Obama names Timothy Massad as next CFTC chairman

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated Treasury Department official Timothy Massad to serve as next chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

U.S. stock markets have hit record highs and there is no doubt U.S. financial system is more stable, Obama said. A big reason for that stability is the work of a "small but mighty" independent agency, the CFTC, he said during a White House nomination ceremony.

If confirmed by the Senate, Massad will replace outgoing CFTC chairman Gary Gensler to head the agency that regulates U.S. futures and derivatives markets.

Obama commended Gensler's contribution, saying "under his watch, the CFTC has transformed what was a secretive and shadowy derivatives market by bringing large parts of it onto exchanges to transparent trading."

Massad is currently serving as Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Stability. In this role, Massad is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the massive bailout program rolled out on the heels of the 2008 financial crisis.

"Tim is a guy who doesn't seek the spotlight, but he consistently delivers. He gets a high return for American taxpayers without a lot of fanfare," Obama said.

Prior to joining the Treasury Department, Massad was a partner with the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York. Massad received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.