Banking Department Announces Appointments of New Banking Board Members

• by New York State Banking Department

NEW YORK, NY (01/14/2008)(readMedia)-- The New York State Banking Department is pleased to announce the appointment of Barbara Kent and P. Nicholas Kourides to the New York State Banking Board. Kourides and Kent, who are succeeding Francine C. Justa and David A. Javdan respectively, were appointed by Governor Eliot Spitzer and were confirmed by the State Senate for three-year terms. They are both serving as public members and will receive no salary for their work.

"I am delighted that Barbara and Nicholas will be serving on the Banking Board,” said Richard H. Neiman, superintendent of banks. “They are two talented individuals and I thank Governor Spitzer for making such excellent choices.”

Kourides recently became Deputy General Counsel at AIG, with specific responsibilities as General Counsel for their Worldwide Life Insurance Division. He previously served as Managing Counsel-International at American Express Company, where he led a team of more than 50 lawyers around the world in providing legal services for the company’s products outside the United States.

“Nicholas’s legal background and his previous work on complex financial matters makes him very well qualified for the position,” said Neiman.

Kent worked for 21 years at the New York State Banking Department, as an attorney and later as the Director of Consumer Services and Financial Products. She also served in 2003 as the acting Superintendent of Banks. In the seventeen months that she has been in her current role as President of the Coalition for Debtor Education, she has already expanded the financial education courses offered by the program.

“During her time at Banking Department, Barbara successfully worked on important consumer protection regulations and financial education programs, and she continues those efforts now at the Coalition. I look forward to working with her in this new role,” said Neiman.

The 17-member Banking Board includes both industry and public members and is chaired by the Superintendent of Banks, Richard H. Neiman. More information about the New York State Banking Department and Banking Board is available on the Banking Department's Web site at www.banking.state.ny.us.

The New York State Banking Department is the regulator for all state-chartered banking institutions, virtually all of the United States offices of international banking institutions, all of the State’s mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, check cashers, money transmitters and budget planners. The aggregate assets of the depository institutions supervised by the Banking Department are more than $1.8 trillion.

In addition to regulating banking institutions, the Banking Department is active in informing and educating all New Yorkers on banking matters. To contact the Banking Department, please call 1-877-BANK-NYS or visit our Web site at www.banking.state.ny.us.

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