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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release May 3, 1994
              PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES INTENT TO NOMINATE 
      MARY L. SCHAPIRO AS CHAIR AND COMMISSIONER AND SHEILA 
         C. BAIR AS COMMISSIONER OF THE COMMODITY FUTURES 
                        TRADING COMMISSION

President Clinton today announced his intention to nominate Mary L. Schapiro as Chair and Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). CFTC is the federal agency charged with regulation of the nation's futures markets. The President also announced his intention to nominate Sheila C. Bair to continue in her role as a CFTC Commissioner.

"In her years as a Commissioner with the SEC, Mary Schapiro has contributed an intelligent and experienced voice to the matters that have come before this important board. I look forward to her taking on this new challenge as CFTC chairman," the President said.

Schapiro was sworn in as the 67th member of the Securities and Exchange Commission in November 1988 for a one year term and was subsequently reappointed by President George Bush for a five year term. She was designated Interim Chairman of the SEC by President Clinton from May 8, 1993 to August, 1993. Prior to being appointed to the SEC, Schapiro was General Counsel and Sr. Vice President for the Futures Industry Association (FIA) where her work included regulatory, tax, legislative and international issues. Before joining FIA in 1984, she worked for the CFTC for four years. Starting at the CFTC as a trial attorney in the Manipulation and Trade Practice Investigations Unit of the Division on Enforcement, Schapiro later served as Counsel and Executive Assistant to the Chairman.

Schapiro is a 1977 honors graduate of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and earned her J.D. with honors from the National Law Center of George Washington University in 1980. She is member of the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association.

Schapiro will replace Barbara Holum who has served as Acting Chair of the CFTC since December 1993. Holum will continue to serve the CFTC as a Commissioner.

Sheila C. Bair was first sworn in as a Commissioner of the CFTC on May 29, 1991. Bair's first job was with the General Counsel's office of the old Department of Health, Education and Welfare from 1979 to 1981.

She then served Senator Bob Dole for five years as legal and policy advisor and was also Director of Research for his 1988 Presidential campaign. Prior to her serving the CFTC, Bair was Legislative Counsel to the New York Stock Exchange in Washington, DC, from 1988 to 1991. In this role, she worked with Congress and its committees, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the CFTC on a broad array of financial issues with emphasis on derivative products and intermarket coordination.

A native of Independence, Kansas, Bair received her B. A. degree from the University of Kansas in 1975 and her J. D. from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1978. Bair serves on the Board of Directors of the Women's Campaign Fund, is a member of the Kansas Bar and has served on the Board of Governors of the University of Kansas School of Law.

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