South Florida Community Banking: A Fresh Perspective

The Wharton Club of South Florida

cordially invites you to a panel discussion on

South Florida Community Banking: A Fresh Perspective
While the news headlines have been dominated by the collapse of large financial institutions, FDIC bank takeovers, and rampant consolidation of the banking industry, a small group of South Florida entrepreneurial bankers have dared to step into the void and create a new line of community banks. Offering leaner, more customer-focused operations, these recent start-ups have one advantage over their larger rivals: balance sheets free of non-performing loans. The Wharton Club is proud to present a stellar panel of South Florida community banking entrepreneurs who will discuss what opportunities the current financial crises will provide for their sector of the industry; the impact of the economic downturn on our region; and what they think the future holds for the industry as a whole."

on
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2009

Downtown Fort Lauderdale. Venue TBA.

6:00 PM: Networking Reception
7:00 PM: Panel Discussion
8:00 PM: Q & A

Panel Includes:


Keith Costello
President and Chief Executive Officer
Broward Bank of Commerce
Alejandro "Alex" M. Sanchez
President and Chief Executive Officer
Florida Bankers Association Dr. Lawrence Schimmel
Chairman of the Board
Professional Bank


sponsored by







Cost:
Wharton Club of South Florida Members (plus 1 guest): Free
Non-Members and Other Guests: $25.00 per person

Pre-registration will be required via our website at www.whartonsouthfla.com.

Additional Resources:
http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/news.html?news_id=57538
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/19/eveningnews/main5323190.shtml

Broward Bank of Commerce plans to raise up to $17 million – November 16, 2007
http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2007/11/19/story3.html

Broward Bank of Commerce gets preliminary state approval – May 23, 2008
http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/05/26/story8.html




Panelists:
Alejandro "Alex" M. Sanchez
President and CEO, Florida Bankers Association
Alex serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Bankers Association (FBA). Founded in 1888, and located in Tallahassee, the FBA is the leading voice for Florida’s banking industry. Alex’s responsibilities include representing and advocating for Florida’s banking industry before all legislative and regulatory bodies in Tallahassee and in Washington.

Before joining the FBA, Alex was an attorney at Sinclair Louis, a Miami based law firm, specializing in business law; Consolidated Bank, Assistant General Counsel; and the Florida Department of Commerce, General Counsel. From 1989 to 1993, Alex served as Senior Corporate Attorney for GTE Information Services in Tampa.

From 1999-2003, Alex served on the Board of IMSG, a Publicly traded subsidiary of Bankers Insurance Group of St Petersburg, Florida. Bankers is a privately held corporation and is Florida’s largest based insurance company offering a variety of financial services products, and is licensed to do business nationwide.

In early 2002, President George W. Bush nominated Alex, as one of the three Presidential appointees on the five people Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. Appointment to this Board includes clearance after a four month extensive F.B.I. background check.

On November 19, 2002, the United States Senate officially confirmed Alex to serve on the Board. The Thrift Savings Plan contains over $230 billion on behalf of nearly four million government and military personnel. In the average month, over $1.5 billion is contributed to the Plan. The Plan is a tax-differed defined contribution plan established as one of the three parts of the federal employees system. The Board operates the plan and manages the investments of the thrift savings fund solely for the benefit of the participants. The Board meets monthly and keeps accounts and makes loans to the participants. Alex has served on the Board since 2002. In April of 2007, President Bush nominated Alex to serve a second four year term to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.

In August 2006, Governor Jeb Bush nominated Alex to the Florida Schools of Excellence Commission. Alex served until April 2007.

Alex has appeared as a guest several times this year on CNBC’s Closing Bell show hosted by Maria Bartiromo and on the Fox Business News Network.

In October of 2007, Alex began serving on the Board of Directors of Bankers Insurance Group. Alex serves on the Compliance, Audit and Claims committees.

Alex received a B.S., Cum Laude, from Troy State University in 1981 and a J.D. from the University Of Iowa College Of Law, in 1983. He is a military veteran having served in the U.S. Air Force for almost 5 years, receiving an honorable discharge in 1981.

He is a graduate of Class XIV of the Florida Chamber's Leadership Florida Program and is a board member of Florida Tax Watch, a statewide organization.

Alex has two daughters, Cristina and Carolina.



Keith Costello
President and CEO, Broward Bank of Commerce
Mr. Costello, CFA, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Broward Financial and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Broward Bank of Commerce. Prior to joining the organizing group, he was president of private banking and senior lender of Bank of Florida Southeast where he was responsible for a $400MM loan portfolio, attended all board meetings, including weekly loan committees, and monthly audit/BSA and asset and liability committee meetings. Mr. Costello was responsible for loan quality, underwriting, and loan production for the three-county area comprising Bank of Florida Southeast’s primary market.

Prior to joining Bank of Florida, Mr. Costello was president for Broward County of Great Florida Bank, where he was responsible for the bank’s operations and expansion in Broward County. Mr. Costello also served as senior vice president and Broward market executive of City National Bank of Florida. While at City National, Mr. Costello served as a lender, business development manager, head of private banking, and served as the bank’s senior executive in Broward County. Mr. Costello served as senior vice president and manager of the Miami office for NationsBank’s private client group where he was responsible for the development and management of the loan portfolio.

He started his business career as a financial consultant at Merrill Lynch in 1987 after leaving active duty military service in the U.S. Army, where he attained the rank of Captain. Mr. Costello holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tampa and a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami. He received his Chartered Financial Analyst 26 designation in 1996 and is a member of the CFA Institute. Mr. Costello is involved in several local charities and organizations and has served on the Board of Directors of the Broward United Way, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce and the Foundation Board of Saint Anthony School and is a member of the Leonardo Da Vinci Society of the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science.


Dr. Lawrence Schimmel
Chairman of the Board, Professional Bank
Dr. Schimmel saw the consolidation throughout the South Florida banking industry in 2005 to 2007 as an opportunity to develop a community bank. Rather than become a retail bank and have to compete with the larger regional and national competitors, he adopted a strategy to create a community bank that would deliver sophisticated banking services with a higher level of customer service. To this end, all of Professional Bank’s staff is trained by Ritz Carlton. Dr. Schimmel’s model is scalable, and with the strategic addition of bankers known throughout our community, he has built a core of base deposits. Professional Bank’s Board of Directors and seasoned management team provide a wide range of expertise that gives the bank an strategic advantage in these tough economic times.

Dr. Schimmel co-founded Qualmetrix Information Services, LLC, a medical software development company, in 2005, and has been its President since its founding. Throughout his career, Dr. Schimmel has been an entrepreneur in the medical-related business field. In 1992, he co-founded Allied Health Group and Florida Specialty Networks which grew into a national medical management business overseeing the payment of approximately $450 million in health care claims annually. Dr. Schimmel was the founding Chairman of Megabank and he continued to serve on the bank's executive committee until just prior to its acquisition in 1994. Dr. Schimmel served on the Board of Directors of Executive National Bank until 1997. Dr. Schimmel practiced General and Vascular Surgery in the Miami community for 17 years. He received his B.A. from Rutgers College and his M.D. from New Jersey College of Medicine.