CFTC Chair Massad is latest finance regulator to leave

The head of a federal agency that oversees potentially risky financial market activities says he will leave office at the official end of the Obama administration on Jan. 20.

Timothy Massad was appointed by President Barack Obama to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in November 2013. His term doesn't end until 2019.

The corporate attorney and former Treasury Department official announced his resignation Tuesday.

The CFTC regulates futures and options markets as well as derivatives trading, overseeing some of the riskiest corners of the financial world. Derivatives are traded in a $600 trillion global market and were blamed for fueling the financial crisis.

Massad's announcement follows news in November of the impending departure of another key financial regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White.