TOPSIDE Group
We have had in-house and outside engagement experience with:
-
US and global banks
-
Insurers and reinsurers
-
Major US not-for-profit
-
Fintech/Insuretech firms
Maria Filipakis
Managing Partner
Maria Filipakis was the first Executive Deputy Superintendent of the Capital Markets Division at the New York State Department of Financial Services. In that role, she managed a staff of lawyers, risk and investment specialists, and examiners providing advice and expertise in enterprise risk management, financial analysis, anti-money laundering controls, and cybersecurity for over 3,000 financial institutions.
Maria led the agency’s cybersecurity initiatives, from conducting industry-wide cybersecurity surveys and assessments, to revising the cyber examinations, to enhancing DFS’ examination team, and to ultimately drafting the regulation (Part 500).
Maria served on Governor Cuomo’s Cyber Security Advisory Board, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors Emerging Payments Task Force and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Cybersecurity Task Force. She has spoken extensively on the topic of emerging risks and technologies, including at the White House Council on Women and Girls highlighting the work of women in finance and technology.
She led several of the department's enforcement actions, including the investigations of cross- border banking, conflicts of interest for financial consultants, and global FX rate manipulation.
Before joining the department, Maria held senior positions at the New York State Insurance Department and the New York Attorney General's Office, including running the Investor Protection Bureau. More recently, she was Managing Director at Global Atlantic Financial Company, a leading insurer, heading their regulatory affairs and strategies team. She is currently the interim Executive Director of the Virtual Commodities Association. Maria is a graduate of New York University and Brooklyn Law School.
David Brown
Managing Partner
David Brown was the Chief of the Investor Protection Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, where he led high-profile investigations of the insurance and mutual fund industries. In that role, he managed a staff of over 100 tasked with enforcing New York’s securities laws. During his tenure, David coordinated industry-wide enforcement actions with federal agencies and negotiated settlements returning in excess of $5 billion to investors and consumers. He was also the Executive Director of the New York State Dormitory Authority, one of the largest issuers of municipal bonds in the US, where he supervised a staff of over 600 and issued New York’s first series of Green Initiative bonds to fund energy retrofits.
In the private sector, David has more than twenty years’ of in-house experience in senior legal and compliance roles at investment banks -- Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Bankers Trust – and at the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell. Most recently, David has worked as an AML monitor of a Tier 1 global bank and as the Chief Compliance Officer of the WGBH Educational Foundation, one of the largest content producers and broadcasters in the US public media system.
David is a graduate of Harvard College and Law School.