Mark Troncale

Troncale grew up in Irvine, attended a private school in Oregon, and later earned a law degree (JD) from the California School of Law while working as a banker. He said that he chose to stay in banking rather than become a lawyer because he saw his career take off while working at California Republic Bank.⁠[1][1]

Troncale was a senior vice president of California Republic Bank, focusing on treasury, cash management, and internet technology. In 2016, 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 for about $330 million; after the acquisition, he, Mark Rebal, and Anthony Gressak decided to strike out on their own. Troncale said his clients did not find Mechanics a good fit for them. The three sketched out the new bank at a restaurant overlooking Newport Beach harbor, focusing on service, technology, culture, and a “low branch model.” Troncale recalled that the three started out sharing an office the size of a bedroom.⁠[1][2][1][1][3]

On September 14, 2017, Troncale, as president, signed the notice of private offering (Form D) that Nano Financial Holdings filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for up to $150 million; he, Rebal, and Gressak were all listed 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 signed by Troncale on June 7, 2018, showed $71,629,290 sold to 73 investors. Troncale said the bank had originally aimed to raise as much as $200 million but closed its initial round at $71.7 million at the request of banking regulators when it acquired the Temecula Valley bank.⁠[4][4][4][1][5][5][1]

In 2018, the three bought Murrieta-based 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. Rebal became chief executive, Troncale president, and Gressak chief credit officer. Explaining the name, Troncale said that many tech disrupters have shorter names and that “Nano” is associated with technology and small size.⁠[1][6][6][7][1]

In February 2020, Troncale described Nano Banc’s progress: its assets had grown from nothing in 2018 to $815 million as of December 31, 2019, a feat he said no other de novo bank had achieved. Technology was part of Troncale’s and Nano Banc’s growth strategy; the bank was building its own software and hardware platform, had patents pending, and planned to license the technology to other community banks. He said that a century ago bankers talked about their safes, whereas today a bank’s safe is the technology that protects its deposits, and that banks should lead that conversation rather than follow technology companies.⁠[1][1][1]

Troncale said the bank modeled its culture on a tech company, being more business casual, collaborative, and less hierarchical. Nano Banc spent nothing on marketing and did not attract customers with high certificate of deposit rates; instead, it hired bankers from rival banks who brought wealthy clients, largely entrepreneurs with $5 million to $10 million to deposit. The bank earned a $2.3 million profit in 2019 and raised $25 million through a private placement of five-year senior unsecured notes at a fixed 7% rate; it planned to grow assets to about $1.2 billion and considered an initial public offering part of its long-term strategy. Troncale said Nano had a huge opportunity to become one of the most competitive and largest banks in Southern California within five years.⁠[1][1][1][1][1][1][1]

In October 2020, the company moved into the entire third floor of a newly renovated office building in the Irvine Spectrum area, with plans to expand its staff there from 70 to several hundred. As of June 30, 2020, Nano Banc’s assets had grown 56% to $1.1 billion; as of June 30, 2021, they stood at $1.3 billion.⁠[3][3][3][7]

On February 24, 2021, Nano Banc and its holding companies entered into a written agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, committing to improve corporate governance, liquidity, earnings, credit risk management, and allowances for loan losses, to retain an independent third party to assess governance and staffing, and to reduce commercial real estate loan concentrations; Troncale signed the agreement as a member of the controlling holding company, Allegiant United Holdings. Troncale responded that the examination had been conducted more than nine months earlier and that the bank had already acted on the issues the Fed flagged, saying the company continued to execute its business plan, including raising more than $36.9 million of new capital, and remained well capitalized.⁠[3][8][8][8][3][3]

In December 2021, Nano Banc placed two executives on administrative paid leave, named a new chief executive and chairman, and replaced six directors with five new ones. The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation said this violated its February 2021 order requiring 30 days’ advance notice and issued a cease-and-desist order on December 15, 2021. The bank responded that it was working cooperatively with its stockholders, regulators, and other stakeholders to rebuild a board of experienced bank executives whose immediate priority was to restore Nano Banc’s regulatory standing.⁠[9][9][10][9]

On January 18, 2022, the Federal Reserve Board issued a consent cease-and-desist order against Nano Banc and its holding companies, requiring them to propose permanent executive officers to fill the roles of chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and chief credit officer, to add outside directors, and to conduct an independent review of insider transactions. Troncale signed the order on behalf of all parties as president of Nano Banc.⁠[10][10][10][10][10]

In late July 2022, Nano Banc announced R. Scott Racusin as chief executive and Mary Lynn Lenz as chairman. As of August 2022, Troncale was the only one of the three founders still working at the bank. Regulatory scrutiny ultimately led to the removal of the bank’s original executives.⁠[7][7][11]

The Federal Reserve Board’s prohibition and civil money penalty order against Anthony R. Gressak III, effective November 1, 2024, states that as part of Nano Financial Holdings’ approximately $37 million capital raise in 2020, Gressak and the other founders of the bank 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 or compensation for the investments. The order was directed at Gressak personally and issued with his consent; Gressak neither admitted nor denied its allegations.⁠[12][12][12][12]

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 FDIC preliminarily estimated that the failure would cost the Deposit Insurance Fund about $114 million. 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, and that as early as 2020 it had found repeated unauthorized changes to the bank’s board and executive suite and executive self-dealing.⁠[13][13][13][14][14]