Former Director Of CFTC's Market Oversight Division Richard A. Shilts Joins Patton Boggs

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Patton Boggs LLP today announced that Richard A. Shilts, former Director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight and a four-decade veteran of that agency, has joined the firm as Senior Policy Advisor based in Washington, DC.  The addition of Mr. Shilts further strengthens the regulatory advisory capabilities and expands a deep and talented bench of former senior federal regulatory officials at Patton Boggs. 

Mr. Shilts served in a number of senior positions at the CFTC. Most recently, he oversaw all functions of the Division related to the regulation and oversight of the futures markets and, as a result of Dodd-Frank regulatory reforms, the establishment and implementation of an entirely new regulatory regime governing the swaps and derivatives markets.  He also has extensive experience related to the approval of new exchanges and other trading platforms, as well as swap data repositories, reviews of product and rule filings, examinations of exchanges to ascertain compliance with regulatory requirements, and the development of rules and policies associated with derivatives trading and reporting.

Among his many accomplishments at the CFTC, Mr. Shilts led the agency's preparation of proposed and final Dodd-Frank rules, as well as numerous interpretative measures and no-action letters to implement Dodd-Frank mandates related to derivatives trading.  He has also been immersed in the Commission's efforts to implement new requirements for designated contract markets (DCMs), including revised rule certification procedures; provisions for registration of Swap Execution Facilities and Swap Data Repositories (SDRs); rules for registration of foreign boards of trade (FBOTs); position limits and a variety of requirements intended to ensure trading integrity and the prevention of market abuses.

"We are thrilled that Rick has joined our growing financial services team.  Rick's experiences over his lengthy tenure at the CFTC are truly unique.  He joined the agency the first day it opened its doors, when its scope and depth were much more limited, and he has seen and lived virtually every development in the futures and commodities markets from the regulators' perspective.  Over the last four years, this experience was applied to Dodd-Frank regulatory reform leading his extensive team in the preparation of thousands of pages of rules that the Commission ultimately approved.  Now the CFTC's reach is exponentially broader and Rick can offer our clients, who now find themselves under the coverage of these new rules, tremendous help in understanding and complying with the new rules, and dealing with the CFTC as a new regulated entity," said Micah Green, partner and co-chair of the Financial Services and Tax practice at Patton Boggs.

"Rick is a tremendous resource to answer questions of: Are we in compliance?  What do we need to do to be in compliance?  Do we qualify for an exemption? Are we interpreting the rules correctly?" added Michael Dunn, senior policy advisor at Patton Boggs and former CFTC Commissioner.

"I am excited to join Patton Boggs. After my long career as a regulator, I found that the firm's deep experience working with the Administration and the Congress on the development of the Dodd-Frank statute, and the regulatory agencies crafting the rules to implement that statute, make it the ideal place to launch the next phase of my career. I look forward to working closely with Micah, Commissioner Dunn and the rest of the team in applying my skills and knowledge to help clients navigate the many complex regulatory, reporting and compliance issues and challenges they are now facing," said Mr. Shilts.

ABOUT PATTON BOGGS

Patton Boggs is a leader in public policy, litigation and business law. The firm's core practice areas are government relations and lobbying, administrative and regulatory, commercial and transactional, litigation and dispute resolution, intellectual property and international law.

From offices in Anchorage, Dallas, Denver, New Jersey, New York, and Washington DC, and internationally in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai and Riyadh, nearly 450 lawyers and professionals provide comprehensive, practical legal counsel to clients around the globe. For more information about the firm or its attorneys, visit www.pattonboggs.com.

Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100701/PH30116LOGO-b

SOURCE Patton Boggs LLP