Carlos M. García

The 2009 legislation to handle the $3.306 billion operational and structural deficit that the new administration confronted upon taking office created a Fiscal Reconstruction and Stabilization Board (JREF) and the Governor appointed García as chairman of the new board that was tasked with designing and implementing the fiscal recuperation policies. Over 22 months, government expenditures were reduced by 20% and Wall Street credit-rating agencies restored the islands' ratings to their highest levels in 35 years and used a newly enacted Public-Private Partnership Act, as well as the 2006 COFINA securitization mechanism to stabilize Puerto Rico's finances..

As head of the Governor's economic team, García coordinated simultaneously the disbursement of over $6.5 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds, lobbying and implementation of the federal health reform program that is injecting hundreds of millions of dollars in new federal dollars in Puerto Rico's health industry, and the rescue of Puerto Rico's banking system, including three Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-assisted transactions that comprised 70% of Puerto Rico's banking market.

Named "Public Sector Person of the Year" by Caribbean Business weekly business newspaper in 2009.

Appointed as president, CEO and Chairman of the Board of GDB on November 13, 2008 by Gov.-elect Fortuño, he had to assume responsibilities long before going on the payroll since they both had to travel to Wall Street, while still in transition, to buy time from the credit-rating agencies to avoid having the island's bonds reclassified into junk-bond status before the new administration had an opportunity to legislate new fiscal policy laws.

Prior to his stint in public life, Carlos García served as president and COO of Banco Santander Puerto Rico, one of the top banks in Puerto Rico, as well as member of the Board of Directors of Santander Bancorp (NYSE: SBP) from 2001 to 2008. Until 2001, he served as president, CEO and Vice Chairman of the Board of Santander Securities Corporation, Puerto Rico's second largest wealth and asset management firm. Before joining the Santander corporate family, he served as Vice President of Popular Securities, a subsidiary of Popular, Inc., and an analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston in San Juan, Puerto Rico and New York, New York.

Carlos M. García, (born on June 25, 1971, in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico), is a Puerto Rican banker, public servant, and private equity investor who served as president of the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank (GDB) from 2009 to 2011 during the administration of Governor Luis Fortuño.