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Press Releases
Community & Southern Bank, Carrollton, Georgia, Assumes All of the Deposits of Three Georgia Institutions
Bank of Ellijay, Ellijay, First Commerce Community Bank, Douglasville, and The Peoples Bank, Winder

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 17, 2010
Media Contact:
LaJuan Williams-Young
Phone: (202) 898-3876
Email: lwilliams-young@fdic.gov

Community & Southern Bank, Carrollton, Georgia, acquired the banking operations, including all the deposits, of three Georgia-based institutions. The Bank of Ellijay, Ellijay, First Commerce Community Bank, Douglasville, and The Peoples Bank, Winder, were closed by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, and the FDIC was named receiver for each institution. The failed institutions were not affiliated with one another. To protect depositors, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Community & Southern Bank.

All of the branches of the three closed institutions will reopen as branches of Community & Southern Bank under their normal business hours, including those with Saturday hours. Depositors will automatically become depositors of Community & Southern Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage. Bank of Ellijay has two branches (including the branch called Bank of Canton, which is a division of the Bank of Ellijay) in Georgia, First Commerce Community Bank has two branches in Georgia, and The Peoples Bank has 14 branches in Georgia. Customers of the failed institutions should continue to use their former branches until they receive notice from Community & Southern Bank that it has completed systems changes to allow other Community & Southern Bank branches to process their accounts as well. Over the weekend, depositors can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

As of June 30, 2010, Bank of Ellijay had total assets of $168.8 million and total deposits of $160.7 million; First Commerce Community Bank had total assets of $248.2 million and total deposits of $242.8 million; and The Peoples Bank had total assets of $447.2 million and total deposits of $398.2 million. Community & Southern Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of 1.0 percent to acquire all of the deposits of the Bank of Ellijay and First Commerce Community Bank. They also will pay the FDIC a premium of 1.25 percent to acquire all of the deposits of The Peoples Bank. Besides assuming all the deposits from the three Georgia institutions, Community & Southern Bank will purchase virtually all the failed banks' assets.

The FDIC and Community & Southern Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $602.5 million of the failed institutions' assets. Community & Southern Bank and the FDIC will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share transaction is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The transaction also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.

Customers who have questions about today's transactions can call the FDIC toll free: for Bank of Ellijay customers, 1-800-930-1849; for First Commerce Community Bank customers, 1-800-234-9027; and for The Peoples Bank customers, 1-800-357-7599. The phone numbers will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m. EDT; on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT; on Sunday from noon until 6:00 p.m. EDT; and thereafter from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EDT. Interested parties can also visit the FDIC's Web site: for Bank of Ellijay, http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/ellijay.html; for First Commerce Community Bank, http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/firstcommerce_ga.html; and for The Peoples Bank, http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/peoplesbank_ga.html.

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) for Bank of Ellijay will be $55.2 million; for First Commerce Community Bank, $71.4 million; and for The Peoples Bank, $98.9 million. Community & Southern Bank's acquisition of all the deposits the three institutions was the least costly option for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives. These failures bring the total number of failures to 123 for the nation and to 14 for Georgia. Prior to these failures, the last bank closed in the state was Northwest Bank & Trust, Acworth, on July 31, 2010