Regions Financial Corporation

Regions Financial Corporation

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: RF S&P 500 Component
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1971 as First Alabama Bancshares
Headquarters	Regions Center Birmingham, Alabama, U.S
Number of locations	1,772 (December 2010)[1]
Products	Commercial banking Retail banking Mortgage banking Investment banking Asset management Insurance
Revenue	US$ 5.428 billion (2014)[2]
Operating income	US$ 1.09 billion (2014)[3]
Net income	US$ 1.155 billion (2014)[1]
Total assets	US$ 119.679 billion (2014)
Total equity	US$ 16.989 billion (2014)
Number of employees	23,000 (2014)[1]
Website	Regions.com

Regions Financial Corporation is a US bank and financial services company based in Birmingham, Alabama, with its corporate headquarters at the Regions Center. A member of the S&P 500 Index, the company provides retail and commercial banking, trust, securities brokerage, mortgage and insurance products and services.

Regions is the only member of the Fortune 500 headquartered in Alabama (ranked #479 in 2015),^[4] and was ranked by Business Insider as the largest company in the state.^[5] Regions is the largest deposit holder in Alabama, with $22.8 billion in local deposits, or 25.7% of all local deposits.^[6] As of 2012, Regions had $122 billion in assets. In 2010, Regions had $137 billion in assets, making it at that time the 22nd largest bank in the United States, and the 10th largest U.S. based bank.^[7][8] Its banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates some 1,700 branches and 2,400 ATMs across a 16-state network in the South, Midwest, and Texas.

Company history to 2008

Regions Financial Corporation started on July 13, 1971 with the merger of three Alabama banks: First National Bank of Montgomery (opened 1871), Exchange Security Bank of Birmingham (opened 1928), and First National Bank of Huntsville (opened 1856). The combined company was known as First Alabama Bancshares, the first state-chartered bank holding company in Alabama.^[9] Other acquisitions expanded the holding company's reach. Until their formal merger in March 1985, under revised banking regulations, the banks continued to operate independently.

Regions Geographic Footprint

Many of these founding banks hold places of historic importance in Alabama. The First National Bank Building in Huntsville, which was originally the Branch Bank of the State of Alabama, is one of the few bank buildings in existence today which was used for the same intended purpose for about 170 years, until it was retired in January 2010. It served as a hospital for Union soldiers during the American Civil War, and once held a rifle owned by Frank James as collateral for bail money when he was incarcerated across the street in the Madison County Jail.

In 1986, changes in the Interstate Banking Bill allowed bank holding companies to purchase bank branches outside the state in which they were chartered. First Alabama Bancshares expanded its operations first into Florida, continuing into Georgia, Tennessee, and Arkansas. To reflect its growth into a regional company, First Alabama Bancshares changed its name to Regions Financial Corporation and the name of its banking subsidiary to Regions Bank on May 2, 1992.

Regions added banking branches in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. The name "Regions" was purchased from First Commercial Corporation, the Arkansas Bank that Regions subsequently purchased in 1998. The Louisiana Regions Banks were established in Monroe (Ouachita Parish) by two former members of the Louisiana State Senate, Jamar Adcock and William R. "Billy" Boles, Sr..

On April 10, 2002, Regions Financial Corporation announced that it has begun the process of listing its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "RF". .^[10]

In addition to the bank subsidiary, Regions Financial operated a mortgage bank – Regions Mortgage – a trust company, and an investment subsidiary – Regions Investment Company, Inc. (RICI). Later, Rebsamen Insurance Company was acquired, further expanding the range of financial services offered by the company.

Currently, Regions is the largest deposit holder in Alabama, with $22.8 billion in local deposits, or 25.7% of all local deposits. In Tennessee, Regions is also the largest deposit holder with $17.3 billion in total deposits, or 14.1% of all local deposits. Regions has $4 billion in deposits (7.5% of local deposits) in Arkansas, $7.2 billion in deposits (7.6% of local deposits) in Louisiana, $6.6 billion in deposits (13.8% of local deposits) in Mississippi, and $19.1 billion in deposits (4.2% of local deposits) in Florida.

Regions moved into its current headquarters building, the Regions Center, after its merger with Amsouth from the former Regions Plaza (now Viva Health building) diagonally across North 20th Street in downtown Birmingham.^[11] Regions share's the Birmingham $33 billion banking scene with 47 other banks including Wells Fargo, BBVA Compass, Synovus (locally operated as First Commercial Bank), ServisFirst, BB&T, Cadence Bank, PNC Bank, AloStar Bank, and IberiaBank. Regions currently held more than 35% of all local deposits in 2014.^[12] Birmingham-local banks reported more than $245 billion in assets in 2014, of which Regions was the largest. Birmingham was ranked the 10th largest domestic banking hub in the United States in 2014.^[13]

Major mergers and acquisitions

Independence Bank

On May 17, 2002, Regions Financial completed the previously announced acquisition of Independence Bank. Under the terms of the merger, the total purchase price is approximately $20 million in cash.^[14]

Morgan Keegan

Former Regions logo, used officially until August 2004

On December 19, 2000, Regions agreed to purchase Memphis, Tennessee, based securities brokerage firm Morgan Keegan for $789 million. Morgan Keegan took over investment banking Responsibilities from RICI and eventually also was given control of Regions Trust Company. The combined subsidiary is now known as Regions Morgan Keegan Trust, Inc.

In January 2012, Regions sold Morgan Keegan to Raymond James, a Florida-based brokerage firm, for $930 million. Regions Morgan Keegan was retained by Regions and now operates as Regions Trust.

Union Planters

On January 24, 2004, Regions merged with Memphis, Tennessee based Union Planters Bank in a $5.9 billion transaction. This merger was noteworthy – at least among large banks – for the fact that Regions, the acquiring bank, did not pay a premium above the currently trading stock price of Union Planters shares. Union Planters Bank, however, was to receive an equal number of board seats within the newly formed bank. Jackson W. Moore, the former CEO of Union Planters, became CEO of the merged company. He suffered a stroke after the merger closed, but was still able to assume his new post upon recovery. After the merger, Regions adopted Union Planters' former logo of a young cotton plant and used it until the AmSouth conversion. The merger significantly increased Regions' footprint in Tennessee; Union Planters had been the largest Tennessee-based bank.

Regions adopted this logo after merging with Union Planters, incorporating the former bank's logo into its own. This logo was used from January 2004 to July 2007.

AmSouth

On May 25, 2006, Regions announced it would be acquiring AmSouth Bancorporation, another Birmingham based bank, in a $10 billion deal. While Regions would be the surviving company, the merged entity would effectively adopt AmSouth's corporate structure.^[15] Upon completion of the merger, which took place on November 4, 2006, Regions Financial became the nation's eighth largest bank with total assets of nearly $140 billion and approximately 2,000 branches and more than 2,400 ATMs throughout a 16-state network. Jackson W. Moore remained chairman of the combined company while C. Dowd Ritter (chairman, president, and CEO of AmSouth) assumed roles as president and CEO of Regions Financial until April 1, 2010. Grayson Hall has now assumed president and CEO responsibilities. AmSouth branches in Alabama and Florida closed or converted to Regions on July 13, 2007. AmSouth branches in Event 2 either closed or converted to Regions on October 26, 2007. Some AmSouth branches remained in northwest Georgia, but they were converted on the evening of December 6, 2007 and the AmSouth name is now retired. Upon the merger, Regions adopted its new corporate logo and "life green" color scheme.

Integrity Bank

On August 29, 2008, Integrity Bank, of Alpharetta, Georgia, was placed into receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Regions Bank assumed its operations.^[16] This change was a fallout from the United States housing bubble.

FirstBank Financial Services

In February 2009, FirstBank Financial Services of McDonough Georgia, was also placed into receivership by the FDIC and Regions Bank assumed its operations.

Customer Satisfaction

In J. D. Power and Associates 2008 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, Regions came in last in customer satisfaction in the Southeastern region.^[17] In the 2011 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, Regions came in fourth in customer satisfaction in the Southeastern region.^[18]

In April 2011, Regions Bank scored the highest marks for retail banks in Florida, according to J.D. Power & Associates.^[19]

TARP

In 2008, Regions Bank received a $3.5 billion loan as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. As of April 4, 2012 Regions Financial Corp. has repaid the $3.5 billion it received from the US government during the financial crisis^[20]

Overdraft Fees

In April 2015 Regions was charged $7.5 million in fines for inappropriate or illegal overdraft fees to customers.^[21] The charges are for Regions not obtaining affirmative opt-ins from charging overdraft fees on ATM and one-time debit card transactions.^[22] The CFPB found that regions misrepresented overdraft and non-sufficient fund fees related to the bank's short-term loan program.^[23]

See also

• Regions Center
• Regions Charity Classic
• Regions Field

References

External links

• Regions Financial Corporation official website
• Morgan Keegan official website
• Regions Insurance official website
• Regions Mortgage official website
• Regions Bank Locations
• Regions Investor FAQs
• Orlando Regions Bank