Ray Dorado. Photo courtesy of DFS

Ray Dorado, a longtime attorney in New York's banking industry, has joined the state Department of Financial Services as a top official in its Banking Division, where he'll oversee financial institutions and be instrumental in recommending regulatory and legislative changes.

Dorado is the latest in a series of appointments by DFS Superintendent Linda Lacewell from the private sector to lead the agency's work since her confirmation in July.

"Ray is a respected strategic adviser who holds a proven track record on offering solutions to complex risk and compliance matters," Lacewell said. "I am confident he will help the department keep pace with the evolving financial services industry and advance DFS's role as a leader in the regulatory landscape."

He started Tuesday as the agency's new senior deputy superintendent for the Banking Division. Dorado is now among the most senior officials focusing on the state's banking industry at the agency, reporting to Executive Deputy Superintendent of Banking Shirin Emami.

In his new role, Dorado will have a hand in just about everything the agency does in relation to New York's banks and financial services companies.

Dorado brings with him more than three decades of experience as an attorney working in the banking industry. He'll have an eye on how the state can grow banking in New York, while ensuring that consumer protection remains the agency's top priority.

"It's really looking at the Banking Division's overall mandate, which is ensuring safety and soundness for the financial industry in New York, as well as prudent conduct of the providers of financial services and products," Dorado said.

If anyone knows the state's banking industry, it's Dorado. He's spent the last three decades split between three different banking and financial services companies, all of which have been held to regulations in New York. He saw the move to DFS as a natural next step in his career.

"When this opportunity came along, it was a pretty easy decision for me because it was a logical outgrowth of the experience I had in the industry," Dorado said.

He most recently managed two legal groups for Citizens Financial Group, where he was a deputy general counsel and executive vice president. While at the bank, he led its commercial banking and enterprise regulatory legal teams.

It was part of his job at Citizens Financial to regularly identify the various regulatory hurdles expected over the next year, including in New York. During his four years there, he helped the bank gain confidence from federal regulators.

His career as an attorney in the banking industry started to take off when he was hired by Credit Suisse, an international bank and financial services company based in Switzerland. Dorado worked for the company in Manhattan, starting in 1987.

Dorado started at Credit Suisse as one of the attorneys leading its Litigation Group. Two years later, he was elevated to director of the Litigation Group. He was an assistant general counsel for Credit Suisse at the time.

He rose again to become one of the company's top lawyers, eventually leading its Global Equity Practice Group. He took the position 13 years after starting with Credit Suisse, and held it for three years before leaving the company.

While in his final role at Credit Suisse, Dorado led a group of 70 attorneys and compliance officers and served on the company's Investment Banking Committee and Global New Business Committee.

"There, I saw the growth of the securities industry and also the changes in the banking industry and how securities firms really had to be associated with the banking organizations in order to grow," Dorado said.

He left Credit Suisse for a senior position at BNY Mellon, formerly known as the Bank of New York. He held a progression of increasingly significant roles there, including one as an adviser for investment services, until he was hired by Citizens Financial in 2015.

His background is not one to be ignored; Dorado was born from parents who immigrated from Cuba to the United States more than five decades ago.

He knew he wanted to be an attorney, but hadn't settled on what area of law to practice until he took a course on securities regulation while studying at George Washington University Law School. That inspired him to pursue a career in financial services, which he started immediately.

"That piqued my interest and then I ended up getting a position while in law school at the SEC in the enforcement division in Washington [D.C.]," Dorado said.

His interest in the banking industry has evolved with the various practices in the financial services sector. Fresh out of the banking industry, he said one of the major challenges currently faced by companies, of any size, is keeping pace with new advancements in the field.

"I think that among those challenges is keeping up with innovation and technology," Dorado said. "I think that banks, depending on their size, have different capabilities."

But even large banks and financial services companies struggle with new advancements, Dorado said, especially when it comes to financial technology, or fintech. With new services emerging, it can be difficult for them to balance innovation with consumer protection, he said.

"I believe supporting that activity in a reasonable way and having a rational approach for what can be done makes sense, but certainly with being mindful of the fact that safety and soundness and consumer protection are first and foremost," Dorado said.

That's where DFS comes in, he said. The agency has taken steps in recent years to monitor and regulate the state's growing fintech industry, even bringing on an expert to oversee best practices.

At the same time, it's also the agency's objective to foster responsible growth for financial services companies in New York. Regulation is key to consumer protection, Dorado said, but the state should also maintain its goal to promote banking within its borders.

"I think it's important that DFS has that outlook because it's critical for the banks being able to stay in New York and continue to grow," Dorado said.

While he'll be involved in all aspects of the state's banking industry, Dorado said his past roles have made him particularly interested in the intersection between foreign regulations and those in New York for banks that have to abide by both, as well as digital currency.

"There are a lot of different areas that I've touched on in my industry experience and committee experience where I think I can add value to what we're trying to accomplish," Dorado said.

READ MORE:

NY Financial Regulator Joins International Coalition Geared Toward Technical Innovation

New York's DFS Becomes First State Banking Regulator to Join Global Climate Change Coalition

Family's Immigrant Story Drives New DFS Acting General Counsel in His Work