Palmetto Banker Fall 2015

PALMETTO BANKER Fall Issue 2015-4

THE ROLE OF DEPOSIT INSURANCE IN SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina Bankers Association

M&A ACTIVITY HEATS UP ACROSS PALMETTO STATE

CLEANING UP: BANKERS HELP S.C. S.C. GET BACK ON ITS FEET

2016 Young Bankers Conference Where Tomorrow’s Leaders Come Together Today March 18-20, 2016 Omni Grove Park Inn Asheville, North Carolina The Young Bankers Conference is an opportunity for young bankers to learn more about the industry, to acquire leadership skills that will beneĮt both them, their banks and their communiƟes, and to provide networking opportuniƟes that promote personal and professional growth. Those who aƩend will walk away from the conference with not just a wealth of informaƟon on the Įnancial services industry, but they will begin or reinforce meaningful relaƟonships that will last a lifeƟme.

For more InformaƟon on the 2016 Young Bankers Conference, please contact Carolyn LaĸƩe at the S.C. Bankers AssociaƟon at 803.779.0850, or by email at carolynlaĸƩe@scbankers.org.

Contents 2009 Park Street, Post Office Box 1483 Columbia, S.C., 29202-1483 Phone: 803.779.0850; Fax: 803.779.0890 Web: www.scbankers.org Chairman David M. Lominack TD Bank, N.A., Greenville Chairman-Elect Robert R. Hill, Jr. South State Bank, Columbia First Vice Chairman Cur s A. Tyner, Sr. Heritage Community Bank, Hartsville Treasurer David L. Morrow CresCom Bank, Charleston Immediate Past Chairman H. Blake Gibbons, Jr. The Ci zens Bank, Olanta SCBA Staff President and CEO Fred L. Green, III Execu ve Vice President, CFO/BankPAC Treasurer Donna S. Taylor Senior Vice President, Conven ons/Conferences E. Anne Gillespie Senior Vice President, SCBA Services, Inc./ South Carolina Bankers School Carolyn E. Laffi e

Sen. Tim Sco Meets with S.C. Bankers in Columbia, Page 15

Incoming ABA President Rob Nichols Profiled, Page 24

President’s Message

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Bankers Help S.C. Respond to Flooding

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M&A Ac vity Heats Up Across Palme o State

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2015 Young Bankers Scholarship Golf Tournament

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Deposit Insurance: What It’s Meant to S.C.

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Meet Your Legislator: Rep. Kirkman Finlay

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S.C. Bankers School Graduates 42

South Atlan c Adopts .bank Domain

16-17 18

Senior Vice President & Counsel, Legisla ve & Regulatory A. O’Neil “Neil” Rashley, Jr., Esq.

Former SCBA Chairman Stan Gibson Re res

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Director, Adver sing & IT M. Caroline Sheorn

Bank News

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Administra ve Assistant Bonnie E. Nelson

Personal Transac ons

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Director, Marke ng and Communica ons; Editor, Palme o Banker R. Kevin Dietrich

SCBA Lauded for Lobbying, United Way Efforts

29

New Associate Members

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Good Samaritans

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Calendar

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The Palme o Banker is a publica on of the South Carolina Bankers Associa on. The magazine exists to serve its members by communica ng news of interest, educa on and SCBA ac vi es.

Items from members are welcome, however the editor reserves the right to refuse copy. With the excep on of official announcements, the SCBA disclaims responsibility for opinions expressed and statements made in ar cles published in the Palme o Banker.

Cover: View of riverwalk along Congaree River at the foot of the Gervais Street Bridge in Columbia, shortly aŌer catastrophic flooding swept through South Carolina. Photo by Kevin Dietrich.

President’s Message

As Flooding Hits State, S.C. Bankers Meet Challenge

T

he storms and subsequent flooding which hit a good por on of our state in early October as a result of Hurricane Joaquin represent one of the greatest catastrophes in South Carolina history.

Scenes of homes, businesses and cars underwater, of roads being washed out and Palme o State residents being chased by rapidly rising waters is one that those of us who witnessed will never forget.

Some parts of the state received more than 20 inches of rain – the equivalent of four months of precipita on – in a 48-hour period, causing rivers and creeks to overflow, dams to burst and levies to break. Thousands of homes were flooded and at least 19 deaths were a ributed to the disaster.

Green Es mates are that the damage from the floods will make the event the costliest disaster in South Carolina history. Preliminary assessments place damage at more than $1 billion.

While the travails of the past few weeks is something none of us would wish on our worst enemy, it has given South Carolina bankers an opportunity to step up and demonstrate their importance to the well-being of the state.

Before the flood waters had even receded bankers were calling customers, checking on them, their homes and their businesses, and seeing what they could do to help.

And this isn’t a characteris c common to just South Carolina bankers, either.

I’ve go en phone calls from bankers from all over the country, asking what they could to do help people in our state impacted by flooding.

This doesn’t surprise me. Throughout my many years in the industry I’ve seen bankers rise to the occasion whenever

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there’s been a disaster, no ma er how large or small.

I remember when Hurricane Hugo struck South Carolina in 1989. My family and I were living in Hilton Head and because my wife Mary was very pregnant, we evacuated to Columbia, to be near a safe hospital. While we were in Columbia, our daughter was born.

Hugo, of course, le a trail of destrucon along the coast in addi on to other parts of the state, so when we headed back to Hilton Head I expected to find my yard and possibly home a wreck.

Instead, it was in perfect shape, with the yard not even having a limb on the ground or piece of outdoor furniture out of place.

I was astounded, un l I learned that my co-workers at C&S had come by and cleaned up my yard for me while I was in Columbia.

Looking back, I’m not surprised that my friends did that good deed. Bankers have always been among the first to step up and show themselves willing to wade in and find solu ons to problems when mes are tough.

Back then, many bank branches that didn’t have connec vity to their operating systems cashed checks for customers and posted items in handwri en journals. Loan payments were put in deferral un l customers could get back on their feet. Truckloads of ice were purchased, shipped in and given away to families in need.

During this recent catastrophe, the same spirit prevailed. Banks in the affected areas have put together special “recovery packages” of services for their clients, and I rode by one branch that had been flooded and saw that its employees were serving lunch in the parking lot to recovery workers and vic ms of the flood. I could go on and on about the generosity of our industry in the communi es we serve.

Bankers understand more than most people that recovery from a disaster can take a long me. Depending on the extent of the destruc on, it can take

many years before the physical damage is repaired.

Bankers step up not only because it’s sound business, but because the nature of the business means pu ng yourself out front when mes demand it.

There have been numerous hurricanes and tropical storms that have hit the state since Hugo, along with tornados, droughts and other disasters, and bankers have been there to help people get back on their feet and rebuild.

And beyond the physical damage caused by natural disasters there is the mental toll as customers find their

‘Banking has always been about people. Events such as floods which swept through a good part of our state recently only serve to reinforce the important obliga on entrusted to us.’ homes washed away, a life me of memories encased in photo albums ruined and some mes even family members hurt or killed.

It’s impossible to quan fy this impact on individuals, but bankers can help alleviate at least a li le of the pain and loss with their compassion.

Banking is and always has been about people. Bankers are the backbone of the communi es we serve. Events such as the floods which swept through a good part of our state recently only serve to reinforce the important role we as bankers play in our state’s prosperity, and the important obliga on entrusted to us.

I am and each and every one of you should be proud to be a banker.

(Fred Green is the president and chief execu ve officer of the South Carolina Bankers Associa on.)

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Cover Story

Bankers Move into Action after October Floods Hit S.C. Kevin Dietrich Palme o Banker Editor

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he devasta ng floods that struck South Carolina in early October impacted banks, bankers and bank customers across a good part of the Palme o State.

Scores of bank offices were closed in the immediate a ermath of the torrenal downpour that deluged parts of the state with more than 20 inches of rain in a 24-hour period beginning Oct. 3.

Some branches in and around Columbia were so badly damaged in the subsequent flooding that they will require extensive reconstruc on before they can be reopened.

Lominack said that when mes get Of course, banks got off somewhat tough, bankers rise to the occasion. easier than many others in the state, es“It’s been my experience that during pecially those in parts of the Midlands.

Thousands of individuals in and around difficult mes it’s the bankers you’ll find out front trying to find solu ons when Columbia had their lives turned upside there are problems, and then helping down as flood waters swallowed up put the pieces back in place and moving apartments, homes, businesses, cars, forward with the rebuilding,” he said. streets, bridges and neighborhoods.

At least 19 lives were lost; many died when their cars were swept away by flood waters.

Not surprisingly, bankers quickly stepped up to help those in need, with ins tu ons commi ng hundreds of thousands of dollars to support disaster relief efforts in South Carolina.

South Carolina banks almost immediately began assis ng customers affected by the disaster in a variety of other ways, as well.

Many ins tu ons put together special-product promo ons to help customers affected by flooding and weather-related difficul es, and bankers also began developing relief strategies in the communi es they serve.

“Our bankers have been checking in with customers, to see what they can do to help them, both on a personal level and a business con nuity level,” said David Lominack, South Carolina Execu ve Order issued by Gov. Nikki Haley market president for TD Bank and declaring Oct. 1-7, 2015, to be legal holidays chairman of the South Carolina Bankfor banks and savings and loan ins tu ons in South Carolina. ers Associa on.

“We are intertwined with our customers’ lives and we have to be there to help our customers during difficult mes.”

The home of Sharon Bryant, South Carolina market president for First Ci zens Bank, was flooded during the disaster, but she was able to reflect on the bigger picture.

“This is certainly devasta ng, par cularly for Columbia, but I am so proud of our city and our associates for rallying to help those in need,” Bryant said.

Wells Fargo had 37 S.C. stores affected, but only a few of those sustained damage due to flooding or inclement weather, all in the Midlands, according to Amy Amirault, a communica ons consultant with Wells.

Likewise, a handful of NBSC branches suffered some minor water damage, according to Barbara Anderson, vice president/marke ng with NBSC. Many other banks serving the Midlands and other parts of the state had trouble opening branches on Oct. 5 because employees weren’t able to get to work, as roads throughout the Midlands in par cular were damaged, o en severely, by the flooding.

In lower Richland County, for example, a full week a er the rains, many roads around Eastover, Gadsden and See Floods, page 31 5

Feature Story

South Carolina Sees Sharp Increase in M&A Activity Kevin Dietrich Palme o Banker Editor

I

ncreased regulatory requirements and moun ng costs are helping ratchet up M&A ac vity in South Carolina, as evidenced by a spate of deals over the past year and a half.

In the past 18 months at least seven mergers involving South Carolina-based ins tu ons have been announced. They range from out-of-state bank companies buying into the Palme o State, South Carolina banks purchasing other in-state banks and South Carolina ins tu ons acquiring out-of-state companies.

“The con nued increasing cost of complying with new financial regula ons is what’s behind much of the merger ac vity,” said Wells Fargo economist Mark Vitner. “A lot of the community banks are having to get bigger in order to spread the increased costs around a larger base.”

This past July marked the fi h anniversary of the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, which has produced more than 22,000 pages of published rules, according to New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. With those regula ons have come increased compliance costs as banks find themselves forced to adhere to an array of new rules and guidelines, and smaller ins tu ons o en must bolster their compliance departments substanally in order to keep up with rapid-fire rule changes.

Despite the transforma on brought about by the Great Recession and DoddFrank, the number of banks serving South Carolina has remained rela vely constant between 2012 and 2015, according to the FDIC. Jason Caskey, a shareholder with Ellio Davis Decosimo in Columbia, believes that even with the changes wrought

by Dodd-Frank, the need for community banks, especially in the rural areas of the country and par cularly in the Southeast, will help outweigh addi onal work associated with compliance.

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“The larger ins tu ons o en don’t want to be in the rural areas so I disagree with the doom-and-gloom theory that all banks under $500 million won’t survive,” Caskey said. “You can s ll be a $250 million bank in, say, Holly Hill or Olanta or Clarendon and do well.”

Vitner noted that South Carolina’s economy has outperformed that of the United States as a whole, making it an a rac ve place for banks to operate.

Growth areas such as Charleston and Greenville have been par cularly appealing of late.

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In March, Carolina Alliance Bank announced a deal to purchase the parent of Pinnacle Bank of South Carolina; Last December, BNC Bancorp finalized its acquisi on of Charlestonbased Harbor Na onal Bank; Also in December, Oconee Federal Financial Corp. of Seneca completed its purchase of Stephens Federal Bank of Toccoa, Ga.; Last fall, First Ci zens BancShares Inc. of Raleigh concluded its acquision of Columbia-based First Ci zens Bancorp Inc. of Columbia; and • Charlo e-headquartered Park Sterling Corp. completed its deal for Rock Hill-based Provident Community Bancshares Inc. in May 2014.

Busy 18 Months High Point, N.C.-based BNC Chief Execu ve Officer Rick Callicu cited the a rac veness of the Charleston market as one of the prime mo va ons for his company’s acquision of Southcoast Financial Corp., announced in August.

“This partnership will allow us to expand our presence in one of the fastest growing and most dynamic regions in the Southeast, the Charleston and Mt. Pleasant, South Bank of North Carolina parent BNC Bancorp has been ac ve in Carolina markets,” increasing its South Carolina footprint through acquisi ons, parCallicu said when cularly during the past year. the deal was announced.

In addi on, there have been numerous United Community Banks Inc. of Blairs- branch sales, both to in-state and outville, Ga., greatly expanded its presence of-state banks. in the Upstate with its purchase of The largest sales involved CresCom Palme o Bancshares Inc., the parent of bank of Charleston purchasing 13 The Palme o Bank, in a deal that was branches in North Carolina and South completed at the end of August.

Carolina from First Community Bank of Joining with Palme o greatly enhanced Bluefield, Va.; Columbia-based South United Community’s presence in Green- State Bank buying 12 South Carolina ville and the Upstate, crea ng value for branches and a Georgia branch from the company’s shareholders, Jimmy Tal- Bank of America; and Greenville’s Cerlent, the CEO of United Community, said tusBank selling off nearly all its branchwhen the deal was announced in April. es, including 10 loca ons in South Other transac ons that have occurred Carolina to BNC Bancorp. during the past year-plus: Smaller branch sales include: Horry

County State Bank of Loris selling its Socastee, Windy Hill and Carolina Forest offices to Sandhills Bank in August; First Palme o Bank of Camden announcing plans to buy two South State branches, in Li le River and Loris; and Franklin, N.C.-based Macon Bank, a unit of Entegra Financial Corp., agreeing to acquire branches in Anderson and Chesnee from Union-based Arthur State Bank.

Several Factors Behind Ac vity The ming of the Great Recession and the subsequent strengthening of the state economy is responsible for some of the sales and mergers.

A number of investors and bankers started banks in 2004, 2005 and 2006, at least in part because of the returns generated by community bank sales in the years prior to that, Caskey said.

“There’s a state law that requires you to hold a bank for five years before you

can sell it. That would have meant that these banks couldn’t have been sold un l 2009 at the earliest, which is when the economy was hur ng,” he added.

As a result, both the buyers and the sellers chose to hold off making deals un l ins tu ons got their por olios cleaned up.

Shareholders who had invested for the short term in some cases found themselves having to wait for a li le longer to realize returns.

Now, with the economy on the upswing, buyers are more comfortable with what they’re purchasing, and sellers are feeling be er about the price they’re ge ng, Caskey said.

Compe on is also driving up sales. In the larger MSAs it’s increasingly difficult to enter as a de novo.

With no new banks being started from scratch in South Carolina since 2009, there are only so many opportuni es to

buy into a market.

“Consider a market like Charleston,” Caskey said. “It may have a lot of compe on, but a lot of people want to be that market. When that’s the case, the price of entry goes up and it’s hard for exis ng banks to get into the market.

“Scarcity of banks in the market has driven up the price, making boards of directors of exis ng community banks look more closely at offers,” he added.

Finally, there a number of mid-sized banks that raised capital during the Great Recession with the idea that they would use the money to buy distressed banks. The problem was, there didn’t turn out to be as many distressed banks in the areas they wanted to get into as they had hoped.

Now the ins tu ons, including some based in the Carolinas, find themselves looking for ways to deploy excess capital and are doing so through purchases.

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Young Bankers Golf Tournament

Young Bankers Golf Tourney Raises Nearly $26,000 Nearly $26,000 was raised at the 26th annual Young Bankers Division Scholarship Golf Tournament, held Sept. 22 at The Members Club at Woodcreek in Elgin.

All tournament proceeds will go to scholarships for children of employees of SCBA-member banks and thri s.

Last spring, the Bankers Associa on awarded $42,000 in scholarships to deserving students all across South Carolina.

The winning team was composed

youngbankersdivision SOUTH

CAROLINA

BANKERS

A S S O C I AT I O N

of Hal Benne , Palme o State Bank; Michael Boozer, Integrated Financial Solu ons; Nakia Davis, The Peoples Bank; and Chad Westendorf, Palme o State Bank.

The second place team was made up of Josh Gregory, The Cason Group; and James Mar n, Gil Weathers and Davis Whi le, all with KeenanSuggs.

Closest to the Pin was captured by Crawford Sanders of Furniture Services Inc., while Patrick Hopper of J.H. Developments scored the tournament’s Longest Drive.

The always-coveted “high score” went to the Woodforest Na onal Bank team of Anne Carroll, Andrew Rabuck and Sarah Sloan.

In all, 155 golfers par cipated, marking one of the largest turnouts ever for the Young Bankers Division Scholarship Golf Tournament.

Top le : Edward Bryant, Enterprise Bank of S.C.; Top right, from le : John Langford, John Tamasi s, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd P.A.; David Looper, Derek Roper, Wells Fargo. Bo om right: Evere e Livingston, First Ci zens Bank. Bo om middle: Gene Walpole, Chase Talbert, Zack Shaw, Robbie Hollings, The Bank of South Carolina. Bo om le : Allen White, Steve House, Dean Dwiggins and Tom Ledbe er, all of South State Bank.

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Top le , from le : Rob Crowe, Jason Withers, GriďŹƒn Morrow and Bill Langfi , all with CresCom Bank. Top right: David Keller and Blake Taylor, Southern First Bank; Jimmy Cooke, Atlan c Merchant Services; Kevin Craig, Craig Law Firm. Middle right: Hammond Edwards, Security Federal Bank. Bo om right: Second place team of Davis Whi le, KeenanSuggs; Josh Gregory, The Cason Group; James Mar n, KeenanSuggs; Gil Weathers, KeenanSuggs. Bo om le : Winning team of Nakia Davis, The Peoples Bank; Michael Boozer, Integrated Financial Solu ons; Chad Westendorf, Palme o State Bank; Hal Benne , Palme o State Bank. Middle le : Tommy Flinn, BB&T; Hall Provence, Smith Moore Leatherwood; Sco Burgess, Colliers Interna onal; and Brad Gower, Smith Moore Leatherwood. Middle center: Jesse Smith, First Ci zens Bank; Andrew Rabuck, Anne Carroll, Sarah Sloan, Woodforest Bank.

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Looking Back

Deposit Insurance: Going Strong in SC for 80+ Years Kevin Dietrich Palme o Banker Editor

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ank customers today pre y much take for granted the concept of deposit insurance.

The vast majority of banks and thri s in the United States – including all in South Carolina – offer customers deposit insurance up to $250,000 through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a U.S. government corpora on that operates as an independent agency.

In fact, it’s been nearly 40 years since a South Carolina bank wasn’t FDIC insured, and many of the older banks and thri s in the state have offered deposit insurance since the Great Depression,

man noted.

Deposit insurance did indeed reduce runs and bank failures, as runs on troubled banks effec vely disappeared for all but small, non-federally insured ins tu ons.

However, opposi on came from those who believed deposit insurance would weaken incen ves for depositors to look into whether their banks and S&Ls took excessive risks.

It was believed that because the rates for deposit insurance were the same for stodgy low-risk lenders as they were for the high-flying, risk-taking lenders, the low-risk banks and S&Ls would end up subsidizing the high-risk ones, a fact borne out in the S&L Crisis of the late

Bank runs, like this one in New York in the early 1930s, were much more common in the United States before the implementa on of deposit insurance.

when the program was started.

But it was a controversial concept when it was proposed more than a century ago, according to George G. Kaufman, the John F. Smith Professor of Finance and Economics at Loyola University in Chicago.

Early advocates of federal deposit insurance argued that it would provide safety and liquidity for small depositors, would protect the smooth working of the na onal check-clearing system and would guard against bank runs, Kauf10

1980s and early ‘90s, according to Kaufman.

S ll, since the incep on of the deposit insurance program, no depositor has lost a single dollar, either in South Carolina or across the na on, according to the FDIC. Of the 80-plus banks serving South Carolina not only is every one FDIC insured, but several have been involved with the deposit insurance program since its incep on.

Eight banks based in South Carolina

and a handful based elsewhere and opera ng in the Palme o State have had deposit insurance guaranteeing the safety of a depositor’s accounts since Jan. 1, 1934, the first day the program went into effect.

Another five South Carolina ins tu ons signed on with the FDIC later in 1934 and two more the following year.

Pushing Forward During the 1930s, the U.S. struggled through a severe economic contrac on known as the Great Depression. As the stock market crashed and unemployment jumped, bank failures began to increase across the na on.

In South Carolina, banks and thri s had been struggling for nearly a decade, hurt by a plunge in co on prices that began a er the end of World War I. Between 1921 and the end of 1933, more than 350 South Carolina banks were shu ered, suspended opera ons or went through voluntary liquida ons, and by 1933 the number of banks in the state had fallen to 119, compared to 447 a dozen years earlier.

Across the United States, more than 5,700 banks had failed during the 1920s, most in rural communi es.

As the pace of failures began to increase with the onset of the Great Depression, poli cians across the na on began to clamor for ac on.

New President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1933 in June of that year. Aspects of the legisla on included: • Establishment of the FDIC as a temporary government corpora on; • Giving the FDIC authority to provide deposit insurance to banks, beginning at $2,500 per individual, effecve Jan. 1, 1934; • Giving the FDIC the authority to regulate and supervise state nonmember banks; • Extending federal oversight to all commercial banks for the first me; and • Allowing na onal banks to branch-

statewide, if allowed by state law.

Deposit insurance was seen as a method for controlling the economic consequences of bank failures without altering the basic structure of the banking system, wrote Carter H. Golembe in the June 1960 issue of Poli cal Science Quarterly, in a piece looking back on the first quarter century of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Previous a empts to create a na onwide deposit insurance system, beginning as early as the 1880s, had failed.

Deposit insurance was included in the original Federal Reserve Act as passed by the U.S. Senate in 1913, but it was omi ed from the bill passed by the House and eliminated in conference commi ee.

In all, 150 separate proposals for deposit insurance or guaranty were made

again in the late 1980s to pay for the large losses then occurring.

Because ins tu ons pay into the deposit insurance fund and that money is used to cover deposits at failed banks, no taxpayer money has ever been used to resolve FDIC-insured ins tu ons.

While several South Carolina banks began offering deposit insurance on Jan. 1, 1934, if there is “first” ins tu on to offer insurance, it would be the old In the Beginning Peoples Bank of BishopExis ng South Carolina ville. That bank, which was banks that signed up for acquired by First Ci zens deposit insurance on Jan. Bank in 1986, merits the 1, 1934, included: Anderhonor because it has the son Brothers Bank, of Mulearliest FDIC cer ficate lins; Countybank, Greennumber of any South Carowood; Enterprise Bank of lina bank.

S.C., Ehrhardt; Farmers and Other ins tu ons were Merchants Bank of South rela vely late-comers in Carolina, Holly Hill; First terms of being FDIC inNa onal Bank of South sured: Six exis ng Palme o Carolina, Holly Hill; South State banks didn’t sign up State Bank, then known for deposit insurance un l as First Na onal Bank and the late 1940s or 1950s, based in Orangeburg; The while two waited as long Conway Na onal Bank, as the mid-1970s.

Conway; and The Palme o Signage like that above, detailing specifics of deposit insurance for consumers, have been staples in banks, for decades.

Bank, then based in LauToday’s Environment rens.

Today, most states require FDIC insurin Congress between 1886 and the Other banks that were onboard for ance for their banks. Up un l the earlyestablishment of the Federal Deposit deposit insurance at the beginning of to mid-1980s it was not unheard of for Insurance Corp. in 1933, according to January 1934 included Bank of America, Golembe. states to s ll have non-FDIC insured Wells Fargo and First Ci zens Bank & banks. Depositors in those ins tu ons As ini ally conceived, coverage was were, in theory, protected by private inTrust Co. to be on a sliding scale, insuring 100 With the introduc on of the FDIC surance funds or state-sponsored funds. percent of the first $5,000 of deposits and deposit insurance, South CaroWhen those funds went bankrupt and and progressively lower percentages of lina’s creaky banking industry begin to larger amounts. But this plan was never le customers without access to their stabilize for the first me in more than deposits for extremely long periods of adopted, and 100 percent insurance a decade. me, states began to require banks to was provided for only the first $2,500 While the Banking Act of 1933 made secure federal deposit insurance, acper account. cording to the FDIC. federal deposit insurance na onwide This was quickly increased to $5,000 law, it wasn’t the first me deposit While there may be a handful of statein mid-1934 and, in a number of steps, insurance had been tried in the United chartered banks not required to provide to $100,000 per account in 1980 and States. deposit insurance due to grandfather $250,000 in 2009.

Several state governments had providThe insurance coverage was funded by provisions, they are exceedingly rare, if ed deposit insurance previously – bea flat annual premium on banks, ini ally they exist at all. ginning with New York in 1829 – but by And all federally or na onally charset at 0.5 percent of insured deposits.

1933 each state program had become tered banks, along with those belonging That was lowered shortly therea er to insolvent or inopera ve and all had to the Federal Reserve System, must 1/12 of 1 percent or less of total dobeen disbanded. have FDIC insurance. mes c deposits before being increased 11

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Meet Your Legislator

Finlay Not Afraid to Step on Toes to Get Things Done

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.C. Rep. Kirkand vehicle registraman Finlay ons. The cap on the pulls no sales tax on cars also punches when would be raised from asked about what’s $300 to $600. The gas holding up several tax would be indexed important pieces for infla on, with a cap of legisla on in the on any annual increase.

South Carolina GenNew fees would be eral Assembly. created for vehicles “The Senate has powered by alterna ve got great bills sitfuels and hybrid cars. It ng there wai ng would raise $800 million – bills on ethics, a year. infrastructure and Finlay is also hopeful patent trolls,” he that progress can be said. “I’m not saying made on ethics reform. that what we in the The House passed House have done more than a dozen is perfect, but it separate ethics reform would be nice if the bills this past session, Among bills Rep. Kirkman Finlay pushed is one that stop patent trolls, which target which were then comSenate would go small businesses, including banks. from being ‘delibpiled into an omnibus H. 3579, but the legisla on struck the era ve’ to ge ng something done.”

House ethics bill. That bill ended the language of the House bill and replaced session in Senate Judiciary, much to Finlay, R-Richland, is referring to bills it with wording from a previously filed passed by the House earlier this year Finlay’s chagrin.

Senate bill. that address ethics reform, state infra“In terms of ethics reform we gave Senators a empted to give the bill spe- the Senate 14 individual bills and they structure needs and a empts to stop “patent trolls.” Bills focusing on all three cial order status, but it failed to receive said it was too many so we gave them the requisite votes to proceed. issues passed the House but ended the a single bill and they said it was too The House plan would cut the gas tax session in Senate commi ees. much,” Finlay said. “We have sliced and by 6 cents per gallon and create a 6 per- diced this legisla on every which way If they’re not passed in the coming cent excise tax on gas at the wholesale year, they will have to be reintroduced we know how. The ques on is: Is it the and the legisla ve process begun anew. level. It would also increase the cap on format or the substance?” the sales tax for vehicles from $300 to Finlay, 45, a Columbia businessman, Finally, Finlay is the main sponsor for a $500, raising in all more than $400 milfarms 6,000 acres of corn, wheat and piece of priority legisla on for bankers, lion for state transporta on projects. soybeans, and manages Doc’s BBQ and the SCBA’s bill that would stop patent The Senate bill would raise the gas tax Millstone at Adams Pond, along with trolls. by 12 cents per gallon over three years Pawleys Front Porch in Five Points and Patent trolls rely on aggressive li gaand increase fees for driver’s licenses Mt. Pleasant. on and threats, without specific eviHe was elected to the House in 2013. dence of actual patent infringement, in His previous experience in public office an effort to squeeze money from target ‘I’m not saying that what defendants – usually small businesses, consisted of serving on the Columbia we in the House have including banks.

City Council from 2006-2010.

“I had a family member, a cousin, who Finlay said South Carolina can’t afford done is perfect, but it got caught up in a patent lawsuit, and to evade responsibility for its infrastructhrough it I learned about the unfairture issues and needs to take ac on. would be nice if the ness – you could say the extor on – inHR 3579, the S.C. Infrastructure FiSenate would go from volved with these types of ac ons, and nance Reform and Tax Relief Bill, passed I thought we could do something about the House in mid-April and was sent to being ‘delibera ve’ to it,” Finlay said. the Senate. The Senate Finance Comge ng something done.’

–Kevin Dietrich mi ee approved an amended version of 13

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News

Senator Tim Scott Meets with Palmetto State Bankers South Carolina Sen. Tim Sco , a member of the Senate Commi ee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and the Senate Finance Commi ee, met with nearly 20 Palme o State Bankers Aug. 27 in Columbia.

Sco , a Charleston Republican who was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2013 a er Governor Nikki Haley named him to

fill the seat vacated by Jim DeMint. He won a special elec on last year for the final two years of DeMint’s second term.

“It was a good opportunity for our bankers to get an update on what’s going in Washington and what it might mean for them back here in South Carolina,” said SCBA President and Chief Execu ve Officer Fred Green.

Le to right: David Keller, Southern First; Adu Sanders, Wells Fargo; Tom Deloach, BIPEC; John Windley, South State Bank; Fred Green, SCBA; Karen Smith, TD Bank; Sen. Tim Sco ; Sharon Bryant, First Sen. Tim Sco , center at the end of the table, talks with S.C. Ci zens; Michael Edens, Southern First; Neil Rashley, SCBA; Ed bankers during a mee ng Aug. 27 in Columbia. RepresentaRachwal, BB&T; Rick Redden, Wells Fargo; Drew Painter, First ves from banks of all sizes a ended the event. To the le of Community; and Blake Taylor, Southern First.

Sco is SCBA President and CEO Fred Green.

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15

South Carolina Bankers School

S.C. Bankers School Enjoys Strong Year, Graduates 42 Another successful session of the South Carolina Bankers School wrapped up this past July, with 42 students gradua ng from the highly regarded program.

In all, 130 first-, second- and third-year students a ended SCBS from July 12-17 at Lander University in Greenwood.

They came from more than two dozen ins tu ons, including banks, thri s, Farm Credit banks, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Charlo e office.

Students were led by 25 instructors.

“It’s very rewarding to see these young people come back each year and come together as a cohesive group,” said Southern First Bank Senior Vice President David Keller, who served as SCBS chairman for the 2014-15 term. “A ending Bankers School is an eye-opening

Clockwise from top: The 2015 South Carolina Bankers School gradua ng class, shown at Lander University; Bankers School instructor Greg Blake; South Carolina Bankers School students par cipa ng in the scholarship fundraising cornhole tournament; and Bankers School Chairman and Southern First Bank Senior Vice President David Keller, le , with Tim Lane of South State Bank, the 2015 winner of the Lillie H. Magalis Award, given to the thirdyear student with the highest cumula ve average.

16

experience from a career standpoint.

It gives the younger bankers a good perspec ve on the industry.”

Graduates par cipated in the ABA’s BankExec Financial Simula on during their final year. Two teams of graduating students were recognized for the premier-performing “banks” in the simula on comple on: Community A/ Bank 1 and Community B/Bank 3.

Community A/Bank 1 was made up of Tim Lane, South State Bank; Brice Sprayberry, Tidelands Bank; Oneal Staples, Ameris Bank; Bri ney Fowler; and Mark Raines, NBSC. Community B/Bank 3 featured Gene Walpole, The Bank of South Carolina; Clarke Walker, Southern First Bank; Jason Arnold, First Ci zens Bank; and Staci Lovelace, South State Bank.

“For more than 50 years the Bankers

School has been making a difference in the lives of S.C. bankers and 2015 was no different,” said Carolyn Laffi e, SCBA senior vice president who took over as school administrator in September.

Lane was awarded the Lillie H. Magalis Award, given to the third-year student with the highest cumula ve average.

The award includes a s pend to cover the cost for the first year’s tui on at the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University.

The third-year class raised nearly $26,000 for the SCBA’s educa on scholarship program, the largest amount in at least the past 15 years.

Finally, first-year students Natasha Drozdak of South State Bank and Derek Horton of CertusBank were named president and vice president, respec vely, of their class.

South Carolina Bankers School

Clockwise from top: Cari Clune-Henderson, Sco Plyler, Leah Rodriguez and Mandy Edge, all of South Atlan c Bank; Bankers School instructor Trish Springfield, of The Palme o Bank, helps a student; SCBA President Fred Green, le , and SCBA Chairman David Lominack, center, congratulate a gradua ng student; Staci Hymson Lovelace, South State Bank, John Griggs, NBSC, and Garre Givens, South State Bank; Jimmy Clarkson, Bankers School instructor and Horry County Bank president and CEO, assists a BankExec team; CEO panel, from le , Randy Dolynick, CoastalStates Bank, Mike Crapps, First Community Bank, Jim Smith, Sandhills Bank, David Morrow, CresCom Bank, and SCBS Chairman David Keller, Southern First Bank. Remaining two photos show winning BankExec teams.

17

News

South Atlantic Among Institutions to Adopt .bank

M

ore than 2,400 banks – inmigra on that (the industry is) seeing ‘It’s another mark of dif- na onally but it is there,” she said. cluding many of the largest Dot Bank also offers enhanced security ins tu ons in the U.S. – have feren a on for us. ... we’re features, including improved encrypsubmi ed about 5,700 applica ons for not afraid to be out there on and verifica on requirements.

Dot Bank domain names since they beBurch said a big issue for banks today came available for purchase in May. on the cu ng edge.” is cybersecurity, adding “any me that Dot Bank is one of more than 1,000 we can beef our systems up to make new generic, top-level domain names –Richard Burch our customer access points more secure that will be developed and implegoing to do it.” mented over the next several years and CFO, South Atlan c Bank we’re Schwartz said, though, that for many is operated by fTLD Registry Services, for a while. It also reflects the bank’s banks that have spent me on security a private company owned, operated forward-looking nature and how it can with their Dot Com websites, it would and governed by banks, insurance not be fair to say a Dot Bank domain is companies and their trade associa ons. be more nimble than the bigger banks in all aspects of its opera on. “It’s annecessarily more secure. Out of the box, Craig Schwartz, managing director at other mark of differen a on for us,” he though, the security requirements that fTLD, told SNL that the applica ons are said. South Atlan c likes to be in front come along with Dot Bank domains do coming from banks all over the world and Burch men oned that the bank was make them more secure in most cases. although the majority are from the U.S. the first in the Southeast to offer check He was careful to say Dot Com domains He said that although banks started imaging a few years ago. “So we’re not are not always less secure. buying the domains in May, it will afraid to be out there on the cu ng Schwartz cited features such as the probably be some me before there is edge,” he said.

Domain Name System Security Extena large number of fully func onal Dot Barbara Marshall, director of marketsions, or DNSSEC, that ensures Internet Bank websites. That is because banks ing for South Atlan c, told SNL Dot Bank users are landing on legi mate websites have to plan and communicate the is the “wave of the future” and excluand not imposter sites as a benefit of changes to customers and shareholdsively designed for banks. She said the the Dot Bank domain. DNSSEC ensures ers. “So there’s a lot of planning and biggest challenge was simply the change that when customers type in the bank’s strategizing that’s going on right now,” itself and finding the right way to comaddress that is where they are actually he said. municate it to the bank’s customers. taken. “Without that DNSSEC piece it’s Schwartz said many community banks conceivable your web traffic could be are interested in Dot Bank domains and She said consumers are migra ng more and more to mobile and online applicamisdirected or sabotaged in some way,” money center banks including Wells ons. “Because we’re in a tourist area he said. Dot Bank featured a handful of Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp., JPand because we’re primarily commertechnical requirements that, when comMorgan Chase & Co. and Ci group Inc. bined, cut down on the possibility of have applied for domains. He cau oned cial-driven, we don’t see the drama c problems. “But there’s that registering a dono silver bullet that will main name and using it eradicate all of the bad are two different things. that happens,” he said.

What those banks will Joshua Rowland, vice ul mately do – and chairman of Garden when – is unknown, he City, Mo.-based Lead said.

Bank, which was anOne of the early Dot other one of the early Bank adopters was adopters of the Dot South Atlan c Bank.

Bank domain, said in CFO Richard Burch told a July 23 press release SNL it is important to that the new domain have differen a on ensures addi onal when ba ling the big security of clients’ banks, and the Dot Bank informa on and gives domain will do that for the Myrtle Beach South Atlan c Bank office in Myrtle Beach. The Grand Strand-based bank is Lead Bank an opporamong the first in the South to embrace the .bank Internet domain.

See .bank, page 27 -based bank, at least

18

Execu ve News

Former SCBA Chairman Retires After 43-Year Career Former South Carolina Bankers Associa on Chairman Stan Gibson re red from Wells Fargo on Sept. 30.

Gibson, who chaired the SCBA during the 2003-04 year, led Wells’ Commercial Banking Carolinas Division for the past 10 years, culmina ng 40-plus year career in banking.

Gibson Gibson, the execu ve vice president, commercial bank execu ve for North and South Carolina for Wells, has been an outstanding leader and contributed greatly to the success of Wells’ commercial banking team, according to Perry Pelos, who oversees the commercial banking, corporate banking and treasury management lines of business for the bank.

“He has led six Commercial Regions of North Carolina and South Carolina in developing dominant market share,” Pelos wrote in an email to Wells’ employees.

“His teams have consistently demonstrated strong performance in generating loan and deposit growth, Treasury Management, Investment Banking, Investor Real Estate, Wealth referrals, and overall cross-sell results. The Carolinas division has also been a leader in new customer genera on.”

Gibson joined Wachovia in December 2004 as a commercial banking execu ve for South Carolina and North Carolina, and was previously the Carolinas Commercial Execu ve at Bank of America.

During the Wells Fargo/Wachovia merger, he served on the transi on team for the Commercial Bank. He began his career with C&S Na onal Bank of South Carolina, which later became part of Bank of America.

“My friendships internally and with clients would have to be the highlight of my career,” Gibson said. “Banking allowed me to cul vate connec ons throughout the Southeast and across the na on, and many of those connecons have turned into friendships.

“The Wells-Wachovia merger in 2009 allowed me to make contact with bankers in the Midwest and West whom I otherwise would never have had the opportunity to interact with, and that was very special because that was something I hadn’t done in the first 35plus years of my career,” he added.

Gibson has been ac ve in many community and professional organiza ons, including serving as chairman and execu ve commi ee member of the Charlo e Regional Partnership, chairman of the Investment Commi ee of the Business Partnership Founda on at See Gibson, page 29

19

Bank News Arthur State Bank Franklin, N.C.-based Macon Bank Inc., a unit of Entegra Financial Corp., agreed to acquire two branches from Unionbased Arthur State Bank. The branches are in Anderson and Chesnee. The purchase is set to close in the fourth quarter.

BNC Bancorp BNC Bancorp of High Point, N.C., has completed its acquisi on of customer deposits and loans connected to seven S.C. branches of Greenville-based CertusBank.

Carolina Financial Corp.

Charleston-based Carolina Financial Corp., the parent of CresCom Bank, on Aug. 31 filed a shelf registra on covering the sale of up to $50 million in its securi es. The shelf registra on covers debt, preferred stock, common stock, depositary shares, purchase contracts, units, warrants and rights. Carolina Fi-

nancial intends to use any proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include repayment of debt or interest, capital expenditures, possible acquisions, and investments.

Ci zens Building and Loan Greer-based Ci zens Building and Loan filed an applica on with state and federal regulators in August to seek approval to form a mutual holding company. The holding company forma on should be completed by the first quarter of 2016.

Coastal Carolina Na onal Bank Coastal Carolina Na onal Bank of Myrtle Beach will open its first branch oďŹƒce in Garden City in mid-January 2016. The South Strand branch will be located at 2961 Highway 17 Business.

CresCom Bank Charleston-based CresCom Bank opened a branch at 3695 E. North St. in Greenville in early September.

First Ci zens Bank & Trust Co. Raleigh, N.C.-based First-Ci zens Bank & Trust Co. announced Sept. 8 that customer accounts and systems of the former Columbia-based First Ci zens Bank and Trust Co. Inc. have been integrated into the North Carolina-headquartered company’s banking operaons. The technical conversion includes the systems integra on of 172 branches in S.C. and Georgia, with the combined company opera ng 568 branches in 18 states and the District of Columbia. First Ci zens Bank and Trust Co. Inc. merged with and into First-Ci zens Bank & Trust Co. on Jan. 1, 2015.

First Palme o Bank First Palme o Bank of Camden is buying two branches from Columbia-headquartered South State Bank, located in Li le River and Loris, according to an agreement signed earlier this year.

See News, page 27

Bank News

BNC Bancorp to Purchase SouthCoast Financial Corp.

BNC Bancorp, the BNC Bancorp/Southcoast Financial Corp.

High Point, N.C.-based holding company of the Bank of North Carolina, has agreed to acquire SouthCoast Community Bank parent Southcoast Financial Corp. it was announced in mid-August.

The stock transac on valued at approximately $95.5 million, according to informa on released

by BNC. The transac on is expected to close in early 2016.

This partnership will allow us to expand our presence in one of the fastest growing and most dynamic regions in the Southeast, the company reported $383 million in loans, Charleston and Mt. and $361 million in deposits.

Pleasant, South Carolina markets,” According to SNL, the deal will enable said Rick Callicu , president and chief execu ve officer of BNC. “Our combined BNC to expand in Charleston County by seven branches and make it the fourthcompanies will be well posi oned for largest ins tu on in terms of total further growth in the Charleston and Mt. Pleasant markets with approximate- market deposits, with a 6.66 percent share. The move enables BNC to enter ly $800 million in assets and a top-five deposit market share in the Charleston- Dorchester County and Berkeley County.

When the transac on is complete, BNC North Charleston, S.C., MSA.” Bancorp is expected to have approxiSouthcoast operates 10 branches in mately $6 billion in assets, $4.5 billion in Mt. Pleasant, Moncks Corner, Johns loans and $4.9 billion in deposits.

Island, Summerville, Goose Creek and BNC, which began opera ons in 1991, North Charleston. As of June 30, the © 2015 SNL Financial LC. All rights res erved.

entered South Carolina in Southcoast Financial Corp.

2910 followUS branches: ing the failure Current US branches: of Beach Current BNC Bancorp First Na onal US branches: Current Bank.

US branches: A er Beach Current First was closed by regulators, BNC, in a deal arranged by the FDIC, took over its seven branches in the Grand Strand and Hilton Head areas.

Two years later, BNC took over Carolina Federal Savings Bank of Charleston.

Last December, BNC completed its purchase of Harbor Na onal Bank, acquiring three branches in Charleston and one in Mount Pleasant, along with mortgage offices in Mount Pleasant, Greenville and Hilton Head Island.

Earlier this summer, BNC announced plans to buy seven offices from CertusBank: three branches in Greensville and one each in Easley, Greer, Mauldin and Spartanburg.

Augus t 15, 2015

United Community Closes on Purchase of Palmetto Bank United Community Banks Inc. closed on its merger of Palme o Bancshares Inc. the Greenville-based parent of The Palme o Bank, on Sept. 1.

On Sept. 1, The Palme o Bank was merged into United Community Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Community Banks. It will con nue to operate under the Palme o Bank brand name un l its conversion to United’s opera ng systems, which is expected to occur in February 2016. A er conversion, it will operate under the brand name of United Community Bank.

United Community Banks, based in Blairsville, Ga., announced plans in April to purchase Palme o, parent of 109-year-old Palme o Bank.

United includes among its leadership President and Chief Opera ng Officer Lynn Harton, the former CEO at Greenville-based The South Financial Group.

Samuel Erwin, chairman, president and chief execu ve officer of Palme o Bank; and Lee Dixon, chief risk and chief opera ng officer, will join the leadership team of United, according to informaon released by United.

United Community has shown interest in growing through acquisi ons, par cularly in the Greenville market.

The acquisi on bolstered United Community to nearly $9 billion in assets.

United has established a growing regional headquarters in Greenville, with several leadership and key office posi ons here.

United Community Bank is one of the Southeast’s largest banks, opera ng more than 130 branches in four states: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

21

Personal Transac ons

Haun

Johnson

Evans

McGraw

Anderson Brothers Bank Anderson Brothers Bank has promoted Ashley Bean to director of training.

Creighton Yates has joined Anderson Brothers Bank as a bank loan officer in Conway.

Anderson Brothers Bank has promoted Maria Cartre e to the posi on of Business Services Assistant Manager.

Bank of America Stacy Brandon has been named Greenville market president by Bank of America.

Maura Utley has joined Coastal Carolina Na onal Bank as vice president/director of marke ng.

Bank of Clarendon The Bank of Clarendon has promoted Kimberly O. Johnson to assistant marke ng officer.

CresCom Bank CresCom Bank recently named Jean Chestnut the vice president of its Collec ons Department.

Bank of South Carolina Lauren Nilan has joined The Bank of South Carolina as vice president and risk management officer.

Susan Clark has joined CresCom Bank as its branch manager for the ins tu on’s new Greenville office.

Anderson Brothers Bank has hired Tonya Haun as bank loan officer and branch manager for the ins tu on’s North Myrtle Beach Branch.

Michaux Anderson Johnson has been promoted to staff accountant by Anderson Brothers Bank.

Anderson Brothers Bank’s Gray Meridith recently completed Leadership Conway sponsored by the Conway Chamber of Commerce.

Kirk Morris, a network administrator for Anderson Brothers Bank, has earned his cer fica on in Cisco Cer fied Network Associate (CCNA) Route Switch and CCNA Security.

Anderson Brothers Bank has announced the addi on of Owen Willis as a bank loan officer.

Mickey Wa s, Anderson Brothers Bank’s vice president consumer credit, has been chosen for the ongoing profile series in SubPrime Auto Finance News.

Wa s oversees the bank’s indirect automobile lending func on.

Anderson Brothers Bank has added Jimmy Wilson as a bank loan officer in Florence.

22

Nilan

Blue Ridge Bank Holleigh Evans recently joined Blue Ridge Bank as the ins tu on’s marketing coordinator.

Ci zens Building & Loan Brent S. Garre has joined Ci zens Building & Loan as a senior vice president. His primary focus will be in business development.

Ci zens Building & Loan has named Jennifer T. Jones execu ve vice president.

Dennis D. Trout was recently promoted to senior vice president by Ci zens Building & Loan.

Coastal Carolina Na onal Bank Stephanie Springs English has been named branch manager of Coastal Carolina Na onal Bank’s newest loca on, in Garden City.

Coastal Carolina Na onal Bank recently announced that Melanie McGraw has joined the bank as a mortgage loan originator.

Joe Cox was recently named vice president and city execu ve for CresCom Bank’s Conway market.

Caron Durham has joined CresCom Bank as a mortgage loan originator for its Socastee branch.

Valerie Kane has joined CresCom bank’s loan produc on office in Myrtle Beach as a mortgage processor.

CresCom Bank recently announced the addi on of Chris na Priolo as a mortgage processor in the bank’s loan produc on office in Myrtle Beach.

Craig Robinson has joined CresCom Bank as vice president and business development officer for its Upstate market.

Greer State Bank Greer State Bank recently hired Sco

Personal Transac ons

Cox

Gore

Timmons as branch manager/private banker and assistant vice president.

Independence Na onal Bank Independence Bancshares recently appointed Lawrence Miller as interim chief execu ve officer. Miller is chief execu ve officer of subsidiary Independence Na onal Bank.

John Codeanne has joined Independence Na onal Bank as financial service representa ve at the ins tu on’s Simpsonville office.

NBSC, a division of Synovus NBSC recently appointed Darryl Jewell, Pa Phillips Mowlajko and Steven A. Sease to its Anderson Advisory Board.

Jewell is owner and president of Hampton Furniture Co.; Mowlajko is owner and manager of Mowlajko Family and Cosme c Den stry LLC; and Sease is owner of S&S Construc on Inc.

Laffi e

Charleston.

South Atlan c Bank Juanita Gore recently joined South Atlan c Bank as assistant branch manager and customer service representa ve.

South Carolina Bankers Associa on Carolyn E. Laffi e has been promoted to senior vice president and named administrator of the South Carolina Bankers School. Laffi e joined the SCBA in 2004.

South State Bank Rhe M. Baker has joined Columbiabased South State Bank as market president for Greenwood and the surrounding coun es.

South State Bank has added Bethany Honeycu to its North Myrtle Beach office as assistant vice president and mortgage loan officer.

Javier R. Mitchell has been named branch manager of NBSC’s office on North Guignard Drive in Sumter.

South State Bank recently named James Mabry execu ve vice president of investor rela ons and mergers/acquisi ons.

Oconee Federal Savings and Loan Curt Eva , president of Oconee Federal Savings and Loan Associa on, Oconee Federal Financial Corpora on and Oconee Federal Mutual Holding Company, has been named to the Tri-County Technical College’s Founda on board of directors.

Katherine H. Odom has joined South State Bank’s Greenville and Foothills regions as a wealth advisor with the company’s Wealth Management Group.

ServisFirst Bank Michael Wood has been appointed senior vice president and Summerville market leader at ServisFirst Bank

Jay Reagan has accepted the posi on of Piedmont regional president for South State Bank. He will be replacing Tom Camp, who will re re in the first quarter of 2016. Reagan and Camp will work side-by-side un l the la er’s re rement.

Jim Ramsbo om has joined South State

Mertens

Hawkins

Bank’s Grand Strand Region as a senior commercial lender.

South State Bank has named Leo A. Smith as branch manager for its Powdersville office.

TD Bank, NA Cal Hurst has been appointed regional vice president for the Upstate by TD Bank.

TD Bank has named Sco Sharp regional vice president for the South Coast market of South Carolina, which spans from Charleston to Hilton Head.

The Palme o Bank The Palme o Bank has promoted Sco Tollison to vice president, indirect lending.

United Community Bank United Community Bank announced that financial advisor Kevin Mertens has joined United Community Advisory Services group in Greenville.

Wells Fargo Ethan Burroughs has been named Producing Business Banking Manager by Wells Fargo.

Jus n Hawkins has been named the new community banking area president of the Upstate market by Wells Fargo.

Hawkins will operate from Greenville.

Suzanne Morrison has been promoted to division manager of Wells Fargo’s Commercial Banking Carolinas Division.

She will be based in Charlo e.

23

Feature

Rob Nichols, Incoming ABA President, Swims Upstream Evan Sparks ABA Banking Journal

R

ob Nichols strides into the room with a warm smile. The p of his nose is sunburned. “I forgot I was ge ng my picture taken today,” he admits. “I was out salmon-fishing with my brother last weekend and I got a little too much sun.”

The fishing was excellent. Nichols and his brother, Mark, maxed out their daily catch limit of 40-pound salmon on the Sol Duc River in Washington state’s rugged Olympic Peninsula. The brothers make the trip twice a year when prized king salmon are running. “The bite was on,” he says – he and Mark hit their limit each day. “I’ll have a bunch of fresh salmon FedExed to me here in a couple of days.”

The weekend trip provided a brief respite in a rush of ac vity, just two weeks a er Nichols was announced as the American Bankers Associa on’s next president and CEO. As he got up to speed on ABA, he wrapped up his work as head of the Financial Services Forum, a trade group represen ng the country’s largest banks, insurers and asset managers.

As Nichols transi ons to a job represen ng banks of all sizes, he brings a track record of strategic victories at the Forum. But he recognizes that in today’s policy environment, all bankers are swimming upstream. Some mes mere survival counts as victory. “Post-DoddFrank, a lot of what we were doing was stopping bad things,” he says, “an unfortunate way of measuring one’s success – but success nonetheless.”

The upstream fight is one a salmon fisherman intui vely understands.

Hatched in mountain streams, the wild fish travel hundreds of miles to the ocean, and a few years later—fattened and ready – they fight their way upstream to the very spots where they were hatched, avoiding predators, ascending waterfalls and cascades and gaining thousands of ver cal feet. Lit-

24

‘Policymakers couldn’t care less about whether a par cular policy helps or hurts a bank. They care about whether a par cular policy helps or hurts their cons tuents ...’

–Rob

Baker Incoming ABA President tle wonder they give great sport when hooked.

Salmon popula ons are healthy in the Olympic Peninsula, notes Nichols, who is like most sportsmen a passionate advocate for sustainable fisheries. But the story is different in other parts of the Northwest – par cularly the Columbia River basin, where for more than a century hundreds of dams have obstructed the tradi onal migra on pa erns of wild salmon.

The dams completely changed life for the salmon, which now had to migrate up and down fish ladders at the edges.

The fish ladders are o en hard to find, and with only one way up or down, sea lions and other predators lie in wait. On the Columbia River, the salmon populaon is one-tenth of what it was before the big dams went in.

Few people argue that the dams should be dismantled – the salmon must adapt to their new environment.

Likewise, the regulatory environment for banks has permanently changed.

Dodd-Frank and other laws have erected new “dams,” blocking old ways of doing business. In some cases, regulators have established narrow pathways through which bankers must navigate.

As the incoming head of ABA, Nichols’ goal is to help bankers not just survive but thrive, finding new pathways through thorny regulatory challenges and keeping the value of their services

front-and-center for all Americans.

On message Nichols keeps the average American customer at the center of his vision when communica ng about bank issues. His advice to bankers is to “talk about how what you do leads to economic growth and job crea on,” and he plans to sharpen this focus at ABA. “Policymakers couldn’t care less about whether a par cular policy helps or hurts a bank,” he says. “They care about whether a par cular policy helps or hurts their cons tuents, if it impacts growth or prospects for economic recovery. Those are the terms on which you need to communicate to policymakers here in Washington.”

Nichols brings this emphasis from his decade at the Financial Services Forum, where he led a mul -pronged effort— including Hill advocacy, media appearances and live events – to demonstrate the value banks of all sizes bring to the economy and their customers. In a 2013 ar cle in Poli co, Nichols emphasized this point: “Community banks are an essen al aspect of our financial system.

The prospects for economic growth and job crea on are inextricably linked to the prospects of community banks, along with the health of the broader financial system.”

The CEOs Nichols worked with at the Forum appreciated this focus. “Rob is an effec ve voice in Washington about the important role banks of all sizes play in driving the U.S. and global economy,” remarks Bank of America chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan. Likewise, John Stumpf, chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo, praises Nichols as “a strong and though ul leader for banks of all sizes within the financial services industry for many years.”

That’s also what Betsy Duke, a longme Virginia community banker who has served as ABA’s chairman and a Federal Reserve governor, thought as a member of the search commi ee. “The biggest priority today is the reputa on

of the banking industry,” from delivering papers she says. “I think the way and mowing lawns. The Rob frames the quesbank is long gone, merged on—that banks are so into what is now Bank of important in the economy, America, but the memoto small businesses, to ries drive Nichols’ passion local economies – is the for banking. way to go. I expect him Nichols brought this to organize the advoforma ve experience to cacy efforts around those Washington, D.C., where themes, which I think will he studied public policy at be more successful.”

The George Washington Just as Nichols emphasizUniversity. es the economy’s need for A er gradua ng, he banks of all sizes, he recworked in the West Wing ognizes that unity across under George H.W. Bush the industry will pay dividuring the consequen al dends in advocacy. “We’re moments of the early stronger with banks of all 1990s. He was later a top sizes working together,” aide to influen al Repubhe explains. “When an lican members of Washindustry is divided, it’s less Rob and Rebecca Nichols with their children, Henry and Martha Lauren. ington’s congressional likely to achieve legisla ve delega on: former Sen. successes. Having been in Washington a Looking to the future Slade Gorton and the late Rep. Jennifer Beyond near-term policy goals, Nichols Dunn. long me, I’ve seen it.” wants to help bankers prepare for the future. “I don’t know how banking prod- ‘A me of cri cal concern’ Ge ng to work Like a salmon facing a giant dam, Nich- ucts will be delivered to my children, Nichols became immersed in the finanbut I know they’ll be delivered diff erentols has a realis c sense of the obstacles cial sector as assistant secretary for publy,” he says. “Staying ahead of that curve lic affairs at the Treasury Department banks face in serving their customers and ensuring that community banks during the George W. Bush administraand bringing economic growth to their are on top of this issue of technologion. “We spent a considerable amount communi es. One of these is overof me focused on banking policy and regula on, which he says “is impeding a cal convergence is a cri cally important long-term priority.” trying to create a set of economic condifaster growth path.”

He is also concerned that today’s ons where the financial sector could Central to that rising regulatory burden young people no longer “see the need do its important job,” he says. is the Dodd-Frank Act and the tens of for banks in their lives,” poin ng to “From his experience both inside and thousands of pages of regula ons that reams of survey data showing that outside government, Rob understands implement it. many in the rising millennial genera on that America’s financial future depends Repealing Dodd-Frank is “unlikely,” he on a diverse and robust set of ins tuacknowledges, but “making Dodd-Frank consider banks obsolete as ins tu ons with which they have a rela onship. “A ons of all sizes,” explains then-Treasury work for banks of all sizes is hugely payment app on your phone is not the Secretary John Snow. “His knowledge important.” He will focus this year and same as a bank,” Nichols explains. “We and experience make him well suited to next on winning meaningful regulatory need to communicate the important help chart the future path of the bankrelief, especially for small banks that role that banks play at every stage of ing industry, especially in appealing to cannot afford to bear the compliance your life.” younger Americans.” Sen. Rob Portman burden. Nichols will also keep up ABA’s Nichols’ first bank experience – one (R-Ohio) also worked with Nichols in focus on “policy distor ons that crehe describes in detail – was as a young the Bush administra on and was “imate an unlevel playing field,” such as boy with a junior savers account at pressed with his grasp of complex policy the credit union tax exemp on and the issues and his abili es as a problem Farm Credit System’s status as a govern- Rainier Na onal Bank in Sea le, where he grew up. He would go to the bank solver.” ment-sponsored enterprise. with his father to deposit his earnings See Nichols, page 27 25

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Nichols From Treasury, Nichols was handpicked to lead the Forum. He moved a rela vely sleepy ou it from New York to D.C., building it into what Time magazine called “perhaps the country’s most powerful trade associa on” and earning recogni on from the New York Times, The New Republic, The Hill and others as one of the capital’s most effec ve lobbyists. Not long into his tenure, he faced the financial crisis and mortgage bust, and the Forum helped support emergency ac ons to “keep markets moving at a me of cri cal concern,” he says, then fought an uphill ba le to shape the post-crisis regulatory restructuring that sought to end too-big-to-fail and deal with the causes of the crisis.

In taking on the job at ABA, Nichols will lead the en re banking industry at a cri cal moment. “The banking industry is undergoing a great deal of change,” says ABA Chairman John Ikard. “We sought a visionary, strategic leader, and Rob Nichols hits the mark on all counts.”

He will benefit from the track record of outgoing president and CEO Frank Kea ng.

“It’s a huge honor to be at ABA,” Nichols says. “It’s an equal honor to follow in the footsteps of someone I admire, someone of such character and dignity and accomplishment – and someone I call a friend.”

Nichols is well-suited to address thorny challenges. “He has a temperament that

invites people to work together toward solu ons that are some mes not easily an cipated,” says former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, whom Nichols worked for just out of college.

“I’ve witnessed him make a difference in everything he’s done.”

As Nichols fights for a be er regulatory structure for banks, helps the industry evolve with the future and ensures banks appeal to rising genera ons of customers, he knows he will be swimming upstream. The obstacles are difficult, but not insurmountable, and he s ll wears a smile.

Dot Com address will be automa cally redirected to the new address, which affords them all of the security of the new domain, the company said.

Burch said another benefit of the new address is that it iden fies the bank as a bank. If the address was southatlan c. com “you might not know what that is,” he said. South Atlan c is primarily a commercial bank with some consumer accounts cropping up as a result of those rela onships, so it has not seen a drama c drop off in branch foot traffic

in recent years.

“We s ll have a lot of traffic in our branches,” he said. He added that the bank’s mobile and online offerings compete with anything the large banks such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America have, though.

As far as costs associated with the new domain, South Atlan c had to pay a licensing fee to the company that manages security for the Dot Bank framework.

Burch said the fee was minimal.

(The ar cle appeared in the ABA Banking Journal on Aug. 25, 2015.)

.bank tunity to present itself to poten al clients as an innova ve, forward-thinking bank. “While we are a small bank, we want our clients to have confidence that we are leading the way when it comes to providing the most secure and efficient technology to our clients,” he said.

South Atlan c’s new website address is now SouthAtlan c.bank, which was shortened so that the word “bank” would not appear twice at the end of the address. Customers who access the bank’s website or send e-mails via the

News Horry County State Bank Horry County State Bank of Loris, a unit of HCSB Financial Corp., has completed its sale of its Socastee, Windy Hill and Carolina Forest branches to North Myrtle Beach-headquartered Sandhills Bank, according to a Form 10-Q filed Aug. 13. The branches have total deposits of approximately $34.3 million and approximately $5.7 million in loans.

South State Bank South State Bank has completed its acquisi on of 12 South Carolina branches and one Georgia branch from Bank of America. South State, the Columbia-headquartered subsidiary of South State Corp., closed on its deal for 13 branches on Aug. 21-23 from Bank of America NA, a unit of Bank of America Corp. The 13 branches opened as South State Bank loca ons Aug. 24, according to a Form 8-K filed Aug. 25. As

previously disclosed, the South Carolina branches are in Florence, Greenwood, Orangeburg, Sumter, Newberry, BatesburgLeesville, Abbeville and Hartsville, while the branch in Georgia is in Hartwell. The deal gives South State entry into six new markets and bolsters its presence in three exis ng markets.

South State assumes approximately $580 million in deposits through the deal.

South Carolina Bankers Employee Benefit Trust The South Carolina Bankers Employee Benefit Trust, created in 1981 to provide a self-insured health plan to members of the South Carolina Bankers Associa on, recently opted toward greater self-sufficiency on its administra ve side by hiring Teresa Taylor as its full- me employee. Taylor, who had been with the SCBA, served as the primary resource for the Trust and had devoted as much as 90 percent of her me while at the SCBA to administra ve du es for the Trust.

27

SCBA News

SCBA Lauded for Lobbying Work by Political Publication The South Carolina Bankers Associa on was recently recognized as one of the South’s top government affairs lobbyists

by Southern Poli cal Report magazine.

The SCBA was one of just three banking associa ons publicaon cited by the publica on across the 13-state region, along with the Georgia Bankers Associa on and the Mississippi Bankers Associa on.

Rankings were based on the results of an online survey sent to lobbyists and government affairs specialists across the South. In addi on, top lawyers and lobbyists were consulted to make sure the rankings for each Southern state were as comprehensive and accurate as possible.

“Ra ng top governmental affairs firms and lobbyists in order of dis nc on is a thorny enterprise,” according to Publisher and Editor Phil Kent. “But the Southern Poli cal Report believes it is a service to our readers to a empt to rank the top government affairs firms and lobbyists who labor diligently in the legisla ve vineyards.

“A er all, these men and women shape public policy all over the South,” he added. “That’s why we regularly talk to various movers-and-shakers in 13 Southern states ‘in the know.’”

The SCBA’s government affairs efforts are led by Senior Vice President and Counsel Neil Rashley.

The South Carolina Bankers Associa on was recognized by the United Way for the fourth consecu ve year with the organizaon’s Pacese er Award. Pacese ers are a select group of companies and organiza ons that choose to complete United Way campaigns by early September each year and commit to at least a 10 percent increase in par cipa on/employee giving. Pictured are SCBA Senior Vice President Anne Gillespie and BB&T State President Mike Brenan, co-chairman of the 2015 United Way of the Midlands Campaign.

Gibson the University of South Carolina, board member and former chairman of the Medical University’s Hollings Cancer Center and board member of the Roper St. Francis Hospital Foundaon.

Gibson, who began his banking career in 1972, plans to connue serving on non-profit boards, and looks forward to traveling with his wife and spending me with his grandchildren.

– Kevin Dietrich 29

Welcome New Associate Members ArborOne Farm Credit 800 Woody Jones Blvd.

Florence, SC 29501 Contact: Tammy Smith Phone: 843.662.1527 Website: www.arborone.com Email: tgsmith@arborone.com ArborOne, based in Florence but also with an office in Conway, is part of the Farm Credit System, which was founded 100 years ago to provide loans to rural families and farms for land, livestock and agricultural improvements. Originally known as Pee Dee Farm Credit, we have since changed our name to ArborOne Farm Credit to reflect both the changes in agriculture and the full range of services our customers now require. ArborOne is ed to the land – and we bring that exper se in South Carolina land and financing to every customer. Whether you seek a loan for agribusiness, farming, acreage, equipment, recrea onal property, or even a home in the country – ArborOne has the exper se and experience to meet all your needs. For 100 years, we have focused on our mission: to provide solid, financially sound credit services to the agricultural community. ArborOne and Farm Credit: Farmer stronger for 100 years and coun ng.

CSRA Business Lending 3626 Walton Way Extension, Suite 300 Augusta, GA 30909 Contact: Randy Griffin Phone: 706.210.2010 Website: www.csrabusinesslending.com Email: rgriffin@csrardc.org CSRA Business Lending is a non-profit Cer fied Development Company of the U.S. Small Business Administra on licensed by SBA to make and service SBA-504 loans in Georgia and South Carolina. In addi on to the SBA-504 program CSRA operates a small loan fund called CSRA Direct that makes loans up to $250,000 that do not fit the typi30

cal SBA eligibility box. CSRA has been designated an accredited lender by the Small Business Administra on and has financed over $700 million in small business projects since its incep on in 1979.

Fortrex Technologies, Inc. 5303 Spectrum Drive Frederick, MD 21703 Contact: J. Michael “Mike” Edison Phone: 301.977.6966 Website: www.fortrex.com Email: edisonj@fortrex.com Founded in 1997, Fortrex Technologies has been a market leader in providing IT Governance, Risk and Compliance Advisory services and solu ons to clients across the country and around the globe. Through VendorPoint and VendSure, a turn-key, full service Vendor Risk Management solu on designed for banks of any size, Fortrex Technologies assists financial ins tu ons with management of business risk associated with third-party rela onships. VendorPoint’s patented methodology assists banks with mee ng FFIEC requirements for a formal, coordinated third-party risk management program,

which iden fies, measures, monitors and manages third-party rela onships.

Combined with VendSure, Fortrex’s database of vendor due diligence, Fortrex provides effortless vendor risk management customized to meet the ins tuons specific needs.

Ncontracts 214 Overlook Circle, Suite 152 Brentwood, TN 37027 Contact: Cathy Isaacs Phone: 888.370.5552 Website: www.ncontracts.com Email: cathy.isaacs@ncontracts.com Ncontracts is a leading provider of vendor and contract management services for the financial ins tu on industry. Ncontracts combines turnkey vendor management services with a comprehensive and fully-customizable vendor and contract management applica on. Insightful summaries of vendor contracts and alert no fica ons assist clients in proac vely managing vendor rela onships.

And with Ncontracts’ robust compliance services, clients can easily monitor and assess vendor risk and respond quickly

Notification of Non-Renewing S.C. Bankers Association Members The South Carolina Bankers Associaon reports that the following companies are no longer SCBA Associate Members.

Please update your lis ngs to reflect these changes.

We thank these companies for their past support.

The SCBA would welcome each of them to rejoin the Associa on as Associate Members.

The non-renewing companies are: • Banking Agility; • BB&T Capital Markets; • BSG Financial Group; • Clawson & Staubes, LLC; • Crossroads Credit and Por olio

• • • • •

Management, LLC; MST: MainStreet Technologies PaymentsFirst; Risk Management Group, Inc.; Source Link; and 2engage Financial Media, LLC.

To find out more about SCBA Associate Membership or to become a Preferred Vendor, please contact SCBA Senior Vice President Carolyn Laffi e at 803.779.0850 or through email at carolynlaffi e@scbankers.org.

Welcome New Associate Members to regulator inquires and audit demands of examiners. Together, these services and features give clients the ability to reduce expenses, enhance profitability, and improve internal efficiencies. For more informa on, visit www.ncontracts. com or call 888.370.5552.

Stephens Inc. 111 Center St., Suite 2400 Li le Rock, AR 72201 Contact: Ma hew A. “Ma ” Switzer Phone: 501.377.2430 Website: www.stephens.com Email: ma hew.switzer@stephens.com Stephens is a privately held financial services firm focused on building long-term rela onships with its clients. The firm is a full-service investment bank and provides merger and acquis on advisory and capital-raising services to banking ins tuons across the country.

Sterling Compliance LLC PO Box 1546 Hermitage, PA 16148 Contact: Lisa Zigo Phone: 724.813.2354 Website: www.sterlingcompliancellc.com Email: lzigosterlingcompliancellc.com Sterling Compliance, LLC is a strategic risk management partner to our community bank clients.

With more than 40 years of combined experience as both a bank regulator and seniorlevel community bank management, Sterling Compliance brings a balanced perspec ve in our approach to risk management and community bank business models. Sterling Compliance’s clients rely on us to help them develop, assess and manage effec ve

regulatory compliance programs, provide credit review services, and stay ahead of the regulatory examina on cycles with forwardlooking, mely informa on and guidance on pending or changing regula ons, emerging risks and reviews of current bank prac ces.

Sterling Compliance does this through a combina on of strategic planning, transac onal reviews and audits, our monthly Sterling Navigator newsle er and various delivery channels for training.

The Baker Group 1601 NW Expressway, 20th Floor Oklahoma City, OK 73118 Contact: Josh Lee Phone: 405.415.7200 Website: www.gobaker.com Email: jlee@gobaker.com The Baker Group is one of the na on’s largest independently owned securi es firms specializing in interest rate risk and investment por olio management for community financial ins tu ons. Baker’s products and services include: Asset/Liability Management, Investment Por olio Accoun ng, Investment Por olio Analysis, Budget and Board Repor ng, Broker/Dealer Services plus educa onal programs concerning regulatory issues, interest rate risk and por olio management. The Baker Group is endorsed by five state community banking associa ons: The Alabama Bankers Associaon, the Community Bankers Associa on of Illinois, the Indiana Bankers Associa on, the North Dakota Bankers Associa on and the Independent Bankers Associa on of Texas.

Baker’s main office is located in Oklahoma City, with branch offices in Atlanta, Aus n, Indianapolis, Springfield and Salt Lake City.

Phone: 770.840.0097 Website: www.vso corp.com Email: Hillary.millard@vso corp.com VSo Corpora on offers pla orm-based services for the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industry. Its core, payment and omni-channel banking solu ons reduce cost and maximize efficiency while providing seamless, real- me, high-volume and high-performance transac ons across mul ple channels. The VSo pla orm can be delivered in-house, or as an outsourced ASP or SaaS model to best meet the needs of individual financial ins tu ons. VSo ’s services have been trusted by more than 2,600 financial ins tu ons worldwide.

Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP 4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27607 Contact: Stuart M. Rigot Phone: 919.781.4000 Website: www.wyrick.com

VSo Corpora on 6455 East Johns Crossing St. 450 Duluth, GA 30097 Contact: Hillary Millard

Founded in 1979, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP is an entrepreneurial law firm with a focus on growth-oriented businesses.

Wyrick Robbins’ Banking & Financial Ins tuons prac ce group has extensive experience with regulatory and transac onal issues for clients ranging from publicly traded, diversified bank holding companies to singleoffice community banks. The firm advises its banking clients on day-to-day opera onal issues as well as corporate, securi es and regulatory aspects of the financial services industry, including mergers and strategic business combina ons, capital markets and financing transac ons, branch acquisi ons and divestures, and regulatory applica ons and counseling. Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton is a full-service law firm and had 27 a orneys selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2016.

They also sought to direct customers in need toward state and federal aid.

Finally, the SCBA sent a le er to Governor Nikki Haley and got approval for a legal holiday for the period from Oct. 1-7, 2015, for banks forced to close due to the storms and statewide flooding emergency. This applies not only to

banks that were closed in the immediate a ermath of the flooding, but branches that were badly damaged and have had to remain closed.

“The most important thing we’ve done is to simply reach out to our customers and make sure they’re OK,” Lominack said.

Floods Hopkins were closed as a result of wash-outs, making travel difficult.

In addi on to devising programs to help those in need, bankers across the state contributed to volunteer efforts by giving funds for food and other essen als, assis ng with relief efforts and working as volunteers.

31

Good Samaritans Anderson Brothers Bank Anderson Brothers Bank par cipated in the annual Marion County School District’s Back to School Vendor Fair in early August. Anderson Brothers Bank provided school supplies to all that attended. This event was for all Marion County School District employees, the largest employer in the county.

Anderson Brothers Bank recently donated $500 to the Mullins High School Math Team.

“Mullins High’s Math Team Coordinator, Lakshmi Vish, is an inspira on to our youth and we are happy to do a small part to assist in suppor ng his students so they may a end Math compe ons across South Carolina,” said Susan Grant, marke ng director with Anderson Brothers Bank. “Last year’s students demonstrated honorable performances that ranked Mullins High above many schools in the AA Division and Anderson Brothers Bank wishes this year’s team even greater success.”

Greer State Bank The Greer State Bank Founda on distributed more than $10,000 to local non¬profit organiza ons in the greater Greer area during the past two months. Recent recipients include: Upstate Media on ($250 dona on); Boy Scouts ($500); Turning Point ($1,000); Eastside YMCA ($1,000); Riverside Debate and Speech Booster Club ($1,000); JDRF Diabetes ($1,000); Greer Relief Infrastructure ($2,500); and Greer Chris an Learning Center ($3,000).

Greenville is a local affiliate of the naon’s largest an -dropout organiza on.

Its mission is empower students to stay in school and achieve in life. Locally, Communi es In Schools of Greenville partners with specific elementary and middle schools, where a dedicated site coordinator provides intensive, ongoing services for students who need extra support to keep them engaged in school and on track to graduate.

South State Bank South State Bank donated $12,000 to the SouthernCarolina Regional Development Alliance in a July 15 presenta on at USC-Salkehatchie in Walterboro.

“South State Bank is proud to support the SouthernCarolina Regional Development Alliance with our dona on,” said Lee Petrolawicz, South State Bank senior vice president. “SCA works to develop infrastructure and schools in Colleton, Jasper, Barnwell, Allendale, Hampton and Bamberg Coun es. SCA also markets our region’s strengths world-wide to a ract corpora ons who will, in turn, create higher paying jobs in our area.”

The program allows the coun es to tap into federal money and other opportuni es in new ways to grow jobs, improve educa on and reduce crime.

SCA is the lead organiza on in this effort and works with partners at the municipal, county, regional, state and federal levels, in both public and private sectors, to iden fy, pursue and implement the programs.

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo invested more than $1.8 million in 277 nonprofit organiza ons and schools across South Carolina through the first six months of 2015, according to company officials.

“Giving back in our local communi es where we do business is a core value at Wells Fargo,” said Kathy Heffley, Wells Fargo regional president for South Carolina. “It is one of the most important things we can do as a company. We are commi ed to con nuing to use our financial resources and exper se to work with nonprofits and other stakeholders to create long-term economic prosperity and quality of life for everyone in our communi es.”

Communi es In Schools of Greenville recently received a $2,500 dona on from the Greer State Bank Founda on.

The contribu on will help students engage in the Greer community, develop real-world academic skills and serve others From le , Lee T. Petrolawicz, South State Bank area execu ve; Brantley Strickland, SCA project manager and Sandy Fowler, SCA consultant, at July 15 event in which South State Bank donated through volunteer projects. $12,000 to the SouthernCarolina Regional Development Alliance (SCA).

Communi es In Schools of 32

South Carolina Bankers Association Education Calendar For more information, contact Anne Gillespie by phone at 803.779.0850, or by email at agillespie@scbankers.org.

November 2015

March 2016

Fall Compliance Conference Date: Nov. 5, 2015 Loca on: Columbia, S.C.

Spring Compliance Conference Date: TBD Loca on: Columbia, S.C.

Economic Development Oyster Roast Date: Nov. 18, 2015 Loca on: Columbia, S.C.

SCBA Washington Trip Date: March 14-16, 2016 Loca on: Washington, D.C.

Economic Development Conference Date: Nov. 19, 2015 Loca on: Nephron Pharmaceu cals Corpora on West Columbia, SC

Young Bankers Conference Date: March 18-20, 2016 Loca on: The Omni Grove Park Inn Asheville, N.C.

December 2015

April 2016

Consumer Lending School Date: Dec. 1-2, 2015 Loca on: Courtyard Columbia Downtown @ USC Columbia, S.C.

Credit Conference Date: April 5, 2016 Loca on: Inn @ USC Wyndham Gardens Columbia, S.C.

Human Resources Conference Date: Dec. 3, 2015 Loca on: Inn @ USC Wyndam Gardens Columbia, S.C.

Community Bankers Spring Peer Group Date: April 20, 2016 Loca on: Charleston, S.C.

January 2016 Bank Secrecy Act Conference Date: Jan. 27-28, 2016 Loca on: Courtyard Columbia Downtown @ USC Columbia, S.C.

February 2016 Bank Opera ons Conference Feb. 3, 2016 Loca on: Columbia, S.C. Banking Careers 101 Date: Feb. 10, 2016 Loca on: Seawell’s, Columbia, S.C. Safety and Soundness Workshop Date: Feb. 11, 2016 Loca on: Inn @ USC Wyndam Gardens Columbia, S.C. Directors and Managers Workshop Date: Feb. 23, 2016 Loca on: Columbia, S.C.

Commercial Lending School Date: April 26-28, 2016 Loca on: Courtyard Columbia Downtown @ USC Columbia, S.C.

May 2016 Trust Conference Date: May 3, 2016 Loca on: Columbia Conference Center Columbia, S.C. Asset Liability Conference Date: May 10, 2016 Loca on: Inn @ USC Wyndham Gardens Columbia, S.C.

June 2016 Annual Conven on & Trade Show Date: June 12-15, 2016 Loca on: The Sanctuary Kiawah Island, S.C.

South Carolina Bankers Associa on (2009 Park Street) Post Office Box 1483 Columbia, South Carolina, 29202-1483

SCBA WASHINGTON TRIP

MARCH 14-16, 2016 The South Carolina Bankers AssociaƟon’s annual Washington, D.C., trip is your chance to travel to our naƟon’s capital, talk with members of our state delegaƟon, meet with regulators and make your voice heard. Last year, some 30 bankers took part in the excursion and enjoyed extended sessions with several South Carolina congressmen.

For more InformaƟon on the 2016 SCBA Washington Trip, please contact Anne Gillespie at the South Carolina Bankers AssociaƟon at 803.779.0850, or by email at agillespie@scbankers.org.