U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Acting Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo has appointed Daniel Gorfine to serve as Director of LabCFTC and Chief Innovation Officer. Launched in May, LabCFTC is the CFTC’s sandbox type environment for Fintech innovation.
Gorfine is well known in the Fintech and alternative lending space due to his previous roles at both OnDeck and the Milken Institute . In this role, Gorfine will be responsible for coordinating with international regulatory bodies, other US regulators, and Capitol Hill to discuss best practices around implementing digital and agile regulatory frameworks and approaches for the CFTC.
Giancarlo said that Gorfine is a “well-respected leader whose expertise in market-enhancing Fintech” will help the CFTC challenge the status quo.
“Daniel’s addition to the team will move our LabCFTC initiative into its next phase and will further our efforts to make the CFTC a 21st century regulator for our 21st century digital markets,” said Giancarlo.
Gorfine, commenting on his appointment, said he was grateful to have the opportunity to implement the vision of Chairman Giancarlo;
“New technologies are increasingly transforming financial markets and services, and have the potential to positively impact market competition and efficiency, as well as how we transact, allocate and move capital, and make financial decisions … in order to promote market-enhancing FinTech innovation and incorporate emerging regulatory technologies that can help make the CFTC a 21st century digital regulator.”
Gorfine was most recently Vice President, External Affairs & Associate General Counsel at OnDeck, a publicly traded online lender. Gorfine previously served as director of financial markets policy and legal counsel at the Milken Institute think tank where he focused on financial innovation, capital access, and financial market policy, and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law School teaching Fintech Law & Policy.
Earlier in his career, Gorfine worked at the international law firm Covington & Burling LLP and served a clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake in the District of Maryland. He is a graduate of Brown University (A.B.) and holds a J.D. from George Washington University Law School and an M.A. from the Paul H. Nitze School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University.
