Xavier Romeu
Encyclopedia
Xavier Romeu is a counselor and litigator, with expertise in securities litigation and regulation, and corporate, commercial and employment litigation. He is a former Puerto Rican-American
politician, and an advocate of statehood for Puerto Rico, and of the appointment of Puerto Rican-Americans to the federal bench, most notably of current Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor
, whom he served as a law clerk.
in Miramar, he attended Haverford College
in Pennsylvania
, where he was Secretary, Vice President and President of the Student Council. As a freshman, Mr. Romeu joined the diversity protests of the early 1980s and delivered the students’ demands to then President Robert Stevens.
As a student leader, Mr. Romeu pushed and obtained the approval by the Board of Directors of funding of a new student center (currently, the John C. Whitehead student center). He also led in the fight for weight room/ sport facilities and for funding of Skeeters, the student-run pizza business. He was a strong supporter of self-governing by students and actively opposed the College administration on a proposed campus-wide alcohol ban. He successfully advocated for accountability and individual responsibility for social events on campus. Mr. Romeu was graduated with Honors in Philosophy.
After receiving a law degree from Columbia University
, he worked as a litigator for the New York law firms of Sullivan & Cromwell
and Proskauer Rose
. He also holds an MBA from Duke University
. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rican Bar Association (“PRBA”) and chaired the Federal Affairs Committee of the PRBA and Hispanic National Bar Association
.
He lives and works in New York and is married, has a daughter, and continues to strongly advocate on Puerto Rican matters, and for equality for the U.S citizens of the Territory of Puerto Rico.
In May 2010 he was invited to testify before the White House Taskforce on Puerto Rico on the subject of economic development strategies for the island and the inextricable relationship between economic development and status. Mr. Romeu explained that the island’s colonial status has served as fertile ground for federal tax subsidies to the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industry for revenues realized, and patents held, in the U.S. Territory, but that the exceptions no longer increase job creation. Mr. Romeu advocated extension of a wage and job based tax credit, instead of revenue based corporate tax subsidy, and extension of empowerment zone status to all of Puerto Rico.
Mr. Romeu became Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development while also holding the position of Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company
(“PRIDCO”). He led PRIDCO to a 30-year high banner in the following key metrics for the Company:
Mr. Romeu also led passage through the U.S. Senate of the IRC Section 30A wage-based tax benefit for Puerto Rico. Under his stewardship, major initiatives included:
Mr. Romeu is currently a practicing attorney in New York City.
('Fund') were presented against him. These charges were dismissed as lacking any merit by the Ethics Commission of Puerto Rico.
In dismissing the allegations with prejudice, the Ethics Commission concluded that Mr. Romeu acted fully in accordance with the norms applicable to the use of credit cards by Company officials. The Ethics Commission similarly dismissed with prejudice as completely unfounded all allegations related to the management of the Fund. Specifically, the Ethics Commission found without merit all referrals from the so-called Comisión Independiente de Ciudadanos para Evaluar Transacciones Gubernamentales (also known as the Blue Ribbon Committee or BRC), an anti-statehood star-chamber established via executive order by former Governor Sila Calderon of the anti-statehood Popular Democratic Party (“PDP”), and exclusively composed of private supporters, and former (and future) members of the PDP.
Romeu subsequently sued PRIDCO for violation of his civil rights and has continued to press for redress of his civil rights. The Puerto Rico Justice Department filed a case against Mr. Romeu claiming negligence. The case has since been fully dismissed as baseless.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
politician, and an advocate of statehood for Puerto Rico, and of the appointment of Puerto Rican-Americans to the federal bench, most notably of current Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. Sotomayor is the Court's 111th justice, its first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice....
, whom he served as a law clerk.
Biography
Mr. Romeu was born and raised in Puerto Rico where his family resided since 1813. Following graduation from the Academia del Perpetuo SocorroAcademia del Perpetuo Socorro
Academia del Perpetuo Socorro was founded in 1921 as a Catholic parochial school pertaining to the Perpetuo Socorro Parish at the Archdiocese of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The school is located in Miramar in Puerto Rico's capital city of San Juan...
in Miramar, he attended Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, where he was Secretary, Vice President and President of the Student Council. As a freshman, Mr. Romeu joined the diversity protests of the early 1980s and delivered the students’ demands to then President Robert Stevens.
As a student leader, Mr. Romeu pushed and obtained the approval by the Board of Directors of funding of a new student center (currently, the John C. Whitehead student center). He also led in the fight for weight room/ sport facilities and for funding of Skeeters, the student-run pizza business. He was a strong supporter of self-governing by students and actively opposed the College administration on a proposed campus-wide alcohol ban. He successfully advocated for accountability and individual responsibility for social events on campus. Mr. Romeu was graduated with Honors in Philosophy.
After receiving a law degree from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, he worked as a litigator for the New York law firms of Sullivan & Cromwell
Sullivan & Cromwell
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an international law firm headquartered in New York. The firm has approximately 800 lawyers in 12 offices, located in financial centers in the United States, Asia, Australia and Europe. Sullivan & Cromwell was founded by Algernon Sydney Sullivan and William Nelson...
and Proskauer Rose
Proskauer Rose
Proskauer Rose is one of the largest law firms in the United States, with twelve offices in the United States and around the world...
. He also holds an MBA from Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rican Bar Association (“PRBA”) and chaired the Federal Affairs Committee of the PRBA and Hispanic National Bar Association
Hispanic National Bar Association
The Hispanic National Bar Association is a non-profit, non-partisan organization representing Hispanics in the legal profession, including attorneys, judges, law professors, legal assistant and paralegals, and law students in the United States and its territories.The current National President and...
.
He lives and works in New York and is married, has a daughter, and continues to strongly advocate on Puerto Rican matters, and for equality for the U.S citizens of the Territory of Puerto Rico.
In May 2010 he was invited to testify before the White House Taskforce on Puerto Rico on the subject of economic development strategies for the island and the inextricable relationship between economic development and status. Mr. Romeu explained that the island’s colonial status has served as fertile ground for federal tax subsidies to the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industry for revenues realized, and patents held, in the U.S. Territory, but that the exceptions no longer increase job creation. Mr. Romeu advocated extension of a wage and job based tax credit, instead of revenue based corporate tax subsidy, and extension of empowerment zone status to all of Puerto Rico.
Public office
Xavier Romeu chaired the HNBA Governmental Affairs Committee. In that capacity, in 1998, he:- Led the national coalition that broke the Republican Senate’s hold on Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Managed the passage of the Puerto Rico Self Determination Bill through the House of Representatives on March 4, 1998, the first time that a definition-based federal bill passed the House of Representatives;
- Managed the passage of a sense of the U.S. Senate resolution endorsing self determination for Puerto Rico; and
- Secured the extension and increase of the rum tax rebate to the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico;
- Obtained extension of the research and development tax credit to Puerto Rico.
Mr. Romeu became Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development while also holding the position of Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company
Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company
The Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company , along with the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank , was created by the government of Puerto Rico in 1942, during the administration of Governor Rexford G...
(“PRIDCO”). He led PRIDCO to a 30-year high banner in the following key metrics for the Company:
- Job Commitments: 29,275
- Capital Investment: $835.3 million
- New Businesses: 254 (highest since 1977)
- New Payroll: $504.2 million
- Lowest Real Estate Vacancy Rate (in 7 years)
- Lowest Number of Business Closures since 1971.
Mr. Romeu also led passage through the U.S. Senate of the IRC Section 30A wage-based tax benefit for Puerto Rico. Under his stewardship, major initiatives included:
- The Puerto Rico Trans-Shipment Port
- The Puerto Silicon Barrio (Technology Incubator)
- Creation of the partnership infrastructure for the following Science and Technology Clusters:
- -Health
- -Biotechnology
- -Pharma
- -Manufacturing
- -Electronics and IT
- New Strategy and Incentives for the Textile and Apparel Industries.
Mr. Romeu is currently a practicing attorney in New York City.
Criminal accusations
Mr. Romeu was the subject of audits and investigations related to his government work and criminal charges regarding the use of credit cards for personal expenses and the management of the Puerto Rico Industrial Incentives FundPuerto Rico Industrial Incentives Fund
A controversial $160 million investment fund created by the Pedro Rossello administration to promote economic development. The PRIIF was funded by U.S...
('Fund') were presented against him. These charges were dismissed as lacking any merit by the Ethics Commission of Puerto Rico.
In dismissing the allegations with prejudice, the Ethics Commission concluded that Mr. Romeu acted fully in accordance with the norms applicable to the use of credit cards by Company officials. The Ethics Commission similarly dismissed with prejudice as completely unfounded all allegations related to the management of the Fund. Specifically, the Ethics Commission found without merit all referrals from the so-called Comisión Independiente de Ciudadanos para Evaluar Transacciones Gubernamentales (also known as the Blue Ribbon Committee or BRC), an anti-statehood star-chamber established via executive order by former Governor Sila Calderon of the anti-statehood Popular Democratic Party (“PDP”), and exclusively composed of private supporters, and former (and future) members of the PDP.
Romeu subsequently sued PRIDCO for violation of his civil rights and has continued to press for redress of his civil rights. The Puerto Rico Justice Department filed a case against Mr. Romeu claiming negligence. The case has since been fully dismissed as baseless.
Honors and recognitions
- The Puerto Rico Institute Lifetime Achievement Award
- National Hispanic Corporate Achievers, Western Hemisphere Achiever of the Year
- Frank Torres Commitment to Diversity Award, Association of Judges of Hispanic Heritage
- Honorable Felipe N. Torres Award for Outstanding Latino Attorney of the Year