Former Nano Banc executive barred from banking industry
A former executive at Nano Banc in Irvine, Calif., has been barred from working in the banking industry.
The Federal Reserve also said in a press release that it fined Anthony Gressak III $75,000 after he allegedly obtained pandemic relief funds fraudulently, among other things. Gressak, who co-founded the $958 million-asset bank, resigned as its interim CEO in 2022.
Gressak had also been the bank’s chief credit officer.
The Fed claimed that Gressak, who was a partial owner of a group of corporate entities that received roughly $15.5 million of pandemic-era relief funds, participated in making materially false representations in the applications for those funds.
Gressak, though a spokesperson, defended his “strong record of achievement” at the bank, adding that he has not admitted to any of the allegations in the consent order. The spokesman said that Gressak had “already moved on from banking” and wants to put interactions with the Fed behind him.
Gressak, as chief credit officer, “stabilized the bank and ensured that it achieved profitability within six months after it was acquired in 2018 – and then helped the Banc to successfully navigate the Covid crisis,” the representative said in a statement. “After taking on the role of interim CEO with little notice in early 2021 … Gressak pushed forward the transformation of the Banc into a profitable and well-capitalized enterprise that had strong liquidity and a balance sheet of performing loans.”
The representative asserted the former executive “acted to protect shareholders and advance safe and sound innovation … that progressed the status quo of the banking industry. He made decisions based on the advice of highly reputable outside regulatory counsel and executives approved by regulators.”
The Fed hit Nano with a cease-and-desist order in January 2022 tied to an inability to comply with previous enforcement actions. The Fed ordered the bank to change its compliance policies and procedures with a focus on oversight of loans to bank executives and gaps in its leadership team.
The California Department of Financial Protection issued the bank an order in early 2021 instructing it to bolster capital and reduce its concentration of commercial real estate loans.
Nano ran afoul of the state’s order late last year when it replaced several directors and appointed new leadership without notifying the state. That led to a C&D order.