Biography
As the regulatory section leader of Barack Ferrazzano’s Financial Institutions Group, John concentrates his practice on regulatory, governance and investigative matters involving financial institutions.
He is a frequent speaker and author in the financial institutions area on issues surrounding banking regulations, examinations and enforcement actions. He teaches banking law and regulation at Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Graduate Program in Financial Services Law and serves on the board of advisors of its Institute for Compliance. He is the co-editor of the two-volume edition, Advising Illinois Financial Institutions, in which he wrote a chapter on bank enforcement issues, and is the co-author of the chapter “Bank Examination and Enforcement” in The Keys to Banking Law: A Handbook for Lawyers (2017). John is a vice-chair of the American Bar Association’s Banking Law Committee and a past chairman of its Enforcement, Insider Liability and Troubled Banks Subcommittee and its Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Subcommittee. He also is a former chairman of the Chicago Bar Association’s Financial Institutions Committee.
John also devotes significant time to Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering issues. He is on the advisory board of the Anti-Money Laundering Association and is the president of its Midwest Chapter. He has frequently lectured on the subject, including at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies, Boston University School of Law, and Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he serves as a co-director of its Center for National Security and Human Rights Law. He is the editor and author of a chapter in the upcoming book, Countering the Financing of Terrorism: Law and Policy, and is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS).
Prior to joining the Firm in 1999, John was both a bank regulator and a compliance consultant. He served as legal counsel for the Illinois bank regulatory agency. John also obtained practical experience with respect to bank operations and compliance issues as a regulatory consultant with a regional accounting firm, performing compliance reviews and training for a variety of financial institutions.
Professional & Community Activities
- Vice-Chair, Banking Law Committee, American Bar Association
- Chairman, Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Subcommittee (2014-2017)
- Chairman, Enforcement, Insider Liability and Troubled Banks Subcommittee (2011-2014)
- Adjunct Professor, Chicago-Kent College of Law
- Co-Director, Center for National Security and Human Rights Law Advisory Board, Institute for Compliance
- Instructor, Fundamentals of Banking Law, Boston University School of Law
- President, Midwest Chapter, Anti-Money Laundering Association (AMLA)
- Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS)
- Member, Business Executives for National Security (BENS)
- Faculty Advisor, Law & Banking Principles Class, Illinois Bankers Association (2005-2008)
- Chairman, Financial Institutions Committee, Chicago Bar Association (2002-2003)