Cantrell Dumas is Director of Derivatives Policy for Better Markets, where he leads our work regarding derivatives and commodities across the policymaking process, focusing on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.  That includes acting throughout the regulatory rulemaking process, formulating policy recommendations, authoring original materials, and engaging with regulators, policymakers, and industry on issues related to the derivatives market, derivatives regulation, and financial stability.

Given the importance of derivatives and commodities to the well-being of all Americans, Mr. Dumas’ goal is nothing less than to make the American Dream available to everyone and ensure the economic and financial laws, rules and regulations work for Main Street American families, workers, investors, and consumers.

In 2023,  Dumas was appointed to the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee (TAC). The TAC assists the Commission in identifying and understanding the impacts and implications of technological innovation in financial services and markets.

Before joining Better Markets, Mr. Dumas served as Special Counsel in the Market Participants Division within the CFTC.  At the CFTC, Mr. Dumas was responsible for swap dealer compliance-related matters, including remediation of non-compliance issues, review of CCO Annual Reports, and coordination with the National Futures Association.

From 2010 through 2013, Mr. Dumas worked at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, where he provided legal counsel to FDIC senior management regarding the sale of deposits and assets of failed financial institutions.  In that role, Mr. Dumas served as the lead closing attorney on over twenty-five bank closings, where he oversaw a wide range of transactional and regulatory work relating to the FDIC’s role as receiver of failed banks.

As a former attorney in the private sector, Mr. Dumas represented many financial institutions dealing in complex financial transactions, such as the issuance of municipal securities totaling over 30 billion issued by various governmental entities.

Mr. Dumas holds a legal degree from Columbia Law School and a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of South Alabama.