BBVA Compass, the Sunbelt-based subsidiary of Spain’s BBVA, is opening a Miami office from which it will offer wealth management and commercial banking products and services.

The bank is hoping to tap into its network in Latin America and offer domestic and international wealth management services to clients from its South Florida base.

The Miami team is made up of: Roberto Munoz, BBVA Compass South Florida market president, who leads commercial banking operations; Jose Ramon Rodriguez, regional market executive, who heads up the international wealth management team; and Richard Ganter, market executive, who will direct domestic wealth management.

BBVA is far from the only financial firm eyeing the prospects of serving international clients from Miami, with its strong ties to Latin America. For example, Mora Wealth Management launched an office in Miami in June, in light of “a growing Latin American affluent investor market,” which the firm noted has grown by 18.1 per cent in millionaire wealth since 2007. The Miami office is led by chief executive Eli Butnaru, who said the new location “positions it geographically” to manage capital flows and clients across Europe, Latin America and North America.

Also in June, the family office Lowenhaupt Global Advisors opened an office in Miami to expand its coverage of South Florida and Latin America. Erik Halvorssen was appointed to lead the operation.

International Planning Group hired Diego Polenghi in May to lead expansion in Latin America, based in the heart of Miami’s financial district. Polenghi joined from Private Bank of Standard Chartered Bank in Miami, where he was head of sales for the Americas.

In April, RBC Wealth Management appointed Rodrigo Buller Souto as director of its international solutions team. Based in Miami, Buller Souto will head the team’s extension into Florida and select Latin American markets.