The Department of Financial Services

The New York State Department of Financial Services was created by transferring the functions of the New York State Banking Department and the New York State Insurance Department into a new department. This transfer of functions became official on October 3, 2011.

Organization

The Banking Division supervises, through chartering, licensing, registering, and examining safety & soundness, among other actions, nearly 1,900 banking and other financial institutions with assets of more than $2.9 trillion. The division is composed of the following groups: Foreign & Wholesale Banks, Community & Regional Banks, Licensed Financial Services, and Mortgage Banking.

The Insurance Division supervises all insurance companies that do business in New York. The Insurance Division oversees nearly 1,700 insurance companies with assets exceeding $4.2 trillion. The Division includes the Property, Life, and Health Bureaus.

The Financial Frauds & Consumer Protection Division (FFCPD) is charged with protecting and educating consumers and fighting financial fraud. The FFCPD pursues civil and criminal investigations of activities that may constitute violations of the Financial Services Law, Banking Law, Insurance Law, or other laws, and brings enforcement proceedings as appropriate. The Division has five units: Consumer Assistance, Criminal Investigations, Consumer Examinations, Civil Investigations, and Consumer Education and Outreach.

The Real Estate Finance Division (REFD) monitors and investigates real estate and homeowner issues as well as such financial services industries as title insurance and mortgage insurance, both supporting and coordinating efforts with the Banking, Insurance, and the Financial Frauds & Consumer Protection Divisions.

The Capital Markets Division monitors the latest developments and products in the financial services marketplace so that the Department can better understand and regulate complex and rapidly changing financial products and services. While Capital Markets is a service arm to the Department's other operating divisions, it also has primary supervisory responsibility for financial guarantors and state and municipal retirement systems, as well as other pension plans. The Division includes the Examinations Bureau and the Research and Analysis Bureau.

Initiatives of the Department

Unique Undertakings of the Department of Financial Services

Banking Development District (BDD) Program
The Banking Development District program was created to encourage the establishment of bank branches in areas with a demonstrated need for banking services, with the goals of stimulating local economies and helping more New Yorkers enter the financial mainstream. In the program, banks partner with local governments to establish a BDD in an under-banked neighborhood, and, once approved by the Department, are eligible to receive municipal deposits from the State and pay below-market interest rates.

The Holocaust Claims Processing Office (HCPO)
The HCPO, sanctioned by Executive Order 50 and the New York Holocaust Victims Insurance Act of 1998, is the only government entity in the world that provides assistance free of charge to Holocaust victims and their heirs, regardless of their residence, to recover assets deposited in banks, monies that insurance companies failed to pay policy beneficiaries, and artwork that was lost, stolen, or sold under duress between 1933 and 1945.

Liquidation Bureau
The New York Liquidation Bureau, located in New York City, a separate office under the jurisdiction of the Superintendent of Financial Services, is charged with rehabilitating or liquidating insurance companies.