Timothy Massad

Timothy G. Massad is a research fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Boston, and the director of the Center’s new Digital Assets Policy Project. He also is a nonresident scholar at the Brookings Institution and a consultant on financial regulatory and fintech issues. Mr. Massad served as chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2014-17. Under his leadership, the agency implemented the Dodd-Frank reforms of the over-the-counter swaps market; harmonized many aspects of crossborder regulation, including reaching a landmark agreement with the European Union on clearinghouse oversight; declared bitcoin and virtual currencies to be commodities; and enhanced cybersecurity protections. Previously, Mr. Massad served as the assistant secretary for Financial Stability of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In that capacity, he oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the principal U.S. governmental response to the 2008 financial crisis. During his tenure, Treasury recovered more on all the crisis investments than was disbursed. Mr. Massad was with the Treasury from 2009-14 and also served as a counselor to the Treasury Secretary. Prior to his government service, Mr. Massad was a partner in the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP. His practice included corporate finance, derivatives and advising boards of directors. He also managed the firm’s Hong Kong office from 1998- 2002 and represented governments and corporations on transactions in China and throughout Asia. Mr. Massad also was one of a small group of lawyers who drafted the original ISDA master agreements for swaps. His articles and podcasts on crypto regulation can be found at Brookings as well as the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Bloomberg and other outlets. Mr. Massad received his B.A. from Harvard College and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.