The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced Brian Young will serve as the agency’s Director of Enforcement.
Acting CFTC Chairman Caroline Pham announced Young had been serving in an acting capacity since Jan. 22 and was previously the Director of the Whistleblower Office.
“Brian exemplifies the best of what we stand for at the CFTC,” said Acting Chairman Pham. “He is a fearless leader that will build an even more impressive enforcement program that will stay true to the CFTC’s mission to protect the American public from fraudsters and scammers. I am confident that under Brian’s leadership, the CFTC will expand and scale our resources to help more victims than ever before and ensure the integrity of our markets in the name of justice. Brian has hit the ground running and I look forward to seeing his continued impact to strengthen the Division of Enforcement and deliver results.”
Young is a distinguished federal prosecutor with nearly two decades of service at the U.S. Department of Justice, including Acting Director of Litigation for the Antitrust Division and Chief of the Litigation Unit for the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division. Young has successfully tried some of the most high-profile criminal fraud and manipulation cases in the CFTC’s markets, officials said.
“I want to thank Acting Chairman Pham for her confidence in me and for her commitment to continuing the CFTC’s aggressive efforts to protect our global commodity markets from fraud, manipulation, and other abusive practices,” Young said. “As former Director of the Whistleblower Officer, I worked closely with the talented and dedicated staff of the Division of Enforcement, and I look forward to working with this highly motivated group to help bring justice for victims, protect those who cannot protect themselves, and root out misconduct and wrongdoing.”
Young joined the CFTC in 2024. Prior to that he was with the DOJ where he oversaw criminal prosecutions brought under the Sherman Act as well as civil merger and antitrust conduct litigation. He was also previously in various roles in the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division where he tried significant white-collar crime matters, including prosecutions of the first individuals tried in the United States on charges of manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR); the former head of HSBC Bank’s Foreign Exchange (FX) desk in connection with a scheme to “frontrun” a client on a $3.5 billion FX trade; and two former London and Singapore-based Deutsche Bank precious metals traders arising from a scheme to “spoof” the futures markets by placing over $1 billion in non-bona fide orders on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.