NU Online News Service, May 26, 10:29 a.m. EDT

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the state Senate has confirmed Benjamin M. Lawsky as the Empire State's first superintendent of the Department of Financial Services (DFS).

The DFS is a product of a recent merger of the state's insurance and banking departments, made official with the late-March approval of the state budget. Cuomo says the move was made to create a more modern, efficient regulatory body.

Lawsky, currently the governor's chief of staff, was nominated earlier this month. When it was announced, the insurance industry supported the move.

"There is no one better suited to take the task of leading this new department than Ben Lawsky," Cuomo says in a statement.

Lawsky calls being named to his new post "an honor" and adds that "the new DFS will promote healthy and vibrant banking and insurance industries while also protecting consumers and our markets."

The new superintendent spent more than five years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted securities fraud, organized crime and terrorism cases. Prior to that, he was chief counsel to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on the Senate Judiciary Committee and was a trial attorney in the civil division of the Department of Justice.

James J. Wrynn, who was the superintendent of insurance prior to the merger, was named deputy superintendent of the new department.

The DFS will oversee any financial product, service or entity that isn't already clearly regulated by another New York agency. There will still be separate banking and insurance divisions, with separate appropriations.

Special Reports /

N.Y. Governor’s Chief Of Staff Confirmed As First DFS Head

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