Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that after four years of service, Superintendent Harris has decided to leave the Department of Financial Services.
The Governor is appointing Kaitlin Asrow to Acting Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services effective October 18, 2025.
“I’d like to thank Superintendent Harris for her four years of service at DFS, working every day to make our financial system work for New Yorkers, while also rebuilding the Department into a regulator fit for the financial capital of the world,” said Governor Hochul. “Between her time at the Federal Reserve, Financial Health Network, and within DFS, Kaitlin is well suited to lead the Department into the future, expanding access to affordable financial services for all New Yorkers while ensuring our great state continues to be a center for responsible innovation.”
Superintendent Harris said, “It has been a privilege and an honor to serve New Yorkers, delivering positive outcomes for consumers; cementing DFS as a global regulatory leader; and transforming the Department’s operations. I want to express my deep gratitude to Governor Hochul, and to the DFS team for the excellent work they do every day to create a more equitable, transparent, and resilient financial system.”
Kaitlin Asrow said, “I am humbled by the opportunity to continue working in service of New Yorkers under Governor Hochul’s leadership. I am committed to ensuring that New York remains the global financial capital, a leader in consumer protection, and a hub for responsible financial innovation.”
Kaitlin Asrow has worked at DFS for the past four years as Executive Deputy Superintendent of the Research & Innovation division. In that role, she oversaw the regulation of virtual currency companies, building one of the largest and most sophisticated virtual currency regulatory teams in the world. She is also responsible for the Department’s policy work around innovation and financial inclusion. Ms. Asrow has helped lead the operational transformation of the Department and is committed to continuing investment in technological infrastructure and key processes.
Ms. Asrow came to the Department from the Federal Reserve System, where she served as a Senior Policy Advisor for both the Bank of San Francisco and the Board of Governors. She was responsible for leading supervision and policy initiatives related to data and artificial intelligence. During her tenure with the Federal Reserve, she served as a coordinator on innovation policy among the 12 district banks, as well as between the Federal Reserve, the OCC, and FDIC.
Prior to the Federal Reserve, Ms. Asrow worked for the Center for Financial Services Innovation, now the Financial Health Network, which is the leading authority on consumer financial health. Ms. Asrow graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and subsequently earned her Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Chicago.
Superintendent Harris was nominated by Governor Hochul to lead DFS in August 2021. As the longest-serving Superintendent, Harris led efforts to rebuild the Department to better protect New Yorkers, regulated entities, and the global financial system. Since August 2021, DFS has recovered more than $725 million in restitution for New Yorkers and done significant work to make the state’s financial system fairer and more equitable. Nationally, she became the first New York State representative to serve on the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council.
Under Superintendent Harris’s leadership, DFS created seven new Banking Development Districts; allowed state-chartered banks to offer Bank On accounts to satisfy their basic banking obligations while broadening access to low-cost accounts; and changed the way check cashing fees are calculated to incorporate consumer needs, saving New Yorkers more than $22 million in check cashing fees.
Superintendent Harris also set clear guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence in insurance underwriting and pricing; prohibited life insurers from offering inferior versions of the same product which was primarily impacting low-income households and consumers of color; and spearheaded critical health equity work requiring insurers to cover insulin without cost sharing and requiring them to collect voluntarily-disclosed demographic data from policyholders to address systemic health inequities.
Over the past four years, the Superintendent has transformed the Virtual Currency Unit into a global leader in the regulation and supervision of digital assets. The Superintendent hired more than 60 subject matter experts who prevented FTX, Voyager, and Celsius from operating in New York; issued 11 pieces of regulatory guidance; brought the first enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies; and returned $2.1 billion to consumers around the world from Gemini.
Since DFS was given the authority to regulate pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) in 2022, Superintendent Harris has built a PBM team, adopted market conduct rules to govern PBMs, and begun examining these entities. The rules put in place by DFS protect New Yorkers’ access to prescription drugs, prohibit certain business practices that increase the cost of prescription drugs, and help ensure that small, independent pharmacies can compete with large pharmacies affiliated with PBMs.
Superintendent Harris also has taken decisive actions on defining issues impacting the financial services sector, amending DFS’s nation-leading cybersecurity regulation; issuing guidance to the insurance, banking, and mortgage industries, setting expectations on managing the financial and operational risks of climate change; and rebuilding the Insurance Frauds Unit to combat financial fraud in New York State
The Superintendent’s commitment to operational excellence has resulted in more than 1,200 hires and promotions since January 2022. For the first time since the agency was established, the Department was fully-funded and has now surpassed 1,400 employees. Over the last four years, the Superintendent has cultivated a culture of innovation, invested in new technological infrastructure, and updated key processes. A significant component of the agency’s technology overhaul is DFS Connect, a single portal which is transforming all facets of how the Department engages with entities and consumers, and keeping data organized, centralized, and up to date in real time.
A list of select accomplishments during Superintendent Harris’s tenure can be found here.
