U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo announced that General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus will depart the agency.
Mr. Marcus joined the agency in 2011 as Deputy General Counsel for Litigation, and was promoted to General Counsel in 2013. Acting Chairman Giancarlo also announced that Robert A. Schwartz, currently the Deputy General Counsel for Litigation and Adjudication, will become the Acting General Counsel.
Acting Chairman Giancarlo said:
Jonathan is an accomplished lawyer, and I thank him for his expert legal advice during the time I have been a Commissioner. I wish Jonathan and his family the very best. While I am sorry to see Jonathan leave, I am pleased that Rob Schwartz has agreed to step in to the role in the interim period.
Mr. Marcus stated:
I’m grateful to former Chairmen [Gary] Gensler and Massad, former Acting Chairman [Mark] Wetjen, and the other Commissioners for giving me the opportunity in the wake of the financial crisis to help implement and defend the Commission’s historic establishment of a regime for regulating the swaps market. I also count myself as fortunate to have been able to collaborate with exceptionally talented CFTC staff, especially my dedicated colleagues in OGC.
Before joining the CFTC, Mr. Marcus was Of Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, where he was a member of the Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Practice. He previously served at the U.S. Department of Justice, representing the United States in the Supreme Court, where he argued five cases as an Assistant to the Solicitor General from 2004 to 2007, and in the U.S. Courts of Appeals where he argued numerous cases as an appellate attorney in the Criminal Division from 1998 to 2004. Mr. Marcus began his career as a law clerk to Judge José A. Cabranes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1990 and received a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1994.
Rob Schwartz joined the Commission from Arnold & Porter LLP in 2011 as an Assistant General Counsel. In 2013, he became Deputy General Counsel for Litigation & Adjudication. Mr. Schwartz has represented the Commission in critical litigation victories in defense of Dodd-Frank rules, including in SIFMA v. CFTC on cross-border swaps regulation, and Bloomberg v. CFTC, which involved margin liquidation rules for derivatives clearing organizations. He holds a BA from Tufts University and a JD, magna cum laude, from New York University School of Law. Mr. Schwartz began his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Amalya L. Kearse of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.