Linda Lacewell of the Department of Financial Services. 

Linda Lacewell is poised to be confirmed as the state's next superintendent of the Department of Financial Services after her nomination sailed through the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday afternoon.

Her nomination will now be sent to the Senate floor for a vote by the entire chamber, which is expected to elevate her to the position six months after she was nominated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January.

That vote will likely happen during the final days of this year's legislative session. Lawmakers often wait to approve the governor's nominations until they're nearly ready to leave Albany for the year in June.

Despite her background as a top official within the Cuomo administration for more than a decade, lawmakers from either side of the aisle had nothing critical to say of Lacewell during the committee meeting. She's been the acting superintendent of the agency since February.

At the start of the hearing, she recounted her experience as a former federal prosecutor and adviser to Cuomo.

“So I've been a prosecutor, an advisor, and advocate. I understand the role of each,” Lacewell said. “I have focused on holding bad actors accountable, yes, but I also believe in fixing problems and trying to identify possible problems before they occur so we can try to prevent them.”

But almost nothing came up about Lacewell's career. Questions, instead, focused on the work of the state agency and how it could promote the financial services industry going forward.

State Sen. James Seward, a Republican from Otsego County, asked Lacewell what direction she planned to take the agency. He said there's been a lot of enforcement actions by the agency that have reaped money for the state's coffers, but that he'd like to see more done to promote the state's banks. Lacewell said they could do both.

“I think we can chew gum and walk at the same time,” Lacewell said. “The challenge and beauty of DFS is the breadth of what it covers and you have to have a visibility across the whole and make sure the industry is operating on a level playing field and is getting the support it needs when appropriate and that consumers are being protected.”

The agency, which regulates the state's banks and insurance companies, has existed for less than a decade after lawmakers decided to merge two previous agencies into one. In that time, it's produced approximately $10 billion for the state through enforcement actions, particularly during the early part of its existence on the heels of the mortgage crisis.

But there have been times when the agency's authority has been challenged. Title insurance companies sued over regulations promulgated by the agency that prevented them from passing along the cost of marketing expenses to consumers. Those regulations were struck down by a state trial court judge, but reinstated at the appellate level.

Seward questioned whether the agency had, at times, gone beyond its statutory authority and if Lacewell planned to continue that kind of work as its head. Lacewell said that the agency's job was, in part, to consider regulating financial and consumer-related products where state law may not exist but consumers are particularly impacted.

“It's actually the job of DFS not only to regulate banking and insurance, but to keep an eye out for emerging products like bitcoin, fintech and other areas,” Lacewell said. “It's part of our responsibility to look there to identify those issues and to try to responsibly regulate in a careful manner.”

State Sen. Neil Breslin, a Democrat from Albany who chairs the insurance committee, raised concerns he's heard from stakeholders that the agency can sometimes move slowly when reviewing and approving new products to go on the market. That can impact their business, Breslin said. Lacewell said the agency is trying to improve and would continue to look into it.

“I agree with the concept of what you're saying about speed to market, and I'll emphasize that to the staff,” Lacewell said.

She was also asked by State Sen. John Liu, D-Queens, about whether she, or representatives of the agency, would offer suggestions when faced with possible legislative action that could affect the agency or those it oversees. Liu had been critical last week of representatives from the state division of human rights, who repeatedly declined to take a position on legislation that would change the state's laws on sexual harassment.

Lacewell said she would have no problem offering her view on certain legislative proposals if asked in a public setting, or discussing in private with lawmakers.

“No, I don't see my role as strictly enforcing current law. In whatever setting, I do want to work with members of the Legislature on these issues,” Lacewell said. “We do better when we work together. We have certain expertise from the agency that we can bring to bear.”

Lacewell was most recently chief of staff to the executive chamber under Cuomo, and has served in various roles in his administration since he became state attorney general in 2007. She stayed on when he became governor in 2011. She was previously a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn for nearly a decade.

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