Release: 3881-95

For Release: December 6, 1995

CFTC CHAIRMAN MARY L. SCHAPIRO RESIGNS

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced today that Chairman Mary L. Schapiro has submitted a letter of resignation, dated December 6, 1995, to President William J. Clinton, effective January 26, 1996. Chairman Schapiro was nominated by President Clinton to be the CFTC's sixth Chairman in May 1994. She leaves to become the President of NASD Regulation, Inc., the independent operating subsidiary of the National Association of Securities Dealers responsible for broker-dealer regulation.

"It is with mixed emotions that I tender my resignation," Ms. Schapiro said. "It has been my great privilege to lead the CFTC during a most challenging and important time. I believe the tireless efforts put forth by this agency and its staff, working together with other federal financial regulators, have helped tremendously to ensure the stability of the markets, the protection of investors, and the integrity and competitiveness of American financial markets."

During Ms. Schapiro's tenure, the CFTC was widely credited with limiting the effect of the Barings Bank failure, particularly with respect to U.S. firms with significant financial exposures in Singapore and Japan. The CFTC also placed a renewed emphasis on its Enforcement program under Chairman Schapiro's leadership, reorganizing the Enforcement Division, adding resources, and bringing a number of high-profile cases, including settlements with BT Securities and two U.S. subsidiaries of the German metals firm Metallgesellschaft.

In her letter to the President, Ms. Schapiro praised the Commissioners that served with her (Sheila Bair, Joseph Dial, John Tull, and Barbara Holum), and the staff of the CFTC, noting that "[a]t a time when government service is often unfairly characterized as a less than noble pursuit, you can share in my pride of these professionals and the work they do."