Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Cliff Cook is head of product and marketing for retail payment solutions at U.S. Bank.

Jim is an attorney with over twenty five years experience as well as eighteen years experience in secured financing & creditor rights with motor vehicles, mortgages and manufactured housing. He has represented creditors in bankruptcy court, served as an arbitrator, served as operations director for the bankruptcy department for Ford Manufactured Housing/Associates, and came to us from Countrywide Home Loans, where he served as Vice President of Foreclosure & Bankruptcy. He holds a J.D. from the University of Akron School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Akron. He is a licensed member in good standing with the Ohio State and Federal Bar and with the Texas Federal Bar.

Robert Klein is Chairman of the Board and founder of Safeguard Properties. Under Robert's leadership, Safeguard grew from a handful of employees in 1990 to more than 800 today with an extensive network of contractors throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Robert developed Safeguard around the doctrine of "Customer Service = Resolution" with the mission of creating a company focused on client satisfaction and strong business relationships. As founder of the largest privately held mortgage field services company in the U.S., Robert built a company with vast resources, unparalleled professional expertise, strong client and business relationships, and a wide network of government and industry contacts. Robert has been generous in offering these resources to improve every facet of the industry, and untiring in his personal commitment to address critical issues facing the industry. Robert is recognized as a leader and an advocate for the industry. He has led initiatives to improve the industry overall, protect client assets and reduce costs, provide current and relevant industry information, and strengthen relationships between the industry, cities, governmental agencies, and community organizations. Recently, he has led a collective industry effort working with communities to implement workable Vacant Property Registration Ordinances. As chair of the Vacant Property Registration Committee under the Mortgage Bankers Association, Robert has led the industry to reach out to cities across the country to collaborate as cities contemplate these ordinances.Robert has also developed and maintained a reputation as an innovator for the industry. Robert continues to focus his attention on initiatives affecting Safeguard clients, providing current and relevant industry information and offering creative solutions to meet their needs. Robert represents not only Safeguard, but the industry as a whole in national associations including MBA, USFN, CMBA, ALFN, AACE, and REOMAC. He has been a session leader and panelist at their yearly conferences, in addition to being the primary sponsor of the National Property Preservation Conference in Washington D.C.

Behrooz P. Vida is an attorney specializing in the area of bankruptcy, and he practices primarily in the Fort Worth Division of the Northern District of Texas. Behrooz graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and received his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1990. At Texas Tech, Behrooz was a member of the Law Review and the Board of Barristers.Behrooz is Board Certified by Texas Board of Legal Specialization in the areas of Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Business Bankruptcy Law. The Vida Law Firm, PLLC, which exclusively practices bankruptcy law, is a small firm with three attorneys primarily representing debtors.Behrooz has also been an adjunct professor at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law since 1998, where he teaches bankruptcy law.

Maria P. Tedesco is Group Executive Vice President and Director of Retail and Business Banking at RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. one of the 12 largest commercial bank holding companies in the United States ranked by assets. She is a member of RBSCFG’s Executive Leadership Group, a team of key individuals who hold critical and influential senior leadership roles within business lines.Tedesco is responsible for the performance of the retail and business banking businesses. She oversees more than 1,350 traditional and in-store branches and more than 350 Business Banking colleagues across the 12-state Citizens Bank/Charter One footprint. Tedesco joined Citizens Bank in 1994 and has held a variety of senior leadership roles in Retail and Business Banking. She was responsible for building the New England In-Store Franchise from a pilot of eight branches to a successful in-store network of more than 130 branches. She was responsible for overseeing more than 1,000 traditional branches across the CFG franchise. In 1999, she co-led a team that helped transform the Retail and Business Banking strategy of RBSCFG. Most recently, Tedesco managed the Business Banking division and redefined the small business sales model. During this time Citizens Bank was recognized by ath Power Consulting for having the number-one small business customer experience in its marketplace. It placed second in the nation. Tedesco graduated from Ithaca College with a B.S. in finance and obtained her MBA from Northeastern University where she is currently a New World Mentor. She attended Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in Leadership. Tedesco currently sits on the Financial Services Small Business Roundtable and is a board member of Citizens Bank Foundation, Project Bread and the CBA Small Business Working Group. She is a member of the Small Business Executive Circle, the Commonwealth Institute, the Inner Circle of the National Association of Professional Women. Tedesco received the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts’ Leading Women Award 2011 and chaired their 2012 event. Most recently she was recognized as a leader by American Banker as one of the “Most Powerful Women Led Teams” 2012.

Mr. Howard joined BB&T in 1972 as a Management Associate. Since then, he has served as a Business Services Officer in New Bern, NC, City Executive in Morehead City, NC, Area Manager and Regional President of BB&T’s Southeast Region (NC), Group/State President of BB&T of Florida and Group/State President of BB&T of Virginia, Banking Network Retail Sales and Service Leader.