Clemente Vazquez-Bello was born in Havana, Cuba on August 28, 1950.  He came to Miami in 1960 at the age of 10.  Because of his academic achievements, Clemente was able to skip his senior year in high school and go directly to the University of Miami for his undergraduate studies. Clemente  then went on to the University of Miami School of Law where he graduated with a Juris Doctor degree cum laude in 1974.  He was an enthusiastic supporter of all Canes sports and was a Golden Cane.

Clemente  was a partner in the law firm of Valdes-Fauli Goitisolo and Vazquez-Bello until that firm merged with one of the largest firms in the State of Florida at the time Mahony Hadlow & Adams in 1980.  The Miami office of Mahony Hadlow & Adams eventually became the firm of Valdes-Fauli Cobb and Kriss where Clemente Vazquez-Bello was a partner in the banking department until that firm merged with Gunster Yoakley.  Clemente was a member of the Gunster Yoakley’s board of directors and he continued to practice in the corporate banking  and finance practice groups.  Clemente was a highly regarded attorney in the areas of banking and international law, particularly in the areas of anti-money laundering compliance.  Clemente was a well-known and recognized expert in U.S. and international banking circles because of his deep understanding of anti-money laundering laws,  regulations and other compliance issues.  He regularly counseled both domestic and foreign financial institutions on the development and implementation of policies, procedures, programs and systems to prevent, detect and react to the movement of elicit capital.

Clemente was instrumental in the creation of the Florida International Bankers Association’s (now known as the Financial and International Business Association) AML conference which has become the premier AML conference in the country.  Clemente served as a chairman of FIBA’s ALM conference where he was a regular speaker at the event.  In addition, because of his expertise in the AML area, Clemente was a frequent speaker at very prominent regional, national and international events concerning anti-money laundering compliance and other related compliance and  banking issues. 

He served as general counsel to the Florida International Bankers Association and was a member of its board of directors. He also provided his expertise to the U.S. Department of Treasury as a member of the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group (BSAAG). BSAAG is a group within the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). He was also a board member of the Cuban-American Bar Association.

 Mr. Vazquez-Bello co-authored The Florida Bar manual “Banking Operations, International Transactions” in 1998.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Mr. Abalo’s family left for México in the early days of the Castro regime. In México, he completed his Baccalaureate in Science at Centro Universitario México and later his BS in Physics and Math at the University of Puerto Rico.

While studying for his Master's Degree at NYU, Mr. Abalo was hired by Grumman Aircraft (Northrop Grumman) in Bethpage, Long Island, and assigned to the Lunar Module Program of the Apollo Project. As a member of the Mission Support Team (MSRB), he participated in Apollo Missions 8, 9, 10, 11 (1st lunar landing), 12, and 13. After studying for his MBA at Long Island University, Mr. Abalo started his banking career with Banco Popular de Puerto Rico as a systems programmer. Over time, he moved on to hold important positions, including:

• Member of the Board and Chair of the IT and Operations Committee for BAC Florida Bank (Bradesco USA)
• President of the Latin American Business Unit of Terremark
• Senior Vice President, CIO, and Director of Operations for Banco Santander International in Miami
• Director of the Latin American Banking Consulting Practice for EDS
• Vice President of Grupo Financiero Popular (Dominican Republic), where he also served as General Manager and Agent of the Miami Office of Banco Popular Dominicano, President of the Dominican Bank in New York, and Executive Vice President of GFP Commercial Bank and Trust in Grand Cayman
• Senior Manager of the Management Consulting Services Practice at Price Waterhouse in Miami
• Managing Director of the Puchades Group (Spain)
• Manager in Charge of the Management Consulting Unit for Coopers & Lybrand in San Juan

In addition to attending multiple technical courses and programs, Mr. Abalo completed the Advanced Bank Management Program at Columbia University, the International Banking Program at the University of Miami, and the Total Data Quality Management program at MIT. He has served on the boards of The Bertha Abess Children Center, The Center for Financial Training, the American Nicaraguan Foundation. and The Florida International Bankers Association where he also served as President. Mr. Abalo is a CPC and non-active member of the Institute of Management Consultants, In 1995 he authored a book on bank operations titled "Integrated Resource Management"  and is the recipient of numerous professional awards, including NASA’s Apollo Achievement Award, Grumman’s Sterling Pin Award, and Veritas 2005 Visionary Award.

Fernando was born in Havana in 1944 and came to the United States in 1961. He arrived alone, two weeks prior to the failed Playa Giron invasion. He stayed with friends until his mother, and several other cousins, arrived later that year.

 In 1962 he joined the U.S. Army as part of the “Cuban brigades” that would join with U.S. Marines if the U.S. were to invade Cuba because of the “Cuban Missile Crisis”. He remained part of the National Guard for six years and was honorably discharged in 1968. In 1964, however, he moved to New York and was hired by The Chase Manhattan Bank to be the first trainee of the “Accelerated Career Training Program” of the international division. After 18 months he was assigned to the bank’s credit training program for another year and then reassigned to the region covering Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia where he rose to become a junior officer in 1971. While working, he also studied and graduated from New York University in 1971 with simultaneous majors in Finance, Accounting and Commercial Law. In the Spring of 1977, he graduated from the Executive MBA Program of the Harvard Business School in Boston.

13 years after joining Chase, at the age of 32, he became the President and CEO of the only privately-owned commercial bank in San Jose, Costa Rica, which was part of a consortium of banks.

 In 2017 Fernando became a member of the Board of Directors of City National Bank of Florida (“CNB”) and of various Board Committees. He is also Managing Director of Whitecap Consulting Group, a consulting firm specializing in international banking matters. He is Chaiman Emeritus and founder of the Cuban Banking Study Group Inc., which he presided for over 25 years. Prior to joining CNB he had been on the Board of Ocean Bank in Miami.

 During his 60-year career in banking, Fernando has been CEO and President of various financial institutions, many of which were established as de-novo banks by him, including Gulf Bank, The Bank of Tokyo Ltd., Banco Exterior de los Andes y de España, Banco Crédito Inversiones (“Bci”) from Chile and Union Credit Bank (currently part of Seacoast Bank).

In 1992, Fernando was appointed by the Comptroller of the State of Florida to represent the State at the International Bankers Advisory Board of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors in Washington, eventually becoming its chairman. In 1996 he received the Robert McCormick Award for Excellence in International Banking Supervision, the first and only banker to receive that award. In 1978 he joined a group of bankers in Miami to help establish the Florida International Bankers Association (“FIBA”) and became its President in 1995. In 2006 he was inducted into FIBA’s International Bankers Hall of Fame.

 Fernando has been active in multiple professional and civic organizations including the presidency of the Harvard Business School Club of South Florida, The Harvard Alumni Association, the Bankers Advisory Board of CAMACOL, Chairman of the Bankers Advisory Board of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, the Committee of 21, International Center of Florida, Director of the Arbitration Center of the Americas and others. He was an active member of the Rotary Club of Coral Gables and Miami and since 1998 a distinguished Knight of the Order of Malta and director of the Cuban assistance programs for which he received the Order Pro-Merito Melitense from Rome.

Adolfo was born in Havana, Cuba.  He attended elementary school at La Salle in Cuba but left in January of 1961 to Jamaica where he completed elementary school at Alvernia Preparatory.  He attended high school at Campion College in Jamaica and finished at Carol Morgan in the Dominican Republic.  He obtained a B. A. from St. Leo University and a Masters degree in accounting from FIU.

Adolfo’s career started as a certified public accountant at several organizations including Ryder Systems.  He then joined The Bank of Nova Scotia where he served in several positions in Toronto, New York and Miami.  In 1986 he joined Barnett Bank and served in numerous executive capacities in the predecessor organizations to Bank of America.  During his tenure, he was instrumental in the formation of a consortium that provided financing for the development of affordable housing in South Florida.

Adolfo’s banking career spanned many years and included leadership roles in Regions Bank (and its predecessor Union Planters Bank) and Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust.  He also served as Chairman, President and CEO of Florida East Coast Industries, Inc. directing the operations of the Florida East Coast Railway and Flagler Development, a leading developer of industrial and commercial properties in Florida.  And as Vice Chairman of the Related Group, a leading developer of multi-family residences in the Southeast United States.

Committed to corporate social responsibility and to strengthening the ethos and infrastructure of communities, he has served on innumerable civic endeavors.  These included serving as Chairman of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Florida, Florida International University, the United Way of Miami-Dade, the Greater Miami Convention and Visitor's Bureau and the Beacon Council, just to mention a few.

When the City of Miami faced financial problems in the late 1990’s, Adolfo was asked by then Governor Lawton Chiles to Chair the Financial Oversight Board for the City of Miami and successfully helped the City return to financial health within the ensuing 5 years.

Among many other awards and accolades, Adolfo is a recipient of the Dean Lott Spirit of Leadership Award and the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. Regional Chair of the Southeast Region for the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Antonio (Tony) Fernández was born in La Habana, Cuba on October 15, 1936, four months after his parents arrived from Spain due to the Spanish Civil War.  He attended grammar school at Centro Asturiano and high school at Instituto No. 1.  

He continued his studies at Havana University, but due to the political situation in Cuba, moved to the Havana Business Academy.  On August 13, 1962, he left Cuba toward Miami.  At that time, there were almost no job opportunities in Miami and so he asked the Refugee office for help to be relocated to some other place. He was sent to New York where he began his banking career with Chase Manhattan Bank. At Chase Manhattan Bank Tony started in the trust department in New York but eventually the Bank recommended him to study at the American Institute of Banking.  He graduated first in his class and continued his studies in Business Administration at Pace College. Tony was transferred to the Bank’s offices in Puerto Rico with his family. In Puerto Rico he organized the Corporate Trust Department and was appointed Financial Management Officer/Comptroller for all branches in the island. He was involved in various assignments in Toronto, Panamá, the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  He retired from Chase Manhattan after a 21 year career and returned to Miami.  Back in Miami he worked as an internal auditor at Key Biscayne Bank. 

He subsequently applied for and was hired by the Florida Department of Banking and Finance.  Tony is perhaps best known for his 17 years as the Area Financial Manager for the Department of Banking.   Mr. Fernández was responsible for the supervision of the State-chartered domestic banks and credit unions, as well as all the international branches, agencies, representative and administrative offices in Florida.

Following his retirement as a bank regulator in 2003, Mr. Fernandez joined the Board of Directors of Ocean Bank in 2005. He served as a member of the Directors’ Loan, Audit, Risk, and Ethics committees.

Mr. Fernández is a recognized expert in the field of bank supervision and he was invited to speak at various banking forums, mainly covering topics related to anti-money laundering initiatives both locally and internationally. He has presented in Chile, Dominican Republic, and Panama in cooperation with the U.S. embassies in those countries. He has been an instructor for the American Institute of Banking, Puerto Rico Chapter, and taught advanced accounting, bank accounting and bank operations.

 Mr. Fernández received his Master of Business Administration from Interamerican university of Puerto Rico, a Master of Arts from Barry University in Miami Shores and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Pace University in New York.  He graduated at the top of his class from the Florida School of Banking and the American Institute of Banking in New York.

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.

Jorge Salazar-Carrillo, Ph.D. is Full Professor and former Chairman of the Department of Economics.  He is 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 Nations 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 has also been 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 has received large grants from the National Science Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations.

Most of Mr. Migoya’s professional life was spent in the banking industry, rising through the ranks over more than 40 years from part-time teller to regional president and CEO at Wachovia and its predecessors. He most recently served as the regional president of Wachovia in North Carolina and the CEO for the Atlantic region, responsible for banking in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York.  After leaving banking, Mr. Migoya served as City manager of Miami, successfully tackling the city’s ailing budget issues.  Since May 2011, Carlos Migoya has led Jackson Health System, overseeing one of the nation’s largest public healthcare networks.  Jackson has the distinction of bringing world-class medical care–including a flagship academic partnership with the University of Miami–to a taxpayer-owned system that guarantees a single high standard of care for all residents of Miami-Dade County. The system is anchored by Jackson Memorial Hospital, one of the most respected hospitals in Florida. The system also includes three community hospitals, Holtz Children’s Hospital/The Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial,  Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital, the Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial, two nursing homes, and a network of urgent care centers, physician practices, and clinics.

In his first year at Jackson, Mr. Migoya led a transformation that reversed years of massive losses and produced a surplus, and the system has earned an annual surplus every year since. At the same time, key indicators of healthcare quality and patient satisfaction improved, proving that public hospital systems need not choose between medical excellence and operational sustainability. In November 2013, he led a successful campaign in which 65 percent of Miami-Dade voters approved the $830 million Jackson Miracle-Building Bond program, which was the cornerstone of a 10-year, $2billion capital plan to renovate, modernize and expand Jackson’s facilities–a program that was widely successful, expanding Jackson’s footprint throughout Miami-Dade County. In 2020, he led the system through Miami’s role as an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as a key outside advisor to the Florida governor and Miami-Dade mayor. He also led Jackson’s public vaccination program, which resulted in more than 180,000 people receiving the COVID vaccine at Jackson sites-one of the system’s most ambitious public health projects in its history.

He is actively involved in several community organizations, sitting on the boards of Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Hospital Association, and the Safety Net Hospitals Alliance of Florida. He was the founding chairman of Florida International University’s College of Business Administration’s principal advisory board, as well as a previous board chairman of United Way Miami, and a member of the boards of the Florida Council of 100,Miami-Dade Beacon Council, Miami Dade College, and Downtown Miami Charter School. 

Mr. Migoya earned an undergraduate degree in finance and a Master of Business Administration in finance from Florida International University.   Mr. Migoya was also a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Miami Branch. 

Alex Sánchez  was born in Cuba and came to the United States at the age of 4 along with his mother and his siblings on a U.S. Sponsored Freedom Flight during the Kennedy administration. Prior to his arrival in the United States, a priest in Cuba had helped smuggle Alex’s father out of the country on a freighter bound for Spain.  The family was eventually reunited and set up housekeeping in the Bronx in New York and later moved to Florida.  Alex always retained an immigrant’s perspective on the United States and is widely known for his love of the country.  Alex served in the United States Airforce from 1976 until he received an honorable discharge in 1981.      

In 1993, Alex became only the Second Executive Director of the Florida Bankers Association.  He quickly became among the most recognizable spokes persons for the financial industry in the United States, and was often seen on cable news programs, and was a prolific writer of opinion pieces concerning the industry.  Recognized as one of the most knowledgeable experts concerning the financial industry, Alex was a fierce advocate for the financial industry not only for the State of Florida but throughout the country.  During his tenure, the Florida Bankers Association gained tremendous prominence among bank regulators and legislators.  Alex Sánchez would frequently meet with members of the Board and staff of the Federal Reserve, as well as the FDIC and the OCC, and members of the banking committees of both the Senate and the House.  Alex was a tireless worker who constantly travelled the State of Florida as well as to Washington and New York pursuing the best interest of his constituency, the financial industry. 

After his retirement from the Florida Bankers Association, Alex joined the board of directors of Popular Bank of Puerto Rico and also the Republic Bank and Trust an FDIC Chartered institution in the Southeast United States.  Alex also currently serves as an Executive Advisor to NASDAQ.

From 2022 to 2023 Alex was also a member of the board of directors of Trustco Bank, a $6.2 billion  institution where he served on the Audit Committee, the Investment Committee and the Compliance Committee.  He was also a  member of the EXIM bank advisory committee where he was a board  member of this congressionally-established Advisory Committee advising EXIM on its policies and programs, in particular on the extent to which the Bank provided competitive financing to support American jobs through exports.  The committee provided EXIM with guidance from various sectors of the economy to strengthen its support of U.S. exports.    Mr. Sánchez was also nominated by President George W. Bush as one of three Presidential appointees to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.  The Thrift Savings Plan contains over $800 billion on behalf of over four million government and military personnel. He was subsequently invited by President Obama to serve for an additional two years on the board. 

Alex received a BS in Business and Social Sciences from Troy University and his Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Iowa College of Law. 

Mr. Valdés-Fauli is currently shareholder of BroadSpan Capital LLC (a registered broker dealer) and has been the Chairman of the firm's Board of Managers since its inception in 2003. Mr. Valdés-Fauli has more than 50 years of experience in commercial and investment banking in Latin America and the Caribbean.

 Prior to BroadSpan, Mr. Valdés-Fauli was the Vice Chairman of Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays Bank PLC, U.K. and a member of its Management Committee. Prior to this position, he was the Barclays Group CEO for Latin America where he was responsible for all banking operations in the region, a position he held for more than 20 years. Under Mr. Valdés-Fauli’s leadership, Barclays became one of the world's leading providers of financial services in Latin American and the Caribbean, operating through wholly owned financial service companies incorporated in the principal markets in Latin America. 

After retiring from Barclays in 2002, Mr. Valdés-Fauli became the Chairman of the Board of Republic Bank, Dominican Republic (2003-2010).

Mr. Valdés-Fauli also served on the Board of Directors of: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (the largest health insurance provider in Florida) where he was the Lead Director,(1995-2014); Knight  Ridder, Inc, San Jose, California (the second largest newspaper company in the US) (1995-2005) where he was the Chair of the Audit Committee; and, Gildan Activewear Inc, Montreal, Canada (the world's leading low cost manufacturer of basic apparel ) where he was the Chair of the Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committees (2005-2020).  

Mr. Valdés-Fauli is also a Trustee Emeritus of the University of Miami and Spring Hill College, Mobile Alabama and holds a number of other civic board positions.

Additionally, he is a member of the University Club New York and the Key Biscayne Yacht Club.

 Mr. Valdés-Fauli received his M.B.A. from The American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) and holds a B.A. from Spring Hill College.

José Valdés-Fauli, born in Cuba in 1951 and immigrated to the USA in 1960, is a distinguished figure in the banking community, carrying on the legacy of his grandfather, Jacinto Pedroso, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year.  As a member of the Pedroso banking family, Jose graduated from FIU and ascended to bank president by age 33.  Over his career, he has served as President and CEO of several Miami banking institutions, including Eastern National, Colonial, and Bank of Miami.  Raised by parents who instilled a deep gratitude for the USA and a commitment to civic duty, Jose has consistently given back more than he received.   His dedication to community service is evident through his leadership roles with Art in Public Places, Bass Museum, Mercy Hospital, Health Crisis Network, FIU Frost Art Museum, and the FIU Foundation.

 In retirement, José has increased his civic engagement, currently serving as Chair of the Coral Gables Museum, where he strives to enhance the civic arts of architecture, urban design, and art, along with efforts to bring the community together and uplift the human spirit.  Recently joining the board of Ten North Group, Jose aims to promote affordable housing, bridge racial and cultural divides, and improve the quality of life so everyone can appreciate art. Jose firmly believes, “Art is for everyone to enjoy, provoke thought, and inspire us to be better people and collaborators in a multicultural society.”