Christy Goldsmith Romero is an American lawyer and federal government official. She currently serves as a commissioner on the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures, swaps, and certain kinds of options. The Commodity Exchange Ac ...

. From 2011 to 2022, she served as the Special Inspector General of the

Troubled Asset Relief Program The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President G ...

, a federal law enforcement agency and an independent audit watchdog that targets financial institution crime and other fraud, waste, and abuse related to the TARP bailout. In this capacity, she investigated financial institution crime related to the TARP bailout. Notable investigations by SIGTARP include Wilmington Trust, Sonoma Valley Bank, General Motors, United Commercial Bank, Morgan Stanley, Ally Financial, Bank of the Commonwealth, Jefferies, RBS, and SunTrust.

Early life

Christy Goldsmith Romero graduated from

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with ...

, where she earned a bachelor of science in business. She subsequently earned a JD from the

J. Reuben Clark Law School The J. Reuben Clark Law School (BYU Law or JRCLS) is the graduate law school of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1973, the school is named after J. Reuben Clark, a former U.S. Ambassador, Undersecretary of State, and g ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

Career

Early career

Goldsmith Romero began her career as a clerk to Judge

Robert Clive Jones Robert Clive Jones (born July 21, 1947) is a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. He served as the United States federal judge, Chief United ...

. She subsequently worked for the law firms

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Washington, DC. It is the largest lobbying firm in the United States by revenue. Akin Gump has consistently been ranked as among the top law firms in the Un ...

, Snell & Wilmer and

Jenner & Block Jenner & Block is an American law firm with offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm is active in corporate litigation, business transactions, the public sector, and other legal fields. ...

. She investigated financial institution fraud, insider trading, and other violations of securities law as an attorney in the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

's Division of Enforcement from 2003 to 2007. Goldsmith Romero also served as counsel to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, a Republican, and SEC Chair Mary Schapiro, an Independent.

Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program

Goldsmith Romero worked for the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program since 2009. She served as the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program from April 9, 2012 to March 2022. In October 2016, Goldsmith Romero called on Congress to pass legislation which would require senior executives at the six largest Wall Street banks that took TARP bailout funds to sign an annual certification to law enforcement that they have conducted due diligence and can certify that there is no criminal conduct or civil fraud within their organization. As a result of SIGTARP investigations, 430 defendants have been criminally charged. Nearly 300 defendants have been sentenced to prison, including 76 bankers and 85 of their co-conspirators. The bankers sentenced include many presidents, chief executive officers and other executives at medium and small bankers. SIGTARP investigations have also led to 24 enforcement actions against banks and other companies. In comparison, she said, "we have faced significant difficulties proving criminal intent of senior officials in large organizations that are designed to insulate high level officials from knowing about crime or civil fraud." And in October 2017, describing the threat of financial institution fraud as "so serious and harmful as to require constant law enforcement expertise with dedicated resources," she called for a permanent law enforcement office with a narrow mandate to investigate financial institution fraud. In May 2017, Goldsmith Romero expressed concern over President Trump's budget cuts, saying they would interfere with the agency's ability to "conduct ongoing and new criminal investigations." In August 2017, she told the ''Financial Times'', "Our nation cannot afford to take our eye off the ball when it comes to crime or other illegal practices inside banks that require law enforcement response." In this role, Goldsmith Romero testified before Congress on the auto bailout, executive pay, and the Hardest Hit Fund, among other issues.

Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

In September 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Goldsmith Romero as a commissioner of the

. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on March 28, 2022, and sworn in on March 30.

Personal life

Goldsmith Romero is openly bisexual.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmith Romero, Christy 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Great Recession in the United States J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni Living people Old Dominion University alumni U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission personnel Commodity Futures Trading Commission personnel Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers American LGBT people