Meet the Team
Leadership
Marcelino Bellosta
Marcelino has been a Senior Executive and member of the Board of Directors of Banco San Juan Internacional, Inc. since its inception in 2011. He has been responsible for developing, coordinating and establishing the overall business strategy of BSJI.
Prior to joining BSJI, he was Senior Executive Officer for Mergers and Acquisitions for a private group with exposure to a variety of industries including financial services, insurance, healthcare and construction. He has been advisor and member of the Board of Directors of companies in Europe, North and South America. For over 20 years, he has been committed to philanthropic work in the fight against cancer.
Marcelino is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, and has a Master’s Degree in Finance and Economics from Esade Business School in Barcelona, Spain.
Héctor J. Vázquez
Héctor is the Chief Executive Officer of Banco San Juan Internacional, Inc. Héctor has been affiliated with BSJI since its inception and has served in a variety of capacities, including as Chief Financial Officer.
Before BSJI, Héctor served as the Chief Risk Officer of Eurobank, a publicly traded financial institution. He also spent 15 years with Moody’s Analytics where his responsibilities included coordinating the development and implementation of credit risk assessment methodologies and tools for all types of commercial credit risk. While at Moody’s, Héctor assisted financial institutions in Latin America in establishing a common credit culture utilizing best banking practices in commercial credit risk analysis.
Prior to joining the Moody’s, Héctor worked as Senior Vice President of the largest leasing company in the Caribbean and spent 10 years at KPMG where he audited and provided counsel to scores of financial institutions.
Héctor is a graduate of the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, is a Certified Public Accountant, Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and former member of the Board of Directors of Oriental Financial Group and the Puerto Rico Power Authority.
Eric Bloom
Eric is General Counsel of Banco San Juan Internacional, Inc., bringing more than 35 years of legal experience. Before joining BSJI in 2021, Eric was a litigation and arbitration partner for more than three decades at the Washington, D.C. office of the international law firm of Winston & Strawn LLP, where he litigated cases throughout the United States, appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, most of the courts of appeals, district courts and arbitral forums in both civil and criminal cases. His portfolio includes substantial compliance work and internal investigations.
Eric has argued cases in a wide array of forums, ranging from the Peace Palace at The Hague, to Westminster Abbey, and to the Ecuadorian rain forest. His case experience spans energy, banking, financial services, technology, among others. Eric obtained his Juris Doctor in 1987 and his Bachelor of Arts in 1984 from The George Washington University.
Pedro Crespo
Pedro currently serves as the Chief Risk Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Banco San Juan Internacional, Inc. He has more than 20 years of experience in banking, compliance, risk and operations (including KYC, CDD & EDD duties). He is well-versed in enterprise risk management, and compliance (BSA/AML/OFAC), and he is a primary point of contact with BSJI’s regulators, examiners, and external auditors.
Pedro is a lawyer and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), having obtained AML certifications from both the Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA AMLCA), and the Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists (ACFCS). Pedro completed his law degree in 2003 from Universidad Fermin Toro in Venezuela and obtained a postgraduate degree in Finance from Universidad Lisandro Alvarado in 2006.
Francisco Aponte
Francisco serves as the Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Officer of Banco San Juan Internacional, Inc., with more than 20 years of Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering and Office of Foreign Assets Control compliance experience.
Prior to joining BSJI, Francisco served as the BSA and Chief Compliance Officer for several banks in Puerto Rico, including Noble Bank International, LLC; Vestin Bank International, LLC; and Banco Cooperativo de Puerto Rico. He was also a graduating member of the first U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-sponsored citizen academy, receiving training in financial investigations, evidence transportation, surveillance, pre-trial and judicial proceedings, and more. He has been certified as a Certified Internal Control Auditor (CICA) and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).
Francisco earned his BBA in Accounting from the University of Puerto Rico, was a member of the Board of Directors of Centro de Ayuda Social, a not-for-profit organization, and board member of ACAMS Puerto Rico Chapter and Asociacion de Oficailes de Cumplimiento de Cooperativas de Puerto Rico.
Ileana M. Jimenez
Serving as Banco San Juan Internacional, Inc.’s Vice President of Operations in BSJI since 2017. Ileana brings over 25 years of service in the banking industry.
Prior to joining BSJI, she served in various capacities at Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, including in the Individual Lending Division, the Corporate Credit Department, and the Middle Market segment.
Prior to her tenure at Banco Popular, Ileana served in the Comptrollers Department at Banco Santander de Puerto Rico, where she was responsible for overseeing local and federal regulatory matters.
Ileana earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master’s Degree in accounting from Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.
Yoani Luna Torres
Accounting professional, with eleven years of experience across industries. Since 2018, she has served as Chief Accounting Officer in Banco San Juan Internacional, where she manages the bank’s daily activities to assure the compliance with state and federal regulation, including financial reporting and cash management. Yoani possesses a bachelor’s degree in Natural Science, majoring in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus and a master’s degree in business administration, majoring in Accounting from the Metropolitan University.
Governance
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Board of Directors oversees and advises BSJI’s management team and ensures that the organization operates lawfully and in the interests of the company's employees, customers and shareholders. It operates independently of management and day-to-day operations.
Marcelino Bellosta – Chairman
Héctor J. Vázquez – Member
Américo Anzola – Member
Américo Anzola is and has been since 2011 an independent Director of Banco San Juan Internacional, Inc. Américo has more than 25 years of experience providing legal counsel and strategic advice to senior management on a wide range of banking and financial matters. Likewise, he has experience in due diligence reviews and risk assessments for mergers, acquisitions and investments. Américo completed his law degree in 1987 in Venezuela, and has specialization studies in labor and administrative law.
Independent Advisors
The advisory board helps BSJI gain insights and explore new opportunities by stimulating robust, high-quality conversations. The role of the advisory board is not to make decisions, but rather to provide current knowledge, critical thinking and analysis to increase the confidence of the decision-makers who represent the bank.
Bill Isaac
Bill Isaac was appointed to the Board of the FDIC by President Carter in 1978 and appointed Chairman by President Reagan in 1980. He served in this capacity through 1985 – one of the most important and tumultuous times in US banking history, when some 3,000 banks and thrifts failed. Appointed at age 34, Bill is the youngest FDIC Board Member and Chairman in history.
He currently is Chairiman of Secura/Isaac Group, the preeminent strategic advisor and partner for financial institutions, non-banks, FinTech firms, central banks and domestic and international regulatory agencies.
Christopher Laursen
Mr. Laursen is a leading expert in financial institutions, markets, and products, as well as financial company risk management, regulation, and accounting. With over 30 years of industry experience, he has served as a senior financial company policy maker and regulator, consultant to public and private clients, and testifying expert.
Among other roles, Mr. Laursen previously served as the Federal Reserve Board’s (FRB) Manager of Risk Policy and Guidance, where he developed and interpreted Federal Reserve and U.S. interagency financial regulations and guidance. Mr. Laursen also led the FRB’s trading and capital markets risk area, advising the Board of Governors, Federal Reserve Bank officers, and regulated institutions on various market, credit, and operational risks.
Rick Wolf
Mr. Wolf is an attorney with more than 30 years of professional experience with legal and strategic expertise in financial services, banking and regulatory affairs, including fintech and international banking entities. He has held ethics and compliance leadership roles at several large institutions and served as a senior compliance advisor to the Federal Reserve of New York