John C. Leo

John Leo focuses on the day to day management of Primary Capital LLC, which includes compliance and risk management, in addition to the origination and execution of investment banking transactions. John Leo acquired Primary Capital in July 2007. Prior to acquiring Primary, Mr. Leo was the founder, Chairman and majority owner of American Union Securities, Inc. (AUS), which focused on investment banking, mergers and acquisitions in China. Mr. Leo sold his ownership in AUS in March 2007 to expand his focus beyond China.

Prior to starting AUS, Mr. Leo founded Venture Capital Partners LLC, a private merchant banking, securities trading, and consulting firm which provided business and financial advisory services to late-stage private companies and small to mid-sized public companies. These services included advising on the structure of equity and debt financing, financial modeling, valuation analysis, drafting business plans, establishing strategic relationships, providing introductions to institutional investors and research analysts, and assisting in the selection of board members.

From 1996 through 2001, Mr. Leo worked as a market maker trading Pink Sheet, Over-The-Counter and NASDAQ-listed securities as well as IPOs. He was a registered securities principal and OTC trader with AM Capital and M.H. Meyerson. At these firms, Mr. Leo was responsible for executing orders for non-market makers as well as position trading for the firms’ proprietary accounts. While at M.H. Meyerson, between 1997 and 2001, Mr. Leo managed a profitable trading list of three hundred securities. Mr. Leo traded long and short positions, used technical analysis and hedging techniques, along with short-term charting trends to make investment decisions.

In addition to Mr. Leo’s hands-on experience structuring financial transactions and trading securities, he also has expertise in managing compliance issues and corporate governance, having served as a board member of seven public companies as well as the positions of CFO and Corporate Secretary. Mr. Leo maintains the following FINRA registrations: Series 7, 24, 55, 63, 79, and 99.