Mr. Alberto Colon is an accomplished senior banking executive with over 37 years of experience. He has held top executive positions in banks such as Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, BAC Florida Bank, Pinebank, Regions Bank and he was the President and CEO of Bancafe International and Eastern National Bank both banks located in Miami Florida and of Multibanco International Bank in San Juan Puerto Rico.
His expertise stems from managing banks under the supervision of the FED, the OCC and the FDIC with a strong background in credit administration, credit underwriting and lending to entities in the USA and Latin America, Romania and Turkey. He also has a strong background in Banking Regulations.
In August 2014 he was recognized as one of South Florida Power Leaders by the South Florida Business Journal.
Mr. Colon has a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from The University of Texas.
He also has been a Board of Directors member of Florida Banking Association (FBA) and Florida International Banking Association (FIBA).
Mr. Fortich brings over 25 years of experience in the banking and finance industry as Stern’s Chief Risk Officer, a position that includes the role of the bank’s Chief Compliance Officer and BSA/OFAC Officer. His experience with institutions in South Florida has exposed him to a variety of compliance components with a focus on maintaining satisfactory BSA, AML, Consumer Compliance, and OFAC programs.
His expertise in compliance stems from his work with the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulations where he conducted white collar crime investigations and worked closely with Bank Examiners.
Later, as the Chief Compliance Officer to a publicly traded Bank in South Florida he maintained a strong relationship with Foreign Correspondent Banks throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. He also had the opportunity to evaluate the compliance risk on new business verticals and the expansion of existing products and services.
Mr. Fortich is a graduate from Florida State University where he earned a Juris Master in Banking Compliance. He also attended Nova Southeastern University where he earned his Master of Business Administration. He graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Business from St. Thomas University and an Associate in Science in Criminal Justice Degree from Miami Dade College. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, and is a past Chair of FIBA’s AML Committee.
Teresita has over 25 years of experience in banking and finance working at major public banks in different roles in the areas of SEC reporting; financial statement preparation; regulatory filings; profitability; credit risk and internal controls as well as controllership functions at international banks. Her earlier career includes experience in public accounting in auditing roles.
Teresita earned her MBA from Bentley University and holds a BS in Accounting from Bentley University. As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), she is an active member of the Puerto Rico Society of CPAs and is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).
Frederic has over thirty years’ experience building and supervising technology teams in banks across Europe. In 1986, he entered the private banking sector as the IT Manager at the Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild, Luxembourg (168 billion CHF in assets) where he supervised the implementation of its core banking software. Throughout the course of his distinguished career in banking, he has overseen programs for FIs from Belgium, Curacao, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore to the United Kingdom, where he was responsible for running a variety of discrete domains - mutual funds to portfolio evaluation, domestic & international payments, credit risk, value at risk, treasury and MIS reporting.
Frederic developed a great interest in both mathematics and computer technology at a young age, leading him to study Mathématiques Supérieures in Nantes and to pursue a Bachelor of Applied Mathematics and Information Technology at the University of Aix-Marseilles.
Sunita has over 10 years of experience in sales and trade finance. Her career in trade started at WestLB, a European commercial bank, settling trades and managing documentation. At Intesa Soditic she established the company as an active participant in the secondary market for loan syndications and forfaiting. Most recently at United Bank Limited (UBL), the second largest private bank in Pakistan, Sunita was responsible for FI relationships and compliance for correspondent banking.
Sunita graduated from The University of Reading with a BSc in Business Economics. She is also an ICC Certified Documentary Credit Specialist (CDCS).
Meital comes to Stern with deep experience overseeing large teams, implementing policies and managing complex processes, most recently as the Ordering Unit Leader with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”). In her current role at Stern, she oversees all daily transactional activity at the bank – ensuring accuracy, compliance and accountability. Meital is also responsible for implementing changes to the bank’s long-term business plan, including managing the bank’s business continuity plans. Day-to-day, Meital collaborates with Stern’s other department leaders to develop best practices for risk mitigation and ensure uniformity of policy implementation.
Meital completed a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management with High Honors from the Open University of Israel.
Daniel has over 15 years’ experience in the information technology space supporting various verticals including regulated industries such as healthcare and financial services. He specializes in areas of information security, network design, system implementation, backup and disaster recovery, virtualization, and cloud solutions. Additionally, Daniel has performed and reviewed various types of information technology audits including cybersecurity, applications, management, data and internet security and vulnerability assessments. He has also provided technology management support across these industries by ways of systems consulting, security services, business continuity planning and management of helpdesk support personnel.
Daniel is a graduate of Florida International University where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems. He also obtained a Certificate in Business Intelligence.