Benjamin Lawsky, head of the little-known New York
Department of Financial Services, is grabbing headlines and stealing the
spotlight away from other heavy-hitting watchdogs — like state Attorney General
Eric Schneiderman.
The 42-year -old Lawsky, who has served as Gov. Cuomo’s
right-hand man for years, often working behind the scenes to bring cases
against Wall Street firms, had a coming-out party of sorts on Monday when his
DFS agency alleged that UK banking titan Standard Chartered did business with
Iranian banks for nearly 10 years — in violation of US law.
Lawsky is threatening to pull the bank’s state charter —
putting a fright into its investors and sending its shares cratering yesterday. It’s the kind of attention and reaction that
used to be reserved for the AG.
By flexing his muscles, Lawsky is showing Wall Street there
are two powerful sheriffs in town. The offices of the AG and DFS boss insist
that there is no rivalry between the two and they often “collaborate” on
nabbing financial bad guys.
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