The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced the appointment of Gary Barnett to serve as the agency’s Director of the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight. The new division is part of the agency’s restructuring to fulfill its expanded responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). Barnett will play a key role in the CFTC’s efforts to regulate the swaps market under the law.
“Gary Barnett comes to the CFTC with a vast knowledge of the swaps market,” said CFTC chairman Gary Gensler. “His derivatives expertise will be essential to leading the CFTC’s new division, which will be integral to implementing the Dodd-Frank provisions that will lower the risk of the swaps market to the overall economy. The division also will provide necessary oversight of this market. I welcome him to our team and look forward to working with him.”
Mr. Barnett currently heads the U.S. Derivatives and Structured Finance Practice Group at Linklaters LLP in New York, NY, where his specialty is the global swaps markets. He also has been actively involved in the development and implementation of clearing systems for the derivatives market, a key reform in the Dodd-Frank law. Prior to Linklaters, Mr. Barnett was the co-head of the Securitization and Derivatives Practice at Shearman & Sterling LLP. He is an active participant with the Practising Law Institute (PLI), which focuses on continuing education for lawyers, and is the co-chair of PLI’s 2011 conferences on fundamentals of swaps and advanced swaps.
Mr. Barnett is a member of the New York, California and Oklahoma bars. He graduated with honors from the University of Tulsa College of Law, where he received his J.D., and the New York University School of Law, where he received his LL.M. in securities and insolvency laws.
