Happy Saturday and welcome to CEO Speaks for Saturday, May 28th, Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of Summer 2022.

With each TMA chapter I visit, I am inspired by the thoughtfulness of our leaders and how they engage, connect, and tirelessly work to create meaningful experiences and opportunities for our members.

It was 2016 when then Global President David Cohen reached out to friends in Mexico City to ask them to get behind the formation of a chapter there. And as David shared with me, it was Floris Iking and Alejandro Sainz who got the ball rolling, and they soon became a chapter in formation. One of David’s personal aspirations, the mantle which was carried in 2018 by then Global President Jeffrey Hampton and came to fruition last week.

Last week I had the privilege of being in Mexico City, where ahead of the official launch event of the TMA Mexico City Chapter, I spent several hours with several members of the chapter’s steering committee, in an exchange that was as enlightening as it was visionary, as one of our newest chapters takes flight and our Latin American presence grows.

I am grateful for the leadership of Chapter President Floris Iking and steering committee members Gabriela Avendano, Arturo Carrillo, Joy Gallup, Pablo Perezalonso Eguia, Eduardo Reyes Verdeja, and Sam Suchowieky, for their gracious hospitality and the honest and motivating exchange we had about the future of restructuring in Latin America and how TMA Mexico can lead the way in this part of the world.

Following the strategic session with the leaders of the Mexico City chapter, the launch event, an evening on the Mexican Banking Sector: Non-Bank Financial Institutions Update and the Regulatory Intervention and Liquidation of Banco Ahorro took place.

The two panels, talking to real time issues in still ongoing matters, featured some of our industry’s most respected professionals and included speakers from Alverez & Marcal Mexico, Houlihan Lokey, Paul Hastings, Rich Muller as well as the General Counsel of Instituto de Protecion al Ahorro Bancario amongst others.

Capped off by a networking event, where I met many new members and prospective TMA members, the energy of the day and the afterglow in the night assures that the future of TMA Latin America will be bright.

As our international footprint grows and the power of the TMA brand grows more pervasive every day, next on the TMA International tour after a two-year hiatus, will be the TMA Europe Annual Conference, this year in host city Madrid Spain.

This year, I will be leading a delegation of Global Leaders to this conference which will be held on June 9th and 10th and will include Global President Jane Mitnick, Global Chair Matthew English, CTP, Global Immediate Past Chair Derek Meek,  VP of International Relations Vlad Nastase and VP of Education Scott Gautier.

This conference experience will afford the members and leaders of our 16 European chapters to interface, connect, engage and be part of governance sessions aimed at strengthening our European community. 

There’s still time to register for this showcase opportunity and the chance to see how our presence in Europe continues to grow. Just head over to the TMA Europe site online, see what this conference has to offer and if you will be there, experience another dimension of what it means to be a member of TMA all throughout the world.

Lastly this week, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the Uvalde, Texas Robb Elementary School mass shooting.

As citizens of the world, it is nearly impossible not to be deeply moved and profoundly saddened by this great tragedy. 

We as a people are good and kind at heart, and the events of this past week have again cast a shadow over that.

It is my hope that goodness will reign and that we put aside our differences, come together as one nation, and begin a path forward that will help to avoid tragedies like this that have become all too commonplace. 

Like many of you, I hope to find a way to show my support of a community that grieves after the tragic losses and we at TMA will share information in our weekly report next week as to how you can support the families of the victims and the community at a time when they are most in need.

As always, thanks for taking the time to listen today. In this year of Innovation through Disruption, your input is critical, your contributions paramount, and your engagement the foundation that will create a better TMA for all of our members.

Until next time, I’m Scott Stuart. Be safe, resilient, and TMA Proud.