TESTIMONIOS
I had the privilege to work extensively with Carlos and I can say with no hesitation that he is one of the most knowledgeable and experienced transaction banking and treasury management professionals in the industry. And his work ethics, integrity and professionalism are second to none. A great partner to work with and to have on your side.
Carlos was a key partner to grow the transactional business in Colombia by understanding the customers’ needs and acting according to the time-to-market expectations. His strong knowledge on the working capital management adding revenues for the franchise in Colombia by closing deals with regional customers showed his commitment with our local franchise
Carlos Castro supported one our banks customers in setting-up a shared service center in Latin America, helping the cash application teams to be our new centralized collection teams, and migrating collections processes globally. Carlos main focus was to help improve our cross-functional communications and cooperation between the different stakeholders, namely collectors, credit managers, field finance, customer logistics and sales team. Overall historical performance was maintained and also achieve signifcant reduction in overdue levels within the region.
I have worked with Carlos for many years and have always found him to be a strong professional, and an expert in the Transactional Banking and Working Capital industry. Carlos was instrumental in helping build an environment for our business to expand into Latin America.
I engaged Carlos to help one of our customers on a Working Capital project where the customer was looking for improving their Account Receivables and Account Payables by reducing DSO and increasing DPO respectively. Carlos built a plan with concrete targets on how to enhance each ratios based on expanding customer payments channels as well as standardizing payments methods across the customer’s organization. It implied an important improvement of the operational working capital ratios by about 20%.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Carlos Castro during 3 years and was very productive interacting with him as partner. He is a very assertive person and always open to hear recommendations to improve the returns of his business. He always demonstrated broad and in-depth experience on regulations and markets thoroughly understanding Latin America region. As treasurer, I could see the discipline he had in making sure that the drivers of his business were healthy and profitable. He was a partner on strategically risk decisions and implementations. Carlos’ commitment to highest standards of ethics and values, combined with his broad knowledge and strong drive, make him a very valuable resource for any company which is looking for a strong asset on working capital management advice”
Carlos Castro led a major cash management project for an International Oil Company across the LATAM region, which included defining the scope and implementation plan for migrating the banking arrangements from various local banks in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, to Citigroup in those countries. The project necessitated a detailed understanding of how the cash management should be structured including the technical infrastructure and daily operations, which had to be as automated as possible. The project was delivered on time to the great satisfaction of the client.
I have worked with Carlos for over 3 years during the time he was the head of Cash Management for Citi's Treasury and Trade Solutions business in Latin America. Carlos drove the strategy and the development of capabilities to ensure Citi could support the full suite of working capital management solutions for multinationals, financial institutions and public sector clients in the region. With presence in 21 countries where Citi has full banking licenses, Carlos managed a team of professionals with a strong knowledge of the local regulatory systems as well as the clearing infrastructures of these countries. His background in technology has been key in designing and implementing electronic banking solutions that enable Citi's institutional clients to issue and reconcile payments, collections and manage their liquidity. He also run the commercial cards solutions offered for these clients to manage their procurement and travel and expense management programs more efficiently. He is a very respected leader not only for his knowledge of a business of great complexity, but also for his integrity, team building skills and his exquisite treatment of colleagues, subordinates and top management
Carlos Castro and I have been working as partners for over 10 years. During these years, I have had the opportunity to value his very strong knowledge and expertise in all Cash Management solutions. Furthermore, I along all the members of his team across Latin America have been benefited from Carlos long tenure working at Citi. He has a strong track record in the development of the collection and payments solutions and electronic banking platforms, that now Citi is running successfully in the region. Everything was well aligned with our internal systems, products, policies and procedures. I have no hesitation in sharing the good experiences I have had with Carlos and I’m sure he will add a lot of value as advisor for corporations as well as banks
I met Carlos early in my career at Citi during 1998 when we started to develop the Cash Management business in Ecuador, as he was leading the regional payments capabilities, at that time the center of the strategy for the country. With Carlos support we were able to develop the first ACH in the whole market in partnership with the Central Bank allowing hundred of clients to make massive small value electronic payments and reduce the cost if issuing checks and disbursing cash. Carlos also helped us to improve all our payment capabilities and move all of them into to the web, and to provide the best electronic payment solutions in the market for all private corporations. Once Carlos was appointed as regional Cash Management Head, he helped us to reach record results in Ecuador with a grow of more than 200% in local and international deposits from 2003 to 2008, duplicated revenue in the period and surpassed EBIT goals. I have been lucky to have Carlos support during all the time I lead the Cash Management and Transaction Banking Business at Citi in Ecuador.
Carlos is an expert in Cash Management Solutions, with very strong technology knowledge and with a wide experience in Latin America market. I will recommend him for any need a corporation or a bank may have in this field
Carlos has been an authority in Transaction Banking and Treasury Services for many years with a strong track record. In my years working with Carlos his leadership, experience and depth of knowledge were evident as he executed a comprehensive strategy across Latin America and provided thought leadership and added value to stakeholders, partners and clients alike. With the highest integrity and ethical standards, it was both an honor and a privilege to have had the opportunity to work with Carlos and see the results of his stewardship
Carlos Castro is an energetic and goal-oriented person with a wide-range knowledge and experience in treasury management and working capital solutions. I have worked with him for more than 10 years and it is remarkably his ability to identify and resolve problems and outline innovative and creative solutions
In my years at Citi as lead Cash Management lawyer and Global Documentation Head, I worked with Carlos on a variety of matters from complex projects to client negotiations. His expert product knowledge and understanding of the client needs as well as his levelheadedness proved invaluable in successful resolution of customer issues and conclusion of the projects.
In his role as Latin America Cash Management Head at Citi, Carlos defined, led and implemented the Electronic Channels strategy with great success and positive impact for our corporate customers. One of his main achievements was the recognition by Global Finance rewarding Citi as the Best Internet Bank In Latin America for 7 consecutive years.
Carlos Castro combines inspiring leadership with one of the more analytical, curious minds I’ve come across. When working with Carlos on complex projects, he consistently displayed genuine interest, commitment, hard work, ethics and execution. He is an active listener eager to learn, present solutions on complex problems, bridging differences swiftly. It is always a pleasure to work with Carlos.
Carlos has always displayed a high degree of integrity, responsibility and knowledge. His experience further helped him to easily deal with the various multi-cultural aspects of our business. Besides a great professional, I consider Carlos to be a great friend.
Carlos is a very knowledgeable senior level banking professional with an excellent track record of strategically working with clients on their cash management needs.
Durante dos distintas etapas de mi vida profesional en Citibank tuve la oportunidad de trabajar con Carlos Castro. Primero como contrapartes, en coordinación de desarrollo e implementación de nuevos productos y servicios de Cash Management, él desde la plataforma regional como Gerente de Producto y yo como responsable de la operación de Global Transaction Services en Chile. Luego, en 2010 y 2011, me correspondió reportar directamente a él en su posición de Cash Management Head para Latam.
Con esa experiencia, puedo decir que Carlos es un profesional altamente calificado en el negocio de soluciones y tecnologías de servicios transaccionales para empresas y tiene una vasta trayectoria en posiciones senior de desarrollo de productos, estrategia y alta dirección. Adicionalmente, debo destacar su gran calidad humana e inteligencia emocional.
Carlos tiene una amplia y reconocida experiencia en el manejo de Banca Transaccional a través de Latinoamerica. Se desataca por su alto nivel de profesionalismo y conocimiento del sector financiero, entiende a cabalidad las necesidades, tendencias y desafíos del sector lo que le permite brindar soluciones estratégicas de impacto para potencializar el negocio.
Sin importar el país de residencia, cualquier entidad en el mercado financiero actual enfrenta numerosos desafíos, entre ellos ofrecer un servicio de excelencia que la diferencie de la competencia. Carlos Castro ha acompañado este desafío, apoyando a diversos grupos de trabajo a lo largo de Latinoamérica, convirtiendo sus necesidades en soluciones innovadoras para la banca transaccional, teniendo en cuenta no sólo el contexto regional sino también la escases de recursos humanos y materiales.
Tuve el agrado de trabajar con Carlos en Citibank, en distintas instancias Carlos siempre ha sido un aporte que mezcla experiencia e innovación. En el ámbito transaccional, es clave distinguir desde el día a día dónde hay oportunidades de hacer los procesos más simples y eficientes, enriqueciendo los circuitos transaccionales de las empresas. En lo anterior, Carlos siempre pone una mirada pausada y experimentada que luego decanta para aportar a la generación de propuestas de valor que conjugan todos los elementos disponibles, indistintamente del segmento en donde estén operando.