New York Fed names Richard Ostrander as General Counsel and Head of the Legal Group
NEW YORK, NY (October 3, 2022) — The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today announced that Richard Ostrander has been named General Counsel and Head of the Legal Group. In this role, he will also be a member of the Bank’s Executive Committee and will serve as Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Open Market Committee.
Mr. Ostrander will join the New York Fed in November 2022. He is currently a Managing Director in Legal & Compliance at BlackRock.
“Rick has deep expertise in the legal and compliance issues facing financial institutions and markets today, which will help us lead and prepare for the digital innovation of tomorrow,” said John C. Williams, President and CEO of the New York Fed. “His commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion practices across teams and his ability to collaborate inclusively with business areas on complex legal challenges will make him a great addition to our leadership team.”
“I could not be more honored to be offered the opportunity to join the New York Fed. I’m thrilled to be able to apply the skills that I’ve acquired during my career to such an important public service mission,” said Mr. Ostrander. “The New York Fed is at the heart of multiple, critical public policy issues and it will be a privilege to support the Legal Group and the Bank in navigating them.”
In his current role, Mr. Ostrander oversees legal coverage of trading activities at BlackRock, as well as legal coverage of BlackRock Solutions and related technology areas and issues. He is a member of several BlackRock risk and oversight committees and is an active leader in the Legal & Compliance function’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2011, Mr. Ostrander was a Managing Director responsible for global legal coverage of Morgan Stanley’s Fixed Income Division. He started his legal career as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb in 1995.
About New York Fed
The New York Fed oversees the Second Federal Reserve District, which includes New York State, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey, Fairfield County in Connecticut, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Though it serves a geographically small area compared with those of other Federal Reserve Banks, the New York Fed is the largest Reserve Bank in terms of assets and volume of activity. The New York Fed has several unique responsibilities as part of the Federal Reserve System, including conducting open market operations to execute monetary policy on behalf of the FOMC, acting as the fiscal agent of the U.S. Treasury, operating Fedwire, and providing banking and clearing services to foreign central banks, governments and international agencies.
