By Jessica Darmoni
“As a lawyer developing policies, we bring meaningful change to the market, but it has to be logical and the new rules need to move our markets forward,” says Allison Lurton. “Everyone in this market is a steward of it, and we want to make sure that any change we introduce drives responsible innovation.”
Lurton looks at how rule changes and new market structures may impact the capital markets ecosystem in her role at the Futures Industry Association (FIA). However, she wasn’t always involved in policy and advocacy; Lurton started her career in product liability litigation. She held roles in the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Her litigation experience proved valuable and paved a journey crossing law, policy, regulation and financial markets.
Learning the Markets from the Ground Up
Lurton learned early in her career that moving forward sometimes meant stepping into unfamiliar territory. Her first role put her on a large litigation team representing cigarette manufacturers, but an opportunity through a friend who had moved to the DoJ gave her the chance to take on greater responsibility.
She joined the DoJ in 1999, gaining trial and case-management experience before making another significant move in 2003, this time to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). She arrived with strong litigation skills, but little familiarity with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) or the intricacies of commodities markets.
“The CFTC had been using magistrates but were looking for people to hire people with experience in federal court and litigation,” she says. “At the time, there weren’t a lot of school or academic courses focused on commodities trading so many of us were unfamiliar with the CEA. We were learning the markets from the ground up.”
For Lurton, that meant learning directly from the people operating within them. She interviewed traders and market participants, learning about commodities markets, their structure and complex cases along the way. One investigation involving natural-gas market data and alleged fraud provided an especially intensive education when Lurton found herself learning about arbitrage strategies while interviewing traders.
Litigation vs Advocacy
“I had started as a litigator but found myself drawn toward policy and advocacy,” she notes. “They require different skills. Litigation can be highly adversarial, while policy work requires listening to different perspectives, understanding the broader system and finding a way forward.”
After leaving the CFTC, Lurton returned to private practice in 2011. She worked on issues surrounding the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, and swap execution facility rules.
In 2012, one of Lurton’s mentors and colleagues, the former Acting Chair of the CFTC Walt Lukken, joined the FIA as CEO and Lurton joined in 2013 under his leadership. She currently oversees all legal aspects of the trade organization. This includes examining how government rules affect FIA members and the broader cleared derivatives industry as well as managing all the legal needs of a global company
An Interdependent Ecosystem
Lurton’s work requires her to think beyond individual rules and consider how changes affect an interconnected market structure. Clearing, exchanges, intermediaries and technology providers all form part of the same ecosystem. It is this view that has shaped her perspective on responsible innovation.
“I like structures of clearing rules now because they are interdependent. A change in one area can have consequences elsewhere” she explains. “It is really important that the industry is making sure that one small change will not impact the overall system.”
For Lurton, supporting innovation does not mean resisting regulation or standing in the way of new ideas. The challenge is finding ways for new asset classes, technologies and market structures to fit responsibly into an existing framework while preserving the parts of the system that are essential to its stability.
Lurton leans on her past work when drafting comment letters for the FIA.
“I consider not only what the industry wants to say but how those arguments would hold up if the issue was litigated,” she says.
Combatting Career Doubt
Lurton’s leadership philosophy extends beyond market structure expertise. She acknowledges that self-doubt is something leaders can experience at any stage of their careers. Her answer is to recognize that leadership is not an individual exercise.
“The best outcomes come from a group of people expressing their views,” she says. “You do not have to know everything in the room to have something valuable to contribute.”
Lurton emphasizes the importance of appreciating the expertise of colleagues and contributing what you know to a larger discussion. This message is particularly important for women navigating industries where they may sometimes feel they need to prove themselves before speaking up.
“Take up space,” she advises. “Take the seat you want in a meeting without hesitation.”
Her advice for future leaders is straightforward:
“Even experienced professionals walk into rooms where they are encountering something new. That should not be a reason to remain silent. Instead, it can be an opportunity to ask questions, share a perspective and learn from others.”
Lurton has not moved forward in her career by having every answer from the beginning. She continued to learn, adapted to new opportunities and grew the confidence to take her place in the room.