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U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

Three Lafayette Centre

1155 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20581

TO: Heath P. Tarbert, Chairman

Brian D. Quintenz, Commissioner

Rostin Behnam, Commissioner

Dawn Stump, Commissioner

Dan M. Berkovitz, Commissioner 

 

FROM: A. Roy Lavik, Inspector General 

DATE: September 21, 2020

SUBJECT: Inspector General’s Assessment of the Most Serious 

Management and Performance Challenges Facing the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission FY 2020

The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 (RCA)1 authorizes the CFTC to 

consolidate financial and performance management reports and to provide 

information in a meaningful and useful format for Congress, the President, and

the public. The RCA requires the Inspector General to summarize the “most

serious management and performance challenges facing the agency” and briefly

assess the Agency’s progress in addressing those challenges.2 This 

memorandum fulfills our duties under the RCA.

To complete our assessment we relied on data contained in the CFTC financial 

statement audit and Agency Financial Report, representations by agency 

management, and our knowledge of industry trends and CFTC operations. The 

Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 defines major 

management challenges as “programs or management functions, within or across 

agencies, that have greater vulnerability to waste, fraud, abuse, and 

mismanagement (such as issues identified by the Government Accountability 

Office as high risk or issues identified by an Inspector General) where failure to 

perform well could seriously affect the ability of an agency to achieve its mission 

or goals.”

3

 1 P.L. 106-531, § 3, 114 STAT. 2537 (Nov. 22, 2000), codified at 31 USC § 3516(a). 2 Id.

3 P.L. 111-352, § 3, 124 STAT. 3870 (Jan. 4, 2011), codified at 31 U.S.C. § 1115(h)(5). 
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CFTC’s Progress on Last Year’s Management and Performance 

Challenges

For FY2019 the OIG identified management and performance challenges in 

the areas of cybersecurity, information technology (IT) modernization, data 

governance, stress-testing, and management’s ability to enhance its business 

operations to lower cost. We acknowledge CFTC’s dedication and 

responsiveness to enhancing information security practices for its community 

and its internal practices, respectively. We also acknowledge management’s 

numerous strategic goals4 and actions dedicated toward market risk 

management and to improving operational effectiveness. 

Fiscal Year 2020 Management and Performance Challenges

For FY 2020, we merely reiterate our FY 2019 challenges for information 

technology (IT) modernization and data governance and further recognize 

newly established positions for a Chief Information Officer and a Chief Data 

Officer. My office will continue to undertake work that addresses these 

challenges and I look forward to renewed IT specific strategic plans as they 

are made transparent. 

Cc: Anthony Thompson, Chief Management Officer

Jaime Klima, Chief of Staff 

Kevin S. Webb, Chief of Staff

John Dunfee, Chief of Staff

Daniel J. Bucsa, Chief of Staff

Erik F. Remmler, Chief of Staff

 

4 Strategic Plan 2020 – 2024.