Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Municipal Market Analytics (MMA) is an independent research firm based in Concord, Massachusetts, founded in 1995. MMA’s core business is to provide strategic analysis and commentary on historical and quantitative conditions of the US municipal market. MMA, in 2012, introduced its Portfolio Credit Benchmark (PCB), an enterprise risk solution for bank portfolios to meet their regulatory needs pertaining to the credit review of municipal bonds. Since its inception, MMA has conducted nearly 1000 bank portfolio reviews that have successfully passed regulatory examinations. In addition, MMA’s consulting practice has continued to expand. The firm’s consulting clients include investment banks, insurance companies, law firms, investors, hedge funds and foundations. MMA’s engagements have covered a wide variety of important issues including: − default and loss analysis on portfolios of municipal bonds; analysis of various states’ budget practices and trends; new business analysis for entrants into municipal market; development of a screening methodology to prioritize municipal holdings for review; risk management analysis to guide policy on capital requirements; liquidity analysis of municipal bond holdings; white-papers on risks and opportunities of specific products and retainer relationships to provide analytical insights on a variety of issues and credits.Over 300 organizations receive MMA’s research reports, and they value the firm’s honest and timely perspective on key industry issues. MMA’s clients include leading investment firms, banks, security dealers, financial advisors, issuers and regulators. MMA also maintains relationships with staff members at a number of influential organizations including: Securities Exchange Commission, Federal Reserve Board, National Governors Association, Government Finance Officers Association, National Federation of Municipal Analysts, Council of Economic Advisers, Government Accounting Standards Board, and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.Throughout his career, Mr. Doe has addressed all the leading groups in the municipal industry, as well as serving as a resource to the broad array of financial media. His insight, integrity, candor, historical context and vision are sought to establish a clear perspective of current conditions impacting investors and issuers in the municipal cash and derivative markets. Currently, Mr. Doe’s focus has been on innovative means to generate new revenue for states and cities. Subjects have included transportation, specifically autonomous vehicles, the vehicle miles travelled tax, drone and air space regulation, water and marijuana legalization.Most notably, Mr. Doe has testified before the Senate Banking Committee on the future of municipal regulation and the state of the industry and appeared before the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide insight on the market’s stability and liquidity. Most memorably he represented the industry in a CNBC interview in January 2011 to accurately define imminent market credit risks in response to Meredith Whitney’s dire municipal default projection. Mr. Doe has addressed the Municipal Division of the SEC, and has been a featured speaker at Build America Mutual Leadership Conferences, Philadelphia Council of Business Economics, Municipal Bond Buyer’s Annual Conference, Bond Dealers of America National Summit, and Security Industry and Financial Markets Association Municipal Summit. In addition, Mr. Doe had the honor of addressing the National Governors Association’s winter meeting regarding the state of public finance on two separate occasions, as well as keynoting or serving as a panelist at National Association of Bond Lawyers, Government Finance Officers Association, National Association of State Treasurers and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation conferences.Between 2002 and 2005, Mr. Doe served a 3-year term as a public member on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), the regulatory entity of the municipal securities industry. Mr. Doe received his undergraduate degree from Colgate University in 1980 and a Master’s from Harvard University in 1984.

Mr. Stephens leads BAML’s municipal products and credit products teams. These teams are responsible for providing credit facilities to municipal entities and interest rate swaps to municipal and non-profit counterparties nationally. He has over 30 years of experience in the municipal finance industry, having served clients across the country. His clients include state agencies, utilities, counties, cities and school districts.�

Susan Collet is Senior Vice President of Government Relations for the Bond Dealers of America. She oversees advocacy efforts before Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and other agencies. Prior to joining the BDA, Susan served as Senior Principal for Government Relations for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, where she successfully led efforts to develop and enact tax credit bonds for financing utility infrastructure. In addition, she advanced the interests of municipal utilities for over a decade as an advocate at both the American Public Power Association and the Van Ness Feldman law firm, where she represented the Large Public Power Council. In these roles, Susan ensured that the tax exemption for municipal bonds would be preserved through new private use relief rules that reflected significant changes in the utility industry.

Chris Chafizadeh is Managing Director & Head of Origination at Assured Guaranty Municipal. Chris joined Assured Guaranty Municipal in 2012 following a 20 year career in Public Finance at MBIA. At Assured Guaranty Municipal, Chris is responsible for business development and origination in all municipal sectors covered by Assured. Mr. Chafizadeh is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and is a Member of the Municipal Analyst's Group of New York (MAGNY), the National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA), the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA), the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), the American Finance Association, the Municipal Bond Club of NY, NACUBO, the Municipal Forum of New York, the Fixed Income Analysts Society, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and the Education Finance Council. Mr. Chafizadeh earned a Bachelors of Science (BS) degree in Business Administration/Finance from Saint Michael's College in Winooski Park, Vermont and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Corporate/Investment Finance from Pace University's Lubin Graduate School of Business in New York.

Mr. Heidt has responsibility for the Accounting, Internal Audit, Treasury, Financial Planning, Grant Program Management, Human Resources, Corporate Training, Risk Management, IT, Procurement, Police, Fire, Safety and Environmental. Mr. Heidt began his 32-year career at the Port Authority in the Accounting Department, holding management positions in Payables, Customer Billing Services and Financial Accounting. From 1993 to 2005, Mr. Heidt was the Market Development Manager in the Trade Development Division with the responsibility of identifying the opportunities and vulnerabilities in the port�s markets. In 2005, Mr. Heidt became the Planning Manager � Container Terminals, where he oversaw the operating and capital budgets. In February 2009, he was made Vice President of Finance and Administration; then, in November 2012, was named to his current position. Mr. Heidt holds a bachelor�s degree in Finance from Michigan State University. He has received certification in the Professional Port Management (PPM) program from the American Association of Ports Authority (AAPA). He also belongs to numerous trade and traffic organizations.

Lincoln Chafee is a proud Rhode Islander, born and raised in Warwick. He graduated with a degree in Classics from Brown University, where he received the Francis M. Driscoll Award for leadership, scholarship and athletics. After graduating, he worked for seven years as a blacksmith at harness racetracks throughout the United States and Canada. When he returned to Rhode Island, inspired by the path of his father John Chafee, he entered politics. He won election in 1985 as a delegate to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention, and went on to serve four years on the Warwick City Council, nearly four two-year terms as Mayor of Warwick, and seven years as United States Senator. After leaving the US Senate, he disaffiliated from the Republican Party and became an independent. He spent two years as Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies, during which he wrote Against the Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President.In November, 2010, with the help of an excellent campaign staff and a strong community of supporters, he was elected the first independent Governor of Rhode Island, and is currently the nation’s only independent Governor.

Thomas S. Vales, Chief Executive Officer for TMC Bonds (TMC), brings over 25 years of fixed income experience to the firm. In May of 2000, Mr. Vales started the company with backing from industry leaders including Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Assured Guaranty. The company has grown to become a market leader for electronic bond trading with over 1000 firms participating on the live trading platform.TMC has evolved from its original municipal bond exchange into a robust marketplace for trading fixed income product. The firm currently offers Municipal, Corporate, MBS, and Agency bonds trading in addition to primary market Medium Term Notes and CD’s. TMC overlays its marketplace with software designed to assist both traders and brokers with the decision making process for buying and selling fixed income product. TMC also provides firms with a private label service enabling customization of broker desktops for advisor services.Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Vales spent ten years with Bankers Trust where he was a Managing Director of the Relative Value Arbitrage Group and Senior Manager of the Tax-Advantaged Arbitrage desk. From 1989 to 1996, he worked as a Vice President at BT Securities in municipal trading, sales, and derivatives. Mr. Vales graduated in 1986 from the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

Vijay Kapoor is the Director of PFM’s Workforce Consulting practice in the firm’s Management and Budget Consulting group. Prior to joining PFM, he founded a company that provided operational and workforce consulting services to state and local governments. Previously, Mr. Kapoor also served in state government in positions including Executive Director of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Office of Management and Productivity. In this capacity, Mr. Kapoor was responsible for leading both enterprise-wide and agency-specific cost savings projects towards the goal of reaching $1.5 billion in annual savings from Commonwealth operations. He also previously practiced as a labor and employment attorney in Philadelphia, where he specialized in public sector labor relations matters. Mr. Kapoor graduated from the University of Chicago with degrees in economics and public policy studies (with honors) and received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he received the labor law prize and was Symposium Editor for the Journal of Labor and Employment law. He also received a certificate in Business and Public Policy from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has been certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) since 2008.