Gary Lax has practiced financial institutions law and regulation for nearly 25 years. Mr. Lax specializes in bank regulatory and enforcement law, as well as transactional and corporate law. His practice includes representing community banks throughout the nation, as well as money center and international banks, in a broad range of regulatory matters, including enforcement and compliance representation before the federal banking agencies. In recent years, he has also advised numerous banks and savings banks on FDIC-assisted acquisitions, including structuring the bids, the bidding process and closing the transaction.

Mr. Lax is recognized as one of the nation’s leading bank regulatory attorneys. He is a frequent speaker on financial institution matters and was on the faculty of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council for more than 10 years.

Prior to entering into private practice, Mr. Lax was an attorney and advisor with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Representative Transactions:

• Represented First Niagara Bank, Buffalo, New York, in its conversion to a national bank and merger with Harleysville National Bank and Trust Company. 

• Represented the Bank of China in its multi-million dollar enforcement action by the Comptroller of the Currency.

• Represented First Federal Banc of the Southwest, Inc., Roswell, New Mexico, in its acquisition of GFSB Bancorp, Inc., in which First Federal went public in connection with the acquisition.

• Represented HBancorporation, Inc., Lawrenceville, Illinois, in connection with its simultaneous conversion from a mutual savings bank to a stock national bank, holding company formation and its initial public offering.

• Represented Newport Capital Bancorp, LLC, Newport Beach, California, in its minority investment in GreenChoice Bank.

• Represented First National Bank of Sumner, Sumner, Illinois, in its voluntary liquidation to a non-bank affiliated corporation and the surrender of its national bank charter to the Comptroller of the Currency.

• Represented Doha Bank New York Branch in its multi-million dollar joint enforcement action by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.