IFNY Featured Speaker Benjamin M. Lawsky Superintendent | Department Of Financial Services | New York State

Benjamin M. Lawsky was unanimously confirmed on May 24, 2011 as New York State’s first Superintendent of Financial Services. In this capacity, he leads Governor Andrew Cuomo’s initiative to integrate the New York State Banking Department and Insurance Department towards a modern unified financial regulator called the Department of Financial Services.

Until establishment of the Department of Financial Services on October 3, 2011, Superintendent Lawsky is also serving as Acting Superintendent of Banks. In that capacity he is the supervisor of all New York State-chartered depository institutions and of the majority of United States-based branches and agencies of foreign banking institutions; $2.2 trillion in depository assets are under his supervision. He also regulates all of New York State’s mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, check cashers, money transmitters, budget planners, and similar providers of financial services.

Most recently, Superintendent Lawsky was Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Chief of Staff. Previously, he served as the Deputy Counselor and Special Assistant to then-Attorney General Cuomo. Prior to that, Mr. Lawsky had spent over five years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted white collar crime, organized crime, and terrorism cases. He began his career as Chief Counsel to Senator Charles Schumer on the Senate Judiciary Committee and as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.

Superintendent Lawsky’s objectives for the new Department of Financial Services include enhancing New York’s status as the world’s financial center, vigorously protecting consumers, and preventing systemic risk.

Superintendent Lawsky graduated from Columbia Law School and Columbia College.