WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2013 – President Obama plans to nominate Timothy Massad as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during an announcement at the White House this afternoon, according to White House sources.

He currently serves as the Department of Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability.

If confirmed by the Senate, Massad would fill the post being vacated by Gary Gensler when his current term ends on Jan. 3.

Massad, joined the Treasury Department in 2009 as chief counsel for the Office of Financial Stability and later became the Chief Reporting Officer for the OFS. In 2011, he was confirmed as an assistant Treasury secretary, where he has overseen the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Prior to that, the Harvard Law School graduate was a partner at the law firm Cravath, Swaine and Moore.

He had a diverse corporate practice, with an emphasis on corporate finance, international transactions and representation of some of the firm’s corporate clients. From 1998 to 2002, he was the co-manager of the firm’s Hong Kong office, where he was involved in transactions throughout Asia, including in particular India and China. He also worked in the firm’s London office,” according to his biography.

The five-person CFTC currently has only four commissioners and will be down to three when Bart Chilton officially steps down, which he pledged to do before his term expires at the end of 2014. President Obama nominated Christopher Giancarlo to fill an open Republican spot on the commission, but he has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.

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