Banking and Finance Law Corporate Law Financial Services Regulation Law Securities / Capital Markets Law
Mark C. Kanaly
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2012 Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Mark is the Chair of the firm's Financial Services & Products Group, focusing on the representation of banks and other financial institutions, as well as real estate investment vehicles, such as REITs. Mark assists these companies with private and public securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, underwritings, corporate formations and restructurings, recapitalizations, corporate governance and a host of related complex regulatory issues.
In the current economic cycle, Mark has worked on some of the most innovative and recognized banking and real estate transactions in the country. In addition, he has counseled a host of distressed financial institutions and their boards of directors, as they have grappled with the challenges posed by the current financial and real estate environment.
Mark is a nationally recognized speaker on banking and real estate investment topics and his comments are regularly covered in the banking, real estate and general business press. He is a regular contributor to banking and real estate periodicals and industry conferences. Mark is listed as a leading corporate attorney in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The Best Lawyers in America.
He received a J.D. from the University of Oklahoma in 1996, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and received five American Jurisprudence Awards (for receiving the highest grade in a course). Mark graduated, cum laude, from the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 with a B.S.E. in finance.
In the current economic cycle, Mark has worked on some of the most innovative and recognized banking and real estate transactions in the country. In addition, he has counseled a host of distressed financial institutions and their boards of directors, as they have grappled with the challenges posed by the current financial and real estate environment.
Mark is a nationally recognized speaker on banking and real estate investment topics and his comments are regularly covered in the banking, real estate and general business press. He is a regular contributor to banking and real estate periodicals and industry conferences. Mark is listed as a leading corporate attorney in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The Best Lawyers in America.
He received a J.D. from the University of Oklahoma in 1996, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and received five American Jurisprudence Awards (for receiving the highest grade in a course). Mark graduated, cum laude, from the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 with a B.S.E. in finance.
Overview
- University of Oklahoma, J.D., graduated 1996
- University of Pennsylvania, B.S.E, graduated 1993
- Georgia, State Bar of Georgia
- Oklahoma, Oklahoma Bar Association
- America's Community Bankers (ACB) - Member
- American Bar Association - Member
- Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) - Member
- Atlanta Bar Association - Member
- CFO Roundtable - Member
- Community Bankers Association of Georgia (CBA) - Member
- Georgia Bankers Association (GBA) - Member
- National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) - Member
- National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) - Member
- Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals - Member
- Georgia, State Bar of Georgia
- Oklahoma, Oklahoma Bar Association
- America's Community Bankers (ACB) - Member
- American Bar Association - Member
- Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) - Member
- Atlanta Bar Association - Member
- CFO Roundtable - Member
- Community Bankers Association of Georgia (CBA) - Member
- Georgia Bankers Association (GBA) - Member
- National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) - Member
- National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) - Member
- Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals - Member
- University of Oklahoma, J.D., graduated 1996
- University of Pennsylvania, B.S.E, graduated 1993
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers® for:
- Financial Services Regulation Law, Atlanta (2025)
- Securities / Capital Markets Law, Atlanta (2022)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Banking and Finance Law
- Corporate Law
- Financial Services Regulation Law
- Securities / Capital Markets Law
Additional Areas of Practice:
- Corporate Governance Law
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law
- Securities Regulation
Awards:
- Mark is listed as a leading corporate attorney in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The Best Lawyers in America.
News & Media
Additional Information
Case History
Cases
- Experience
- Counsel to several of the largest regional and super-regional banks headquartered in the Southeast, as well as to a host of community banks located throughout the country.
- Primary legal counsel to one of the country’s largest publicly traded mortgage REITs, as well as to one of the country’s largest publicly traded office/industrial REITs, each case in connection with all corporate, securities and merger and acquisition activity.
- Counsel to buyers and sellers in a number of merger and acquisition transactions, including whole bank acquisitions, FDIC-assisted transactions, asset sales and branch sales.
- Counsel to a regionally focused financial institution that is one of the country’s largest government-sponsored entities.
- Counsel to several de novo banks in their roll-up strategies that have been funded by private equity.
- Counsel to a number of private equity firms and other investment vehicles in connection with their investments in financial institutions.
- Counsel to the boards of directors of more than 60 banks that have failed since 2007.
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