 He began working with Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and then moved on to the Chase Manhattan Bank, (today JP Morgan Chase), where he occupied several executive positions including Country Head in Puerto Rico, Argentina and Brazil from 1977 to 1988.In 1989 he was appointed President of Banco de Ponce, the second largest commercial bank in Puerto Rico, just before it merged into Banco Popular.From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Salazar was based in New York as Managing Director in Investment Banking - Latin America for PaineWebber (today UBS).