Robert Francis is the Senior Director of the Cybersecurity Group at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), where he leads efforts to strengthen the cyber resilience of FINRA member firms through regulatory oversight, intelligence sharing, and outreach and education.

Before joining FINRA, Robert served as the founding Chief Information Security Officer at the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), where he established and led the agency’s information security program. He previously served as the Head of Cybersecurity Operations at Santander, overseeing the cyber threat intelligence, security engineering, security monitoring, and incident response teams across North America.

Earlier in his career, Robert held positions in banking supervision, cybersecurity, and counterintelligence with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the U.S. Army.