Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo has been nominated to receive the Freedom of the City of London on Tuesday, June 4, 2019.

“I am deeply humbled by this honor,” said Giancarlo. “It is a huge privilege to be part of such an ancient tradition in such a forward-looking city.”

The Freedom of the City of London is one of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies still in existence today, believed to have been first presented in 1237. The medieval term ‘freeman’ meant someone who was not the property of a feudal lord but enjoyed privileges such as the right to earn money and own land. Town dwellers who were protected by the charter of their town or city were often free – hence the term ‘freedom’ of the City.

From the Middle Ages and the Victorian era, the Freedom was the right to trade, enabling members of a Guild or Livery to carry out their trade or craft in the Square Mile. In 1835, the Freedom was widened to incorporate not just members of Livery Companies but also people living or working in the City or those with a strong London connection.

Chairman Giancarlo was nominated for the Freedom by Catherine McGuinness, the Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee for the City of London Corporation. His nomination was seconded by Erica Elliott Richardson, a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers and Director of External Affairs at the CFTC. The Court of Common Council approved Giancarlo’s nomination on May 23, 2019.

Source: City of London Corporation