Jorge L. Perez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1962 and came to the United States in January 1971 with his family. After living in the Bronx, New York for approximately five years, the Perez family settled in New Haven in 1976. Jorge lived in the Hill Community for over forty years and continues to be an essential part of the New Haven community. He graduated from Richard C. Lee High School in 1981 and received a Cum Laude diploma from the University of New Haven in 1985 with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Accounting.
In 1987 Jorge was elected to the Board of Aldermen of the City of New Haven representing the 5th Ward in the Hill neighborhood. During that time Jorge served as President of the Board of Alderman (from 2000 to 2006, and January 2012 to April 2015), was on the Finance Committee for ten years including being the Chairman for eight of those years, and on numerous other Committees including Chairman of the Board of Alderman Black & Hispanic Caucus (from 2006 to 2011). With his vast experience and leadership Jorge has played a major role on many issues that contributed to the renaissance of the City of New Haven. He initiated the City of New Haven’s Fire Cadet Program, he was one of the original proponents of the Community Benefits legislation, he established an ad hoc committee on affordable housing initiatives, he was the proponent to revise and improve the City’s Ethics ordinance, advocated for school reform and addressing the achievement gap before many other public officials decided to join the effort and he has supported various other initiatives around youth services and social justice issues.
In addition to his work as Alderman, Jorge sat on the Boards of Community Action Agency of Greater New Haven and Habitat for Humanity where he served as Treasurer for both organizations, the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, and the Board of Directors of the Hill Development Corporation of New Haven where he served as Chairman of the Special Projects Committee. In his capacity as Chairman of the Special Projects Committee Jorge was instrumental in planning and structuring several development deals including a 65-unit rental project that was developed utilizing the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. More recently, he helped established New Haven Works and is currently its Chairman of the Board of Directors. He is an active member of his church and other local neighborhood efforts.
In February 2015, Governor Dannel P. Malloy appointed Jorge the Commissioner of the Department of Banking for the State of Connecticut. In January 2019, Governor Ned Lamont reappointed him to the same position as Banking Commissioner. He has over 25 years experience working in the banking industry. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner he served as Vice President Senior Commercial Loan Officer of Liberty Bank. Prior to that, he worked at Sovereign Bank New England as Vice President Community Banking Manager of the New Haven Exchange Branch. He was employed by Bank Boston for approximately 12 years before it was purchased by Sovereign Bank.
As Banking Commissioner, Jorge has jurisdiction over Connecticut’s laws pertaining to state chartered banks and credit unions, consumer credit, broker-dealers, investment advisers, securities, and tender offers. He oversees a department with approximately 120 employees. In his capacity as Banking Commissioner, Jorge serves as a voting ex officio member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, and ex officio member of the Connecticut Retirement Security Authority Board. He is also an active member of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) District One Group and the Regulatory Committee of CSBS. Commissioner Perez is also a member of the Community Economic Development Fund Foundation Board of Directors located in Meriden, Connecticut.