Banesco in Fla. Names Interim CEO

Banesco USA in Coral Gables, Fla., has named an interim president and chief executive to replace Rafael Saldaña, who left Friday.

Banesco board member Seno Bril, a longtime BNP Paribas executive, has been named interim chief of the $772 million-asset bank.

No reason was given for Saldaña's departure."Institutions evolve, institutions prepare themselves for the future, and often this involves a change of leadership," Bril said.

The company is currently searching for a full-time CEO, Bril said.

Bril was chairman of Security Bank in North Lauderdale, Fla., which failed in May 2012 and was sold to Banesco in a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-assisted deal. Bril joined the Security Bank board in January 2011, after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ordered the bank to replace its directors.

Bril was named to Banesco's board in December 2012. Before joining Security Bank, he was an executive with BNP Paribas in several countries and was CEO of BNP Paribas' South Florida agency. He was also president of the Florida International Bankers' Association.

Saldaña was named Banesco's president and CEO in 2008. It grew rapidly under his leadership; it had $201 million in assets when he started, according to the South Florida Business Journal.

Banesco has six branches in Florida and one in Puerto Rico. It made $254,000 in the first quarter and $829,000 in 2012, according to the FDIC.