Richard Garabedian has been actively involved in representing banks, savings institutions, credit unions and holding companies for more than 25 years. Mr. Garabedian specializes in credit union charter conversions, mutual holding companies, mutual-to-stock conversions, mergers and acquisitions, and general bank regulatory matters.

Mr. Garabedian is recognized as the nation’s leading expert on converting credit unions to savings bank charters. As part of this process, he works closely with boards and management in designing and implementing a conversion plan and getting the conversion approved by members, the National Credit Union Administration and bank regulatory agencies. He has worked on or completed more than half of all credit union charter conversions that have been completed to date. The American Banker dubbed him the “Credit Union Conversion Guru.”

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Garabedian was an attorney with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Representative Transactions:

• Represented First Bank Richmond, Richmond, Indiana, in its conversion from an Indiana mutual savings bank to a national bank charter.

• Represented Kaiser Federal Bank, Covina, California, in its mutual holding company reorganization and $57.0 million initial public common stock offering.

• Converted Atlantic Coast Federal Credit Union, Jacksonville, Florida, to a federal savings bank.

• Represented Atlantic Coast Bank in its mutual holding company reorganization and $58.0 million initial public common stock offering.

• Represented Coastway Credit Union, Cranston, Rhode Island, in its charter conversion to a Rhode Island savings bank.