Caroline D. Pham

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Caroline D. Pham Occupation Acting Chairman Employer U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Location Washington, D.C. LinkedIn Profile Website https://www.cftc.gov/ Caroline D. Pham is an American attorney and regulatory expert who currently serves as the acting chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). She was appointed as a CFTC commissioner in April 2022 and was designated as acting chair by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025. She succeeded Rostin Behnam. Pham was sworn in as a CFTC commissioner on April 14, 2022, after being nominated by President Joe Biden and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, for a term beginning on April 14, 2022 and expiring on April 13, 2027. Background Pham was born in Modesto, California, to Vietnamese parents who were evacuated from Saigon in April 1975. She has over 24 years of experience in law and finance, including more than a decade of expertise in crypto and digital assets. Before her appointment at the CFTC, Pham held various senior roles at Citigroup, including managing director and head of market structure for strategic initiatives. She worked closely with innovation, strategic equity investment, venture capital, and business development teams on digital assets and other opportunities. She was also a visiting fellow at the George Washington University Center for Law, Economics and Finance. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the Council of the American Bar Association Business Law Section and the Executive Committee of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Board. She was also a member of the executive committee of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. Pham's public sector experience includes serving as special counsel and policy advisor to former CFTC Commissioner Scott O'Malia. She has also worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Career Early Career From 2005 to 2008, Pham worked as an assistant at Sullivan & Cromwell. She also served as a legal intern at the CFTC, SEC, and as a law clerk in the OCC. Additionally, she was a judicial extern to former Chief Judge Loren A. Smith of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Citigroup Pham joined Citigroup in 2014, where she held various executive roles. She served as deputy head of global regulatory affairs, head of capital markets regulatory strategy and engagement, and global head of swap dealer and Volcker compliance. In her most recent role, she was head of market structure for strategic initiatives. CFTC Commissioner and Acting Chairman In December 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Pham to be a commissioner of the CFTC. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 28, 2022, and sworn in on April 14, 2022. As a commissioner, Pham focused on access to markets, American competitiveness, and right-sizing regulations to promote market liquidity and efficiency. She was named to CoinDesk's Most Influential 2023 list for her groundbreaking proposal for a U.S. regulatory sandbox by creating a CFTC digital asset markets pilot program. On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump designated Pham as acting chairman of the CFTC. In February 2025 Pham announced a planned prediction markets roundtable that will seek input from a range of stakeholders to inform the CFTC’s approach to prediction markets, including sports-related event contracts. She criticized the commission's "anti-innovation policies of the past several years" which she said have "restricted its ability to pivot to common-sense regulation of prediction markets." Awards and Recognition Pham received the National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys Cornerstone Award for lifetime achievement as the first Vietnamese-American woman appointed by the President to a Senate-confirmed executive branch position. In 2024, she was awarded the Belva Ann Lockwood Award by The George Washington University Law School, recognizing her as an inspiring alumna and trailblazer. Education Pham holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School. She also has a certificate from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. References

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