Anthony Gressak

Gressak was a senior vice president at California Republic Bank, responsible for about 50% of the bank’s loan portfolio; he oversaw more than $1 billion in commercial real estate financing and over $100 million in various lines of credit focused on financial services, foodservice, and restaurants. After Mechanics BankMechanics BankMechanics Bank is a community bank headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Founded in Richmond in 1905, it has been controlled by Ford Financial Fund since 2015. It acquired California Republic Bank (2016), Scott Valley Bank (2018), and Rabobank, N.A. (2019), and after merging with HomeStreet Bank in September 2025 its holding company, Mechanics Bancorp, became listed on Nasdaq. As of June 30, 2026, the bank had about $21.2 billion in assets and 166 branches in California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii.Open the full entry acquired California Republic in 2016, he, Mark Rebal, and Mark Troncale decided to start their own bank.⁠[1][1][1]

In September 2017, Nano Financial Holdings filed a notice of private offering (Form D) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, listing Gressak, Rebal, and Troncale as executive officers and directors. In 2017, the three co-founders raised $71.7 million in equity capital to acquire commercial banks in Southern California; an amended notice in June 2018 showed $71,629,290 sold. From 2018, Gressak was a shareholder of the holding company Allegiant United Holdings, which partly owned Nano Financial Holdings, which in turn wholly owned Nano Banc.⁠[2][1][3][4]

In 2018, the three bought Commerce Bank of Temecula Valley for $23.3 million and renamed it Nano Banc; at the time, the bank had about $60 million in loans and deposits. FDIC records show that the name change took effect on April 30, 2018, and that the headquarters moved to Irvine on August 29 of that year. From 2018 to 2022, Gressak served as a director of Nano Banc and Nano Financial Holdings, and from 2018 to 2021 he was the bank’s chief credit officer. As of June 30, 2021, Nano Banc had assets of $1.3 billion.⁠[1][5][5][4][6]

On February 24, 2021, Allegiant United Holdings, Nano Financial Holdings, and Nano Banc entered into a written agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, which Gressak signed as a member of Allegiant. The agreement required the parties to give 30 days’ written notice to regulators before appointing any new director or senior executive officer, and required them to reduce commercial real estate loan concentrations and strengthen board oversight.⁠[7][4][4][7][7]

In 2021, Gressak became Nano Banc’s acting interim chief executive officer. In December of that year, Nano Banc placed two executives on administrative paid leave, named a new chief executive and chairman, and replaced directors; the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation said this violated the advance-notice requirement and issued a cease-and-desist order. The Federal Reserve’s later prohibition order states that Gressak organized and voted in favor of shareholder action that caused the bank to install a new chief executive officer and slate of directors without prior notice to the Federal Reserve Board or the San Francisco Fed, in violation of the written agreement. On January 18, 2022, the Federal Reserve Board issued a cease-and-desist order against Nano Banc and its holding companies, noting that the bank was operating without a permanent chief executive officer and chief financial officer.⁠[4][8][8][4][9]

In February 2022, Gressak resigned as an officer and director of Nano Banc and as a director of Nano Financial Holdings, and he later relinquished to the company all the shares he held in Nano Financial Holdings. As of August 2022, he was no longer affiliated with Nano Banc.⁠[4][4][6]

On November 1, 2024, the Federal Reserve Board, with Gressak’s consent, issued an order of prohibition and civil money penalty barring him from participating in the affairs of any insured depository institution or its holding company without approval and assessing a $75,000 civil money penalty; the Fed announced the action on November 12. The Fed also issued a prohibition order the same day against James T. Chung, a former director of Nano Financial Holdings and Nano Banc.⁠[4][4][4][10][10]

The findings set out in the order include the following: as part of Nano Financial Holdings’ approximately $37 million capital raise in 2020, Gressak and the other founders formulated a plan under which they would receive commissions on the investments, even though the subscription agreement signed by investors stated that bank executives would receive no commissions; Gressak received $194,704.67 in commissions, including $100,000 that he caused the bank to advance him two months before the capital was funded, in violation of the Fed’s Regulation O, and concealed the commission from the San Francisco Fed and the boards of the bank and holding company; and on March 24, 2020, he participated in approving a $148,000 payroll advance to a bank executive officer, which allowed that executive to inflate his income to a lender and obtain a loan.⁠[4][4][4][4][4]

The order further found that, while in office, Gressak was a partial owner of a group of corporate entities that received about $15.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), economic injury disaster loan, and Restaurant Revitalization Fund money under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), and that from March 2020 to February 2022 he participated in making materially false representations in certain of the applications and improperly used a portion of the funds for personal expenses. The Federal Reserve Board found that this conduct constituted violations of law or regulation, unsafe or unsound banking practices, or breaches of fiduciary duty. Gressak consented to the order and waived rights including a hearing and judicial review, but neither admitted nor denied the allegations.⁠[4][4][4][4][4]

A spokesman for Gressak said that he had made decisions based on the advice of highly reputable outside regulatory counsel and executives approved by regulators, that he had transitioned out of banking and wanted to put the matter behind him, and that he was looking forward to his future endeavors.⁠[11][11]

On September 25, 2026, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation closed Nano Banc and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver, and Sunwest Bank assumed substantially all of its deposits. The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation said the reasons for the closure included deteriorating financial condition and a multi-year pattern of executive mismanagement and regulatory violations.⁠[12][12][13]