Paul Architzel is a member of Alston & Bird’s Financial Services & Products Group in the Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Architzel focuses his practice on all areas of commodity futures regulation, including the formation and regulation of commodity pools and commodity trading advisors. He also has extensive experience in the regulation of exchanges, clearing houses and futures commission merchants and with over-the-counter derivatives.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Architzel was chief counsel of the Division of Market Oversight at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for more than 20 years. He was the main architect of the new framework for futures market regulation, codified by the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA), and wrote the CFTC’s rules for regulated and exempt markets. In recognition of this work, he was granted the Presidential Rank Award of “Distinguished Executive” in 2000. Paul was a member of the commission’s Staff Task Force on Off-exchange Instruments and also worked with the Division of Market Oversight’s program for market surveillance and with the Division of Enforcement in responding to manipulative situations.

Paul received his J.D. in 1978 from The National Law Center, George Washington University, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif, and his B.A., summa cum laude, from State University of New York at Albany in 1975. Paul is an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches a course on futures regulation and the Commodity Exchange Act in the Securities and Financial Regulation LL.M. program. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the category of derivatives law.