Amir Zaidi is an American financial services and regulatory professional who has held leadership roles at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and in private-sector compliance. His career has focused on financial regulation, derivatives markets, and the oversight of emerging financial products, including digital assets. ^[1]

Education

Zaidi graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science and received his JD from the University of Maryland. ^[3]

Career

Zaidi began his career in financial services, holding financial analyst roles at Goldman Sachs and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York before pursuing legal studies. After earning his law degree, he worked as an associate in the Corporate and Securities Group at Arnold & Porter, focusing on corporate and securities matters. Zaidi joined the CFTC in 2010, where he served in several legal and policy roles within the agency. He worked as Special Counsel in the Division of Market Oversight (DMO), where he contributed to the development and implementation of Swap Execution Facility (SEF) rules. He later served as Chief Counsel and Policy Advisor to CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia and as Legal Counsel and Policy Advisor to Commissioner Chris Giancarlo, advising on market-structure issues, including automated trading, cybersecurity, swap regulation, data reporting, and distributed ledger technology.

In 2017, Zaidi was appointed Director of the CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight, where he oversaw regulatory initiatives related to derivatives markets, including the review and deployment of bitcoin futures contracts, which became the first federally regulated cryptocurrency futures product. He served in the role until 2019, then left the agency and later became global head of compliance for a large broker-dealer and introducing broker. Zaidi returned to the CFTC in 2026 as Chief of Staff. In this role, he supports the agency’s leadership and policy operations during a period of evolving regulation in digital assets and derivatives markets. Across his career, he has held positions spanning financial analysis, legal practice, regulatory policy, and compliance. ^{[1] [5]}