Former Top New York State Financial Services Regulator Starts Advisory Firm

Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, has launched a strategic advisory firm.

She said in an interview that she plans to counsel clients on a variety of matters, including regulation, compliance and strategic litigation.

Vullo said she’s been weighing whether to start her own firm since she left state government earlier this year.

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“It’s a new chapter in my career and I’m very excited about the different things I’ll be able to engage with, and services I’ll be able to provide,” Vullo said.

She left her post as head of what is arguably the leading state financial services regulatory agency in the country in January. Now, she’s planning to take the experience she gained at the New York department, coupled with more than two decades of private practice in the same area of law, to launch a new venture.

“I think my skill set and my value add is the strategic advisory function that combines both the regulatory and legal framework, as well as my knowledge of public policy and governmental operations,” Vullo said.

Vullo said she doesn’t plan to limit her firm’s practice to a specific sector of financial services, instead opting to use her experience in previous positions to advise clients in several areas, from compliance to emerging industries. That includes cybersecurity and financial technology, or fintech, both of which became priorities for the New York department while she led the agency.

She focused similarly on regulation and compliance at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in Manhattan, where she was a partner for more than two decades. She started as an associate at the firm, but grew to take a leading role before departing for state government.

She was nominated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2016 to become New York state’s second superintendent of financial services. The agency was created in 2011 as a merger between the state’s former banking and insurance agencies.

The three years that followed her confirmation by the state Senate were marked with a series of major accomplishments by the New York department. Vullo oversaw the agency’s landmark cybersecurity regulations for financial institutions, for example, which have become a national model for other regulatory agencies who’ve considered a similar focus on digital security.

She was also at the helm of the agency when it required state-regulated health insurance companies to provide coverage for contraceptives and abortions without imposing cost-sharing measures, such as co-pays or deductibles.