Gaurav Vasisht

Executive Director & CEO Gaurav Vasisht

Gaurav Vasisht is the Executive Director and CEO of NYSIF, a non-profit competitive enterprise that is among the largest workers' compensation, disability, and paid family leave insurers in the United States. The first Asian and Indian American to lead the organization in its 110-year history, Gaurav is responsible for NYSIF's overall strategic direction and operation, including oversight of its approximately 2,000-employee workforce.

Gaurav came to NYSIF after more than six years at the Volcker Alliance, a non-partisan think tank established by former Federal Reserve Chair Paul A. Volcker. Gaurav directed the Alliance's financial regulation program, advising Chair Volcker and other board members on financial system stability and regulatory matters and promoting the organization's policy priorities before the federal government. Gaurav also served as Chair Volcker's liaison to the Systemic Risk Council, a private-sector body of experts committed to addressing structural issues relating to global systemic risk.

Before joining the Alliance, Gaurav spent a decade in New York State government. Most recently, he served as Executive Deputy Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, heading the agency's Banking Division. He previously served as Senior Deputy Superintendent of Insurance, First Assistant Counsel and Assistant Counsel to three New York Governors, and as Assistant Attorney General in the Investor Protection Bureau of the New York Attorney General’s Office.

Gaurav is co-author of “Shining a Light on Long Covid,” a report featured in the New York Times that contributes to a developing body of research on Long Covid and its far-reaching implications. He is also co-author of "What Makes a Regulator Excellent?" in Achieving Regulatory Excellence, edited by the University of Pennsylvania Law School and published by the Brookings Institution Press. A graduate of NYU and St. John's Law, Gaurav has testified before Congress on financial stability matters, presented before the G20's Financial Stability Board on the effectiveness of Too-Big-To-Fail reforms, and worked on pioneering initiatives covered in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times.

Gaurav is an appointee of Governor Kathy Hochul to New York's inaugural Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) commission, tasked with advising the Governor on policies to promote the welfare of New York's AAPI community. Gaurav has been a Non-Resident Fellow at the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke Law School, participated in the Yale School of Management's Lessons Learned Initiative on the 2007-09 Financial Crisis, and contributed to Penn Law's Regulatory Review. He frequently publishes and speaks on issues of relevance to the financial services industry.

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