Florida Banking August 2021

Even before the pandemic, Professional Bank opened its Digital Innovation Center, which Sheehan has dubbed its “digital banking brain,” equipped with “all the fun toys” and in-house automation. While some fear that automation will replace employees, Sheehan looks at it differently. He believes that driving efficiency over time will empower employees and free them up to do what they do best: exercise good judgement and reason. The bank has developed an online account-opening tool that they will roll out in the near term. This is one of a number of internal tools and new client offerings that the digital team plans to launch in 2021.

believe we’re in a unique position to do that with our technology and entrepreneurial banking system,” said Iglesias. “You’ve got to be innovative and think outside the box. There’s no reason we can’t try things, so long as we stay within the guidelines prescribed by our regulators and policymakers. But we often ask ourselves, ‘why not?’ As long as we keep that kind of spirit, I believe we’re going to do very well.” Mary Usategui, Executive Vice President and CFO, believes that working with their team in Ohio allowed them to quickly adapt to a remote work environment. “We were positioned on Microsoft Teams, and we had different avenues to hold meetings virtually…

PROFESSIONAL BANK ENCOURAGES ITS TEAM TO BE CREATIVE AND PUSH THE ENVELOPE, KNOWING THAT INNOVATION IS KEY TO STAYING AHEAD OF THE CURVE.

“The clients love our technology. But they also love the fact that they can get somebody on the phone if needed,” said President and COO Abel L. Iglesias. “We’ve grown organically by recruiting the best.” Professional Bank encourages its team to be creative and push the envelope, knowing that innovation is key to staying ahead of the curve. “There’s no question that we want to continue to grow. We want to capture market share, and we

So when the pandemic hit, we were better prepared as a result,” said Usategui. As she, Sheehan, and Iglesias reflect on the previous year, they realize Covid’s impact on their first merger with Marquis Bank. Shareholders found themselves voting to approve the deal in a parking lot, after Miami Beach restricted public gatherings (making it illegal for more than two people to meet in a commercial area). Marquis employees who

MEET COO ABEL L. IGLESIAS

Officer of Eastern National Bank. Iglesias is a member of the board of directors of the Miami Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is also Vice Chair on the board of directors of Doctors Hospital and board member of the Coral Gables Museum. He is a former Chair of Miami Dade College Center for Financial Training; a former Member of the City of Coral Gables Historic Preservation Board; former Chair of Friends of WLRN (91.3 FM) NPR; former board member of the Latin Builder’s Association; and former board member of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council. Iglesias holds an MBA in business administration from the University of Miami and a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude , in business administration from Barry University.

Abel L. Iglesias has served as a Director of Professional Bank and currently serves as its President and Chief Operating Officer. Most recently, Iglesias participated in the IPO efforts to take Professional Bank public and list on the NASDAQ Global Select Exchange. Additionally, a month-and-a-half later, closed on the acquisition of Coral Gables-based Marquis Bank. From 2013 to 2016, Iglesias was Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer at Professional Bank. Prior to joining Professional Bank, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of JGB Bank N.A.; Senior Executive Vice President at BankUnited FSB; Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer for the South Florida region of Colonial Bank; and Executive Vice President and Chief Lending

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