President Leonel Fernandez last week named former president (1980-1996) of the collapsed Banco de Comercio as the Dominican Republic’s ambassador in Japan. This is Urena’s first diplomatic appointment. The Banco del Comercio was salvaged by the government in 1996 and sold under privileged terms to Baninter. This bank subsequently also collapsed in 2003 this time being sold to Scotiabank, again on preferential terms and again at a high cost to taxpayers. Urena had kept a low profile since leaving the bank but in 2004 made the news for the book “Memorias de un banquero,” released just one month before the 2004 presidential election. In the book, Urena looks into how bankers and politicians court each other.