February 19, 2019

CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight Announces Mel Gunewardena as Deputy Director of the Market Intelligence Branch and the Agency’s Chief Market Intelligence Officer 

Washington, DC — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight (DMO) announced today that Mel Gunewardena has been named Deputy Director of the Market Intelligence Branch (MIB) and CFTC’s Chief Market Intelligence Officer. 

“Mel’s market experience will be a superb addition to the agency,” said CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo. “Since its creation in 2017, the Market Intelligence Branch has used a data-driven approach to provide insights into the derivatives sector for the staff and leadership of the CFTC, as well as other financial regulators. Under Mel’s leadership, I expect that MIB will continue to produce meaningful intelligence and data about our markets.”

DMO Director Amir Zaidi said, “I am pleased that Mel has accepted this important role.  His extensive experience in domestic and international financial markets is a major asset to the CFTC as we continue to build our market intelligence capabilities and keep pace with the rapidly evolving derivatives markets.”

Prior to joining the CFTC, Gunewardena was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and State Street and a former Co-Managing Partner of G Capital Fund Management LLC. Gunewardena has held numerous senior global roles in global markets trading, finance, over-the-counter, and derivatives clearing and has significant international experience having worked in Hong Kong and London, in addition to New York and Boston. 

Gunewardena has also led various local emerging markets business initiatives in foreign exchange, derivatives, futures, and fixed income securities in Latin American markets, namely Brazil and Mexico; Asian markets, including Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia; and in Eastern Europe. In the industry, Gunewardena was a former board member of CLS Bank Holdings, CLS Services Limited, and Markit Partners. He brings extensive experience in global markets across trading practice, risk management, compliance, and clearing services to the CFTC’s work. 

MIB, a branch in CFTC’s DMO, is tasked with analyzing data and information from multiple sources to evaluate current derivatives market conditions and identifying emerging market dynamics, developments, and trends. MIB also leads critical studies in these markets and provides advice on policy, risk management, and oversight matters to the CFTC, as well as shares information with various stakeholders such as Congress and the general public.