In Focus ADRIENNE HARRIS

When Harris took over the New York Department of Financial Services, she inherited an agency known for its groundbreaking crypto regulation. She oversaw crypto’s meltdown with an even hand, cracking down on alleged bad actors while granting firms new licenses. It’s all part of a complex juggling act: She must make sure her tactics—including recent actions to avert a banking crisis—also grow the state economy. 

- LEO SCHWARTZ

THE MONDAY MORNING after the thirdlargest bank failure in U.S. history, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul hosted a press briefing to talk down a nation on the edge. The bank, Signature, had a New York charter, but it wasn't Hochul who decided to seize control of the collapsing institution and hand it over to the FDIC, capping the most turbulent financial weekend since 2008. After a brief introduction, Hochul ceded the stage to the woman who had choreographed the takeover: Adrienne Harris, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services.

With an understated assurance, Harris stood at the podium, describing how her team had worked with the federal government to avert disaster. The banks are open and ready for business this morning,’ she said with the hint of a smile.

The New York DFS is an unusually powerful regulator, not only because of its seat in the financial capital of the world, but also because of its broad portfolio that stretches from banking and insurance to student loan providers. In recent years, though, the department's oversight of the roller-coaster crypto industry has put it under a spotlight and a magnifying glass, even more so than federal counterparts like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Unlike its D.C. peers, DFS has an added objective: Explicit in the department's mission is not just regulation but economic growth. For Harris, who arrived with an imposing résumé of governmental and corporate experience, the twin imperatives have meant sustaining the state's nation-leading approach to nurturing the crypto industry while making sure the state doesn't open its doors to the next Sam Bankman-Fried.

"That's the key with any sort of new innovation: How can you foster responsible, useful innovation and protect consumers and markets from bad actors?"  - ADRIENNE HARRIS, DFS SUPERINTENDENT