CFTC's Chilton to Step Down

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Bart Chilton said on Tuesday that he has told President Barack Obama that he plans to leave the futures regulator soon.

"Early this morning, I sent a letter to the president expressing my intent to leave the agency in the near future," Chilton, a Democratic member of the commission, said in a statement prepared for a hearing on Tuesday.

The commission is currently down one member after Republican Jill Sommers left earlier this year. CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler, a Democrat, also is expected to leave by the end of the year.