WorldCity Business Magazine

WorldCity People

by Mary Dempsey

Perez takes helm at MasterCard Europe

Javier Perez, who has directed MasterCard’s Latin America and Caribbean region from Miami for the past two years, is the new president of MasterCard Europe. The promotion gives him responsibility for 53 countries.

His successor in Latin America has not been announced; Ruth Ann Marshall, MasterCard’s president of the Americas, will oversee the region on an interim basis.

The move takes Perez full circle. Before he took over the Latin America region for the credit card company in 2004, he was general manager of the customer group for MasterCard Europe.

In Miami, Perez is credited with helping turn Latin America into one of the company’s fastest-growing units. Gross-dollar volume for the region rose 32.5 percent last year.

Before joining MasterCard in 1996, Perez held several senior positions at Spanish bank BBVA, including country executive for Tokyo and Hong Kong and president of the bank’s subsidiary in Miami. He also has worked at two other banks and Visa International.

Exec shuffle at Florida FTAA

After leading Florida’s bid to become the headquarters of a hemisphere- wide free trade bloc, Jorge Arrizurieta has resigned as president of Florida FTAA to join the law firm of Akerman Senterfitt as a consultant in its international policy group.

Brian Clay Dean, who has experience working with governments in Latin America, becomes executive director of the Florida FTAA.

Dean most recently was regional program director at the International Republican Institute in Washington, D.C. He is credited for expanding the organization’s operations into Brazil and Argentina.

Arrizurieta says he will remain on the Florida FTAA board even as he takes over as chair of the international law firm’s policy group focused on the Western Hemisphere, Florida and Washington, D.C.

“Jorge was passionate about reaching out to the leaders of the hemisphere, both public and private, and to communities, businesses and trade organizations throughout the state to create an environment around Florida FTAA that the entire state could support,” said Governor Jeb Bush, who had appointed Arrizurieta to the post.

Arrizurieta came to Florida FTAA with extensive public and private sector experience in international development and government affairs. He also worked with Wayne Huizenga for many years, managing the governmental and political operations at Wayne Huizenga Holdings, and he spent five years as director of state projects for U.S. Senator Connie Mack.

Astigarraga: new role at London arbitration court

Miami attorney Jos Astigarraga, a specialist in Latin Americafocused litigation, has been appointed vice president of the 35- member London Court of International Arbitration.

Astigarraga is well known for his work in international commercial disputes and was one of the first eight U.S. lawyers appointed to advise the NAFTA Commission, set up to support the North America Free Trade Agreement. His Miami law firm, Astigarraga Davis, focuses on international litigation, arbitration and insolvency. He is an expert in complex business disputes in Latin America and has served as a consultant to the World Bank.

Commercial litigator joins Shutts & Bowen

Janet Munn, who has defended high-profile class-action and mass tort cases, joined the Miami office of Shutts & Bowen as a partner in the international law firm’s litigation department. Previously, Munn was a senior litigator at Steel Hector & Davis, the Miami law firm that merged with Cleveland-based Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in September 2005.

Munn will work on class actions, mass tort and product liability cases, as well as intellectual property litigation. She will also continue representing the news media in access cases and libel suits. Her clients include Cingular Wireless and Court TV. She represented the sons of novelist Ernest Hemingway in a trademark dispute.

Munn also serves as president of Lawyers for Children America, a national child advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. which provides pro bono representation to children who are victims of abuse, abandonment and neglect. Last year, the Miami chapter handled cases for some 400 children.

Lutz retires from ASTAR Air Cargo

Airline and cargo-industry veteran Raymond Lutz has retired, leaving his position at ASTAR Air Cargo, where he was senior vice president and chief administrative officer. During his three years at ASTAR, which was formerly known as DHL Airways, Lutz was responsible for information technology, business development, communications and human resources. He managed charter operations and the contracts with the Air Mobility Command of the U.S. Air Force.

All-cargo airline ASTAR, with a client list that includes the U.S. Postal Service, is restructuring and will not replace Lutz. His work will be divided among other members of the executive team.

In a separate announcement, ASTAR announced that its director of safety, Landon Harmon, had decided to return to flying as a DC-8 captain for the company. He had directed the company’s safety operations since January 2004. Ted Mallory, an Air Force major general, will take on Harmon’s duties.

Laniado leaves Pacific National Bank

After 18 years at the helm of a financial institution his father founded, Mauricio Laniado unexpectedly resigned as CEO of Pacific National Bank in Miami. He gave no public reason for the departure and was replaced on an interim basis by Roberto Gonzalez Muller, a member of the board of directors and the second most important executive on the management team at the bank’s holding company, Grupo Financiero Banco del Pacifico in Ecuador.

Gonzalez was expected to be named to the CEO position permanently after Pacific National Bank’s board had time to deliberate.

Laniado’s father, Marcel, who died in 1998, founded the bank as a subsidiary of Banco del Pacifico, one of Ecuador’s largest financial institutions. In December 2005, the Miami bank was reprimanded by U.S. banking officials because of problems linked to compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act. In response, the bank beefed up its compliance budget and hired additional staff dedicated to regulatory compliance.

Jamieson becomes Ryder CFO

Ryder has named Mark Jamieson, a long-time executive at General Electric, as its executive vice president and chief financial officer, replacing Tracy Leinbach, who retired from the company.

Jamieson joins the global transportation and logistics firm from Sammons Enterprises, a privately held $2.5 billion conglomerate, where he was vice president.

Before joining Sammons, Jamieson spent nearly 30 years in positions of increasing financial leadership within General Electric. From 1998 through 2004 he was CFO of GE Industrial Systems (GEIS), a $5.7 billion global business with manufacturing operations in 25 countries and 35,000 employees. Prior to that, he was CFO of GE Electrical Distribution & Control (EDC), a $2.4 billion global provider of electrical products.

In a separate announcement, Ryder said it had named Robert Brunn as vice president of investor relations and public affairs. The 17-year veteran with the company remains as the main liaison with the equity analyst community but takes on additional duties for community and external affairs and the Ryder System Charitable Foundation. Brunn had been Ryder’s group director of investor relations.

Spirit names tech chief

Scott Allard has become the chief information officer at Spirit Airlines. He previously served as head of technology at Travelworm and has held tech management positions at American Express and Priceline. He has experience working with both high-growth companies and travel-industry players.

“State of the art technology is key to our current and future success,” said Spirit President Ben Baldanza. “I’m confident that an information technology professional of Scott’s stature will take Spirit to its next level.”

Low-cost carrier Spirit is based in Fort Lauderdale with a hub in Detroit. It serves the United States, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

Chinese lawyer oversees Asia practice

Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, the Miami law firm specializing in trade and customs issues, has hired a former customs official in China to lead the company’s expansion in Asia. Attorney Zhao-Kang Jiang has been appointed to be the partner in charge of a Beijing office that the Miami law firm is opening to oversee its work in Asia. The latest addition to Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg previously served as deputy director of law and regulations for Chinese Customs. He was instrumental in drafting legislation on customs enforcement for intellectual property rights and world trade, and he has advised multinational corporations on trade.

Logistics exec at Comerxia

A former DHL executive has become the vice president of global logistics at Comerxia, a technology company based in Hollywood. John Seheult will design the supply chain and carrier network for his new employer.

He has more than 15 years of experience in logistics, inventory management, business processes and information technology. Most recently he was at DHL where he headed the Americas business development support and program management groups for DHL Solutions, which provides customized solutions. Prior to DHL he worked for HP/Compaq supporting the Latin American supply chain and logistics group in the area of direct sales and e-commerce logistics.

Comerxia, a privately owned company with funding from UPS and Syncom, provides businesses with a technology platform that includes landed cost calculation, global payment processing, import/export compliance, trade documentation and localized marketing services.

Martinez returns to Hunton & Williams

Walfrido “Wally” Martinez has left global beverage giant Diageo to rejoin Hunton & Williams law firm as a managing partner. He will maintain offices in Miami, New York and Richmond, Va.

Martinez, 39, becomes one of the youngest managing partners of the law firm, which has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. He was a partner at Hunton & Williams until late 2004, when he joined Diageo – one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of liquors, beers and wines – as vice president and general counsel for North America.

“The decision to leave Diageo was a difficult one, due to the caliber of the company and the quality of the people,” Martinez says. “Diageo is blessed with outstanding senior management and has one of the world’s leading law departments.”

Before joining Hunton & Williams, Martinez was a partner with Holland & Knight in Miami.

PwC Miami office adds managing partner

Pricewaterhouse Coopers has named accountant Mario de Armas, an audit and business advisory services specialist working with the firm’s entertainment and media clients, as a managing partner for its South Florida practice. The practice includes offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Based in Miami, De Armas will oversee strategy and operations for the South Florida region. His expertise is in publishing and broadcast media, as well as new-technology companies.

New Caribbean exec at Crowley

Florida-based shipping and logistics company Crowley has promoted Bob Weist. He is now the director of inland operations for the company’s Puerto Rico and Caribbean liner services group. Weist has relocated from the New Orleans area to Crowley’s Jacksonville, Fla., offices. He will reports to Maureen Cunningham, vice president of operations.

“Bob’s strong operations background will benefit our customers as he directs our over-the-road and intermodal activities,” says Cunningham.

Weist began his career with Crowley in 1987 in New Jersey. Since then, he has held positions of increasing responsibility. Most recently he managed Crowley’s operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

GrupoUno expands staff

GrupoUno, the largest independent communications firm focused on the Latin America and U.S. Hispanic markets, has named Fernanda DiFranco to direct the firm’s client services. She had been working as a consultant in Miami for companies seeking communications expertise for the Brazilian market. In 1996, DiFranco opened Saatchi and Saatchi’s operations in Brazil, Nazca.

GrupoUno began operations in 1985, working with multinational companies that wanted to expand their businesses in Latin America. Today Canon, General Mills, Bombardier, Porsche and Kingston Technology are among its clients. The company recently expanded its operations in Coral Gables.

DiFranco will work to enhance client satisfaction with the firm’s services, which include public relations, advertising, web marketing, events marketing and point-of-sale display strategies.