Benjamin Meier Lawsky (born April 14, 1970) is an American attorney and
New York State
New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
's first Superintendent of Financial Services serving through June, 2015, and former Acting Superintendent of Banks serving through 2011.
Early life and education
Lawsky was born near a Navy base in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, but grew up in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
with a twin sister. His mother was a computer systems analyst for the Mellon Bank and his father a radiologist.
Lawsky is a graduate of
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City.
The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...
Up until 2001 Lawsky was the chief counsel, in Washington, to Senator Charles E. Schumer. Subsequently, Lawsky had a senior role in the New York Attorney General's Office and also served as Governor
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...
's Chief of Staff.
Having started his career with two federal judicial clerkships in the
Eastern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five counties in New York State: the four Long Island counties of Nassau, ...
and the
2nd Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, and it has appellate jurisdict ...
, he has also been an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York.
Superintendent of Financial Services
On May 24, 2011, The
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...
unanimously confirmed Lawsky as New York State's first Superintendent of Financial Services."Mission, About Us, New York State Department of Financial Services", retrieved August 8, 2012, a New York State Department of Financial Services official website, ibid.
From May 24, 2011 until October 3, 2011, Lawsky was appointed, and served as, Acting Superintendent of Banks for the former
New York State Banking Department
The New York State Banking Department was created by the New York Legislature on April 15, 1851, with a chief officer to be known as the Superintendent. The New York State Banking Department was the oldest bank regulatory agency in the United Stat ...
, in which position he led Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's initiative to consolidate the
New York State Banking Department
The New York State Banking Department was created by the New York Legislature on April 15, 1851, with a chief officer to be known as the Superintendent. The New York State Banking Department was the oldest bank regulatory agency in the United Stat ...
Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational bank with operations in wealth management, Wholesale banking, corporate and investment banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retai ...
and accused the bank of conducting secret money laundering transactions with Iran, triggering a 23.5% drop in share price.
On August 14, 2012, Standard Chartered Bank agreed to pay a fine of $340 million (£220 million) to the New York State Department of Financial Services, conceding that $14 million in financial transactions involving Iranian parties were in violation of U.S. banking laws.
On June 18, 2013, the Department announced that Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP (“Deloitte FAS”) was fined $10 million and banned from advising banks in New York for one year after accusing the firm of watering down a report about money-laundering controls at Standard Chartered.
On September 11, 2013, Lawsky's office announced that New York State would opt out of an agreement on new capital reserve standards for the life insurance industry.
In a letter to other states' insurance regulators, Lawsky said that recent tests of insurance industry accounting practices had revealed "gamesmanship and abuses" regarding assessment of insurers' liquid reserves and leveraging practices.
He is noted for targeting individuals within the financial sector who commit wrongdoing, and not merely handing out fines to the companies they work for, an approach he explains as follows: "Corporations are a legal fiction. You have to deter bad individual conduct within corporations. People who did the conduct are going to be held accountable."
As Superintendent of Financial Services, he was paid an annual salary of $127,000.Liz Rappaport, Wall Street's New Watcher, ''The Wall Street Journal'', retrieved August 8, 2012, a online.wsj.com /ref>
While serving as Superintendent, and following public hearings on the topic, Lawsky is credited with introducing some of the first regulations in the United States specifically affecting
bitcoin
Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; Currency symbol, sign: ₿) is the first Decentralized application, decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown entity published a white paper under ...
depository institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges.
Lawsky announced in May 2015 that he would be stepping down the following month to launch his own legal and consulting firm, later named th Lawsky Group
''The New York Times'' reviewed his "polarizing" tenure positively, saying that the state's banks would not miss the Columbia graduate, he having "threatened to pull their licenses, fined them hundreds of millions of dollars and forced dozens of their employees to resign."
Lawsky garnered multiple awards and distinctions during his four years as bank regulator, including as one of ''
Foreign Policy
Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...
''s 'Top 100 Global Thinkers' and ''
Bloomberg Markets
''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial m ...
'' '50 Most Influential in Global Finance'.
On September 17, 2024, Lawsky joined the Regulatory Advisory Board of Norm Ai.