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Celeste Koeleveld has been appointed General Counsel at the Department of Financial Services (DFS). Ms. Koeleveld will lead DFS’s Office of General Counsel and be responsible for all legal matters in the agency, reporting directly to the Superintendent.
“We are delighted that Celeste Koeleveld is coming on board to lead our legal team at DFS,” Acting Superintendent of Financial Services Maria T. Vullo said. “Her vast, decades-long experience as a prosecutor and public servant, running the gamut of civil, criminal and regulatory matters, will be an invaluable asset to the department and people of New York State.”
Ms. Koeleveld has a 25-year career in significant positions in public service. Since 2008, she has been an Executive Assistant Corporation Counsel at the New York City Law Department, serving as a member of the senior management team overseeing 700-plus attorneys. Ms. Koeleveld’s oversight responsibilities have included the Special Federal Litigation Division and the Tort Division, which litigate a wide range of claims against the City in federal and state courts.
Previously, Ms. Koeleveld spent nearly two decades at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she held a number of supervisory posts, including Chief of the Criminal Division. In that position, she led more than 160 Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned to nine different units – spanning securities fraud, other complex frauds, public corruption, terrorism, organized crime, and narcotics trafficking – in all aspects of criminal investigations and prosecutions, including charging decisions, plea negotiations, trial strategy, and appeals. During her distinguished tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she also served as Chief Appellate Attorney for four years.
Ms. Koeleveld clerked for United States District Judge Kenneth Conboy in the Southern District of New York. She earned her J.D. at Columbia University School of Law and received a B.A. in Government from Harvard University. From 2009 to 2015, Ms. Koeleveld also served as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School. She received the New York County Lawyers’ Association Award for Outstanding Public Service in 2013, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York’s Stimson Medal in 2007, and the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in 1999.
Ms. Koeleveld joins recent DFS appointees Matthew L. Levine, Executive Deputy Superintendent for Enforcement, Richard A. Loconte, Executive Deputy Superintendent for Communications and Strategy, Jennifer L. Smith, Special Assistant to the Superintendent, and Chad Loshbaugh, Director of Administration.
Mr. Levine will guide the Department's enforcement actions to ensure that regulated parties are held accountable for unlawful business practices, coordinating with other senior staff and law enforcement agencies under the direction of the Superintendent. He is a former federal prosecutor and trial lawyer with significant experience in matters involving the financial markets and health care fraud, having served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, first in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and later in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Mr. Loconte will lead the Department’s internal and external communications. He was formerly the Deputy Head of Government Affairs & Associate General Counsel at AIG, Inc., where he represented AIG before regulatory agencies and other government bodies on legislative and regulatory issues related to the insurance industry and the broader financial services sector, and has more than 20 years of experience in communications and public policy.
Ms. Smith was most recently at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she worked with former Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye on various commercial and appellate matters. She also served as Assistant Counsel to the Commission on Judicial Nomination and has handled multiple pro bono matters.
Mr. Loshbaugh will be responsible for the Department’s fiscal administration, procurement activities, human resources management, staff development and training, and other administrative areas. He was previously with the New York State Liquor Authority where he was Deputy Commissioner of Administration.
