New York Insurance Regulators Get New Boss

The New York Senate has voted unanimously to confirm Benjamin Lawsky as the first superintendent of a new Department of Financial Services (DFS).

Lawsky has been chief of staff for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D, who nominated him to fill the DFS superintendent post.

New York has folded the New York State Insurance Department and its banking department into DFS in an effort to save money.

Lawsky 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. Before that, Lawsky was chief counsel to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.