Senate Confirms Travis Hill as FDIC Board Chair

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have new leaders.

The Senate voted Thursday (Dec. 18) to confirm Michael Selig as commissioner of the CFTC and Travis Hill as chairperson of the board of directors of the FDIC.

Both were among a group of nominees who were confirmed in a single vote of 53 to 43, according to Congress.gov. The vote was along party lines, with 53 Republicans voting for the nomination confirmation, and 41 Democrats and 2 independents voting against.

Selig has been chief counsel of the Crypto Task Force and senior advisor to the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since March, while Hill has been acting chairman of the FDIC since January, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

When Selig was nominated to the CFTC post in October, it was reported that the question of leadership at the CFTC could be a key matter for the cryptocurrency sector as Congress considers the agency’s role in regulating digital assets transactions.

White House Crypto Czar David Sacks said at the time: “Mike has not only been instrumental in driving forward the President’s crypto agenda as Chief Counsel of the SEC Crypto Task Force, he also brings deep experience in traditional commodities markets from his time working at the CFTC under former Chairman Chris Giancarlo.”

As for Hill, on Jan. 21, a day after he became acting chairman of the FDIC, he released a statement outlining matters he expected the regulator to focus on in the following months.

These included reviewing regulations, guidance and manuals to “ensure our rules and approach promote a vibrant, growing economy”; implementing a “more open-minded approach” to innovation and technology adoption, including FinTech partnerships, digital assets and tokenization; and improving the bank merger process.

In September, Hill detailed the FDIC’s progress on these and other issues, saying, “Over the past eight months, the FDIC has been working to improve its regulatory and supervisory approach across a number of different areas. We are working to reform supervision so it is less process-driven and more focused on core financial risks.”