SENATE CONFIRMS DINALLO AS INSURANCE SUPERINTENDENT

The New York State Senate today confirmed Governor Eliot Spitzer’s nomination of Eric R. Dinallo as the 39th Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department. Superintendent Dinallo has been serving as Acting Superintendent since January 2007. “I am honored to have been confirmed as Superintendent of the Insurance Department. I thank Governor Spitzer for nominating me and the Senate for its unanimous vote. I am proud to join the excellent staff of the premier state insurance regulator,” Superintendent Dinallo said. “I pledge to the people of New York State that the Insurance Department will strive to ensure that consumers, both individuals and businesses, are fully informed, have access to the insurance products they need at reasonable prices and are treated fairly in the claims process. The Department will work equally hard to ensure there is a favorable climate in New York for the insurance industry to prosper and grow, including a level playing field. Finally, the Department will strive to regulate in innovative and efficient ways that provide all of the above,” said Superintendent Dinallo. Superintendent Dinallo joined the Department from Willis Group Holdings. Since 2006, he had been General Counsel for the company, the world’s third largest insurance broker. A member of the Partners Group, the company’s global executive management committee, he was the primary legal advisor on value creation matters. His responsibilities included supervising General Counsels, Global Compliance and the Internal Audit Department, as well as implementing corporate strategies, policies and procedures to ensure the effective management of regulatory and litigation matters. From 2003 to 2006, Superintendent Dinallo was the Managing Director, Global Head of Regulatory Affairs for Morgan Stanley. He designed and led top-to-bottom reviews of conflicts and business practices, achieving a major shift in the firm-wide regulatory strategy. At Morgan Stanley, Superintendent Dinallo chaired the Global Conflicts Committee and was the Managing Director on the Law Department Diversity Committee. He was also a member of the Franchise Committee and the Operational Risk Group. Superintendent Dinallo served at the Office of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer from 1999 to 2003. As Chief of the Securities Bureau, he was charged with combining that bureau with the Real Estate Finance Bureau. The resulting Bureau was named the Investment Protection Bureau to reflect its focus, and Mr. Dinallo was named its first Chief. In that capacity, he led the reinvigorated Bureau’s investigations into the Wall Street Cases – conflicts of interest in the financial services industry, including research analyst cases and the spinning of hot initial public offerings. He produced more than 40 major civil and criminal matters, and led the Bureau through the beginning of the mutual fund industry investigations. Before joining the Attorney General’s office, Superintendent Dinallo served as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s office from 1995 to 1999. He had primary responsibility for securities fraud and white collar and insider trading investigations and trial. From 1991 to 1995, Superintendent Dinallo was a Litigation Associate with the Manhattan law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison. From 1990 to 1991, the Superintendent clerked with the Honorable David M. Ebel of the United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit in Denver. Superintendent Dinallo earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Vassar College in 1985, followed by a Master of Arts degree from Duke University School of Public Policy in 1987. In 1990, he earned his law degree from New York University where he was New York University Law Review and Essay Editor and a member of the Order of the Coif. Superintendent Dinallo lives in Manhattan with his wife, Priscilla Almodovar, and children Robert and Amelia. The Superintendent of Insurance is responsible for the monitoring and regulation of more than 1,000 insurance companies with total assets exceeding $4 trillion. The position also includes oversight responsibility for more than 100,000 brokers, agents and financial intermediaries and the management of more than a thousand Department employees. The Superintendent also acts as Receiver of insolvent insurance companies through the New York Liquidation Bureau.