As South Florida’s banking landscape sees heightened demand amidst an influx of businesses, residents, and capital, Banesco USA, a community bank with over $3.57 billion in assets, is enhancing its commercial and industrial (“C&I”) and residential lending offerings to provide business owners with a one-stop shop for their corporate and personal financial needs. Amidst a challenging capital markets environment, expansion into these areas is the latest example of Banesco USA’s commitment to meeting the evolving needs of its customers while supporting the region’s economy.

With a steady 14% year-to-date loan growth and a 15% year-to-date growth in deposits, the expansion coincides with Banesco’s long-term growth strategy and comes at a time when many other banks are reducing or scaling back on financing, particularly within commercial real estate, a sector that Banesco sees as consistent and opportunistic for lending.

Aimed to help drive Banesco’s strategic growth, the bank has bolstered its capabilities in these lines of business with the addition of 8 seasoned professionals dedicated to servicing the domestic market.

“We remain bullish on South Florida as the appetite for lending across all sectors is high, and Banesco is actively looking to deploy capital,” said Calixto (Cali) Garcia-Velez, President & CEO of Banesco USA. “This strategic investment showcases our dedication to being at the forefront of delivering innovative, relevant, and value-driven solutions to our customers while further enhancing our ability to service the needs of business owners across South Florida who have chosen to invest long term in the region, from both a corporate and personal lifestyle standpoint.”

The bank’s Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Banking, Nelson Hidalgo, will oversee both new teams who will be led by the newly hired, 25-year industry veteran, Carlos Lamourtte, and over 35-year experienced business development manager, Luis Mechoso. To accelerate the growth of these strategic business lines, Banesco has also brought on 30-year industry veteran Robert Regolizio to serve as the bank’s Deputy Chief Credit Officer.

Separate from its commercial real estate lending division, where the bank continues to see opportunities and has issued $150 million in CRE loans this year alone as of June 2023, the new C&I team will help Banesco diversify its portfolio mix and bring its unique capabilities to the manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, transportation and logistics, and other business sectors. Juan Carlos Hernandez, Mark Aronin and Alberto Zuniga will be joining the team to support growing the bank’s C&I business in South Florida.

In addition to building the bank’s domestic residential loan programs, Mr. Mechoso, as Head of Domestic Premier Banking, will focus on attracting new business from high-net-worth individuals and companies. The Premier Banking team, with the addition of Chris Cabrera, Damian Penichet and Natalee Keller, will deliver a differentiated and highly personalized banking experience.