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Vermont lawmakers hear Department of Financial Regulation overview; agency cites 110 staff, five divisions
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Summary
Acting Commissioner Sandy Bighlestone told the House Commerce & Economic Development Committee that the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) oversees Vermont’s financial services with about 110 employees across five divisions and emphasized consumer protection and solvency oversight.
The Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development heard an overview of the Department of Financial Regulation on Jan. 15, 2025, as Acting Commissioner Sandy Bighlestone introduced the agency’s structure and staffing and deputy commissioners from banking, insurance, securities, and captive insurance outlined division roles.
"We are primarily responsible for regulating the financial services sector of Vermont," Acting Commissioner Sandy Bighlestone said, describing DFR’s mission to protect consumers and enforce solvency and compliance standards across regulated industries.
Bighlestone told the committee DFR has roughly 110 staff working across five divisions: Administration (including the commissioner’s office and general counsel), Captive Insurance, Securities, Banking, and Insurance. She said the agency currently has several open positions and noted recent hiring success: "We have been attracting... amazing, qualified people." The captive insurance division alone accounts for 32 employees, the insurance division about 34, the banking and securities divisions 17 and 9, respectively.
Committee members and deputies discussed resourcing. Bighlestone said DFR uses contracted actuaries for specialized work and has roughly a dozen actuaries on retainer rather than an in-house actuary. She described recruiting priorities and said DFR had requested two additional positions recently to keep pace with workload.
The presentation framed DFR’s role as state-based regulation following standards derived from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners while tailored to Vermont’s markets. Committee members signaled follow-up sessions later this month for deeper dives into captive insurance, banking reports, and other division topics.
The committee scheduled additional hearings to review reports and technical follow-ups from DFR deputies, including a forthcoming virtual currency kiosk report from the banking division and an auto-insurance study report tied to S 95.
