§ 7-1-623. Acquisitions Not Requiring Department Approval; Notifications

1. Subject to any applicable restrictions an out-of-state bank holding company having a bank subsidiary with banking offices in Georgia may acquire a bank that does not have banking offices in this state, and an out-of-state bank holding company may acquire an out-of-state bank with branch offices in Georgia without the approval of the department.
2. A bank holding company may engage in the transactions described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection without the necessity of complying with Code Section 7-1-622, provided that it notifies the department not less than 30 days following the consummation of the transaction.
   1. The acquisition of a Georgia bank, if such acquisition has been consummated with assistance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation under Section 13(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as amended, 12 U.S.C. Section 1823(c); or
   2. The acquisition of a Georgia bank, if such acquisition has been consummated in the regular course of securing or collecting a debt previously contracted in good faith, as provided in and subject to the requirements of Section 3(a) of the federal Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, 12 U.S.C. Section 1842(a). The bank or bank holding company must divest the securities or assets acquired within two years of the date of acquisition. The department may, in its discretion, permit the bank or bank holding company to retain such interest for up to three additional periods of one year each.
3. An out-of-state bank holding company acquiring a Georgia bank holding company or Georgia state bank shall notify the department upon filing an application with the appropriate federal or state financial regulator. The notification requirements of this subsection shall be satisfied by furnishing the department with a copy of the application or applications filed with applicable bank supervisory agencies seeking approval for the proposed transaction and such other information as the department shall request. In addition, the parties shall file with the department and the Secretary of State a certificate of approval of the acquisition by the appropriate supervisory agencies prior to consummation of the transaction. The department may, for good cause shown, object to the transaction by letter to the out-of-state bank holding company, the Georgia bank holding company, and to the appropriate federal or state financial regulator before consummation of the transaction. In the event of such objection, the acquisition cannot be consummated without the parties obtaining the approval of the department.

History. Code 1981, § 7-1-622 , enacted by Ga. L. 1984, p. 1467, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 13, § 7; Ga. L. 1994, p. 215, § 3; Code 1981, § 7-1-623 , as redesignated by Ga. L. 1996, p. 279, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 674, § 20; Ga. L. 2016, p. 390, § 2-19/HB 811; Ga. L. 2022, p. 220, § 19/HB 891.

The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, rewrote subsection (a); substituted “The bank” for “If the bank acquired under this provision has banking offices in Georgia, the bank” at the beginning of the second sentence in paragraph (b)(2); and added subsection (c).

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 1996, p. 279, § 1, effective April 1, 1996, redesignated former Code Section 7-1-623 as present Code Section 7-1-624.