Steven Schoenfeld, a long-time futures trader, has been named director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Market Oversight (DMO), succeeding Richard Shilts. Shilts, who has been DMO director since February 2006 and at the CFTC since 1974, will now become deputy director. Schoenfeld currently is president of consulting firm Global Index Strategies. Prior to Global Index, Schoenfeld was chief investment officer of Global Quantitative Management at Northern Trust; managing director at Barclays Global Investors; investment officer at the International Finance Corp./World Bank; and a futures trader at the Singapore Exchange. He has worked with futures and stock exchanges worldwide, including Tokyo, Paris, London, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Bangkok and Budapest. He will be moving to Washington, DC, from New York. The DMO handles the designation of new markets, the review of new futures and option products, the monitoring for and detection of market manipulation, and the protection of customers from market abuses.

President Obama Thursday announced his intention to nominate Scott O’Malia, a Republican staff member on a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). O’Malia currently is a minority clerk for the Energy and Water Subcommittee, where he has focused on expanding U.S. investment in clean energy technologies. Prior to joining the appropriations panel, O’Malia was a staff member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, with energy trading and domestic oil and natural gas production as his chief interests. O’Malia also established the Washington, DC, office of Mirant Corp., where he worked to establish rules and standards for corporate risk management and energy trading among wholesale power producers. He began his stint on Capitol Hill in 1992, working for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). O’Malia received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. His nomination will require the approval of the full Senate. If confirmed, O’Malia will serve out the remainder of the term of former Acting CFTC Chairman Walter Lukken, who left the CFTC in July. His term would expire on April 13, 2010.

President Obama Thursday announced his intention to nominate Harris D. Sherman, the two-time head of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, as under secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment. Sherman, who also serves on the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission that spearheaded environmentally stringent drilling regulations, won praise for his emphasis on air and water quality and wildlife habitat issues during the state’s recent natural gas boom, the Colorado Independent reported. But other environmentalists were quick to criticize Sherman’s appointment because of his role in developing Colorado’s roadless rule, which they contend permits too many road-building exceptions for developers, including oil and gas. Sherman will need to be confirmed by the full Senate.

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