Washington, D.C. — CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger announced today that Chris Lucas will serve as Chief of Staff and Counsel, Terry Arbit will serve as Senior Counsel, and Elizabeth (Libby) Mastrogiacomo will serve as Senior Counsel.

“At such a critical moment for the CFTC, I am delighted to welcome Chris, Terry, and Libby to my team,” said Commissioner Mersinger. “Their deep expertise will be invaluable as we work to promote integrity, resilience, and innovation within the CFTC and more broadly in US markets.”

Chris Lucas, Chief of Staff and Counsel

Chris Lucas joins Commissioner Mersinger’s office from BNY Mellon where he was Co-Head of US Government Affairs. Before joining BNY Mellon, Chris served in the Senate in a variety of roles, first as Counsel to Small Business Committee Ranking Member Olympia Snowe (R-ME) where he was Senator Snowe’s lead staffer during the consideration of what became the Dodd-Frank Act. Later, Chris was Investigative Counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) where he focused on investigations and oversight into financial markets and financial market regulators and finally as Legislative Counsel to Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) where he was responsible for the Senator’s Banking Committee portfolio as well as a variety of other issues including agriculture.

Chris has a B.A. from the University of Rochester and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.

Terry Arbit, Senior Counsel

Terry Arbit joins Commissioner Mersinger’s office after working closely with her in the office of former Commissioner Dawn Stump. There, he provided legal and policy advice on matters arising primarily from the Division of Market Oversight, the Market Participants Division, and the Legal Division, as well as recommended actions from the Division of Enforcement. 

Terry had previously spent 17 years at the agency from 1996 to 2013, in a variety of roles. He served as Acting General Counsel during 2007-2009, concentrating on the regulatory response to the financial crisis. And while subsequently serving as Deputy General Counsel for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, Terry provided legislative assistance to agency leadership and Congressional staff regarding the derivatives reform provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. Terry also has served as legal counsel to former CFTC Chairman Reuben Jeffery III and former Commissioner Mark Wetjen. He started his CFTC career as Acting Chief Counsel and as a trial attorney in the Division of Enforcement.

Terry also has spent 12 years in private law practice, and began his government service with five years in the professional liability section of the Resolution Trust Corporation, which was receiver for failed savings-and-loan institutions.

He received joint M.A./B.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. 

Elizabeth Mastrogiacomo, Senior Counsel

Elizabeth (Libby) Mastrogiacomo joins Commissioner Mersinger’s office after most recently serving as Senior Counsel to former Commissioner Dawn Stump.  In that role, Libby was Commissioner Stump’s lead advisor on clearing and cross-border derivatives issues, including the regulation of non-US central counterparties and other non-US infrastructure providers, the CFTC’s response to Brexit, and the agenda for the Global Markets Advisory Committee, which Commissioner Stump sponsored.  Libby also advised Commissioner Stump on a variety of rulemakings, enforcement actions, examinations, and legal matters. 

Before joining the CFTC, Libby practiced law in the Derivatives group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. There, she counseled CFTC-registered trading platforms, clearing organizations, swap dealers, and swap data repositories, as well as banks, asset managers, pension funds, and end users of derivatives in a wide variety of matters. She has represented clients before the CFTC, the SEC, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and Congress. Libby also has extensive experience with international standard setting bodies, particularly in the context of central counterparty resilience, recovery, and resolution.

Libby has a B.B.A. from the College of William and Mary and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.