Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to President Biden urging him to nominate current Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Kristin Johnson, to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In the letter, Waters highlights Commissioner Johnson’s breadth of expertise in financial regulation along with her years-long worth of work both at the CFTC and throughout her career working to promote strong financial markets, protect investors and consumers from harm, and hold bad actors accountable. As our nation’s financial system continues to evolve, Waters also underscores Commissioner Johnson’s effort to carefully examine the emergence of Artificial Intelligence in financial services in order to ensure the technology does not exacerbate existing biases. 

“In her role as a CFTC Commissioner, Commissioner Johnson has prioritized maintaining the integrity of our financial markets. She has pushed the Commission to adopt rigorous capital, collateral, and margin standards. Commissioner Johnson is also leading the CFTC’s work on artificial intelligence (AI) and encouraging the Commission to carefully evaluate whether existing regulation is fit-for-purpose or new regulation is required,” wrote Waters. “…Additionally, as a consumer advocate, Commissioner Johnson has argued for strong enforcement of the nation’s investor and consumer protection laws and has strongly supported the Commission’s enforcement actions against bad actors that target diverse communities.”

Waters closes the letter by noting that Commissioner Johnson’s perspective as a woman and person of color will go a long way in working to ensure the Department is reflective of the diversity of the country, while also enhancing the Department’s ability to continue addressing our nation’s economic challenges.

See the full letter here and below:

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I write to offer my strong support for Kristin Johnson to be nominated as the Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Ms. Johnson currently serves as a Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where she has served since 2022 after being unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate. Commissioner Johnson is an expert in financial regulation and would be a standout in this new role. I strongly encourage you to nominate her.

In her role as a CFTC Commissioner, Commissioner Johnson has prioritized maintaining the integrity of our financial markets. She has pushed the Commission to adopt rigorous capital, collateral, and margin standards. Commissioner Johnson is also leading the CFTC’s work on artificial intelligence (AI) and encouraging the Commission to carefully evaluate whether existing regulation is fit-for-purpose or new regulation is required. An interdisciplinary and collaborative approach has been critical to Commissioner Johnson’s contributions, as she works with stakeholders, including industry and regulators across the financial services spectrum, on how to reduce and mitigate algorithmic bias in AI models.

Additionally, as a consumer advocate, Commissioner Johnson has argued for strong enforcement of the nation’s investor and consumer protection laws and has strongly supported the Commission’s enforcement actions against bad actors that target diverse communities. 

Prior to her confirmation as Commissioner, Commissioner Johnson honed her legal expertise at Emory University and Tulane University where she served as an endowed professor at each law school. In over ten years in academia, Commissioner Johnson published a number of scholarly articles on financial regulation. Commissioner Johnson’s scholarly work focused on how public policy may hold financial market participants accountable for their risk management decisions. Specifically, her work advocated for the establishment of a regulatory framework that would prevent moral hazard while preventing excessive risk taking by financial institutions. During Congressional consideration of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Commissioner Johnson advocated for increased transparency in the OTC derivatives market, a reform which was included in the law.

In light of her expertise, when I served as Chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, I invited Commissioner Johnson to testify as an expert witness multiple times. In addition to being well informed, Commissioner Johnson provided the Committee with important insights on a wide range of topics, like access to credit, credit underwriting, fair lending, AI, digital assets, data privacy, cybersecurity, and financial stability, as well as appropriate regulation of banks and  fintechs. Commissioner Johnson’s breadth of expertise will serve the Administration and the Treasury Department very well.

For many years, I have worked to create a national discussion on diversity in financial services. Under my leadership as the first Black person and first woman to Chair the House Financial Services Committee, I established Congress’ first-ever Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion and undertook historic oversight designed to increase diversity in the industry at all levels. As noted by Treasury Secretary Yellen in the most recently released Office of Minority Women and Inclusion (OMWI) report, in order for Treasury to meet its critical mission it must aim “to build a workforce at all levels of the Department representative of the diversity of America and the people we serve”. In addition to her subject matter expertise, Commissioner Johnson will bring an invaluable perspective as a woman of color. By fostering diversity in leadership, we can strengthen the Department of Treasury and enhance its ability to address the complex economic challenges facing our nation.

I wholeheartedly recommend Commissioner Johnson for this important position. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Representative
MAXINE WATERS
Ranking Member, Committee on Financial Services


CC:  The Honorable Patrick McHenry, Chairman, Committee on Financial Services

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