On the same day that President Obama announced the nomination of former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, it was revealed that another high profile post will go vacant. On Thursday afternoon, Jill Sommers, one of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission five commissioners, announced her resignation.

Sommers has held the post for nearly five years and had a year remaining on her current term. Although she indicated an intention to leave following the current fiscal quarter, no specific date was made public, nor was there an indication of her future plans.

In a parting statement, Sommers praised the “the hard work and dedication” of her fellow commissioners and CFTC staff. “While many challenges remain in finalizing the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, I have every confidence that the American public will be well-served by their continuing efforts,” she said.

Chairman Gary Gensler said his departing colleague “worked to bring common-sense swaps market reforms to life and to safeguard the integrity of the futures market” and was “essential to these historic efforts.”

Prior to joining the CFTC in 2007, Sommers, a Republican, worked at the Government Affairs Office of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and, later, was policy director and head of government affairs for the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

In recent months, she has held the high-profile role of overseeing the CFTC's investigation into the collapse of commodities brokerage firm MF Global. No announcement has yet been made on who will take charge of that investigation, or how and when her soon-to-be-vacant seat will be filled. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, no more than three commissioners at any one time may be from the same political party. Commissioner Scott O'Malia is currently the Commission's only other Republican.