Department of Banking and Finance bulletin, June 30, 2002

. . . .BULLETIN. . . .BULLETIN. . . .BULLETIN. . . .BULLETIN. . . .

STATE OF GEORGIA
DEPARTMENT OF BANKING AND FINANCE
2990 Brandywine Road, Suite 200 Atlanta, Georgia 30341-5565

DAVID G. SORRELL, ACTING COMMISSIONER

Phone: (770) 986-1633

Fax: (770) 986-1655

Internet Address: http://www.state.ga.us/dbf/
June 30, 2002
The following is a summary of official action taken on applications by State Financial Institutions under Chapter 7-1 of the Code of Georgia and petitions for Certificate of Incorporation of Financial Institutions and other matters of interest during the month of June 2002.
In This Issue:
Entities That May Be Conducting Banking Operations in the Georgia Without Authorization Eligible Investment Securities Georgia Fair Lending Act - Questions, Inquiries, and Comments

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APPLICATIONS FOR NEW FINANCIAL INSTITUTION

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
Neighbors Bank 2320 Old Milton Parkway Alpharetta, GA 30004 Fulton County

CAPITALIZATION
$ 9,000,000

APPROVAL DATE
Pending

BEGIN BUSINESS DATE

Oglethorpe Bank 3024 Cypress Mill Road Brunswick, GA 31525 Glynn County

$ 6,000,000

Pending

McIntosh Commercial Bank 820 Dixie Street Carrollton, GA 30117 Carroll County

$ 10,000,000

Pending

American Trust Bank 300 Colonial Center Parkway, Suite 150 Roswell, GA 30076 Fulton County
Community Bank of West Georgia Highway 61, 1 mi. S. of Intersection of Hwy 61 Villa Rica, GA 30180 Carroll County

$ 8,000,000

Pending

$ 7,000,000

Pending

PREVIOUS NAME
First Georgia Bank
Synovus Trust Company

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION CONVERSIONS

CONVERTED TO
First Georgia Bank Brunswick Glynn County

APPROVAL DATE
06-26-2002

Synovus Trust Company, N.A. Columbus
Muscogee County

OCC - 04-29-2002

EFFECTIVE DATE
06-01-2002

APPLICATIONS TO ESTABLISH A BRANCH OFFICE

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
SunTrust Bank Atlanta
SunTrust Bank Atlanta

BRANCH OFFICE
Gateway Village Safeway Branch Office 2635 Housley Road Annapolis, MD 21401 Anne Arundel County
Clinton Crossing Safeway Branch Office 8785 Branch Avenue Clinton, MD 20733 Prince George's County

APPROVAL DATE
06-04-2002
05-16-2002

BEGIN BUSINESS
DATE
06-05-2002

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APPLICATIONS TO ESTABLISH A BRANCH OFFICE

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
SunTrust Bank Atlanta

BRANCH OFFICE
Dacula Village In-Store Branch Office 720 Dacula Road Dacula, GA 30019 Gwinnett County

APPROVAL DATE
04-22-2002

BEGIN BUSINESS
DATE
06-20-2002

SunTrust Bank Atlanta
SunTrust Bank Atlanta
SunTrust Bank Atlanta
SunTrust Bank Atlanta
Community Bank & Trust Cornelia
Pinnacle Bank Elberton

Lutz Apex Branch Office 16520 N Nebraska Avenue Lutz, FL 33549 Hillsborough County
Oxon Hill Safeway In-Store Branch Office 6235 Oxon Hill Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 Prince George's County
Fallsgrove Safeway In-Store Branch Office 14939 Shady Grove Road Rockville, MD 20850 Montgomery County
Hechinger Mall Safeway In-Store Branch Office 1601 Maryland Avenue NE Washington, DC 20002
Wal Mart #1400 Branch Office 1911 Epps Bridge Road Athens, GA 30606 Oconee County
Lexington Branch Office 114 Gilmer Street Lexington, GA 30648 Oglethorpe County

06-17-2002

06-26-2002

06-25-2002

06-26-2002

04-22-2002

06-19-2002

05-30-2002

06-18-2002

Riverside Bank Marietta

East Paces Ferry Branch Office 334 East Paces Ferry Road Atlanta, GA 30305 Fulton County

05-29-2001

12-21-2001

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FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
SunTrust Bank Atlanta

APPLICATIONS TO CHANGE LOCATION
CHANGE LOCATION OF
Stonebridge (Oconee) Branch Office From: 1351 Stonebridge Pkwy, Suite 104B
Watkinsville, GA 30677 Oconee County To: Experiment Station Road Branch Office 2061 Experiment Station Road Watkinsville, GA 30677 Oconee County

APPROVAL DATE
06-20-2002

EFFECTIVE DATE

Crescent Bank and Trust Company Jasper

Bartow County Branch Office From: Two North Dixie Avenue
Cartersville, GA 30120 Bartow County To: 880 Joe Frank Harris Pkwy, SE Cartersville, GA 30120
Bartow County

01-29-2001

06-24-2002

PROPOSED NAME
Lanier Community Bank
Mountain Bank
Southern Horizon Bank

APPLICATIONS FOR RESERVATION OF A NAME

COUNTY
Gwinnett County

APPLICANT
Mr. Joel B. Carter, Attorney Powell Goldstein Frazer & Murphy 191 Peachtree Street, 16th Floor Atlanta, GA 30303-1736

Dawson County

Mr. Brent H. Baker, Sr. Bankers Capital 1450 South Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30319

Calhoun County

Mr. John B. Kline, Principal Mauldin & Jenkins, LLC Post Office Box 724888 Atlanta, GA 31139

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION (SURVIVOR)
Farmers and Merchants Bank Lakeland, GA
First Bank of Gwinnett Lawrenceville, GA
RBC Centura Bank Rocky Mount, NC
RBC Centura Bank Rocky Mount, NC
RBC Centura Bank Rocky Mount, NC

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION MERGERS

MERGED INSTITUTION
The United Banking Company Nashville, GA
Embry Bank Lawrenceville, GA
SFNB (Georgia) Bank Atlanta, GA
Tucker Federal Bank Tucker, GA
Eagle Bancshares, Inc. Tucker, GA

APPROVAL DATE
06-25-2002 Pending
05-16-2002 06-06-2002 06-06-2002

EFFECTIVE DATE
06-01-2002

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APPLICATIONS TO BECOME A BANK HOLDING COMPANY AND/OR TO ACQUIRE VOTING STOCK OF A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION

BANK HOLDING COMPANY

TO ACQUIRE

APPROVAL DATE

FORMATIONS
UCB Financial Group, Inc. Atlanta, GA

United Commercial Bank (In organization) Atlanta, GA

Pending

ACQUISITIONS
Synovus Financial Corp. Columbus, GA
Gwinnett Commercial Group, Inc. Lawrenceville, GA

The Bank of Nashville Nashville, TN
Embry Bank Lawrenceville, GA

06-13-2002 06-05-2002

APPLICATIONS FOR NEW SALE OF CHECK

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
GroupEx Financial Corporation La Mirada, CA 90630-6009

APPROVAL DATE
Pending

EFFECTIVE DATE

CITY
Tucker Atlanta
Forest Park Jonesboro Waverly Hall Atlanta Buford

CHECK CASHER LICENSES ISSUED

APPLICANT NAME
Dogwood Green, LLC Euray, Inc.

TRADE NAME
Jack's Package Store G&V Supermarket

Kim, Dae Ho Miller, Susan M. Nelms, Daniel Shannon Park, Mi Oak US Investment Group, Inc.

CCO Check Cashing Neighborhood Check Cashing Crossroads Pawn ABC Wireless, Inc. Exxon Food Mart

NOTICES
Entities That May Be Conducting Banking Operations in the Georgia Without Authorization -
Meridian Bancshares, Inc. and Richard Baxter
It has come to the attention of the Department that Meridian Bancshares, Inc. (Meridian), Stone Mountain, GA, may be misrepresenting itself to be a Georgia state-chartered bank and/or Georgia bank holding company and may be conducting unauthorized banking transactions in Georgia as well as in other states. Any proposed transactions involving Meridian, or persons purporting to represent them, should be viewed with extreme caution.
Any information about Meridian may be forwarded to the Department of Banking and Finance, 2990 Brandywine Road, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30341. Information may be forwarded electronically to complaints@dbf.state.ga.us.

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Meridian has not been granted approval by the Department to conduct a banking business in the state of Georgia. Furthermore, no application has been received or approved by regulatory authorities for Meridian to acquire a Georgia state-chartered bank or to be a Georgia bank holding company. On November 16, 2001, the Department granted permission for Meridian to use "banc" in its name under the authority of Code Section 7-1-243 of the Official Code of Georgia. This permission was granted with the understanding that the company (Meridian) would become a bank holding company by acquiring an existing banking institution in Georgia. Due to the fact that the company has not filed applications with the Department or the appropriate Federal regulators to become a bank holding company, our permission of use of the word "banc" in the company's name has expired and was officially rescinded on June 12, 2002.
Eligible Investment Securities
The Department has received a number of requests from institutions wishing to make an equity investment in Community Insurance Group, LLC (CIG). Accordingly, the Department has reviewed the issue's Offering Circular, dated May 28, 2002, the Private Placement Memorandum and the Operating Agreement, which was revised on June 20, 2002. Based upon that review, it has been determined that state-chartered banks and bank holding companies may invest in the securities of the Community Insurance Group, LLC, subject to the requirements of the institution's primary federal regulator. State-chartered banks may invest in the corporation in accordance with O.C.G.A. 7-1-288(c)(2)(F).
This finding should not be construed as an evaluation of the credit quality or determination of suitability for investment, individually or collectively, by investors. Determination of suitability should be made by management subsequent to a thorough review and analysis of available information after consideration of applicable bank policies and management objectives. Further, the Department's action is not a substitute for the review and analysis which should be performed by management in making its decision to purchase or to hold these securities. Any institution contemplating investment in these securities should take into consideration all of the risks associated with this particular issue.
In offering insurance products and services through the Community Insurance Group, LLC, the Department expects all institutions to comply with the requirements of federal interagency rules regarding consumer protections for the sale of insurance, which can be found in the Financial Institutions Letter, FIL-84-2000, issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on December 5, 2000 and entitled "Consumer Protections for Bank Sales of Insurance." Each institution should have any proposed contracts reviewed by its own legal counsel and approved by its Board. In whatever arrangement is made with CIG for the sale of insurance products, management should be aware of the implications which such arrangements may have in regard to the institution's reputation in the community, contract terms and indemnifications notwithstanding. Issues which should be addressed include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) The uninsured nature of any insurance product or annuity offered for sale should be appropriately and clearly disclosed to customers.
(2) Although the sharing of employees is not prohibited, separate employees are preferred for the sales and marketing of any insurance-related products. If the employee has other banking duties, those duties should not include the opening of deposit accounts or the acceptance of insured deposits. Prescribed limits on a bank's employees involved in insurance activities should establish a clear separation between those activities and insured deposit activities of the bank. Shared employee arrangements can create major problems in accountability, employee relations, bonding, supervisory responsibility and customer perspective. In view of this fact, these areas should be thoroughly addressed, contractually or in written policies and procedures, to assure that the bank is adequately protected and to assure the
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absence of conflict of interest if shared employees are contemplated. (3) Management should clearly understand the implications of the arrangement under the institution's blanket bond coverage and should fill any exposure gaps created by the arrangement. (4) The institution should require proof of appropriate licensing of CIG's agents by the State Insurance Commissioner. (5) If space is leased to CIG for insurance activities, the leased space and CIG's records must be physically separate from any banking work area and banking records although shared public areas might be arranged. CIG's employees should not have access to bank work areas or records. Further, management should ensure compliance with any customer privacy requirements. (6) Where banking areas are not secure and separate from CIG's space, CIG's hours must be consistent with banking hours.
GEORGIA FAIR LENDING ACT QUESTIONS, INQUIRIES, AND COMMENTS
The Governor signed the Georgia Fair Lending Act (HB 1361) into law on April 22, 2002. The law is effective October 1, 2002 and affects all lenders and brokers who make home loans in Georgia. You may send comments concerning this law by e-mail to gafla@dbf.state.ga.us or by regular mail or fax. The Department has compiled the first version of a question and answer (Q&A) database from the correspondence received to date. The Q&A is available in both MS Word and Adobe PDF and is posted on the Department's site at: http://www.state.ga.us/dbf/publications.html#GAFLA. Thank you in advance for your help with this matter.
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