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Tourists are increasingly choosing cruise ships and short-term rentals to visit Puerto Rico

Hurricane María was particularly harmful for one of the key economic sectors of Puerto Rico, tourism. After one year and three months, the tourist sector is showing positive signs of growth and encouraging new dynamics. The traditional hotel sector is rapidly moving towards pre-hurricane business levels, the cruise ship industry is booming, and tourists seem to be increasingly relying on short-term rentals to visit Puerto Rico.

Post hurricane recovery efforts drive a turning point in the local labor market

Post hurricane recovery efforts drive a turning point in the local labor market', '', 'Employment is finally growing again in Puerto Rico driven by the efforts to rebuild the infrastructure damaged by hurricane María. Most economic sectors will benefit, not only from the improved infrastructure, but by ripping the benefits of more consumption from a larger labor force. Employment growth has spread unevenly with some municipalities struggling to recover while others already experiencing higher employment than before María.', 'Employment is finally growing again in Puerto Rico driven by the efforts to rebuild the infrastructure damaged by hurricane María. Most economic sectors will benefit, not only from the improved infrastructure, but by ripping the benefits of more consumption from a larger labor force. Employment growth has spread unevenly with some municipalities struggling to recover while others already experiencing higher employment than before María.

Scotiabank se afianza como el tercer banco múltiple privado con la adquisición del Banco Dominicano del Progreso

El 16 de agosto Scotiabank (SB) anunció el acuerdo de compraventa del Banco Dominicano del Progreso (BDP) por el 97.44% de las acciones, por una cifra estimada de USD $330 MM. Con esta compra Scotiabank se consolida como el tercer banco privado del país, con un 9% de los depósitos totales, el 10% de la cartera crediticia, y el 14% de las sucursales a nivel nacional.

Popular becomes the indisputable leader of the auto financing industry with the acquisition of Reliable

On August 1st, Banco Popular announced the acquisition of Reliable, the Wells Fargo auto finance business in Puerto Rico. The agreement involves the purchase of ~$1.6B in retail auto loans and ~$360M in primarily auto related commercial loans. With this acquisition Popular becomes the leader of the Auto financing sector with a 49% auto loan market share and a 69% share in auto leasing.

Are community banks losing the battle in South Florida?

Since the financial crisis of 2007-2008, South Florida's banking industry* has undergone a transformative consolidation process. Large, out-of-state banks have been steadily gaining market share, many times displacing smaller, local community banks which have been unable to compete against banking juggernauts like Wells Fargo and Bank of America, Miami Metropolitan Area’s largest banks. Mergers and acquisitions activity, as well as FDIC-assisted bank failures, have been pervasive throughout Florida since 2009, leading the nation in bank failures in 2010 with 29 in total. Since 2009 there has been a steady but slow improvement in the banking sector. Asset quality has improved, loan activity has increased and the majority of banks are well capitalized. Nevertheless, banks in South Florida still face considerable challenges. A highly competitive environment with narrow margins, subpar loan growth and a slowdown in mortgage refinancing transactions, have made it difficult for banks to increase income and improve returns.

The Sales Dichotomy

Many sales reps spend very little time actually selling. Instead, they allocate significant chunks of time to operational or administrative tasks. They follow up on stalled deals, pull together reams of paperwork for even the most straight-forward RFPs, or spend untold hours on myriad other back-office functions.

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