On Thursday, exchange visitors with the Cross Cultural Internship Program (www.theccip.com) joined a seminar on community banking.

The talk was hosted by Mark Ricca, president and CEO of First American International Bank (FAIB). Group leaders Parthiban R, a graduate student studying at Nanyang Technological University and Phoebe Guan, currently intern FAIB, helped set up the meeting. After the seminar, Mr Ricca took the students for a festive networking dinner at a restaurant on Chinatown's Bowery.

Earlier this year, Phoebe joined the Exploration Professional Tour in New York, organized by University of Hong Kong and FUSIA Communications, organizer of CCIP. She was impressed by FAIB and New York City, and chose to return for a full professional internship at FAIB.

"This is the second time I've attended this talk by Mr. Ricca," said Phoebe. "Now at FAIB I find the seminar especially useful -- a lot of the topics are related directly to what I'm doing every day."

Another participant Catherine Chan, a student at the University of Hong Kong, said, " I was especially impressed by Mr. Ricca's generosity. I appreciated his taking us to dinner, where we were able to talk and interact in a casual setting after the seminar."

Joe, a student at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, is interning with NYS Assemblywoman Nily Rozic. "Though I am not a business student, I got a lot out of the talk, especially the part about community relations. It's relevant to the constituent service aspect of my internship."

Mark Ricca, president and CEO of FAIB, has more than 25 years of business experience, including expertise in finance and law with a special focus on community banking. He was also the managing partner at the law firm Ricca & Donnelly and has been a graduate-level professor of banking.