SOUTHEAST
Speer & Associates Inc., an Atlanta financial services consultant, has hired Mecenas M. Salles as the senior vice president, responsible for major credit card and retail banking relationships.
Mr. Salles was vice president of Creditcard SA in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which issues and processes credit cards in Latin America. Earlier he was a technology executive in Citibank's Latin American and Canadian divisions.
Speer also hired Juan F. Mertins as a vice president.
Mr. Mertins' expertise is in information technology and telecommunications as it relates to credit cards. He was a GM Group specialist in systems integration of credit and debit card processing services.
Darryl R. Price and W. Jefferson Hinson Jr. were hired as senior consultants, and Reuben E. Clarson Jr. as a consultant.
Mr. Price managed commercial relationships at SunTrust Bank in Atlanta and has counseled financial institutions in strategic planning and risk management in the Americas.
Mr. Hinson was a senior credit review officer at First Union, with a specialty in credit quality in emerging markets.
Mr. Clarson was a financial analyst at NationsBank South Florida in Miami, a unit of BankAmerica Corp. of Charlotte, N.C.
