(Bloomberg) -- Heath Tarbert, a Republican lawyer who has led the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman since last year, is planning to step down in January, he said in a statement Thursday.
Tarbert, 44, joined the nation's main derivatives regulator in July 2019 after serving as a senior official in President Donald Trump's Treasury Department. He said in the statement that his time at the agency had been “an extraordinary privilege.” He didn't say what he plans to do next.
A former partner at law firm Allen & Overy, Tarbert as CFTC chief tried to raise the agency's profile and highlight the role derivatives play in the economy. The regulator has levied significant fines against Wall Street firms accused of wrongdoing, including joining other federal agencies in a record $920 million settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co. in September to resolve spoofing allegations.
Tarbert will step aside after pushing through a flurry of policy changes in the past year. Some of those regulations, such as limits on hedge funds' bets in oil futures and a pared-back approach to policing overseas swaps trades, were opposed by the commission's Democrats as being too deferential to industry.
It's common for a CFTC chairman to step down shortly after a presidential election. Once the head of the agency relinquishes that role, one of the other commissioners is installed as the acting leader until a permanent replacement is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The acting chairman role historically has been filled by a member of the new president's party. Dan Berkovitz and Rostin Behnam are the two Democrats now serving on the five-member commission and both are seen as candidates for the permanent role.
In a letter to staff announcing his plans obtained by Bloomberg, Tarbert said that his office has been in touch with the incoming administration and that he was “committed to facilitating a smooth transition.”
Reuters reported on Tarbert's plans earlier Thursday.
CFTC spokeswoman Rachel Millard confirmed that Tarbert plans to stay at the agency as a commissioner for a short time after stepping down when President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated while he decides what to do next.
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