STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

IN RE: APPLICATION FOR )

AUTHORITY TO ACQUIRE THE )

FIRST BANK OF MIAMI BY ) Case No. 99-1974

RENE DE PICCIOTTO. )

)

REPORT OF PUBLIC HEARING

Pursuant to Section 120.80(3)(a)4., Florida Statutes (Supp. 1998), the Division of Administrative Hearings held a public hearing in the above-styled matter on June 10, 1999, in Tallahassee, Florida, before Patricia Hart Malono, its duly- designated Administrative Law Judge.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Saturnino Lucio, Esquire

Lucio, Mandler, Bronstein, Garbett, Stiphany & Martinez P.A.

701 Brickell Avenue, Suite 2000

Miami, Florida 33131

For Respondent: Robert Alan Fox

Assistant General Counsel Department of Banking and Finance The Fletcher Building, Suite 526

101 East Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

On October 20, 1998, the Department of Banking and Finance ("Department") received the Application for Authority to Acquire the First Miami Bank submitted by Rene de Picciotto, a foreign national. By letter dated April 27, 1999, the Department referred the matter to the Division of Administrative Hearings

and requested the assignment of an administrative law judge to conduct a public hearing pursuant to Sections 120.569 and .57(1), Florida Statutes (Supp. 1998). The Department attached to the letter a copy of the Order Granting Department's Petition for Public Hearing, which was entered by the Department on April 22, 1999, together with a copy of the public portion of

Mr. de Picciotto's application.

The public hearing required by Section 120.80(3)(a)4., Florida Statutes (Supp. 1998) was held in Tallahassee, Florida, on June 10, 1999; a telephone conference call was placed to the First Bank of Miami, linking the hearing room of the Division of Administrative Hearings with the bank's offices. A notice was published in The Miami Herald on May 27, 1999, advising the public of the date and Tallahassee location of the hearing and of the right to participate in the hearing via telephone from the offices of the First Bank of Miami. No member of the public appeared at either location or otherwise indicated any desire to appear and present evidence or comment on the pending application.

At the public hearing, Mr. de Picciotto testified in his own behalf. The Department did not call any witnesses, but the Department's Exhibits 1 through 5 were offered and received into evidence. These exhibits included both the public and the confidential portion of the application. Joint Exhibits 1 and 2 were also offered and received into evidence, and, on the motion

of the Department, Rules 3C-105.101 - .115, Florida Administrative Code, were officially recognized.

The Transcript of the hearing was filed with the Division of Administrative Hearings on June 21, 1999, and the parties submitted a Joint Proposed Report of Public Hearing, which has been duly considered.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Based on the oral and documentary evidence presented at the hearing and on the entire record of this proceeding, the following findings of fact are made:

1. On October 20, 1998, the Department received an application to acquire control of the First Bank of Miami by Rene de Picciotto, who is a citizen of Italy residing in Switzerland. Mr. de Picciotto currently owns approximately twenty-three percent of the outstanding common stock of the First Bank of Miami and proposes to increase his percentage of ownership to thirty-five percent of the bank's outstanding common stock.

2. The First Bank of Miami is a state-chartered financial institution located in Miami, Dade County, Florida. The bank is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC"), and Mr. de Picciotto filed a Notice of Change in Control with the FDIC. The FDIC conveyed its intent not to disapprove the acquisition in a letter dated April 8, 1999.

3. In a notice published in the October 30, 1998, edition of the Florida Administrative Weekly, the Department complied

   with the requirements of Section 120.80(3)(a)1.a., Florida Statutes (Supp. 1998), by providing notice that

   Mr. de Picciotto's application had been filed, by advising the public that it could submit comments for inclusion in the record, and by advising that any person could request a public hearing by filing a request with the Clerk of the Department of Banking and Finance within twenty-one days of the date the notice was published. No request for a hearing was received from a member of the public. However, since the application at issue involves the acquisition of the First Bank of Miami by a foreign national, the Department requested a public hearing and forwarded the matter to the Division of Administrative Hearings as required by Section 120.80(3)(a)4.

4. On May 27, 1999, Mr. de Picciotto complied with the requirements of Section 120.80(3)(a)4. by causing a notice to be published in The Miami Herald advising that a public hearing on his application to acquire control of the First Bank of Miami would be held on June 10, 1999, at the Division of Administrative Hearings in Tallahassee, Florida, and via telephone from the offices of the First Bank of Miami. The Miami Herald is a newspaper of general circulation in Dade County, Florida, which is the community served by the First Bank of Miami. The hearing was held as scheduled, but no member of the public appeared at either the Division of Administrative Hearings in Tallahassee or

   via the telephone conference connection with the First Bank of Miami.

5. Mr. de Picciotto appeared in person at the public hearing in Tallahassee, Florida, as required by Section 120.80(3)(a)4.

6. Mr. de Picciotto has extensive experience in banking. After receiving a baccalaureat degree from the French Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in 1964, Mr. de Picciotto worked from 1965 until 1973 for the Banque Indosuez, a leading European merchant bank. He has been involved in banking continuously since that time.

7. From 1973 until 1978, Mr. de Picciotto managed the offices of the affiliates of the Trade Development Bank located in Switzerland, Paris, Luxembourg, and Belgium.

8. From 1978 until 1981, Mr. de Picciotto was manager of the Financiere Indosuez, the Swiss unit of the Banque Indosuez, and was involved in portfolio management for individuals with a high net worth.

9. In 1981, Mr. Picciotto purchased Progespar, an affiliate of the Banque Indosuez located in Switzerland, and he ultimately acquired thirty-three percent of the bank's stock. The bank was renamed Financiere Fransad in 1981, and it operated independently as a private bank until 1991, with its deposits growing during that time to 1.5 billion Swiss francs.

10. Meanwhile, in 1986, Mr. de Picciotto obtained a license to open a bank in Lausanne, Switzerland, with initial equity of ten million Swiss francs. Mr. de Picciotto owned fifteen percent of the stock of this bank, which operated under the name of Cantrade Banque Lausanne and operated as a private bank involved in international finance. In 1987, Cantrade Banque Lausanne acquired a local Swiss bank named Banque Intercommerciale de Gestion, which had a representative located in Miami, Florida.

11. In 1991, Financiere Fransad and Cantrade Banque Lausanne merged, and the resulting bank was named Cantrade Private Banque Lausanne. Mr. de Picciotto owned forty percent of the equity in this bank, and was vice chairman of the board. The bank managed deposits of 2.5 billion Swiss francs and employed 90 people. It continued to maintain a representative in Miami.

12. In 1994, Mr. de Picciotto purchased one-hundred percent of the equity in Cantrade Private Banque Lausanne. In 1995, Banque Centonale de Geneve, which is a state bank organized under the Republic of Geneva, Switzerland, and owned by local governments in and around Geneva, purchased forty percent of the equity in Cantrade Private Banque Lausanne, which was renamed Compaginiv Bancarede Geneve. The bank currently employs 250 people and manages deposits of 10.5 billion Swiss francs, an increase from deposits of three billion Swiss francs in 1995. Mr. de Picciotto has been chairman of the bank since June 1995.

13. During the approximately thirty years he has been in banking, Mr. de Picciotto has never been disciplined by any governmental authority in connection with any financial institution with which he has been affiliated or in connection with any financial transaction, and he has not been denied regulatory approval for the acquisition, merger, or creation of any financial institution. Except with respect to the application under consideration, Mr. de Picciotto is not aware of any pending or potential government investigation into his background, finances, or ownership of any financial institution, and he has never had a lawsuit filed against him.

14. Mr. de Picciotto is well-regarded in the international banking community, and he enjoys a reputation of honesty and integrity in international banking circles. He has never been convicted of, or pled guilty or no contest to, any violation of Section 655.50, Florida Statutes; of Chapter 880, Florida Statutes; or of any similar federal or state law.

15. Mr. de Picciotto has extensive experience in launching new banking operations and in developing and expanding small existing banks similar to the First Bank of Miami. He does not intend to implement any immediate significant changes in the management of the First Bank of Miami, and he intends to operate the bank in a manner that will benefit the interests of the general public, the depositors, the creditors, and the other shareholders of the bank.

16. Mr. de Picciotto intends to use his personal funds to acquire the additional equity in the First Bank of Miami, and the purchase will cause no strain on his financial resources.

    Mr. de Picciotto's personal funds are sufficient to allow him to contribute to the bank any additional capital that may be required by state or federal regulatory agencies.

17. The evidence presented is sufficient to establish that Mr. de Picciotto enjoys an impeccable reputation and possesses the experience and financial responsibility necessary to participate in controlling and managing the affairs of the First Bank of Miami in a legal and proper manner. The proof also is sufficient to establish that the interests of other shareholders, depositors, and creditors of the bank and of the public generally will not be jeopardized by the proposed acquisition by

Mr. de Picciotto of thirty-five percent of the outstanding common stock of the First Bank of Miami.

DONE AND ENTERED this 20th day of July, 1999, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

PATRICIA HART MALONO

Administrative Law Judge

Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060

(850) 488-9675 SUNCOM 278-9675

Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 20th day of July, 1999.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Saturnino Lucio, Esquire

Lucio, Mandler, Bronstein, Garbett Stiphany & Martinez, P.A.

701 Brickell Avenue, Suite 2000

Miami, Florida 33131

Robert Alan Fox

Assistant General Counsel Department of Banking and Finance Suite 526, The Fletcher Building

101 East Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399

Harry Hooper, General Counsel Department of Banking and Finance Suite 526, The Fletcher Building

101 East Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0350

Honorable Robert F. Milligan Comptroller, State of Florida Department of Banking and Finance The Capitol, Plaza Level Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0350

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions within 10 days from the date of this Report. Any exceptions to this Report shall be filed with the Department of Banking and Finance.

Docket for Case No: 99-001974

Orders for Case No: 99-001974