Alcides I. Avila is a founding partner of Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena & Garro LLP (AVILA) and an attorney in its Corporate and Financial Services practice. Prior to the formation of AVILA in 2007, Mr. Avila was a partner in the Miami office of an AmLaw 20 national law firm and was the practice group leader of that firm’s Financial Services Practice Group. Mr. Avila represents domestic and foreign clients in all aspects of bank regulatory, lending, mergers and acquisitions and other transactional matters. With over 35 years of experience, he regularly represents clients before the Federal Reserve Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation and other regulatory agencies. Mr. Avila has represented numerous foreign financial institutions and investors in establishing and expanding banking operations in the United States. In addition to his banking practice, he has extensive experience in domestic and international business transactions, including cross-border mergers and acquisitions and financing. Mr. Avila has also served as independent counsel to the Board of Directors of various banks in connection with compliance and enforcement actions. He serves as Chairman, President and Director of the Cuban Banking Study Group.

Fernando A. Capablanca is a long-time leader in the banking industry and is currently Managing Director of Whitecap Consulting Group LLC in Coral Gables, created in 2010 to provide consulting services to the financial industry. He is also Chairman Emeritus and founding member of the Cuban Banking Study Group Inc., created in 1992 to study the Cuban banking and financial system. In addition, he retired from the board of directors of City National Bank in July, 2024, after a successful 60-year career in banking. Mr. Capablanca began his banking career at the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York in 1964 and has served as CEO and General Manager of Miami Agency offices of The Bank of Tokyo Ltd., Banco Exterior de los Andes y España (Spain) and Banco de Credito Inversiones (Chile). He was also president and CEO of Union Credit Bank. Between 2013 and 2016 he served on the Board of Directors of Ocean Bank in Miami. Until 2016, Mr. Capablanca was Vice Chairman of the Bankers Advisory Board of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) in Washington DC, a position to which he was appointed in 1992 by the Comptroller of the State of Florida. He is a former Chairman of the Florida International Bankers Association and currently serves on its Board of Directors. He has written several articles for professional magazines and authored “Small Business Investment Companies” currently at the Library of Congress. He graduated from New York University and from the Harvard Graduate School of Business and served as President of the Harvard Business School Club of South Florida.

José R. Garrigó is part of a family with over six decades of banking history in Cuba and the United States. Mr. Garrigó has over 40 years of experience in the banking and financial industries. He was Principal at J.R. Garrigo & Associates, a firm consulting companies needing to improve their financial operations and cash flow. Mr. Garrigó previously served in executive positions including The Bank of Miami as Executive Vice President, Senior Lending Officer and Board member. He was President, CEO and Board member of Pan American Bank of Miami. After NationBank’s (now Bank of America) acquisition of Pan American Bank he was named Senior Vice President and Corporate Lending Team Leader. He served as Senior Vice President and Regional Executive at Southeast Bank and Senior Vice President at Citibank, N.A. He followed as Senior Vice President and Senior Lending Officer at Espirito Santo Bank of Florida. Mr. Garrigó graduated from Villanueva University, Havana, Cuba, affiliated with Vilanova University of Pennsylvania, as Bachelor in Business Administration. He graduated from The Stonier Graduate School of Banking, Rutgers University, NJ. He attended courses and is a Certified Commercial Lender from the American Bankers Association. A South Florida resident since 1960, Mr. Garrigó is a founding member and presently Vice Chairman Emeritus, Treasurer and Director of Cuban Banking Study Group, created in 1992 to study and make recommendations for the future of the Cuban banking and financial system.  He was decorated by the French Republic as Chevalier, Ordre de Merite Agricole. He served in various business and civic organization boards, including Eastern Airlines Latin American Advisory Board; Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors; WPBT-2 Public Television Board of Directors and member of the Audit Committee; Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Science Committee; Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Council; Coral Gables Cultural Development Board; Coral Gables Landscape Advisory Board; IWFS Americas Foundation Board. 

Adolfo Henriques is Vice Chairman of The Related Group. Before joining Related he was Chairman of the Board of Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust. Prior to these positions, he served as Chairman, President and CEO of Florida East Coast Industries; and before that as CEO of the South Region for Regions Bank (and its predecessor Union Planters Bank) until 2006. Before Regions Bank, Mr. Henriques served in executive capacities at Bank of America's predecessor banks since 1986. These positions included Chairman of NationsBank in South Florida and EVP of Barnett Bank. He was also with The Bank of Nova Scotia and began his career as a Certified Public Accountant with the Public Health Trust and Ryder Systems in Miami, FL. Active in numerous civic organizations, Mr. Henriques is the immediate past Chairman of the Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council, Chairman of the Superintendent's Business Advisory Council and serves on the Orange Bowl Committee. Mr. Henriques serves on the boards of Heico Corporation and Incomex, Inc. In the past, he has served as Chairman of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Regional Chair of the Southeast Region for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of Leadership Florida, Chairman of Florida International University, Chairman of the Financial Oversight Board for the City of Miami, Chairman of the United Way of Miami-Dade, Chairman of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitor's Bureau and the Beacon Council. Mr. Henriques also has served as Co-Chairman of the Miami Children's Museum Capital Campaign, Chairman of Homes for South Florida and Greater Miami LISC, Chairman of the Epiphany School Advisory Council, Site Selection Chairman of the Community Partnership for the Homeless, Member of the Florida Board of Regents and served on the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Task Force for the airport. Mr. Henriques is a recipient of the Dean Lott Spirit of Leadership Award and the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. He earned a master's degree in accounting from Florida International University and his bachelor's degree in business from St. Leo College.

 Grisel Vega was the General Manager of Bci Miami Branch until April 30, 2025, following a highly successful 25 year career with the Bci group. She remains on the board of directors of City National Bank and Bci securities Inc. As General Manager, she oversaw all aspects of the office with over USD 4 Bln in assets which includes a Treasury business as well as Corporate Banking, Wealth Management, and Private Banking aereas serving customers from Latam, primarily from Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico. She was previously the First Vice President and Controller since the opening of the Branch in 1999. She began her professional career in 1983 in the audit division of Arthur Andersen, LLP covering a wide range of industries including banking. In 1987 she joined Southeast Bank, where she began her banking career in the Financial Reporting Division. After two years she joined a "start-up" international bank agency, Banco Exterior de Los Andes y de España (Extebandes) as Controller. in 1998, Standard Chartered Bank purchased Extebandes and Grisel was named General Manager of the Extebandes Agency throughout the merger with Standard Chartered. Subsequently, she was named Regional Financial Manager and Y2K Project leader of Banco Standard Chartered, responsible for the integration and consodidation of Banco Standard Chartered with Standard Chartered Bank. Grisel holds a BA degree from the University of Miami and maintains a current Florida CPA license. She is a member of the AICPA and FICPA and a graduate of the Senior Executive Program of the IESE Business School, Unisrsity of Navarra, Spain. In addition to her position at the Branch, she is currently a Director of City National Bank of Florida; Bci Financial Holdings Group, Inc.; Bci Securities, Inc.; Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA) of which she was Chair in 2012; serves as Assistant Treasurer of Cuban Banking Study Group (CBSG) and Treasurer of the Bishop Enrique San Pedro, SJ Foundation, Inc. She is married and has two adult children. Grisel enjoys leisure time with her extended family, reading, and crafts. She has received various awards and is most proud of being recognized by Bci with "Las Diez Claves del Exito" and "Actua Como Dueño," presented to her in 2009 and 2014, repectively.

Juan del Busto is the former regional executive of the Miami Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and current chairman and CEO of Del Busto Capital Partners, Inc. As regional executive he was responsible for the Branch’s operations, Board of Directors, provided regional input into the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank’s monetary policy process, led community outreach and development activities, and oversaw Miami’s economic and financial education programs. Mr. Del Busto joined the Board of Directors of Ocean Bank in 2013. His is also a member of the Advisory Board of Easy Solutions, a Total Fraud Protection Company, and a Strategic Advisor for the accounting firm of MBAF. Long active in the community, Mr. Del Busto is a trustee for United Way of Dade County. A staunch believer that a highly educated workforce will improve the nation’s economy, he serves on the board of directors of the Florida Council of Economic Education, the Center for Financial Training, the Florida International University President’s Council and the Miami-Dade College Business School Advisory Committee, and is Vice Chairman of the Superintendent’s Business Advisory committee for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, The Audit & Budget Committee, and the 21st Century School Board Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Florida Bankers Association, the Hispanic American Bankers Association, the Florida International University Alumni Association, the American Numismatic Association, the NFL Alumni Association, the Ohio State University Alumni Association and the South Florida Touchdown Club Foundation. Born in Havana, Cuba, del Busto moved to Miami in 1960 with his parents. He graduated from Miami Dade College and received his Bachelor’s of Science degree from the Engineering school at Florida International University. He also graduated from the executive development program at The Ohio State University.

Jose E. Cueto is the President & Chief Operating Officer of Grove Bank & Trust since July 2023  after having served as President & Chief Executive Officer of International Finance Bank since 2015. From 2012-2015 Mr. Cueto served as the Head of Corporate Banking at FirstBank, Puerto Rico. From 2001-2012 Mr. Cueto worked for Caja Madrid where he opened its Miami International Banking Agency and eventually grew it to more than $3 billion in assets and held various positions in the Organization including Deputy General Manager & Chief Financial Officer and later Head of Corporate Banking, Capital Markets and Project Finance. He was a member of the City National Bank acquisition team and later served as a Director. Mr. Cueto began his banking career 31 years ago at Republic National Bank of Miami and later worked for First Union, Capital Bank, Banco Real, and Bank Leumi. Recognized for his contributions, Cueto received the South Florida Business Journal’s “Lender of the Year” award in 2013, the US-Spain Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 Ponce de Leon Excellence Award, the Florida Bankers Association 2016 Horizon Award, and the South Florida Council Boy Scouts of America Hispanic Heritage Award in 2018.  In 2019, he was recognized as one of the Power Leaders in Banking by the South Florida Business Journal and was featured as The Achiever in Miami Today. He was also recently featured on the cover of Florida Banking Magazine. Engaged in activities outside of the bank, Cueto presently serves on the Orange Bowl Committee as a Board Member and is President-Elect of the South Florida Banking Institute.  He is also President-Elect of the Center for Financial Training and a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Bankers Association (FBA).  Cueto also serves on the FBA BankPac Board of Directors and as a Board Member for SebastianStrong Foundation. Jose E. Cueto was born in Coral Gables, Florida and attended Belen Jesuit Preparatory High School. He later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Florida International University.

Jorge Salazar-Carrillo, Ph.D. was Full Professor and former Chairman of the Department of Economics. He was also the Director of the Center of Economic Research in the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University. Dr. Salazar-Carrillo holds an MA and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as its Certificate in Development Analysis and Planning. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Miami, where he worked at its Bureau of Business and Economic Research. He was enrolled in the last year of studies at the University of Habana Law School, when he had to flee Cuba in April 1960. His fields of expertise include international economics, macroeconomics and economic development. His research has covered all fields of economics, both in developed and developing countries. He was the youngest Senior Fellow ever at the Brookings Institution, and a Professorial Lecturer in Economics at Georgetown University. He was Director in the Economics Group of the Cuban Ministry of Finance during 1959-1960, and Commercial Attaché to the European Commission and Belgium, representing Cuba. He has advised several International Institutions in Washington, and was Director at the United National Development Program Mission in Rio de Janeiro. He was one of the originators of the International Comparisons Project, that brought forth international purchasing power comparisons for the World economy. He has also been a forensic economist in over fifty legal cases, and Director of several banks. He was an associate in the oldest economic consulting firm in the world: Robert Nathan Associates. He was also a member of the Council of Economic Advisors of the State of Florida. Throughout his career he has edited and authored over three hundred articles and book chapters, and over ninety books. Currently, his research interests concern the economics of Asia and Latin America (including Cuba), and U.S. macro and microeconomics, including computable general equilibrium models and social accounting matrices. He had received large grants from the National Science Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations.