DFS Adds Longtime Financial Services Attorney Ray Dorado as Top Official in Banking Division
Ray 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.
November 13, 2019 at 11:29 AM
7 minute read
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:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllEric Adams Trial Set for April as Defense Urges Dismissal of Bribery Count
Decision of the Day: De Blasio Must Sit for Deposition in Suit Over City Program to Transfer Foreclosed Properties
The Legislature Has Enacted Landmark Criminal Justice Reforms. Now It Should Take Steps to Improve the System
8 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Infant Formula Judge Sanctions Kirkland's Jim Hurst: 'Overtly Crossed the Lines'
- 2Abbott, Mead Johnson Win Defense Verdict Over Preemie Infant Formula
- 3Guarantees Are Back, Whether Law Firms Want to Talk About Them or Not
- 4Trump Files $10B Suit Against CBS in Amarillo Federal Court
- 5Preparing Your Law Firm for 2025: Smart Ways to Embrace AI & Other Technologies
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250