Richard Wohl Email & Phone Number

Ontario, Ca

Citizens Business Bank is the ninth largest bank headquartered in California, with assets of approximately $16 billion and over 60 branches, and is the primary subsidiary of CVB Financial Corp., which is a public bank holding company traded on NASDAQ with a market capitalization of approximately $3 billion. I am the primary manager of all legal affairs and legal risks for both the bank and its holding company, covering commercial and consumer deposit and lending products, significant litigation, public company, governance and corporate issues, regulatory and compliance matters, bank operations, and employment law issues.

San Francisco Bay Area

I spent a one-year sabbatical as deputy general counsel at First Republic Bank. Prior to its FDIC conservatorship, FRB was the third largest bank based in California and one of the top 30 banks in the U.S., with over $200 billion billion in total assets and 80 branches in seven states. Among other areas, I was responsible for managing the Bank's legal affairs and risks in the areas of employment, vendor contracts, cyber-security, trust litigation, subpoenas and legal process, and business initiatives in the Office of the General Counsel.

Greater Los Angeles Area

I was one of two founders and managing partners of Fortace LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in mitigating credit, operational and legal risk for banks, insurance companies and mortgage bankers, through business process improvement, quality assurance, litigation support, claims advocacy and rebuttal, and fraud pursuit and recovery. The firm continues to prosper and representative clients have included well known financial institutions such as Citigroup, Ally Bank and PMI Mortgage Insurance.

Pasadena, Ca

From 1994 to 2000, I served as general counsel of CWM REIT (NYSE: CWM), which was the successful predecessor entity of IndyMac Bank, and helped the company to obtain regulatory approvals to convert from a REIT to a federal thrift. From 2000 to 2006, I managed a challenging and changing mix of corporate functions and customer channels at IndyMac Bank, a top 100 financial institution with over $30 billion in assets, which provided a variety of wholesale and retail banking products. From 2007 to 2008, I was responsible for the Bank's legal, compliance, emerging business units and loss mitigation areas, during a difficult period when the Bank ultimately failed due to collapsing real estate and mortgage markets.

Greater Los Angeles Area

My areas of specialization with this top twenty U.S. law firm included institutional finance, consumer banking and mortgage lending, mergers and acquisitions, project finance, real estate acquisition and lending, and general corporate work.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

I served as one of a small number of attorneys in the U.S. Government who are responsible for our nation's public international law practice. My tenure at the State Department encompassed a dynamic period for relations between the U.S. and the countries of East Asia and the Pacific, and I had the opportunity to take a leading role in senior level initiatives on bilateral trade agreements, status of forces and other military arrangements, human rights, and foreign and domestic asset recovery claims.

Greater Los Angeles Area

As one of three law clerks to the Hon. Dorothy Nelson, an esteemed federal appellate judge (and former Dean of the USC Gould School of Law), I assisted the judge in reviewing cases, researching legal issues, and drafting opinions, including the damages phase of the anti-trust action involving the Oakland Raiders v. National Football League.

Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, Law

Activities and Societies: Editor, Harvard Law Review

B.A., With Distinction, History

Activities and Societies: Business Manager, Stanford QUAD Yearbook, 1979-80; Designated Student Member, University Committee on Student.