Ian McGinley

IAN MCGINLEY is one of the few former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Directors of Enforcement in private practice. He focuses his practice on regulatory enforcement and white collar criminal defense, with a particular emphasis on commodities, derivatives, and securities laws. He also advises clients in civil and criminal matters involving digital assets.

Before joining Sidley, Ian served as the Director of Enforcement at the CFTC from 2023 to early 2025. In that role, he served as the head enforcement official in the United States tasked with investigating and prosecuting violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations. Under Ian’s leadership, the CFTC brought cases in traditional and emerging areas, such as insider trading and voluntary carbon markets; created task forces focused on cybersecurity and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence; and reorganized and consolidated the Division of Enforcement’s analytical units to strengthen the agency’s ability to detect misconduct. As Director, Ian worked closely with top leadership at the Department of Justice (DOJ), SEC, federal banking regulators, and various state and international regulators. 

Prior to the CFTC, Ian served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York for over a decade, where he was Co-Chief of the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit and a senior member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. In his role as Co-Chief of Complex Frauds and Cybercrime, he oversaw a wide variety of matters involving sophisticated financial frauds, cybercrime, cryptocurrency fraud, healthcare fraud, tax fraud, and FCPA violations. Earlier in his career at SDNY, he investigated and prosecuted cases involving insider trading, market manipulation, sanctions violations, and terrorism. Ian tried 11 jury trials and supervised over 20 more, including complex white collar cases. He briefed and/or argued 14 appeals. During his time at the DOJ, he received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award in 2016, the Federal Drug Agents Foundation’s True American Hero Award in 2018, and was named Federal Prosecutor of the Year in 2015 by the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation.

From 2021 to 2023, Ian was a partner at another international law firm. He was named a “Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, and Fintech Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal in 2022 and has provided commentary to top media and legal outlets. He clerked for the Honorable Gene E.K. Pratter of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.