ABOUT
Stephen M. Humenik is a partner at K&L Gates’ Washington, D.C. and Chicago offices. He has over twenty years of experience on cross-border regulatory, compliance, and enforcement matters involving the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and global markets for derivatives, physical, and financial commodities. Mr. Humenik applies his business, operational, and government experience to the implementation of CFTC regulations, including the trading, registration, clearing, and other compliance obligations of the Dodd-Frank Act and other global regulatory reforms. Mr. Humenik counsels a diverse range of clients, including asset managers, hedge funds, swap dealers, financial institutions, trading platforms, commodity end-users, agricultural producers and manufacturers, energy companies, corporate end-users, trade associations, and cryptocurrency and fintech companies.
Prior to joining K&L Gates, Mr. Humenik served as of counsel at an international law firm where he led the futures and derivatives practice. Mr. Humenik was previously general counsel and chief regulatory officer of an interest rate swap derivatives market, where he oversaw the legal and regulatory affairs of the exchange, including the exchange’s designation as a contract market, and ongoing compliance with CFTC regulations, and the exchange’s connectivity to its clearing house.
Mr. Humenik previously served at the CFTC as a special counsel and policy advisor to former CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia during the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. He began his career in the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement where he investigated and prosecuted matters involving complex market manipulation and fraud, including during the aftermath of Enron and the surge in oil prices during the 2007 to 2008 time period.
