Inside this issue: Financial 2 Institution Supervision Division Changes Georgia 3 Residential Mortgage Act Fee Reminder NCUA Launches 4 New Website for Small Credit Unions 2013 State 4 Holidays Action on 5 Applications for the Month of December Customer Service 6 Star for the Month of December Contact 7 Information News and topics of interest to financial institutions regulated by the Department of Banking and Finance Monthly Bulletin #12 December 2012 Reevaluation of Restriction on Board Fees for De Novo Banks In recognition of the prolonged downturn in our nation's and state's economies and a desire for our institutions to retain qualified board members, the Department is willing to entertain requests to pay fees to directors prior to the bank reaching cumulative profitability. De novo banks in Georgia are typically restricted from paying fees to Board members for their service until the bank reaches cumulative profitability as a condition of the Department's Charter Approval letter. Historically, most de novo institutions reached cumulative profitability prior to their third year of operation; however, economic conditions of the past several years have meant that many de novo banks currently operating will reach cumulative profitability only after a more protracted time period. De novo institutions that are currently restricted from paying Board fees due to a lack of cumulative profitability, but are operating in a safe and sound condition, may seek a written release of this condition from the Department. Requests that the Department will consider must include positive earnings performance over the last two years, a satisfactory capital position, and lack of an enforcement action. It is the Department's intent to only approve Board fees that will not have a material impact on the bank's earnings and do not appear to attempt to recapture fees from years past. We hope this reevaluation of this charter approval condition assists our banks in retaining an active and qualified directorate. DBF Outreach AND UPCOMING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS Commissioner Braswell will be speaking at the GBA Legislative Meeting on January 16th at the Marriott Marquis, Atlanta. He will also be speaking at the Georgia Credit Union Affiliates' Grassroots Academy on January 29th at the Sloppy Floyd Building, Atlanta. "Safeguarding Georgia's Financial Services" Page 2 December 2012 Financial Institution Supervision Division Changes Meet District Director Dennis McNeer Dennis McNeer Dennis McNeer was recently named District Director of the Department's Northeast / Central (District 2) field office in Loganville. In his new position as District Director, Dennis will assume field regulatory and supervisory responsibilities for the financial institutions in the District. Dennis began his career with the Department in August of 1989 and has worked in four different districts during his tenure. Dennis has 23 years of experience as a bank examiner, including 11 years served as a Supervisory Examiner. Most recently, he has served as the assistant team leader for the dedicated SunTrust examination team. Dennis is a graduate of Georgia College with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and is a Certified Examinations Manager. Congratulations Dennis! Supervisory Manager Changes Supervisory Manager Mike Killeen will retire effective January 31, 2013, after 34 years of faithful service to the State of Georgia. Mike graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He began his career with the Department in January of 1980, working for two years in the Credit Union division before it was consolidated into the Banking division. After consolidation, he was assigned to the Northeast District where he progressed through the examiner ranks and worked for 25 years, obtaining the position of Supervisory Examiner. Mike was also the manager of the Department's Athens field office from its establishment in 1989 until it merged with the District 2 office in 1999. In 2007, he accepted the position of Supervisory Manager in the Department's main office. During his career, Mike gained considerable expertise in the supervision and examination of banks and credit unions. He is one of the Department's most experienced credit union examiners, having been in charge of some of our largest supervised credit unions. He is also a Certified Examinations Manager. Mike Killeen For several years now, he has assisted the faculty of the Georgia Bankers Association (GBA) in training first level and midlevel bank managers at their Georgia Bankers School, which is held on the campus of the University of Georgia. Mike's role has been to serve as the bank examiner for the bank simulation game that is played by the senior class as part of the GBA's Georgia Bankers School. Congratulations Mike! We wish you the best in your well-deserved retirement. December 2012 Page 3 Financial Institution Supervision Division Changes Supervisory Manager Changes (continued) Brittany Bohannon With the announcement of Mike's retirement, Brittany Bohannon has been selected to fill the Supervisory Manager position. Brittany began her career with the Department in May of 2005 as an Assistant Financial Examiner in the College Park field office. Since then she has progressively held positions of greater responsibility, subsequently being promoted to Senior Financial Examiner in August of 2010. Prior to working for the Department, Brittany worked as an accountant in the private sector. Brittany is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting. She also received a Master of Business Administration in Accounting from Georgia State University. Brittany is a Certified Examiner-In-Charge. Congratulations Brittany! Georgia Residential Mortgage Act Fee Reminder The $10.00 per loan fees required by O.C.G.A. Section 7-1-1011(b)(2) and Department Rule 80-5-1-.04 are due no later than March 1, 2013, for residential mortgage loans closed during the period July 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012. A $10.00 fee will be due if the loan is a residential mortgage loan as defined in the Georgia Residential Mortgage Act ("GRMA"), and if a security deed, a modification of a security deed or other form of modification of a security interest is recorded. Financial institutions, mortgage licensees and registrants that act as the collecting agent (including brokers that table fund and collect the fee) must submit the fees and file the fee statement before the deadline to avoid fines. Per Department Rule 80-5-1-.04(b), GRMA per loan fee reporting / remittance must be completed online through the Department's secure website. Reporting is required even if no residential mortgage loans were made and no fees are due. To avoid fines for failure to report / remit GRMA fees, reporting must be completed by the deadline noted above. Reporting and fee payment must be done online from our secure website at: https://bkgfin.dbf.state.ga.us/GRMAFee.html. Page 4 December 2012 NCUA Launches New Website for Small Credit Unions The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has launched a new website for small credit unions - www.ncua.gov/ OSCUI. The NCUA's Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives (OSCUI) supports the success of small credit unions through training, assistance and partnership opportunities. "We're adding new information and making existing information easier to find," said OSCUI Director William Myers. "Our goal is to provide a better, more user-friendly tool for all small credit unions to quickly get what they need online." Visit the OSCUI website to learn more about the resources to which OSCUI provides access. 2013 State Holidays In accordance with O.C.G.A. 1-4-1, Governor Nathan Deal proclaimed the following dates in 2013 as public and legal state holidays when the Capitol and all State agencies will be closed: Holiday Name New Years Day 2013 Robert E. Lee's Birthday Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday Washington's Birthday Confederate Memorial Day Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veterans' Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day Date Observed January 1st Tuesday January 19th Saturday Will be observed on Friday, November 29th January 21st Monday February 18th - Monday Will be observed on Tuesday, December 24th April 22nd Monday May 27th Monday July 4th Thursday September 2nd Monday October 14th Monday November 11th Monday November 28th Thursday Lee's Birthday will be observed on Friday, November 29th December 25th Wednesday Washington's Birthday will be observed on Tuesday, December 24th Georgia law allows a financial institution to be closed one day each week in addition to Sundays and holidays (O.C.G.A. 7 -1-110). Except in the case of an emergency closing, a financial institution must post a notice of intent to close at least 30 days in advance of the closure (O.C.G.A. 7-1-110.1). December 2012 Page 5 Action on Applications for the Month of December: 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 December 2012. APPLICATIONS TO ESTABLISH A BRANCH OFFICE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION Community & Southern Bank Atlanta BRANCH OFFICE Buford Branch Office 3350 State Road 20 Suite A100 Buford, GA 30519 Gwinnett County APPROVAL BEGIN BUSINESS 09-19-2012 12-03-2012 State Bank and Trust Company Macon Tifton Branch Office 1495 Kennedy Road Tifton, GA 31794 Tift County 11/13/2012 Withdrawn 12-19-2012 Ameris Bank Moultrie Downtown Tallahassee Branch Office 150 South Monroe Street Suites 100 & 200 Tallahassee, FL 32301 Leon County 09-04-2012 12-17-2012 Fidelity Bank Norcross Buckhead Branch Office 2061 Peachtree Road Atlanta, GA 30309 Fulton County 12-14-2012 The Peoples Bank of Talbotton Talbotton Ellaville Branch Office 46 East Oglethorpe Street Ellaville, GA 31806 Schley County Pending FINANCIAL INSTITUTION Community & Southern Bank Atlanta Waycross Bank & Trust Waycross APPLICATIONS TO CHANGE LOCATION From: To: CHANGE LOCATION OF Woodstock Branch Office 9860 Highway 92 Woodstock, GA 30188 Cherokee County 8770 Main Street Woodstock, GA 30188 Cherokee County APPROVAL EFFECTIVE 12-05-2012 From: To: Brunswick Branch Office 1001 Gloucester Street Brunswick, GA 31520 Glynn County 1500 Newcastle Street Brunswick, GA 31520 Glynn County 12-05-2012 Page 6 FINANCIAL INSTITUTION (SURVIVOR) SCBT Columbia, SC FINANCIAL INSTITUTION MERGERS December 2012 MERGED INSTITUTION Bryan Bank & Trust Richmond Hill, GA APPROVAL 10-17-2012 EFFECTIVE 12-13-2012 CHECK CASHER LICENSES ISSUED CITY Jackson Royston Columbus Pine Mountain Valley Winder APPLICANT NAME Atlanta South 75, Inc. * Gladiator Fuel, Inc. Jorge Orderique * Lisa Yong Crossen MAF Business LLC TRADE NAME Atlanta South 75 Travelcenters of America Royal Foods Borinquen Foods Billy Bob's Too Short Stop * =Registered (O.C.G.A. 7-1-700 et al) SALE OF CHECK AND MONEY TRANSMITTER LICENSES ISSUED NAME PreCash, Inc. Houston, TX APPROVAL 12-19-2012 TouchPay Holdings, LP Irving, TX 12-07-2012 Hadeel Express, Inc. Scottdale, GA 12-03-2012 Nationwide Biweekly Administration, Inc. Xenia, OH 12-31-2012 CUSTOMER SERVICE STAR FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER It is the Department's goal to provide excellent customer service by meeting and exceeding the expectations of our customers. Along those lines, we would like to recognize the following individual and/or team for going above and beyond in serving our customers: Supervisory Manager Pam Keane The Department received comments from a customer stating: "I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your assistance and helpfulness regarding our 2012 dividend approval process. I greatly appreciate your thoughtfulness and guidance in this, as well as other matters, which you have helped me with over the past few years. It is good to know we have regulators in both our federal and state systems who safeguard our banking systems while being both professional and courteous. I know you may not hear it often in your fields, but we do appreciate your hard work and helpfulness." CONGRATULATIONS AND GREAT JOB TO THIS MONTH'S CUSTOMER SERVICE STAR!! December 2012 GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF BANKING AND FINANCE 2990 Brandywine Road Suite 200 Atlanta, Georgia 30341-5565 Phone: (770) 986-1633 Fax: (770) 986-1654 or 1655 Email: dbfpress@dbf.state.ga.us Page 7 The Department is the state agency that regulates and examines banks, credit unions, and trust companies chartered by the State of Georgia. The Department also has regulatory and/or licensing authority over mortgage brokers/processors, lenders and loan originators, money service businesses, international banking organizations, and bank holding companies conducting business in Georgia. Our Mission is to promote safe, sound, competitive financial services in Georgia through innovative, responsive regulation and supervision. Our Vision is to be the best financial services industry regulator in the country Progressive. Proactive. Service-Oriented. We're on the Web! Visit our website at: dbf.georgia.gov Sign-up to Receive this Publication: This publication is delivered to interested parties via e-mail and is also available from the Department's website at: http://dbf.georgia.gov under Publications, Financial Institutions Bulletin. If you would like to be added to our distribution list, send an e-mail to dbfpress@dbf.state.ga.us stating your name and e-mail address. 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