James L. Prouty

Jim Prouty is the Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman of the Investment Committee at SFRE. Jim has over 35 years of international, corporate, investment banking and SME lending experience gained primarily at Bank of America and Heller Financial.

Jim started his career in banking with JP Morgan Chase (the former Chemical Bank) in New York. At Bank of America he has worked in New York, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Germany and Paris in positions of increasing responsibility until he was appointed Senior Vice President for Continental Europe. During his time at the bank, he also headed the Financial Institutions Group for EMEA, overseeing 1100 banking relationships. He later served for 5 years as an Executive Vice President and then President of the Heller International Group, one of the world’s largest SME lenders, operating in 22 countries in a JV structure with major international banks in Asia, Latin America and Europe. More recently Jim has been actively engaged in the Microfinance sector in Mexico and India. He is currently a Director and Chairman of the Risk and Asset and Liability Committees of Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited in India. He has been President of the US Chamber of Commerce in Brussels, President of the American Council of European Chambers of Commerce, and was appointed by the US Ambassador to Belgium to be Chairman of the United States Trade and Investment Center which focused on expanding trade with Central and Eastern Europe.

Jim has always been active in community affairs including roles with The United Way, Boy Scouts of America and The Duke of Edinburgh Award. Jim has an MBA in Finance from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

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