Former SEC staffer Overdahl joins trading firm lobby group

CHICAGO, June 16 (Reuters) - James Overdahl, former chief economist at the Securities Exchange Commission, will act as the spokesman of a new lobbying group representing high frequency trading firms in Washington, sources said.

Overdahl takes the post just months after leaving his SEC post in March. Before joining the SEC in July he was chief economist at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the regulator for the futures industry.

The Futures Industry Association is set to announce the formation of the lobbying group later on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)