JPMorgan Chase said former Florida senator and Housing and Urban Development secretary Mel Martinez will become chairman of its operations in Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean as the megabank continues efforts to expand and grow in international markets.
HUD secretary under George W. Bush, Martinez will "represent the bank at the most senior levels to clients" in the region —from large companies, nonprofits to governments, the bank said in a statement.
"Mel has been a business and civic leader and a role model in Florida for decades," said JPM chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon.
"He has served the people of Florida well at both the local and national level."
After resigning from the Senate a year ago, he has worked as a partner at law firm DLA Piper in Orlando.
The hiring comes less than a month after JPMorgan established international expansion as a top priority.
The senator immigrated to Florida at 15 as a Cuban refugee under a humanitarian program called Operation Peter Pan, which relocated children from Cuba during the early years of the Castro regime.
