to none, and have made my time at the agency
memorable. I am deeply grateful to former Chairman Behnam for making
this job so rewarding, and I wish Acting Chairman Pham all the best in
her new role. ”
During Mr. Gillers’ tenure, he oversaw a
host of novel derivatives markets policy engagements regarding digital
assets, artificial intelligence, event contracts, market structure,
cybersecurity and environmental derivatives products, as well as the
end of the COVID era work posture and return to office. He led the
agency’s review of voluntary carbon credit derivatives and directed
the development and finalizing of guidance on voluntary carbon credit
derivative contracts. Mr. Gillers was instrumental in expanding the
agency’s engagement in the digital asset regulatory evolution, working
with policy and enforcement divisions at the agency, other regulators
and departments in the federal government, as well as helping
Congressional committees to develop a legislative framework.
Prior to joining the CFTC in 2019, Mr. Gillers spent a decade
on Capitol Hill focused on financial services, energy, and energy
markets matters on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources and the Senate Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship. He worked for Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana,
Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, and Senator Joe Manchin of West
Virginia. He worked extensively on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the Small Business Jobs Act of
2010, and the energy provisions of the Fixing America's Surface
Transportation Act of 2015. While in Congress, he oversaw programs at
the Department of the Treasury, Department of Energy, and the Small
Business Administration. Mr. Gillers was a corporate attorney prior to
his time in Congress. He holds a BA from Columbia College and a JD
from Boston College Law School, where he was a Weinstein Scholar.