Atlanta Unfiltered

By JIM WALLS

Davy Jones, 'Daydream Believer'

Not even Davy Jones could keep Atlantic Southern Bank from closing Friday, costing federal insurers $273.5 million. Nor could the ex-Monkee, who became the bank’s spokesman in 2008, draw attention away from improper transfers of cash by the bank’s holding company.

State banking regulators shut down the Macon-based bank last week, more than two years after finding serious problems with the bank’s operations. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. became receiver of the bank’s assets; deposits were transferred to CertusBank of Easley, S.C., which reopened Atlantic Southern branches this morning.

In September 2009, the bank signed a consent order agreeing to recapitalize, collect or charge off losses and tighten management by the CEO and board of directors. Six months later, regulators ordered the bank’s holding company to return an unspecified sum paid out in violation of federal law governing transactions between banks and their affiliates:

Within 30 days of this Agreement, Atlantic shall submit to the Reserve Bank an acceptable written plan to reimburse the Bank for all payments made by the Bank in violation of sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. §§371c and 371c-1). The plan shall specify the amount(s) to be reimbursed or paid to the Bank, the method used to calculate the amount including interest, and a schedule for when the reimbursement will be made.

Regulators today would not disclose the nature of the payments or say whether the money had been returned.

Also shut down Friday was First Georgia Banking Co., based in Franklin, Ga. Authorities said the two Georgia bank failures cost the federal deposit insurance fund an estimated $430 million.

The bank shutdowns were the 62nd and 63rd in Georgia since 2008, FDIC records show, costing the insurance pool a combined $9 billion.