The long-delayed first step to filling vacant seats on the Commodities Futures Trading Commission takes place next week, when the Senate Agriculture Committee gets its first chance to question three Obama Administration nominees. On March 6, Initiating the confirmation process, the committee will hear from Timothy Massad, picked to replace former chairman Gary Gensler, as well as Sharon Bowen, a Democrat, and J. Christopher Giancarlo, a Republican.
The confirmation process has taken months to begin, leaving the CFTC short-handed throughout 2014. In November, well before Gensler’s January departure, Massad, a former partner with the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, was first nominated. While Massad awaits confirmation, CFTC Commissioner Mark Wetjen has served as acting chairman.
