President-elect Donald Trump has announced the nomination of Vincent Viola as secretary of the Army. Viola is a retired paratrooper, former chairman of NYMEX, founder of HFT trading powerhouse Virtu Financial and current owner of the NHL's Florida Panthers team. The Brooklyn-born Viola graduated from West Point in 1977 and served in the 101st Airborne Division. After his active service ended, he worked as a trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), where he became chairman in 2001. In 2008, he founded Virtu Financial.

The nomination of the Virtu strongman likely means that any hopes of a crackdown against HFT in the current administration can be postponed indefinitely.

From the press release:

?President-elect Donald J. Trump today announced he intends to nominate former U.S. Army infantry officer and current Virtu Financial Founder and Executive Chairman Vincent "Vinnie" Viola as Secretary of the Army.