Georgia Bank Folds; GDBF Now in Control

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance has taken possession of FirstBank Financial Services, McDonough. The Superior Court of Henry County issued an Order appointing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as Receiver of the Bank effective upon the Department taking possession of FirstBank Financial Services.

The Department took possession of FirstBank Financial Services pursuant to the Official Code of Georgia, Section 7-1-150(a) which authorizes the Department in its discretion to take possession of the business and property of any state chartered financial institution whenever such financial institution is either insolvent or operating in an unsafe or unsound condition to transact its business, is operating in violation of any court order, statute, rule or regulation, or requests the Department to take possession of its business and property.

All deposit accounts of FirstBank Financial Services have been transferred to Regions Bank, Birmingham, Alabama, and will be available immediately. On Feb. 9, depositors will be able to access their accounts at the former main office and branch locations of FirstBank Financial Services. For the time being, former customers of FirstBank Financial Services should use the former offices of FirstBank Financial Services until Regions Bank can fully integrate the deposit records of FirstBank Financial Services. Additionally, the former depositors of FirstBank Financial Services can continue to access their accounts through automated teller machine transactions, checks and debit transactions.

All deposits will be transferred to Regions Bank and, therefore, it is not anticipated that there will be any loss exposure to former FirstBank Financial Services depositors that have deposits exceeding the FDIC Deposit Insurance amounts.

The Department’s Commissioner, Robert Braswell, reminds depositors that deposits of all Georgia banks are insured by the FDIC up to $250,000. Special rules are in place for accounts held in trust status and joint accounts that may further expand deposit insurance coverage. You can find additional information on FDIC Deposit Insurance at www.fdic.gov.

The FDIC has established a Web site and a toll-free phone number to answer questions from depositors, creditors and other interested parties regarding the receivership of FirstBank Financial Services. The Web site is www.fdic.gov and the toll-free phone number is 1-800-823-3215. The phone number is operational on Friday from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. and thereafter from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.