When South Florida banking consultant Fernando Capablanca recently spoke about the Cuban banking system — the pre-1959 Cuban banking system — he was surprised at the compliments he received.
That the perspective of someone with his long years in international banking might be appreciated isn’t too surprising. But the venue was Havana and the compliments were coming from Cuban bankers.
Shortly after the United States and Cuba announced they were working toward normalizing relations on Dec. 17, 2014, Capablanca thought it was also time that Cuban and U.S. bankers, banking regulators and government officials from both countries sit down and get reacquainted. It was a long-shot to be sure, but Capablanca, the president of the Cuban Banking Study Group, persisted.
The result was a two-day, invitation-only workshop, held in Havana in mid-July that was attended by about 100 people.
