Christy Goldsmith Romero

Commissioner Goldsmith Romero was sworn in as a CFTC Commissioner on March 30, 2022, after being nominated by President Joseph Biden in September 2021, and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Prior to becoming a CFTC Commissioner, Commissioner Goldsmith Romero served for a decade as the Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP), a role for which she was nominated by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the Senate on March 29, 2012. In that role, she led a nationwide federal law enforcement agency and watchdog over TARP, a program where the U.S. Government became a shareholder in banks, the automotive industry and insurance industry; owned, exchanged, and traded in corporate securities and derivatives; and administered foreclosure relief for consumers.

Commissioner Goldsmith Romero also served on the staff at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She served on the Executive Staff during the financial crisis, as counsel to SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro and Chairman Christopher Cox. In that role, she advised the Chairs, and served as a liaison to SEC commissioners and staff. For four years she served as senior counsel in the SEC’s Enforcement Division, where she investigated securities law violations, including related to financial institution fraud, insider trading, hedge funds, and retail investor fraud. Prior to her service at the SEC, Commissioner Goldsmith Romero served as an associate and counsel at law firms, and served a federal judicial clerkship.

Commissioner Goldsmith Romero’s leadership has protected markets, the financial system, investors and consumers. She has testified before Congress 12 times, and meets often with Congress on policy issues related to the financial system and regulation. She served on a group of inspectors general conducting oversight of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. She led SIGTARP’s investigations into bank fraud, securities fraud, violations of bank and securities laws, money laundering, corruption, mortgage fraud, and conspiracy. These investigations resulted in recoveries of more than $11 billion, criminal charges against 465 defendants, and Department of Justice, SEC, and other federal and state enforcement actions against financial institutions, corporations, and individuals. These landmark cases had lasting impact to make the financial industry safer.

Under Commissioner Goldsmith Romero’s leadership, SIGTARP was known for its unique ability to find fraud in financial institutions. SIGTARP’s investigations resulted in criminal charges against more than 100 bankers, with courts sentencing 74 bankers to prison. Commissioner Goldsmith Romero’s actions to protect markets and investors led SIGTARP to uncover fraudulent sales practices by broker dealers in mortgage-backed securities that had never been addressed by any other federal agency. These cases resulted in Department of Justice prosecutions, SEC civil enforcement actions, and widespread changes to industry sales tactics. Commissioner Goldsmith Romero has also written on, and investigated, harm to consumers. She also led investigations resulting in prison sentences for more than 100 mortgage fraudsters.

Commissioner Goldsmith Romero has received national recognition for her work. She has written extensively on issues related to the financial system, including on systemic risk, the interconnected nature of the financial system, Too Big to Fail, capital, lending, and market issues. Her work and publications have received substantial media coverage by ABC, NBC, USA Today, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Reuters, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, The Washington Examiner, Politico, CNBC, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, American Banker, NPR, The Guardian, The International Business Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Examiner, The Charlotte Observer, and many other local and trade news outlets.

Commissioner Goldsmith Romero lives in Virginia with her wife, and is an empty-nester to three adult daughters.