New York DFS Announces Research and Innovation Division, Virtual Currencies in Focus
In a press release from the Department of Financial Services (DFS), published July 23, 2019, superintendent Linda A. Lacewell announced a new Research and Innovation division as well as appointments for the new division to position DFS as a “regulator of the future”.
Who’s in?
When it who comes to who will be leading this new division, that responsibility falls to newly appointed Matthew Homer as Executive Deputy Superintendent. His supporting Deputy Superintendent is Olivia Bumgardner with Andrew Lucas serving as counsel.
Linda A. Lacewell, Financial Services Superintendent stated:
“This new division and these appointments position DFS as the regulator of the future, allowing the Department to better protect consumers, develop best practices, and analyze market data to strengthen New York’s standing as the center of financial innovation.”
Before serving in this new division, Homer was Head of Policy and Research at New York fintech company Quovo, an innovative enterprise that provided open banking for those within the financial services sphere.
His experience in the financial industry extends to being a government servant at the FDIC, as well as various other public and private sector commitments including a post at Deloitte Consulting which gave focus to financial regulatory reform.
Bumgardner will prove to be a valuable ally by his side, as she worked as an economist who was responsible for overseeing what the press release describes as “some of the most complicated financial transactions reviewed by the Department over the past 6 years.”
Keeping Up
As anyone who has spent time within the cryptocurrency sphere knows, time moves at hyperspeed in this industry with new developments, innovations, and troubles emerging on a daily basis.
Of them all, regulation is a topic that comes up again and again in this industry; the drive for regulations is at the top of the list, but they are often slowly implemented and fail to keep up with the evolution of the technology.
The DFS’s decision on creating this division with the very task of keeping their framework updated and knowledgeable about the ever-changing scene of crypto, as well as the impacts on the financial world, will be a smart play for the upcoming years to come.
