June 23, 2011

CFTC Announces Members of the Technology Advisory Subcommittee on Data Standardization

Subcommittee will look into public/private solutions for creating well-accepted standards for describing, communicating, and storing data on complex financial products.

Washington, DC – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has selected the members of the Subcommittee on Data Standardization, a new Subcommittee of the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee. The Subcommittee will report its recommendations to the full Technology Advisory Committee.

Of the 52 highly qualified persons nominated in response to the Federal Register Notice of May 2, 2011, the CFTC has selected the following members: Michael Atkin of EDM Council, Eric Chacon of Citigroup, Neil Chinai of Barclays Capital, RJ Cummings of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Marc Donner of Google, Karel Engelen of International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), Samuel Gaer of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Bob Green of Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Pierre Lamy of Goldman Sachs, Adam Litke of Bloomberg, Peter Marney of Thomson Reuters, Tim McHenry of National Futures Association (NFA), Karla McKenna of International Organization for Standardization (ISO),  Malene McMahon of Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), James Moran of CME Group, Brian Okupski of MarkitSERV, Paulo Rodela of Blackrock, Michael Will of docGenix, and James Woods of Futures Industry Association (FIA).  The subcommittee will also include the following federal agency observers: Walter Hamscher of the SEC, William Nichols of the Treasury/Office of Financial Research, and Steven Reich of FERC.

Commissioner Scott O’Malia, the chairman of the Technology Advisory Committee, stated that he “was pleased by the large number of extremely well-qualified nominees for participation in the work of this important subcommittee.” With regard to the subcommittee’s charter, Commissioner O’Malia also stated, “data is the foundation of our market oversight activities and it is essential for the Commission and the market to agree on well-accepted standards for describing complex financial products.”

The Subcommittee on Data Standardization will be chaired by the CFTC Chief Economist Andrei Kirilenko and will conduct at least three sessions. The sessions are planned for the summer, fall and winter of 2011 and will be open to the public. The Subcommittee will consist of the following four working groups: product and entity identification; semantic representation of financial instruments; machine-readable legal documents, and storage and retrieval of financial data. The Subcommittee will present a report with its recommendations to the Technology Advisory Committee, which will consider the report and make recommendations to the CFTC as to what further actions warrant consideration.

Last Updated: June 23, 2011