Rostin Behnam served as the 15^th Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2021 to January 2025. Behnam was nominated by President Biden and unanimously confirmed by the Senate in December 2021. Before serving as Chairman, Behnam served as a CFTC Commissioner from 2017-2021, having been nominated by President Trump in July 2017 and unanimously confirmed by the Senate the following month.

Since leaving the CFTC in February 2025, Behnam continues to be a sought after voice among global financial market experts both in the United States and globally.  As CFTC Chairman, during a time of significant technological transformation and disruption in financial markets, Behnam focused on implementing rules and dedicating agency resources to enhancing risk management and resilience, strengthening customer protections, improving data policy, and promoting international comity. 

While Chairman, Behnam was at the center of the crypto policy debate in the U.S., directly influencing multiple legislative efforts to authorize the regulation of digital assets, and also overseeing the expansion of CFTC licensed crypto exchanges, intermediaries, and new financial derivatives products directly within the agency’s authority. 

Behnam is also globally recognized for his work on climate finance and examining the relationship between climate change and financial market risk.  Behnam led the publication of the Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System report in September 2020, and subsequently led the passage of the CFTC’s Guidance in the voluntary carbon markets, in September 2024. 

As CFTC Chairman, Behnam served as a member of the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Committee, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, and Vice Chair of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) from October 2022 to January 2025. As Vice Chair of the global standard setting body, Behnam held various management responsibilities of IOSCO, shaping the organization’s policy agenda.  Within his capacity as Vice Chair, Behnam also co-chaired IOSCO’s joint work with the Bank for International Settlements’ Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures. 

Chairman Behnam’s arrival at the CFTC in 2017 followed extensive experience as a practitioner and policy expert in financial markets.  Prior to his service at the CFTC, Behnam was Senior Counsel to U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan from 2011-2017.  Before his service in the U.S. Senate, Behnam worked in the Bureau of Securities within New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General, practiced law, and worked as an equities trader in New York City.

Chairman Behnam received his A.B. from Georgetown University, and obtained his Juris Doctorate from Syracuse University.