By Chris Prentice
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has hired a former New York prosecutor with expertise in cryptocurrency and cyber crimes to lead its enforcement unit, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ian McGinley, who was most recently an attorney with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York, was previously the co-chief of the complex frauds and cybercrime unit at the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office.
His appointment at the CFTC, which oversees swaps markets and virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, underscores the agency's focus on policing these markets at a time of "heightened stress and volatility" and new threats, the statement said.
The CFTC is a key agency involved in the oversight of digital assets at a troubled time for the industry following a wave of bankruptcies and high-profile charges levied against crypto players including Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX founder and former chief executive officer.
CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam in the statement described McGinley as a "leader in combatting modern financial fraud".
"His background as a prosecutor with unique experience in commodities, crypto, and cyber-crimes and frauds makes him an ideal person to lead the CFTC’s enforcement team," Behnam said.
While at the Justice Department, McGinley pursued investigations and oversaw cases involving a $1 billion crypto Ponzi scheme, initial coin offering fraud and pandemic-related fraud cases.
McGinley, whose appointment is effective immediately, replaces the CFTC's acting director of enforcement and veteran CFTC official Gretchen Lowe.