U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

29–641 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019

S. HRG. 115–595 

NOMINATION HEARING: 

ROSTIN BENHAM, OF NEW JERSEY, 

BRIAN D. QUINTENZ, OF OHIO, AND 

DAWN DEBERRY STUMP, OF TEXAS, 

TO BE A COMMISSIONER OF THE 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JULY 27, 2017 

Printed for the use of the 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov/ 
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas, Chairman 

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi 

MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

JONI ERNST, Iowa 

CHARLES GRASSLEY, Iowa 

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota 

STEVE DAINES, Montana 

DAVID PERDUE, Georgia 

LUTHER STRANGE, Alabama 

DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

MICHAEL BENNET, Colorado 

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York 

JOE DONNELLY, Indiana 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania 

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland 

JAMES A. GLUECK, JR., MAJORITY STAFF DIRECTOR

DANITA M. MURRAY, MAJORITY CHIEF COUNSEL

JESSICA L. WILLIAMS, CHIEF CLERK

JOSEPH A. SHULTZ, MINORITY STAFF DIRECTOR

MARY BETH SCHULTZ, MINORITY CHIEF COUNSEL

(II) 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

HEARING(S): 

Nomination Hearing: Rostin Behnam, of New Jersey, Brian D. Quintenz, 

of Ohio, and Dawn DeBerry Stump, of Texas, to be a Commissioner of 

the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ................................................... 1 

Thursday, July 27, 2017 

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS 

Roberts, Hon. Pat, U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry ................................................. 1 

Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan ..................... 3 

Witnesses 

Behnam, Rostin, of New Jersey, to be a Commissioner of the Commodity 

Futures Trading Commission .............................................................................. 5 

Quintenz, Brian D., of Ohio, to be a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission ............................................................................................ 7 

Stump, Dawn DeBerry, of Texas, to be a Commissioner of the Commodity 

Futures Trading Commission .............................................................................. 9 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Behnam, Rostin ................................................................................................ 30 

Quintenz, Brian D. ........................................................................................... 33 

Stump, Dawn DeBerry ..................................................................................... 35 

DOCUMENT(S) SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Roberts, Hon. Pat: 

Ag Coalition, letter of support for nominees .................................................. 38 

U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, letter of support for nominees ....................... 40 

5-day letter, Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics 

Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed 

by Rostin Behnam ......................................................................................... 41 

5-day letter, Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics 

Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed 

by Brian D. Quintenz ................................................................................... 68 

5-day letter, Committee questionnaire and Office of Government Ethics 

Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report filed 

by Dawn DeBerry Stump ............................................................................. 90 

QUESTION AND ANSWER: 

Behnam, Rostin: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts .................................. 120 

Written response to questions from Hon. Steve Daines ................................ 122 

Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow ......................... 123 

Written response to questions from Hon. Sherrod Brown ............................ 130 

Written response to questions from Hon. Kirsten Gillibrand ....................... 131 

Quintenz, Brian D.: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts .................................. 134 

Written response to questions from Hon. Steve Daines ................................ 139 
Page

IV 

Quintenz, Brian D.—Continued 

Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow ......................... 141 

Written response to questions from Hon. Sherrod Brown ............................ 150 

Written response to questions from Hon. Kirsten Gillibrand ....................... 151 

Stump, Dawn DeBerry: 

Written response to questions from Hon. Pat Roberts .................................. 154 

Written response to questions from Hon. Debbie Stabenow ......................... 157 

Written response to questions from Hon. Sherrod Brown ............................ 165 

Written response to questions from Hon. Kirsten Gillibrand ....................... 166 
(1) 

NOMINATION HEARING: 

ROSTIN BENHAM, OF NEW JERSEY, 

BRIAN D. QUINTENZ, OF OHIO, AND 

DAWN DEBERRY STUMP, OF TEXAS, 

TO BE A COMMISSIONER OF THE 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION 

Thursday, July 27, 2017 

UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY, Washington, DC 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in Room 

328A, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Pat Roberts, Chairman 

of the Committee, presiding. 

Present or submitting a statement: Roberts, Boozman, Ernst, 

Thune, Daines, Perdue, Stabenow, Brown, Klobuchar, Bennet, 

Gillibrand, Donnelly, Heitkamp, and Casey. 

STATEMENT OF HON. PAT ROBERTS, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE 

STATE OF KANSAS, CHAIRMAN, U.S. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY 

Chairman ROBERTS. I call this hearing of the Senate Agriculture, 

Nutrition, and Forestry Committee to order. 

I thank the distinguished Ranking Member for being here. 

We have two. Senator Ernst, Senator Heitkamp, thank you for 

coming. 

I have six grandkids. If Nina—if you want to bring her up here, 

we will be—— 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. —happy to try to do that. 

Senator STABENOW. I think we can handle that. 

Chairman ROBERTS. I welcome my colleagues as we consider the 

nominations of Mr. Russ Behnam, no stranger to this Committee; 

Mr. Brian Quintenz; and Ms. Dawn DeBerry Stump to serve as 

Commissioners of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. 

Senator Stabenow, this is a little unique that we are trying to 

move three—— 

Senator STABENOW. Yes, yes. 

Chairman ROBERTS. —of our Commissioners, and hopefully down 

the road, we can get a full Commission for the first time in—I do 

not know how many years. 

It was a pleasure to meet all of—with you all earlier this week, 

and I thank you for appearing before the Committee today. I recognize you all have close family and friends in the audience today. 
2 

Let me welcome all of those guests and everyone here to the Committee. 

As I have noted in previous hearings regarding the CFTC, this 

agency is charged with fostering open, transparent, competitive, 

and financially sound markets, while working to prevent systemic 

risk. Further, the Commission is tasked with protecting market 

users and their funds, consumers, and the public from fraud and 

manipulation and abusive practices related to derivatives and other 

products that are subject to the Commodity Exchange Act. 

The regulation and oversight provided by the CFTC allows end 

users, such as farmers, ranchers, commercial companies, municipalities, energy companies, pension funds, and others to hedge commercial risk by and through the derivatives market. These markets 

allow companies to generate jobs and produce goods and services 

for our economy. 

I have said it before and I will say—and I will continue to say 

it again and again. It was not the farmer, not the rancher or the 

rural cooperatives or the electric utilities or other end users who 

contributed to the financial crisis of 2008, yet oftentimes these 

folks are the ones shouldering the heaviest burden when regulators 

decide what rules to impose. 

A few weeks ago, we heard from Acting Chairman Giancarlo 

about his vision for the CFTC, and I was encouraged by his passion 

for the work of the agency and his plans going forward. 

Today we will hear from three other nominees who I believe also 

have a proper appreciation of the turmoil of the 2008 financial crisis and what that crisis imposed and the comprehensive congressional response which followed. 

Mr. Quintenz was working in the financial industry at the time. 

Ms. Stump helped craft Title VII of Dodd-Frank, and Mr. Behnam 

has been assisting this Committee in overseeing its implementation 

for the past 6 years. 

Discussions with the nominees have shed light not only on their 

policy positions regarding immediate, specific high-profile issues, 

such as the de minimis limit, but generally on their collective future visions for CFTC work. Nominees also provided insight on 

their views of the agency’s continued role regarding its exclusive jurisdiction over futures and swaps and an outlook on the changes 

that have occurred since the inception of Dodd-Frank, and that will 

most certainly continue. 

Whether it is market participants who rely on the CFTC to provide regulatory certainty or consumer financial advocates who 

highlight the need for robust oversight of the market, I think everyone can agree that we need a functioning commission. I am confident the nominees we have today are well qualified and can further this mutual objective. 

Again, I thank all of the nominees for being here today. I look 

forward to your testimony. 

I now turn to my distinguished colleague and our Ranking Member, Senator Stabenow, for her opening remarks. 
3 

STATEMENT OF HON. DEBBIE STABENOW, U.S. SENATOR 

FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN 

Senator STABENOW. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a 

very important hearing. 

Congratulations to all three of our distinguished nominees, and 

welcome to their families. 

Ms. Stump, welcome back to the Committee. I know you have 

previously served honorably on the Ag Committee staff, including 

your diligent work to draft Title VII of Dodd-Frank, which made, 

as we know, critical reforms to the CFTC. 

Mr. Quintenz, welcome back to you as well. President Obama 

nominated you to be a CFTC Commissioner last Congress, and it 

was not long ago that you were sitting in that very seat, so welcome back. 

Finally, Mr. Behnam, I have to say it is a little odd seeing you 

at that end of the table. I am normally turning to you and asking 

for your advice and input, but welcome. Obviously I am very proud 

to have you sitting there, and welcome also to Dinah and Nina, 

who I heard about before she was even born. We are glad that they 

are here with you today. 

So welcome to all of your families. 

As a member of my staff, Rostin, you have done excellent work 

for this Committee and provided valuable insight on a variety of 

issues, including the CFTC, over the past 6 years. I thank you very 

much on behalf of the Committee for your work. I am very happy 

that you have been nominated for this important position. 

As all of you know, Acting Chairman Chris Giancarlo sat in this 

room just a month ago and pledged to continue the progress of 

Wall Street reform and uphold the CFTC’s mission to foster open, 

transparent, and competitive financial markets. 

If confirmed as CFTC Commissioners, it is essential that you 

work together on a bipartisan basis to make the best decisions possible for our farmers, our businesses, and our consumers. 

You should also keep in mind the impact your decisions will have 

on the economic health of our whole nation. 

It has been nearly a decade since our country experienced the 

worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. We all remember 

the devastating impacts of that disaster: 8 million American jobs 

were lost, many farmers and homeowners faced foreclosure, and 

countless businesses went bankrupt. 

Last week marked seven years since the passage of the historic 

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. 

While this important legislation has brought greater transparency, 

there is still much work to be done to implement further improvements. 

The CFTC has unfinished business on key rules that must be 

completed to ensure our markets are not at risk. For example, we 

need a meaningful position limits rule, as called for in Dodd-Frank. 

The Commission must also move forward to establish important 

capital requirements for swap dealers. It is critical that the Commission take swift action on these issues. 

The CFTC must also have the resources to effectively monitor 

and oversee our markets, especially as we face new challenges with 

cybersecurity. 
4 

The current CFTC budget is clearly insufficient. Less than 2 

months ago, the White House issued a budget proposal that severely underfunds the Commission. 

I applaud Acting Chairman Giancarlo for offering his own proposal to show what the Commission needs to keep our derivatives 

markets strong and competitive. 

I have said that I will fight for the funding the CFTC needs to 

meet its responsibilities, and I hope all of you share that commitment. 

As you know, CFTC has had vacant Commissioner positions for 

too long, and I am pleased that we are considering the three of you 

today. Now that the last remaining Commissioner, Sharon Bowen, 

has announced plans to leave the CFTC, there is one additional 

Commissioner slot that needs a nominee. 

It is essential that the administration moves quickly to nominate 

a qualified candidate for this seat, so that we can have a full commission. Our farmers, ranchers, and consumers deserve to have a 

full slate of leaders at the CFTC to continue making improvements 

to our financial markets. 

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate you holding this hearing, and I know 

that once we have a nominee for the final slot that we will move 

forward quickly as well to seat the full commission. 

Thank you. 

Chairman ROBERTS. I now welcome our panel of nominees this 

morning. For our first nominee, we have already turned to the 

Ranking Member for the honor of introducing him, but let me just 

say that he has worked for the Ranking Member since joining the 

Committee in May of 2011, and he has been 

an advisor to Senator Stabenow and the Committee on all policy 

and legislative issues regarding ag, biotech, crop protection, CFTC, 

and executive nominations. 

So, Russ, you are fully qualified, and I look forward to your testimony. 

Next, we have Brian Quintenz, who was nominated for the term 

vacated by Commissioner Scott O’Malia. Prior to his nomination, 

Mr. Quintenz was the founder and managing principal and chief 

investment officer of Saeculum Capital Management LLC, a commodity pool operator here in 

Washington, DC Prior to forming Saeculum in late 2013, Mr. 

Quintenz worked as an outside consultant to Merrill Lynch, and 

from 2009 through 2012, he was a senior investment associate for 

Hill-Townsend Capital during the 2008 crises. There he focused 

solely on U.S. financial company investment opportunities. Prior to 

working in the financial markets, he was a senior policy aide for 

Congresswoman Deborah Pryce, a dear friend of mine. Mr. 

Quintenz graduated Magna Cum Laude from Duke University. 

Were you part of those crazy Dukies in the—— 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. QUINTENZ. I was. 

Chairman ROBERTS. With a major in public policy studies and received an MBA from Georgetown. Welcome, and thank you for participating in today’s hearing. 

Nina has just heard that you were part of the crazy Dukies. 

[Laughter.] 
5 

Chairman ROBERTS. Our next witness, Ms. Dawn DeBerry 

Stump, was nominated for the term left by former Chairman Timothy Massad. Most recently, Ms. Stump served as president of 

Stump Strategic, a consulting firm she founded in 2016. Prior to 

that, she served as an executive director of America’s Advisory 

Board for the Futures Industry Association, and a vice president at 

the New York Stock Exchange. She has served in senior staff positions of both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, where 

she was involved in matters pertaining to the oversight of the 

CFTC, reauthorization of the Commodity Exchange Act, and negotiation of the derivative components of Dodd-Frank. While a staffer 

on the Senate Ag Committee for Senators Cochran and Chambliss, 

she focused on various farm policy matters and the CFTC. She represented the Committee during the negotiation of complex financial 

derivative policies in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, and 

assisted the crafting of Title VII of Dodd-Frank. Ms. Stump is from 

Olton, Texas, and grew up working in the ag sector. She holds a 

degree in agriculture economics from the Texas Tech University, 

Red Raiders. 

Welcome, and thank you for your willingness to serve as a Commissioner. 

Now, as is the tradition and custom of the Committee, before 

Committee witnesses are to provide testimony, I need to administer 

the oath. If all of you could please stand and raise your right 

hands. 

First, do you swear that the testimony you are about to present 

is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help 

you God? 

Mr. BEHNAM. I do. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. I do. 

Ms. STUMP. I do. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Second, do you agree that if confirmed, you 

will appear before any duly constituted committee of Congress if 

asked to appear? 

Mr. BEHNAM. I do. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. I will. 

Ms. STUMP. I will. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Thank you. 

We look forward to your testimony. 

Russ, why don’t you kick it off. 

TESTIMONY OF ROSTIN BEHNAM, NOMINEE, TO BE COMMISSIONER OF THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION 

Mr. BEHNAM. Absolutely. 

Chairman Roberts, Ranking Member Stabenow, members of the 

Committee, it is an honor to sit before you this morning as a nominee to serve as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

I would like to take a brief moment to express my appreciation 

and thanks to Minority Leader Schumer for recommending me to 

this position, President Trump for the nomination, and Chairman 

Roberts for holding this hearing. 
6 

I would like to recognize and thank my wife, Dinah Bengur, and 

our daughter, Nina, for being here today. Also, I would like to 

thank my parents. Their patience, guidance, and support have been 

a bedrock and a platform for me to think big and pursue my 

dreams. 

I would like to recognize my colleagues on the Agriculture Committee staff. This Committee is known for its bipartisanship and its 

ability to get things done. I have had the privilege to work with Republican, Democratic, and non-designated staff, both past and 

present. There are too many to name, but many have been a significant part of my career and personal life in the Senate. I call 

many close friends, and I hope I will be able to do so for many 

years to come. 

Finally, I would like to thank Senator Stabenow. For more than 

6 years, I have had the great privilege of serving the people of 

Michigan and advising Senator Stabenow in her roles as Chairwoman and Ranking Member of this Committee. Senator Stabenow 

has a boundless energy driven towards a simple goal: helping others. This energy and discipline are contagious and serve as a challenge to fulfill the great responsibility of public service. 

These are virtues that most people can only aspire to, but, if confirmed, it is these virtues, manifested through your dynamic character, your balanced judgment, and your integrity that I will endeavor to use as a compass to guide my own decisions, both professionally and personally. 

I joined the Agriculture Committee staff more than 6 years ago, 

only a few years removed from the financial crisis, the U.S. economy struggling to find footing, and Wall Street reform just beginning to take shape. Coming from New York City, my professional 

experience as an attorney was narrow relative to the true breadth 

of the CFTC’s jurisdiction. But, after a few short months, this 

would all change. 

During what became this Committee’s first attempts at piecing 

together the 2014 Farm Bill, I had the opportunity to add two 

issues to my portfolio: biotechnology and crop protection. Since that 

time, I have committed to learning these two issues wholeheartedly—the complex regulatory field, the diverse viewpoints, 

and most importantly, meeting agricultural producers from across 

the country, many from States represented on this Committee. 

It is within the context of my exposure to agricultural policy that 

the CFTC’s history and core mission have become clearer to me. I 

believe the strength and vibrancy of the futures market, which 

serves as a critical price discovery and risk management tool for 

end users, is a testament to the creative and entrepreneurial spirit 

of the American farmer. 

In 1974, this Committee authorized the establishment of the 

Commodity Futures Trading Commission as an independent agency, understanding that the quick pace of innovation in the derivatives space demanded a dedicated regulator with exclusive jurisdiction and separate from the Department of Agriculture. 

With each new year, market participants developed new products 

to help producers, manufacturers, and financial institutions lay off 

risk. Today the derivatives market is largely comprised of products 

derived from financial instruments, like foreign currency, interest 
7 

rates, and market indices; a much more complex, global, and diversified market than what existed even 10 years ago. 

Reforms established in 2009 by the G20 leaders and later included in Title VII of Dodd-Frank have made significant changes 

to the CFTC’s regulatory canvas, shedding much needed light on 

the previously unregulated swaps market, which played a significant role in the financial crisis. 

Title VII has improved transparency through mandatory clearing 

and exchange trading of standardized swaps and comprehensive 

recordkeeping and reporting requirements. These core reforms will 

protect against many risks that undermine the ability of global— 

the stability of global financial markets prior to 2008. 

But there is more work to be done. If confirmed, I commit to 

working with the CFTC Chairman and my fellow Commissioners to 

ensure that the balance of Title VII is completed in its entirety. 

Sitting here, nearly 7 years to the day since the enactment of 

Dodd-Frank, I believe the Commission must aim to finalize outstanding Title VII work in a thoughtful and expeditious manner. 

Completion will allow the Commission to shift its limited resources 

towards new challenges financial markets face today. 

In addition to the constant need for strong enforcement of Commission rules and regulations, advancements in technology, cybersecurity threats, and regulatory coordination, both domestically 

and internationally, present real challenges for the CFTC and market participants. 

Finally, as this Committee shifts focus to the 2018 Farm Bill, I 

commit, if confirmed, to working with each 

member of this Committee, both here in Washington, DC, and 

back home, to ensure the CFTC, particularly at this time of persistently low commodity prices and economic headwinds in the farm 

economy, remains both a desirable and cost-effective risk management and price discovery tool for agricultural producers and the entire value chain. 

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Behnam can be found on page 

30 in the appendix.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Mr. Quintenz. 

TESTIMONY OF BRIAN D. QUINTENZ, NOMINEE, TO BE A COMMISSIONER OF THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Thank you, Chairman Roberts, Ranking Member 

Stabenow, and members of the Committee. It is an honor to be 

with you this morning. 

I would like to thank President Trump for nominating me to 

serve on this important Commission, and I am very appreciative of 

the support I received from many different parties during my prior 

nomination, including the unanimous support of this Committee. 

I am deeply grateful for the love and encouragement of my parents, Kenneth and Susan; my brother, Darren; and my two children, Connor and Vivienne. None of them happen to be here today, 

as they are all enjoying much cooler weather up in northern Wisconsin for a family reunion, but my children assured me that had 
8 

this hearing occurred on a school day, they would have insisted on 

attending. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Mr. Chairman, I am a Midwesterner. I am a firstgeneration Ohioan whose mother and father grew up in Wisconsin, 

which is also the home of my extended family, and I am a firm believer in the Midwest values of hard work, honesty, and community. 

I come from a family of entrepreneurs and small business owners. My grandfather on my mother’s side, after serving in World 

War II, returned home to northwestern Wisconsin and purchased 

a Ford car dealership. His wife, my maternal grandmother, was 

raised on a family dairy farm in Chetek, Wisconsin. My paternal 

grandmother owned and operated a restaurant on the east side of 

Milwaukee, putting her three sons through college. My father started his own business, my brother started his own business, and I 

founded my own business, Saeculum Capital Management. 

Until I closed it at the end of last year, Saeculum was an investment firm registered with the CFTC as a commodity pool operator. 

As the sole proprietor of the firm, it was my responsibility to effectively and meticulously manage risk as well as compliance. I am, 

therefore, very familiar with the CFTC’s investor protection rules, 

disclosure requirements, and recordkeeping obligations. 

I began my career in finance in 2008 during the financial crisis. 

Working directly under the CEO at an investment firm focused on 

the banking sector, I performed detailed valuations on financial institutions of all sizes and complexities. I became an expert at reading banks’ balance sheets and income statements, understanding 

their accounting rules and financial disclosures, and forecasting 

their capital levels and quarterly earnings. 

In this position, I depended on the accuracy and accessibility of 

publicly available information and became a firm believer in data 

and transparency. Transparency increases market efficiency and 

can provide important checks on risky behavior. 

However, my professional career did not begin in finance. It 

began in public policy. After graduating from Duke with a degree 

in public policy studies, I joined the Office of Congresswoman Deborah Pryce, who represented Ohio’s 15th District, an area that included my hometown of Columbus. Ultimately, I became her senior 

policy advisor with an issue portfolio that included agriculture. 

In meeting agricultural constituents and personally visiting some 

of the over-1,000 family farmers in our Ohio district, I developed 

a strong appreciation for the work ethic and sophistication of 

America’s farmers and ranchers, as well as for the pressures and 

the costs and the risks that they face. 

Should I be confirmed, I pledge to ensure the market concerns 

of the agricultural sector are recognized and to continue developing 

a firsthand knowledge of the agricultural community. 

The financial crisis scarred every sector of our economy. It hurt 

individuals, families, and communities, and it exposed the deep 

flaws in our markets. It deserved a legislative and a regulatory response. As that response is calibrated, regulations meant to address those flaws should not spill over to harm the normal activity 

of ordinary businesses and end users. When costs are added with-
9 

out targeting risk, poor outcomes ensue. I will work to ensure that 

regulations and their burdens are tied to the risks being mitigated. 

It would be an honor to bring my public policy background, my 

expertise in finance and risk management, my knowledge of derivatives and my respect for the agricultural community to the CFTC. 

This is a crucial time for our financial markets and for the people 

that depend upon them. It would be a privilege to serve at this 

agency. 

Thank you very much, and I would be pleased to answer your 

questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Quintenz can be found on page 

33 in the appendix.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Thank you for your statement, Mr. 

Quintenz. 

Ms. Stump. 

TESTIMONY OF DAWN DeBERRY STUMP, NOMINEE, TO BE A 

COMMISSIONER OF THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Ms. STUMP. Chairman Roberts, Ranking Member Stabenow, and 

members of the Committee, thank you very much for the opportunity to return here to the Senate Agriculture Committee. It was 

a privilege to work here for 6 years as a legislative staffer, and 

today I am pleased to appear before you as a nominee to serve as 

Commissioner on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. 

Should I be confirmed to the position, I know the standard of collaboration to which this Committee and its staff subscribe will assist me in contributing to the effectiveness of the bipartisan Commission. 

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank my family in 

Texas as well as my husband, Jeremy, and my children, Ethan and 

Abigail, who are here with me today. 

I have spent my entire professional career working in and 

around agriculture. This background is what motivates my conviction for well-functioning commodity markets. I grew up in the agricultural sector during the farm crisis of the 1980s. My hometown 

of Olton, Texas, is almost exclusively dependent upon production 

agriculture. I have seen firsthand the need for access to a variety 

of effective risk-management and price-discovery tools, including 

the futures market where the industry can hedge against the inherent risk of the business that they run. 

Earlier in my career, I worked as a market analyst for a group 

of U.S. wheat farmers seeking to market their crops around the 

globe. In our effort to promote U.S. ag products abroad, I provided 

our marketing teams around the world with information on the 

market fundamentals, the futures prices, and the cash markets at 

various export points. 

A more somber experience was my work at the Texas Department of Agriculture during a period of extreme drought. Seeing 

firsthand this sort of devastation and helping to coordinate a response further solidified my view that access to functional risk 

management tools in various forms is crucial to the agricultural industry. 
10 

Notably, though, the application of the markets regulated by the 

CFTC extends beyond agriculture to manufacturers, utilities, and 

even retirement pension plans. Futures, options, and swaps are important tools for managing risk associated with price fluctuation, 

energy production disruptions, retirement savings loss, and interest 

rate variability. 

My background is in agriculture, but my experience is further informed by the various energy and financial market initiatives I 

worked on during the time here as a staffer on the Agriculture 

Committee. 

In 2008, I helped negotiate a bipartisan effort to ensure that the 

CFTC had proper oversight authority over principal-to-principal 

transactions executed on electronic trading facilities. Our efforts 

ensured that when these contracts were performing a significant 

price discovery function, they would be subject to transparency and 

position management comparable to those of similarly designed futures contracts. At the time, this was particularly applicable in the 

energy markets. 

Later in 2009 and 2010, the Committee was involved in responding to the financial crisis and specifically tasked with examining 

how to regulate over-the-counter swaps. I spent countless hours 

hearing from end users who utilize these markets to hedge their 

risk and discussing with colleagues from the Agriculture and the 

Banking Committee how to appropriately oversee the products, the 

market participants, and the infrastructure that would support 

such a newly regulated market. 

The circumstances of the recent financial crisis taught us that 

the markets are constantly changing, and regulators must be nimble enough to respond accordingly. During the 10 years that have 

passed since the onset of the crisis, the OTC swaps market has undergone a tremendous transformation, with 80 percent of such 

transactions being cleared today, as compared to only about 15 percent in 2007. 

The pace of change in the markets regulated by the CFTC will 

continue. To avoid complacency, we must be vigilant about ensuring that regulations are properly calibrated for the inevitable market evolution ahead. 

In closing, I would like to note that the recently expanded portfolio of products and market participants under the CFTC’s oversight requires the agency to expand its expertise, without losing 

sight of its legacy mission of ensuring that the futures markets are 

performing price discovery functions void of manipulation. 

My background is in agriculture, and my professional experience 

extends to the energy and financial futures markets. I am honored 

to be nominated alongside individuals with complementary credentials, and I genuinely believe that our collective knowledge will 

yield optimal coordination for better regulatory developments and 

oversight. 

Thank you, and I would be happy to answer any questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Stump can be found on page 35 

in the appendix.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Thank you very much, Ms. Stump. I thank 

you all for being on time. We have a rather hard-to-understand de 

minimis rule of 2 hours with regards to this hearing, so thank you 
11 

for being on time. Just a bit of information for all Senators, including myself. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Last Congress, we moved the CFTC reauthorization package out of this Committee in an effort to address 

some of the most pressing issues for market participants, such as 

setting an appropriate de minimis level and defining what constitutes a bona fide hedge. 

Can each of you briefly discuss your views on these two issues? 

Russ. 

Mr. BEHNAM. Mr. Chairman, with respect to bona fide hedge, I 

would take a step back. I do support position limits, and I support 

a quick and thoughtful completion of the position limits rule. That 

said, I fully appreciate that. 

I think the relevant question is not whether or not position limits 

should be completed, but how they should be completed. I think 

this goes to your point, thinking about a proper bona fide hedge 

definition, proper deliverable supply numbers, and proper aggregation definition also are very key to that rule to get it done right. 

I do believe it is the law, and I think it needs to be implemented 

and finalized as soon as possible. 

With respect to de minimis, I support the current rule at the 

Commission, which would require the Commission to drop the $8 

billion level to $3 billion in December 2018. That said, if confirmed 

I commit to working with you, this Committee, and my fellow Commissioners and the Chairman at the CFTC to make sure the current rule reflects the most recent and relevant data to ensure that 

the policy objectives of the registration regime are met, specifically 

reducing systemic risk and promoting market participation. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Mr. Quintenz. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

With regard to the de minimis threshold level, I think when this 

threshold was set originally, it was really done without the benefit 

of a lot of data. I think if there is a scenario where this threshold 

reduces from $8 billion to $3 billion and instead of increasing registration, it would drive participants out of the market or force 

them to reduce their activity because of the costs that would be imposed upon them, that scenario would not serve the three stated 

policy goals in Dodd-Frank of swap dealer registration, which are 

systemic risk reduction, counter-party production, and market integrity. 

As such, I think it is very important that the Commission analyze a robust set of data around this issue. I know Acting Chairman Giancarlo has called for a fresh look at data on this issue, and 

I would like that data to inform my opinion as to what the appropriate level of a de minimis threshold should be. 

Regarding position limits, I think it is absolutely imperative that 

end users and farmers and ranchers that have been able to hedge 

in these markets continue to be able to hedge in the bona fide way 

that they historically have. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Ms. Stump. 

Ms. STUMP. I will start with position limits. Can you hear me? 

I will start with position limits. 
12 

First of all, I would like to commend the Acting Chairman for his 

commitment to putting forward a final position limit rule. I think 

that the discussion on the proposals and the supplements to this 

rule have been going on for quite some time, and I look forward 

to helping him to finalize this rule. With regard to bona fide hedging, the agricultural industry and the markets that they utilize 

have had position limits for quite some time, and my priority will 

be to ensure that the strategies they use to hedge are not prevented in the future due to unworkable bona fide hedging restrictions. 

With regard to the de minimis levels, having been here during 

the development of Dodd-Frank, I can absolutely attest to the fact 

that registration of swap dealers was a very important component 

of the reforms that were included in Dodd-Frank, and certainly, 

those reforms should be implemented aggressively. The de minimis 

threshold for the de minimis exemption was also a part of Congress’ direction to the CFTC. 

Given that the agency has struggled to obtain good information 

relative to swap transactions, I believe the Commission made a determination that they needed to delay the implementation of the 

threshold until such time as they could have better data, and I look 

forward to looking at that data and reviewing it as the schedule 

comes due again. 

Thank you. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Thank you for that. 

In the 26 seconds that I have left, I am going to submit two questions for the record, but one is in regard to our folks on the ground 

who are trying to hedge their agriculture or commercial risk, and 

they need to be able to focus on the business of what they do best 

for America. The question concerns what is your position on rules 

and regulations and the negative impact on our farmers and ranchers and other end users and how you would address those concerns, 

and I am sure you all can respond to that. 

The other one is the—we hear rumblings about whether it makes 

sense from a budgeting perspective to combine the SEC and CFTC. 

Any comments you may have on that? You obviously are opposed 

to that and—— 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. —you can express that in one simple paragraph. 

Senator Stabenow. 

Senator STABENOW. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I too share 

your interest, obviously, in the position limits rule. 

I think it is clear. I think I heard all of you say that you want 

to get that rule done. Is that right? Rostin, is that right? 

Mr. BEHNAM. Correct. 

Senator STABENOW. Yes. Brian? 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Yes. I would commit to finalizing the position limits rule. 

Senator STABENOW. Dawn? 

Ms. STUMP. Yes. 

Senator STABENOW. Okay. We also have work to do on the swaps 

de minimis threshold. I am not going to talk about this issue now, 

but I do want to be clear on the budget. You all are walking into 
13 

a situation where there has been dramatic increases in responsibilities without adequate resources now for years. We are all concerned about important new issues that pose as threats to the markets, like cybersecurity and so on. 

I am wondering if each of you would indicate whether or not you 

would support increased resources for the CFTC, and at a minimum, would you support the Acting Chairman’s efforts to increase 

the budget? 

Rostin? 

Mr. BEHNAM. Senator, I do not think the budget increases that 

the CFTC has received since the financial crisis, to use your word, 

are commensurate with its new oversight responsibilities, thinking 

about the swaps market, which is estimated at about $500 trillion 

notional value. 

Then, again, to your point, cyber threats and the advent of automated trading, these are all very resource-intensive challenges that 

the CFTC faces. So, yes, I do support an increased budget. I do 

support Acting Chair Giancarlo’s proposal. 

I would also add that I think it is important that this Committee 

consider the Division of Enforcement and the actions it has taken 

at the Commission. Over the past 5 years, it has returned billions 

of dollars to the Treasury, and I think it is important to view funding the CFTC in an appropriate way as an investment in safe and 

stable markets. 

Senator STABENOW. Thank you. 

Yes, Brian. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Thank you, Senator. 

I think there are a number of different ways to ball-park or 

handicap the new responsibilities that the agency has received. 

From the outside and as a nominee, I am not necessarily privy to 

the same type of information that I could be as a Commissioner on 

resource utilization and allocation or need, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for and confidence in Acting Chairman 

Giancarlo and would compliment him on the diligence, the honesty 

and the forethought that he put into building his budgetary submission. It is my understanding that the increase that he is seeking would go towards increasing the number of economists in the 

chief economist office and providing more oversight over central 

counterparties. Both of those are priorities I would support. 

Senator STABENOW. Great. Thank you. Dawn? 

Ms. STUMP. Like Mr. Quintenz, I would like to commend the Acting Chairman for doing a top-to-bottom review of the Agency’s resource needs. I think that was overdue, and he was very thoughtful, I think, in putting forward an alternative budget relative to the 

gaps that he found and the need for increased efficiencies. 

I look forward to having the opportunity, if confirmed, to review 

that information and contribute to future budget discussions. 

I would like to also, in the context of this conversation, commend 

the staff that were tasked with implementing Dodd-Frank at the 

CFTC. They did a remarkable job and, frankly, were one of the 

first agencies to implement most of the responsibilities under the 

Dodd-Frank Act, with the limited resources they had. 
14 

Senator STABENOW. I agree with you. I think there has been tremendous work done, given the importance but also the limited resources. 

Let me ask about cybersecurity because we know it is an enormous risk, not only to national security, but also to our markets 

and our economy. This is something we must take seriously as we 

move forward. 

Financial markets are as vulnerable as any institution, and an 

attack on markets would have catastrophic repercussions for our 

nation’s economy. 

If confirmed as a CFTC Commissioner, what are your intentions 

to address this growing challenge? Do you believe the Committee 

needs to provide additional authority to the CFTC to better protect 

the financial markets it oversees? 

Mr. BEHNAM. Senator, I think the thing that pops into my mind 

when I think about cyber is coordination and collaboration among 

financial regulators. There are obviously a lot of financial regulators that oversee very discrete parts of the financial system. 

That said, the one priority that I hope I would contribute to my 

fellow Commissioners and the Chairman is working with other financial regulators, specifically thinking about the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which was authorized in Title I of DoddFrank, excellent opportunity for Acting Chair Giancarlo to be sort 

of the face of the CFTC and work with other financial regulators 

to have an across-the-board coordination with all regulators so that 

everyone is working on the same page and sort of living up to the 

same standard, because you could have nine out of ten financial 

regulators doing and having the best cyber defense, but if one, to 

your point, is not strong, that one leak can have a systemic issue 

across the board. 

Senator STABENOW. Thank you. 

Yes, Brian. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Yes. I would like to echo those comments. 

I think about cybersecurity from an internal perspective and an 

external perspective, the internal perspective meaning protecting 

the CFTC’s own data and its digital infrastructure from attack. I 

know that it is implementing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, 

and it is also subject to the Federal Information Security Modernization Act and the annual audits that it requires. Then there 

is the external component of ensuring that the financial institutions that it regulates are held to the highest standards, and I 

know that there has been a unanimous rule to address those 

issues. 

Senator STABENOW. Yes, Dawn? 

Ms. STUMP. I agree with everyone. Cyber is a serious threat to 

the market and the infrastructure that supports it, and you all putting forward core principles under the Commodity Exchange Act 

expect that the system safeguard core principle be adhered to. 

The Commission recently improved upon the systems safeguard 

core principle regulations to ensure that the clearinghouses and the 

exchanges that support these markets are, in fact, conducting the 

necessary internal and external test to ensure that cyber threats 

can be managed and detected. 
15 

So I certainly will be vigilant in ensuring that those regulations 

are complied with, if confirmed. 

Senator STABENOW. Thank you. 

Mr. Chairman, I know I have gone over, but I want to stress that 

there are folks working at this moment to undermine U.S. financial 

systems as well as the rest of our economy. So I hope that each of 

you will take this threat seriously moving forward. 

Thank you. 

Chairman ROBERTS. They were good overtime questions. 

Senator Ernst. 

Senator ERNST. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome to each 

of you, your families, and your colleagues. It is nice to have you 

here, and congratulations on your nominations. 

We all know that folks within the ag industry face tremendous 

risk and operate in a uniquely volatile marketplace. Risk management is essential to their business operations, especially as we continue to experience a downturn in our ag economy. 

From the entire panel, if you would, as you all know, there is a 

big difference between an Iowa farmer hedging against commodity 

market risk and a Wall Street investment banker writing credit default swaps. How would you ensure that we avoid unintended consequences of a one-size-fits-all regulation on families and businesses who are involved in agriculture? 

We will reverse the order this time. Ms. Stump, if you would 

start, please. 

Ms. STUMP. Certainly. 

I absolutely understand what you are saying. The CFTC is 

tasked with regulating a number of different asset classes and 

market participants, and certainly, given my background, I am familiar with the different risks that agricultural producers face and 

energy producers also face. All of the commodity market participants need to have access to markets where they can hedge against 

the volatility that is always going to be present in their business. 

Relative to the financial products that the CFTC oversees, some 

of those are also necessary hedging tools. For example, CoBank 

probably uses the interest rate swap market to hedge against their 

risk, and we have to make sure that those tools are available to 

them as well. 

On the other side, there are participants in the market that are 

not hedgers. They are liquidity providers. They are often speculating in the market, and we do need to address the concerns relative to the different market participants in different manners. I 

look forward to doing that, if confirmed. 

Senator ERNST. Very good. Thank you. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Thank you, Senator. 

I think that these markets need to work for the people and the 

farmers and the ranchers and the businesses that have a natural 

exposure to commodity risk because they depend upon them, and 

when the Commission loses sight of the risk that its rules are trying to mitigate or the market flaw that its regulations are trying 

to address, that is when costs get added and regulations end up 

burdening ordinary businesses and the end-user community. 
16 

So I would pledge to make it a focus of mine to ensure that the 

regulations and the rules that the CFTC considers, proposes, and 

finalizes target risks specifically. 

Senator ERNST. Thank you. 

Mr. BEHNAM. Senator, echoing everything my fellow nominees 

said, I will add, though, I think constant communication with 

stakeholders. Obviously, the stakeholders of this Committee is important to ensure that they are able to use the derivatives market 

in a cost-effective way as a risk-management tool. 

So, if confirmed, I pledge to continue working with the Aggies to 

make sure that they are able to use the markets in the way they 

were intended to be used. 

Senator ERNST. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. 

In his testimony, Mr. Quintenz discussed the danger of rules that 

treat low-risk behavior the same as high-risk behavior, and for all 

of you as well, to what extent do you think CFTC regulations currently do this? Are there any steps that Congress should be taking 

in this process? 

Yes, Mr. Quintenz. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. I guess I will start since it was in my testimony. 

Senator ERNST. Yes. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. I think that—— 

Senator ERNST. Thank you. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. —there are areas where the Commission has 

issued rules on thresholds or definitions that do not necessarily fit 

the risks that are being mitigated. 

I think one example could be in the de minimis threshold and 

using notional value as a way to measure activity. Notional value, 

I believe, is a poor measure of activity and is a meaningless measure of risk, but yet that is what the Commission has chosen to impose all of these costs upon smaller firms that would have to register as swap dealers; also, in regulations defining who is a bone 

fide end user in position limits; Also, in defining who is an algorithmic or a high-frequency trader, where in past iterations it could 

have applied very broadly to even the farmers and the ranchers of 

this country; I think they need to make sure they are focused on 

targeting the rule specifically. 

Senator ERNST. Very good. 

I only have 30 seconds, if there is a differing opinion, either one. 

Ms. STUMP. I have no differing opinion. 

I would just like to point out that you all have given the Commission a principle-based roadmap for these regulations, such that 

I think that indicates that one-size-fits-all was not your intention, 

so—— 

Senator ERNST. Right. Correct. Thank you. 

Mr. Behnam. 

Mr. BEHNAM. I would just add that it is important as an independent agency that the Commission have the flexibility to constantly adapt to the current marketplace, given its quick pace of 

evolution. 

Senator ERNST. Absolutely. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Donnelly. 

Senator DONNELLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 
17 

Thank you all for being here. 

I have consistently argued that position limits should be a tool 

in the CFTC’s tool box that helps the Commission fulfill its mission 

to promote transparent open markets and to protect the public 

from fraud and manipulation. 

I would like to go down the line. If confirmed, will you work to 

finalize the position limits rule in a timely manner? 

Mr. Behnam. 

Mr. BEHNAM. Senator, absolutely. I support position limits, and 

I will work with my fellow Commissioners and the Acting Chair to 

ensure that the rule is done as quickly as possible. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Thank you, Senator. Yes, I would commit to finalizing a position on this rule. 

Senator DONNELLY. Okay. 

Ms. STUMP. Yes, I would. 

Senator DONNELLY. Great. One of CFTC’s continual challenges is 

securing appropriate funding to make sure that operations are full 

capacity. That has continued to be a challenge on a regular basis. 

I am also interested in learning more about the possibility of creating a self-funding mechanism for the Commission that provides 

you with the resources needed without restricting access for market 

participants. 

Mr. Quintenz, starting with you, would you commit to getting 

back to this Committee in the coming months with your thoughts 

and ideas for appropriately funding the Commission for the work 

that you have to do? 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Absolutely. 

Senator DONNELLY. Ms. Stump? 

Ms. STUMP. Yes. I would be happy to. 

Senator DONNELLY. Mr. Behnam? 

Mr. BEHNAM. Yes, Senator Donnelly. 

Senator DONNELLY. Great. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Boozman. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you 

and the Ranking Member for getting this together in a timely fashion. 

I guess I would like to talk a little bit about harmonizing the 

swaps rules to ensure that U.S. firms are operating on a level playing field with their international competitors. 

In your opinion, how important is this work—international regulators harmonizing their swaps rules? What are the biggest harmonization challenges that we are facing in the coming years, and 

how do you think we should tackle these challenges again? Talk a 

little bit about how that affects the ability of United States entities 

to complete overseas. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Thank you, Senator. 

The swaps market is a global market, and I think that presents 

two somewhat opposing challenges in harmonization efforts. 

The first is that, as the financial crisis showed, a buildup of excessive risk anywhere through derivative exposure can be a buildup of excessive risk everywhere, and we have to be vigilant that 

we are not importing risk into the United States through lax comparability determinations. 
18 

But the second aspect of a global swaps market is that if costs 

or regulations are added in one jurisdiction that do not compare to 

other jurisdictions, that activity can move overseas, and it could be 

detrimental to the liquidity and to the ability of end users. 

Senator BOOZMAN. You actually lose control somewhat? 

Mr. QUINTENZ. To some degree, you could, yes, Senator. So I 

think that those are things that the Commission needs to keep in 

mind in making comparability determinations. 

Mr. BEHNAM. Senator, I think one of the most important lessons 

from the crisis was how global and interconnected the financial 

markets are. You could have a transaction, to Mr. Quintenz’s point, 

take place far beyond our borders and it have a profound effect on 

our domestic institutions, our domestic markets, and most importantly, the American taxpayer. 

With that, I think it is critical that when the CFTC enforce its 

cross-border guidance and related rules and regulations, it have appropriate oversight over transactions that have significant nexus to 

the U.S. 

With that, to the extent that it is my responsibility, if confirmed, 

I will work with the Chairman to continue working with foreign 

counterparts to make sure that there is a level playing field and 

that there is not a regulatory race to the bottom. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Very good. 

Ms. STUMP. I would just—I agree with everything that has been 

said, but I would like to point out that never was it any more apparent than during the financial crisis that these are global markets. What started in one jurisdiction quickly bled into another, 

and I think that is why the global regulators came to terms with 

a three-part approach relative to derivatives regulations—transparency, reducing systemic risk, increase clearing. All of those 

things were supported in a bipartisan manner. 

But what is unique about the United States is that the CFTC 

has for over 30 years been a leader among their global regulators, 

and I believe that has continued. They were one of the first movers 

implementing many of these reforms, and so we saw that at the 

time, when various jurisdictions were implementing the regulations 

at different times, that there were gaps. But now most jurisdictions 

have taken steps to put in place regulations, and it is incumbent 

upon all regulators to coordinate and ensure that they are not stepping on each other but at the same time ensuring that the prevalence of these problems does not bleed from one jurisdiction to another. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Well, we have the harmonizing the rules. We 

have the cross-border situation, but domestically, what will you do 

to reduce the unnecessary redundant burdens, such as inspections, 

filings, and information requests on regulated entities? 

In other words, right now the feedback that we are getting is 

that we need good information, but we do not need regulation for 

regulation’s sake. 

The other problem with that is that as you acquire this information—and it is not just the CFTC—it is all of our financial regulators. It seems like there is a move for more and more information, but as we talked about the cyber security component, you 
19 

have the responsibility then of securing this information, which is 

very, very difficult to do. 

So can you comment on what do we do about getting rid of some 

of the redundant stuff that is going on? 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Thank you, Senator. 

I think this is an opportunity to applaud Acting Chairman 

Giancarlo’s efforts. He has announced something called Project 

KISS, which stands for ‘‘Keep it Simple, Stupid,’’ to review all of 

the regulations that are currently on the books and try to find 

areas where there may be duplicative regulations or unneeded regulations. I would support his efforts in that regard. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Very good. 

You all certainly support that, I assume? 

Mr. BEHNAM. Absolutely. 

Ms. STUMP. Yes. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Very good. That is a great slogan for all of us. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Klobuchar. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Welcome, all of you. This hearing is a little more less intense 

than the Judiciary hearing I just came from on Russia, so I will 

try to adjust my tone. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Mr. Quintenz, you have a strong background—— 

Chairman ROBERTS. Welcome back home. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you. Thank you. It is great to be 

here. 

Mr. Quintenz, You have a strong background with the financial 

markets. You have been a participant in financial markets as part 

of your business. 

You and I met, and we talked about the differences between 

speculation in areas like gas, oil, wheat, where there are physical 

commodities, and pure financial speculation. Could you talk about 

how you consider this and what you see as the similarities and differences? 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Yes. Thanks, Senator. 

It was a pleasure to meet you, and it was very kind of you to 

spend some time talking business during that—during that event. 

Commodity markets evolved completely separately from the equity markets for completely different purposes. Whereas the equity 

markets were designed for companies to raise capital from the public and to provide an avenue of wealth creation through the ownership of future cash flows, commodity markets evolved so that individuals, farmers and ranchers, and businesses that have a natural 

exposure to commodity risk could hedge that risk and transfer that 

risk. 

Currently in the commodity markets, there are two classifications of participants. Those that have that natural exposure and 

hedge that exposure are considered hedgers, and that impacts 

things like reduced margin requirements, because of their ability 

to perform on these contracts; Everyone else is lumped into the role 

of a speculator. That could be an individual, it could be a small fi-
20 

nancial firm, it could be a large financial institution, regardless of 

whether or not they are speculating for their own account or providing intermediation for their client. But it is the functionality of 

these markets to the end user for the purposes of price discovery 

and risk mitigation that is at the core of the CFTC’s function, 

which is what I would vow to protect. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Okay. Thank you. 

As you know, we are facing a big time of declining commodity 

prices and in all the areas that I mentioned, including in agriculture, and big moves in market prices, as you know, can create 

an incentive for speculation and abuse, people placing bets on the 

way the market moves and who do not have a stake actually in the 

commodities being produced. The CFTC enforces the rules that prevent abuses that led to the 2008 market crisis, and since then, 

cases of note that we have discussed in this Committee—MF Global and Peregrine—I actually have someone, a constituent in my 

State, an agriculture person who is a victim of both of those ripoffs. 

So I guess I will ask the other two nominees here, Ms. Stump 

and Mr. Behnam. In your work on the Agriculture Committee, you 

saw how the ag sector was also impacted by the collapse of MF 

Global and other abuses. Could you talk about how you would work 

with the CFTC to protect consumers and investors, and are there 

other steps that we can take to protect consumers and investors 

from these types of abuses? 

I guess, Mr. Behnam and then Ms. Stump. 

Mr. BEHNAM. Senator, like you pointed out, my work on the 

Committee has been super helpful in sort of informing me about 

the risks that growers take on a daily basis, and having worked on 

the MF Global and Peregrine hearings when we had them back in 

’11 and ’12, having an opportunity to meet these growers firsthand 

and the risks they take, and really the unacceptable abuse of their 

sort of—their assets and their personal belongings that these companies did was egregious. To that end, I think the Commission and 

this Committee has reacted well, but the core priorities of the Commission have to be customer protections. 

To Mr. Quintenz’s point, these markets were created for end 

users to manage risk and for price discovery, but we have small, 

large farmers and ranchers and manufacturers and other end users 

using these markets. The priority for the Commission must be customer protections. 

To that end, if confirmed, I will continue working with stakeholders, both ag and otherwise, to ensure that they feel comfortable 

using the markets for risk management and price discovery. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you. 

Ms. Stump? 

Ms. STUMP. Absolutely, I think that the customer protection 

measures that the CFTC is responsible for are the bedrock of what 

makes these markets appealing to people and encourages them to 

hedge against their risk. If their collateral cannot be protected, 

they will have no incentive to be operating or hedging against the 

risk. 

Certainly, the failures of MF Global and Peregrine resulted in a 

review of what could be done and what could be made better and 
21 

what could be improved upon relative to protecting those assets, 

and I am very pleased to have worked with a coalition of agricultural producers and the clearing members that support them at 

that time to review those improvements and to have provided input 

into how they would be workable or not. Going forward, if confirmed, this will be especially important to me, because I am from 

the agricultural industry, and we want to encourage those folks to 

be in the markets hedging. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Okay. Thank you. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Thune. 

Senator THUNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Stabenow, 

for having the hearing. It is nice to welcome Ms. Stump and Mr. 

Behnam back to the Committee, and I know that with your experience here, you understand the complexities of the ag commodity 

markets and how important they are when it comes to keeping 

functioning smoothly and without risk. So we look forward as well, 

Mr. Quintenz, to having you all there and bringing your backgrounds to bear and to serve at the CFTC. 

Just a question having to do—we have heard complaints, especially from our livestock producers, that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, is not performing as it should, which they say is 

negatively impacting cattle prices. Can you kind of tell me just 

maybe what your thoughts are on that, and perhaps even more 

specifically, with your future potential oversight of CME at CFTC 

and based on what you know now, are there any CME activities 

that concern you regarding transparency or price manipulation? 

Mr. BEHNAM. Senator, I am not aware of any actions that the 

CME has taken that would disrupt the cattle markets. 

That said, I am very well aware of this issue. I have met with 

stakeholders, some from South Dakota in the past year or two, and 

appreciate their concerns about the volatility in that market. 

That said, if confirmed, I fully commit to working with you, your 

staff, and this Committee to ensure that measures that both the 

CFTC have taken and the CME has taken as well continue to address the problem and resolve the issues, so that the livestock industry can use the markets for risk management. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Thank you, Senator. 

I think, ultimately, these markets need to work for the farmers 

and ranchers that depend upon them, and when a contract is trading at lock limit for a significant number of days, like the cattle futures contract has in 2015, to a lesser extent 2016, but still somewhat in 2017, I think it is indicative of some type of problem with 

the market, whether it be contract design, whether it be market 

participants, or whether it be supply and demand and balances. It 

is important for the Commission to answer those questions. 

I know that the Commission has been looking into this and has 

been working with all the stakeholders, including the CME and 

ranchers that have exposure to this, and I would pledge to look into 

this issue and give you any of my thoughts and findings. 

Senator THUNE. Thank you. 

Ms. Stump? 

Ms. STUMP. I agree with everything that has been said. The only 

thing I would add is that anytime one of the commodity markets 

is not performing a price discovery function or convergence is not 
22 

occurring or volatility that is unprecedented is present, it is incumbent upon all of the stakeholders to come together and address or 

at least explore that there might need to be changes, including the 

exchanges, the end users, the liquidity providers, and certainly the 

regulators. I am committed to doing that if confirmed. 

Senator THUNE. Well, we look forward to working with you on 

that. As you noted, we hear a lot of that—and I am sure you do 

as well—from people who are out there raising cattle and trying to 

use the markets in an effective way. 

Past several years, we have been informed that resources, including personnel at the CFTC, are insufficient to meet required operations and oversight. Based on what you know now, what are your 

thoughts on staffing and resources, and do you expect to be requesting additional staffing and resources in the future? 

Ms. STUMP. I will start. I think that the Acting Chairman has 

done a remarkable job of evaluating the resource needs of the 

CFTC, and that was probably overdue. I think he has identified 

some increased efficiencies as well as some gaps that need to be 

filled, and in doing so, he has put together some analysis that I 

have not yet seen, but, if confirmed, I am committed to reviewing, 

especially in the context of the new responsibilities that the Commission has under the Dodd-Frank Act. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Thank you, Senator. I would completely agree 

with Ms. Stump. 

While it is hard as a nominee to have the same type of information as we would have as Commissioners to answer the resource 

question, I am well aware of the review that Acting Chairman 

Giancarlo has put together in his request for additional resources 

and would look forward to working with him to ensure that the 

Commission has what it needs to operate and fulfill its obligations. 

Mr. BEHNAM. Senator, I agree with my fellow nominees in the 

sense that we cannot properly evaluate the needs of the Commission in these seats, and we would need to be down there examining 

the books to see what the true needs are. 

That said, as I pointed out earlier, I would say given the increase 

in oversight responsibility that the Commission received through 

Title VII, relative to the funding increases it has received since the 

financial crisis, I would think that the funding increase is important to ensure and preserve market integrity. 

Senator THUNE. My time has expired. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Perdue. 

Senator PERDUE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for 

holding this critical meeting. In my opinion, it is very important we 

get these Commissioners confirmed so they can go to work. 

I just have a couple of quick questions for all three. The first is 

on the derivatives markets globally. Since the crash in ’08 and ’09, 

as jurisdictions around the world move to catch up and progress towards implementing their own reforms in the derivatives markets, 

coordinations with those regulators around the world to me seems 

like it has never been more important for our CFTC to be engaged 

with that. 

Would you just briefly—because I want to get on to another issue 

here as well, quickly—would you talk about your views regarding 

how the CFTC can better coordinate with these other regulators 
23 

around the world to ensure that we do have a robust global swaps 

market? I mean, this is not just an isolated regional market, as I 

am sure you are aware, so that U.S. companies can, in fact, hedge 

their risk. As many of you know, most of our U.S. players are in 

that global market every day, anyway. So would each of you—Ms. 

Stump, would you start. Thank you. 

Ms. STUMP. Certainly. 

I agree with everything you have said. These are global markets, 

and the coordination is essential. 

Post Dodd-Frank, I think all of the regulators around the world 

moved at different paces, and so there were times at which there 

might have been gaps, but I think that has been less so in recent 

years, such that the regulators have come to terms with the fact 

that they are all pulling the wagon in the same direction. 

So going forward, though, I think regulators need to be focused 

globally on new threats. How are we going to coordinate relative 

to a cyber incident? How will we coordinate relative to new technologies being present in the marketplace? 

I said in my testimony that I think it is really important that 

we consider that—that we will need to calibrate the regulations 

going forward. That is not just in the United States but around the 

world. 

Senator PERDUE. Thank you. 

Mr. QUINTENZ. Thank you, Senator. You are exactly right. The 

global nature of the swaps market means that if costs are imposed 

in one jurisdiction that do not match up to costs in other jurisdictions, that activity will move, and it will disadvantage that home 

country in terms of a liquidity and its smaller market participants. 

Senator PERDUE. Do you think that we are in that situation 

today? 

Mr. QUINTENZ. I think it is possible. 

I think the Commission needs to do a very thorough job of understanding how the costs that it is imposing are affecting the global 

marketplace. Ultimately, that comes down to a process perspective 

and ensuring that the Commission looks at this on an outcomesbased process. Everyone is going to have different opinions as to 

specific requirements, how much to hair-cut collateral, et cetera, 

but if the Commission focuses on the outcomes, I think it will make 

for a much smoother process. It also comes down to relationships, 

having good, positive, trusting relationships with international regulators, and from what I am aware, those have been improving in 

recent years. 

Senator PERDUE. Thank you. 

Mr. BEHNAM. Senator, I would echo some of the statements that 

my fellow nominees have said. 

I would add that I think it is important, given that we are now 

10 years past the financial crisis, that we not forget what happened 

and what the results were. With that said, it is important that regulators continue to work together individually on a one-on-one 

basis but also use entities like Basel and IOSCO as sort of measures to convene global regulators. 

Additionally, it is critical that we do not have a race to the bottom. Given the sort of transportability of these products and financial markets generally, it is not difficult for even some of our do-
24 

mestic financial institutions to just pick up and move to different 

jurisdictions. So it is important that everyone work together and 

work on a level playing field. 

Senator PERDUE. Very quickly, I will just throw this out, and you 

can voluntarily answer this quickly. But Dodd-Frank imposed so 

many regulations, it required mountains of additional information 

being collected. I hear this more than any other complaint about 

the regulatory environment today, is that how much unnecessary 

information—unnecessary, in their definition, information, additional information is being collected today. 

In your opinions today, do you believe the CFTC collects too 

much information for firms under its jurisdiction? 

Mr. QUINTENZ. I believe that the agency needs to make sure that 

the information it is collecting and the burden that it is placing on 

end users and farmers and ranchers corresponds to a risk or a market flaw that it is trying to address. 

Ms. STUMP. I do believe that the information that the CFTC requires needs to be more targeted. In fact, I think it could be improved. The information that is being currently collected relative to 

swap data is not necessarily in a format that is effectively digested, 

and so if we could find a way—and I believe the Acting Chairman 

has committed to doing so, and I certainly have confirmed, would 

love to help in this effort, to make the information more usable, 

such that we can properly target those who need to be supplying 

it. 

Senator PERDUE. I am out of time, but quickly, the source codes 

that are used in the algorithmic trades, is that something that 

CFTC is capable of collecting, protecting, and then using properly? 

Mr. QUINTENZ. It is my understanding that the CFTC has in the 

past issued subpoenas for source code, and I believe that the subpoena process provides an important protection for that intellectual 

property. 

Senator PERDUE. Thank you. I am out of time. Thank you. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Senator Daines. 

Senator DAINES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the 

witnesses, nominations for coming before this Committee and for 

your willingness to serve. 

I want to thank Chairman Roberts for holding this hearing. I 

also want to continue to work with you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking 

Member Stabenow, in moving forward these nominees through this 

Ag Committee and on the Senate floor as quickly as possible. 

When I am asked what is the largest industry in Montana, it is 

an easy answer. It is agriculture, and the CFTC’s role in ensuring 

that agricultural derivative markets are priced fairly, I have heard 

a lot of concerns from these producers out in Montana that sometimes wonder if it is a casino anymore versus just working back on 

the fundamentals of supply and demand. 

We want to make sure that agriculture derivatives, the markets 

are priced fairly, they are priced efficiently, and ensure they are 

free of collusion. 

Should you be confirmed as Commissioners, you will be charged 

with policing these markets while protecting against price spikes 

caused by lack of liquidity as well as by manipulation. 
25 

Acting Chairman Giancarlo joined the Chairman and myself in 

Montana just last month for our Ag Summit, and he was able to 

visit a grain elevator, met with farmers that rely on the futures 

market. I certainly want to extend a warm invitation to each of you 

to come out to Montana and see it for yourself. 

Let me start with market volatility. One of the recent initiatives 

we have been focused on was to remove the ban on U.S. beef imports into China. That stood for 14 years. Many of us had concerns 

it really was not warranted, but nonetheless, it was the reality. We 

have been working hard to get that ban lifted. It is the second largest beef import market in the world. 

As the ban has been lifted just in the last month, prices are finally starting to increase. That is a good sign, and there are a multitude of factors that go into cattle prices. So, again, we are glad 

that prices are going up. 

But I am concerned about these price shocks and market volatility, and the question is, to Mr. Behnam, do you believe the current regulatory framework is capable of soundly accommodating 

the market volatility that we see as well as the price shocks? 

Mr. BEHNAM. Senator, first off, I look forward to visiting Montana when—— 

Senator DAINES. So I will take that as a commitment. 

Mr. BEHNAM. Commitment, absolutely. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator DAINES. All right. Thank you. 

Mr. BEHNAM. Second, CFTC has a fairly robust regulatory regime in terms of collecting data. I think to the question earlier, we 

need to make sure that the data and the information collected is 

pointed and has purpose, so that we are not putting an undue burden on stakeholders and market participants. 

That said, the types of data continue to evolve and change with 

technology advancements and just market changes. So if I am confirmed, I commit to working with CFTC staff and Acting Chair 

Giancarlo to review the data requirements, the data rules and regulations, to ensure that whatever is being collected is relevant and 

is also appropriately measuring what the markets reflect in terms 

of prices. 

Senator DAINES. So along that line—and, again, one of the great 

mysteries at times for our producers in Montana is these dislocations that occur as relates to market volatility between supply and 

demand. So my question is, What would be your expectations for 

managing these market dislocations between supply and demand? 

Mr. BEHNAM. I think some of the concerns in the livestock futures contract, I think, are sort of parallel to some of the concerns 

you raise. I know that the CME took actions to resolve some of the 

issues, which include changing delivery locations and delivery 

times of the cash market and also changing trading hours. I think 

those are the types of sort of remedies and solutions that both exchanges and the CFTC have to look into in order to resolve distortions in prices between the futures market and the cash market. 

Senator DAINES. Let me shift gears here. Ms. Stump, you mentioned in your written testimony, and I quote, ‘‘The derivatives 

markets are dynamic, ever changing, and constantly evolving.’’ I 

understand that the LabCFTC has been established to provide reg-
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ulations alongside the emerging fintech firms to help them navigate this legal gray. The question is, Do you support the LabCFTC 

initiative to enhance the efforts of a growing industry? 

Ms. STUMP. Yes, I absolutely do. I think the market has actually 

benefitted over many years from the various innovations that have 

come forward, but at the same time, it is incumbent upon the regulators to be taking a forward look at the things that are coming 

and to ensure that we properly understand them and, if need be, 

can regulate them. 

Senator DAINES. So along that line, if confirmed, will you recommend any changes to the LabCFTC as we think about going forward? 

Ms. STUMP. If confirmed, I would commit to helping the 

LabCFTC evolve. 

For now, I think it operates as a forum for fintech providers and 

regulators to come together and think through and learn about 

what may be coming. Beyond that, I think that there are steps that 

could be taken to build that out, such that it becomes a forum for 

regulatory building around some of those things. 

I am not sure we are there yet, but I do think that it will evolve 

into something much bigger than it is today. 

Senator DAINES. Thank you. 

Mr. Chairman, I am out of time. Time flies when you are talking 

about agriculture, doesn’t it, Mr. Chairman? 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. Yes, that is correct. I just hope the other 

side listens. 

Senator STABENOW. That is right. 

Chairman ROBERTS. Unless there are further questions—and we 

have all had the opportunity to submit questions for the record, as 

I will indicate here in just a moment, the Ranking Member and I 

were discussing this while contentedly listening to the testimony as 

well. This is a unique opportunity. We have three, if I can say, very 

bright, experienced nominees here, and whether we can dub you 

the Three Musketeers—where is d’Artagnan? I guess that is the 

next person coming up. But this is a unique opportunity. We have 

three very good nominees, outstanding nominees for the Commission. We also have an opportunity to have a full Commission working for the first time in quite a few years. It is a wonderful opportunity and a message to rural America and to our farmers and 

ranchers and growers and to everybody that I mentioned in my 

statement that we can have a full Commission working on their behalf and protecting them as well. 

I am going to yield to you for any further comment. 

Senator STABENOW. Well, Mr. Chairman, I completely agree, and 

I think it is, frankly, a breath of fresh air to have nominees that 

want to serve, that are knowledgeable about the subject matter 

that they will be serving in and committed to focus on making sure 

that this part of the economy works. 

By the way Rostin, Nina is responding to that. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator STABENOW. She concurs in that as well. 

Chairman ROBERTS. She agrees. 

Senator STABENOW. Yes. 
27 

Again, I want to thank all of you for being willing to serve. This 

is not easy work, I am very pleased to be able to support all of you. 

Chairman ROBERTS. I may add that Nina’s comments will be 

submitted for the record. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman ROBERTS. That will conclude our hearing today. I 

thank the nominees for taking time to address this Committee and 

to answer the Committee’s questions. It is very clear that you have 

all exhibited that you are qualified to join the CFTC as Commissioners and work on the complicated market issues that impact all 

of us. 

In closing, I would like to mention that I have received multiple 

expressions of support for all of our nominees from both the ag and 

financial market sectors. Some have sent letters, including some of 

the largest organizations in our ag sector. I am grateful to all of 

the groups for voicing their support for these nominees. 

Without objection, the letters will be entered into the record. It 

is so ordered. 

[The letters follow:] 

Chairman ROBERTS. We learned a great deal today from the 

nominees. Their testimony provides us significant information, a 

solid basis upon which to report them favorably out of Committee 

per our rules. We cannot do so today, unfortunately, but we will 

endeavor to do so in the very, very near future. 

To that end, I would request my fellow members that if they 

have any additional questions for the record, that they be submitted to the Committee Clerk by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, July 28th. 

We look forward to receiving your responses and to further considering your nominations. 

The Committee stands adjourned, Nina. 

[Whereupon, at 10:49 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

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