Vermont’s former chief financial services regulator, Mike Pieciak, announced last Friday that he is running to be state treasurer.
Pieciak made the announcement in Montpelier just days after stepping down from his post as commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation and right after Beth Pearce, the state’s current treasurer, announced she would not run for re-election for health reasons.
Pieciak, a Democrat, joined DFR in 2014 as deputy commissioner of the Securities Division, appointed by Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Republican. He was appointed to lead the consumer watchdog agency by Gov. Phil Scott, a Democrat, in January 2017.
In addition to his duties at DFR, Pieciak, a lawyer, served as president of the North American Securities Administrators Association and on the Securities and Exchange Commission Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C.
Pearce, who has served as state treasurer since 2011, endorsed Pieciak to succeed her. She said she encouraged Pieciak to run for this position “because Vermonters know and trust him” and he has the “right experience and background.”
In announcing that Pieciak would be leaving DFR, Gov. Scott praised Pieciak as an advocate for consumers who also worked to strengthen the state’s financial services industry. During his tenure, DFR recouped $13 million for Vermonters and expanded the department’s supervision of online securities trading and cryptocurrency platforms. Earlier this year, a DFR probe of the digital-asset company BlockFi led to a multi-state $100 million settlement.
Pieciak and DFR headed the state’s COVID-19 modeling and he appeared regularly at COVID press briefings. DFR required health insurers to cover the cost of testing and treatment for COVID-19 and directed premium relief of $25 million back to Vermonters.
In 2019, DFR explicitly prohibited insurers from using age to deny gender-affirming care to Vermont youth. Pieciak also instituted a series of initiatives to address senior financial abuse.
The state’s primary election is August 9, followed by the general election on November 8.
Topics Vermont
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