Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com May 4, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 3 Cybersecurity, more small-biz loans, aging staff pile bank commish's plate By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com J orge L. Perez, Connecticut's first Latino banking regulator and the first full-time banker plucked to run the agency in nearly a decade, is wasting no time ground- ing his feet in issues crucial to the industry and its consumers. In quick succession, Perez collaborated with a Hartford credit union to open a satel- lite in a shuttered Bank of America branch in the city's North End. In late April, he was a guest at the state credit union association's annual meeting, where the national body's president gave the keynote. Then, there's time he's spent meeting the 116 agency employees -- many of whom will be eligible to retire within a decade -- com- municating his priorities, while giving them a chance to know him and for him to take stock of their concerns. So far, Perez, 52, says he's impressed with what he's gleaned, particularly from within and outside his agency housed at 250 Con- stitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. His salary is $142,500 a year. "I found it's a department that has an unbelievable group of employees with great knowledge," he said in a recent, wide-ranging interview at agency headquarters. But with so many approaching retirement, one of Perez's priorities "will be succession planning for employees," he said. To manage, he said the agency must identify or recruit promising young staffers, while cross-training existing employees to eventually assume tasks done by retiring colleagues. They have plenty to do, he said. Connecti- cut hasn't approved a new bank charter since Start Community Bank in 2010, but a grow- ing number of previously federally chartered banks, thrifts and credit unions are choos- ing state oversight they say is more flexible and cost-effective. The agency feeds its $21 million annual budget solely from fees and assessments that financial institutions pay. Foreclosure, cybersecurity concerns Cuban born and starting his career in a bank mail-room before moving into bank auditing and accounting, Perez said his other initial priorities as commissioner will focus on cybersecurity for banks and their customers, improving credit-access for small businesses to spur economic development, and refining the state's judicial-foreclosure process for seizing real estate in mortgage defaults. It is the latter where leaders of Connecti- cut banks and credit unions say they hope Perez can have an impact on their behalf. The state's fore- closure mediation program determines whether borrowers and lenders can reach an agreement that will avoid foreclo- sure. The program, which was created at the height of the mort- gage crisis in 2008, has helped some homeowners avoid, or put off foreclosure, but it also created a bot- tleneck in the foreclosure process, which frus- trated bankers. It also led Connecticut to expe- rience a higher-than-average rate of residential mortgages under foreclosure procedures. Simsbury banker Martin J. Geitz, who is president of both Simsbury Bank and the Connecticut Community Bankers Associa- tion, said that, as commissioner, Perez is best suited to educate the public, and bankers too, as to why the state's mediation format exists, as well as encourage ways to tweak it. "We're all very excited by the fact that he's a banker," Geitz said. "He understands our world from a community-bank perspective." Perez says he is open to ideas from lenders about streamlining the state's foreclosure pro- cess. As a New Haven alderman, he's mindful that the longer an abandoned or poorly main- tained property awaits seizure, the more sus- ceptible it is to blight. Tweaks to in-state foreclosure laws have speeded the process, yet Connecticut still lags most other states, he said. However, he, too, is mindful, he says, of his agency's 860.871.1111 Toll Free: 800.741.6367 nemsi.com License #'s: E1-104939 • S1-302974 • P1-203519 • F1-10498 • SM1-192 • MC-1134 MECHANICAL • ELECTRICAL • PLUMBING • SHEET METAL • BUILDING AUTOMATION • FACILITIES SERVICES SERVICE SOLUTIONS…ONE SOURCE Only one company can build, power, protect, and maintain the critical systems in virtually every type of facility. Our clients trust us to deliver end-to-end facilities solutions, so they can focus on their core business. We are experts in: Facilities Services Preventive Maintenance Programs Onsite Operations & Maintenance Continued Jorge L. Perez H B J P H O T O | G R E G O R Y S E A Y ▶ ▶ ' We tell banks to lend more, but then we put on all these restrictions that make it more difficult … We have to find a middle ground.' Jorge L. Perez, banking commissioner, state of Connecticut

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