Zack S. Christensen

Zack is part of the firm's financial institutions group and focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation, capital raising transactions and general corporate counseling for the firm’s financial institution clients.  He also represents sponsors of private investment funds in fund formations and governance, as well as their investment activities.

Prior to joining the firm, Zack was an associate at Sidley Austin LLP, where he worked on public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions involving both large publicly traded companies and closely held companies, and the formation of several hedge funds and private equity funds. He also worked on a variety of tax planning projects.

Zack is a registered Certified Public Accountant and, prior to attending law school, served a one-year fellowship at the Financial Accounting Standards Board in Norwalk, Connecticut, and worked at a Big Four accounting firm.

Representative Matters

• Capital Raising Transactions
  

  Represented many financial institutions with respect to private placements of common stock, subordinated debentures and convertible subordinated debentures

• Private Investment Funds
  

  Represented multiple sponsors in their formation of and capital raising for private investment funds, investment advisory, regulatory and corporate matters for such funds, including, hedge funds, managed futures funds,commodity pools and private equity funds

• Securities Regulation and Compliance for Publicly-Traded Bank Holding Companies
  

  Represent multiple publicly-traded bank holding companies

• Subchapter S Conversion
  

  Represented multiple bank holding companies in their restructuring to enable them to elect to be taxed under Subchapter S

• Treasury's Capital Purchase Program
  

  Represented a number of financial institutions with respect to their application and receipt of funds under Treasury's Capital Purchase Program

Professional Activities and Honors

• Vice Chairman, Chicago Bar Association, Financial Institutions Committee
• Bronze Tablet (top 2 percent of all University graduates), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 2000
• Illinois CPA Society Excel Award for scoring in the top 10 in the State of Illinois and the top 120 in the United States on the May 2000 Uniform CPA Examination

Publications

• The Fair Funds for Investors Provision of Sarbanes-Oxley: Is it Unfair to the Creditors of a Bankrupt Debtor? 2005 U. Ill. L. Rev. 339

Events & Speaking Engagements

• "Issuing Subordinated Debentures," Angkor Capital Advisors Bankers Roundtable, 2009
• "Executive Update for Officers and Directors," Community Bankers Association of Illinois Annual Convention, 2008
• "A Fresh Look at Your Corporate Minutes," Iowa Independent Bankers Annual Convention, 2007