Our History
On January 1, 1983, Southern Bancshares (N.C.), Inc. was formed as a One Bank Holding Company and became the holding company of all the shares of stock of Southern Bank and Trust Company. At that time, Southern Banschares (N.C.), Inc. was owned by approximately 450 shareholders with 133,340 shares of common stock outstanding. The Bank and the Holding company are supervised by the same officers and Board of Directors. The Home Office of the Bank is located at 116 East Main Street, Mount Olive, North Carolina.
In 1986, Southern issued its Series B Preferred Stock (with the acquisition of Tarheel Bank and Trust Company) and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). As a public company, we were required to comply with extensive disclosure and reporting requirements. These requirements included the preparation and filing of numerous reports with the SEC regarding our financial condition, operations, management and other aspects of our business, all of which were required to be reviewed by our outside counsel and our independent auditors. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 significantly increased these reporting requirements.
De-registration
As a community bank with a commitment to serving the small rural communities in Eastern North Carolina, our operating costs as a percentage of our revenues typically exceed those of most banks. Given our unique structure, we were required to look for ways to control costs. The ongoing cost savings realized through de-registration from the SEC improved those efficiencies and helps keep us on a more competitive footing with our market peers. De-registration was completed in March, 2006.
Even after de-registration, the Bank continues to be examined by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Commissioner of Banks of the State of North Carolina, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Southern continues to have annual financial statements audited by an outside public accounting firm.