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Mar 08, 2023

New York Life names compliance leader

Sandi Tillotson has been with the insurance firm since 2003

New York Life Insurance Company has promoted Sandi Tillotson to chief compliance officer. 

She succeeds Sara Badler, who retired at the end of 2022. In her new role, Tillotson reports to Michael McDonnell, who was promoted to general counsel last fall. McDonnell had been senior vice president, deputy general counsel and chief insurance counsel since 2021.

Tillotson joined New York Life in 2003 as an associate counsel in the office of the general counsel and later became head of the corporate risk practice team within operational risk management, held a managerial position within the company’s litigation team and served as chief of staff to Sheila Davidson, who is now executive vice president and chief legal and administrative officer. Tillotson was promoted to become vice president in the corporate compliance department in 2014.


Since 2020, when she became senior vice president, Tillotson has led several key compliance functions: sales practice compliance, sales standards and product compliance, group insurance compliance, market conduct reporting & testing and compliance analytics.

Before joining New York Life, she was a litigation associate at Bingham McCutchen and worked as a public affairs specialist at the US Mission to the United Nations.

McDonnell says in a statement: ‘Sandi’s skills have allowed her to gain an unrivaled breadth of experience through the many different roles she has held in her 20 years with New York Life. We congratulate her on this well-earned appointment and know that her expertise will further the company’s ability to successfully navigate the ever-changing business and regulatory landscapes.’

Ben Maiden

Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...