Joan Quera Font, Key Andorran Banker, Dies at 69

Joan Quera Font, a pivotal figure in Andorra's banking sector and former general manager of Banc Internacional-Banca Mora, died on Friday in Barcelona at the age of 69.

Quera arrived in Andorra in 2003 from BBVA's central services, where he had served as deputy general manager overseeing retail banking risks in Spain and Portugal. His earlier career included stints at Bankinter and Argentaria, which later merged into BBVA. As general manager and later executive general manager of Banc Internacional-Banca Mora until 2011, he oversaw the bank's full transition to Andorran ownership. In 2006, the founding Mora and Aristot families acquired BBVA's stake, held since 1970. During his leadership, the bank pursued international expansion and, in 2007, attempted a merger with Andbank that ultimately failed despite initial announcements and preparations.

In 2011, Quera stepped down from the general manager role upon early retirement from BBVA under prior agreements and was succeeded by Gilles Serra from Crédit Agricole Private Banking España. He remained on the rebranded MoraBanc board through 2015 and again from 2018 to 2021. That same year, while off the board, he joined Carles Salvadó and Santiago Guillén as one of three administrators appointed to manage Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA) after government intervention prompted by a US FinCEN notice that effectively shuttered the entity. He took a leave from MoraBanc for the role, which lasted several weeks until the Agency for the Resolution of Banking Entities (AREB) was established. Afterward, clauses under the Andorran Financial Authority (INAF) prevented his return to MoraBanc, despite his wishes, sparking reported tensions with the bank's leadership and regulator.

A wake opens tomorrow, 18 January, at 12:30pm in Sala 2 of Barcelona's Sant Gervasi funeral home and continues until 11am on 19 January. The funeral ceremony follows at the same venue at 11am on 19 January.