Washington, D.C. — CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham announced today that Meghan Tente will serve as Chief of Staff and Gates S. Hurand will serve as Senior Counsel. In addition, Lily Chu will serve as interim Senior Counsel. Commissioner Pham will make additional leadership staff announcements in the coming weeks.

Commissioner Pham stated: “I am thrilled to recognize these individuals and have such talented staff join my team, especially the first-ever appointments from a regional office. Their deep expertise in market structure and extensive experience with new precedents under the Commodity Exchange Act will enable progress on the many significant issues facing the CFTC at this important time.”

Meghan Tente, Chief of Staff

Meghan Tente joins Commissioner Pham’s office after serving in multiple leadership roles at the CFTC, including most recently as Acting Director of the CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight (DMO). In DMO, Meghan led the agency division responsible for registering, examining, and overseeing U.S. derivatives exchanges, including the products they offer and their compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. Prior to serving as Acting Director, Meghan led various teams of attorneys, economists, and data analysts in DMO as well as the CFTC’s Office of International Affairs. In 2019, Meghan was awarded the CFTC Chairman’s Award for Excellence in Management. In 2020, she was awarded the Chairman’s Award for Exceptional Service and was a team member for two Staff Excellence team awards.

Meghan joined the CFTC in the Division of Clearing and Risk in 2012. In her time at the Commission, Meghan has worked with exchanges, derivatives clearing organizations, swap data repositories, and market participants on issues ranging from registrations and data reporting to international standards and novel derivatives products. Meghan has also led engagement efforts with other U.S. financial regulators as well as the CFTC’s regulatory counterparts abroad. Meghan graduated from Brown University and Cornell Law School.

Gates S. Hurand, Senior Counsel

Gates S. Hurand joins Commissioner Pham’s office from the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement (DOE), where he served as a Senior Trial Attorney. In DOE, he has investigated and litigated a broad range of matters involving, among other things, manipulation, fraud, false reports, swaps, and digital assets, including the first CFTC anti-fraud enforcement action involving bitcoin, the first ruling by a federal district court that virtual currencies are commodities, the first CFTC digital asset enforcement action charging a manipulative device, one of the first CFTC enforcement actions involving ether, and the first CFTC enforcement action involving foreign corruption. Gates also co-chaired the Corruption Task Force and previously the Virtual Currency Task Force, through which he advised the Director concerning legal and policy issues and coordinated investigations, actions, and cooperative enforcement. He received the Chairman’s Award for Staff Excellence in 2018 and in 2020.

Before joining the CFTC, Gates was an associate at Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello P.C., a law clerk to the Honorable Morton I. Greenberg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Honorable Gregory M. Sleet of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, and an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Gates graduated from Yale College and the University of Michigan Law School.

Lily Chu, Interim Senior Counsel

Lily Chu will serve as interim Senior Counsel to Commissioner Pham. Lily joins Commissioner Pham’s office from the CFTC’s Office of International Affairs, where she has advised the Chairman, Commissioners, and operating divisions on international matters related to the commodity, futures, and derivatives markets. Lily has represented the CFTC in workgroups of international standard-setting bodies such as the Financial Stability Board and International Organization of Securities Commissions. In 2020, she was awarded the Chairman’s Award for Staff Excellence and was a team member for two Staff Excellence team awards.

Lily brings a wealth of experience from her extensive career in finance and law. She joined the CFTC in 2016 from Clifford Chance, and previously was Vice President/equity shareholder at Smith Barney in institutional sales in the Fixed Income and Futures divisions; and deputy head of the Quantitative Research and New Product Development department for global capital markets. She held a similar position at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, having joined that firm from J.P. Morgan Bank. She also was a lead consultant at Andrew Davidson & Co., Inc., with a focus on design, valuation, and risk assessment of structured products and derivatives. Lily attended Cornell University, where she received her J.D., M.B.A., and B.A., magna cum laude.

“I deeply appreciate Lily sharing her experience with my office and I am pleased to recognize her strong contributions to the CFTC with me as I begin my term,” added Commissioner Pham. “She brings indispensable institutional knowledge and a unique perspective from her impressive career.”