On August 31, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that Adrienne Harris has been nominated as the next Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services. Ms. Harris began her career at Sullivan and Cromwell LLP and later worked for the United States Department of the Treasury under President Obama. She then joined the Obama White House as a Special Assistant to the President at the National Economic Council. Throughout her tenure at the Department of the Treasury and the White House, Ms. Harris executed initiatives for the advancement of financial technology and cybersecurity.
As Superintendent of DFS, Ms. Harris will lead an agency at the
forefront of national cybersecurity policy and regulation.
DFS's Cybersecurity Regulation has served as a model for other
regulators, including the Federal Trade Commission, multiple
states, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and
the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. The Cybersecurity
Regulation became effective in March 2017, with additional
implementation time for certain provisions that became fully
effective in March 2019. In 2021, DFS enforcement efforts have
resulted in settlements with mortgage lenders and
insurance companies for breaches of
the Cybersecurity Regulation, including by failing to report
cybersecurity breaches and failing to implement Multi-Factor
Authentication.
Jose Fernandez is an associate
in Thompson Coburn's New York Office. Jim Shreve is the chair
of Thompson Coburn's Cybersecurity group and has advised
clients on cybersecurity and privacy issues for over 20
years. Luke
Sosnicki is a Los Angeles partner in
Thompson Coburn's Business Litigation group who has written and
spoken extensively about data privacy litigation and regulatory
risks.
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