Michael Garellek
Michael Garellek is a lawyer whose legal practice focuses primarily on financial regulation and compliance concerning financial institutions and the products and services they offer in Canada. He can guide you on regulatory issues facing the financial services industry including firms and their representatives.
Based in Gowling WLG's Montréal office, Michael will advise you on a multitude of legal issues, including those relating to insurance, banking, AML/FT, privacy, securities and derivatives, to name a few.
In the area of insurance, Michael can assist you in the application of the law and regulations in Québec and in dealing with regulators, namely the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. Michael similarly advises banking clients and their service providers. Whether as a new entrant, opening a branch or seeking an exemption, Michael will help you make the required application to regulatory authorities.
In the area of litigation, Michael represents clients subject to examination, investigation and sometimes prosecution by the AMF, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and other regulatory authorities. As a member of Gowling WLG's Business Law Group, his transactional and advisory work has covered many deal types both public and private, including transactions on carbon markets. He can also assist you meet the requirements of the regulations concerning authorization for public contracting and the greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system.
When not acting for clients, Michael lectures students at the University of Montréal on corporate and securities litigation and in preparing for case competitions. He is a co-author of the Jurisclasseur en valeurs mobilières, a leading publication on securities in Québec.
Michael is a chartered professional accountant and, before joining Gowling WLG, he was an inspector with the AMF and an auditor with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. He was active on committees involved with the harmonization of securities regulation in Canada.