Sushmita Shukla appointed first VP, COO of Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Sushmita Shukla, an Indian-origin veteran of the insurance industry, has been appointed as First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, making her the second-ranking officer at the prominent institution.

The appointment was approved by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the New York Fed said in a statement Thursday.

Shukla, 54, has been appointed by the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, effective March 2023.

As First Vice President, Shukla, who has an MBA from New York University and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Mumbai, will be the New York Fed's second-ranking officer.

Shukla said in the statement that she is honoured to have the opportunity to work for a mission-driven organisation like the New York Fed.

I look forward to applying all that I've learned in my career including my technology, operations, and risk-focused experiences to furthering the key activities and supporting the dedicated leadership of this critical institution.

President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Fed John Williams described Shukla as a dynamic, inspiring and highly effective leader who brings extensive experience leading large-scale enterprises and transformation initiatives to the Bank.

He said Shukla has an in-depth knowledge of technology and agile innovation methods and is passionate about creating a truly diverse and inclusive culture.

Together with the Bank's President and Chief Executive Officer, Shukla will establish, communicate, and execute the strategic direction of the organisation and will also serve as an alternate voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the statement said.

Chair of the New York Fed's Board of Directors and Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Comunilife Rosa Gil said that Shukla has "deep expertise and leadership acumen that will support the Bank in achieving its mission and strategic priorities.

According to Shukla's profile on the New York Fed website, she has served in leadership roles in the insurance industry for nearly 20 years and has extensive experience leading large-scale enterprise transformation initiatives, as well as in-depth knowledge of technology and Agile innovation methods.

Most recently, Shukla, who lives in Connecticut, was Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for International Accident & Health at Chubb, the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company, where she led operations, claims technology, and strategic programmes for the international accident and health business in 51 countries.

In that role, she drove operational efficiencies and transformed customer service and the customer experience, the profile said.

Previously, Shukla led an enterprise-wide transformation program at Healthfirst, where she started as Vice President of Enterprise Business Solutions in 2016 and then served as interim Senior Vice President of Enterprise Transformation in 2017.

Shukla has also held positions at Liberty Mutual, Merrill Lynch, and GiantBear Inc., a wireless technology and application service provider in New York.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks which, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, DC, make up the Federal Reserve System.

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 US 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, according to its website.