AmSouth Bancorporation was a banking company headquartered in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% f ...

, and operated for its final year in existence as a

bank holding company A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') is often used to refer to these companies as well. United States ...

(subsidiary) of

Regions Financial Corporation Regions Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in the Regions Center in Birmingham, Alabama. The company provides retail banking and commercial banking, trust, stockbrokerage, and mortgage services. Its banking subsidi ...

after a merger between the two banks. AmSouth was previously known as First National Bank of Birmingham, which was first organized by

Charles Linn Charles Linn born Carl Erik Engelbert Sjödahl (June 13, 1814 – August 7, 1882) was a sailor, wholesaler, banker, and industrialist. He was a captain in the Confederate Navy and an important figure in Alabama's early economy. Early life Carl ...

in 1872. AmSouth was in the financial services industry and at its peak employed over twelve thousand people. AmSouth's size more than doubled in 2000 when it absorbed

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

-based

First American National Bank First American National Bank was a subsidiary of First American Corporation, a financial institution based in Nashville, Tennessee, that served the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Virginia. It was headquartered in the First American ...

. With the merger came hundreds of branches primarily in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

but also in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. This is cited as a rare example of one bank absorbing another bank larger than itself. As part of the deal, AmSouth also acquired Deposit Guaranty Bank (which was operating as a subsidiary of First American). AmSouth was known for its low risk accounts through its specialty in Wealth Management, especially in its largest market of Birmingham, Alabama, where it started its specialty. Following AmSouth's merger with First American in 1999, the company expanded its Wealth Management reach into many of First American's markets such as Nashville, Tennessee.

Merger with Regions Financial Corporation

On May 25, 2006, AmSouth announced it would merge with

, another Birmingham-based bank, in a $10 billion deal. A list of branches that will be divested for the merger to be approved was issued by the Department of Justice on October 19, 2006. The 39 branches divested in Alabama were sold to

RBC Centura Bank RBC Bank is the trading name of RBC Bank (Georgia), N.A., the United States-based retail banking division of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) which is targeted toward Canadian snowbirds, expatriates, and frequent tourists. Despite its limited re ...

and converted in Spring 2007. On November 4, 2006, Regions completed its acquisition of AmSouth. AmSouth branches in Alabama, Florida, or Columbus, GA, either closed or converted to Regions on July 13, 2007. Branches in remaining states (except parts of Northwest Georgia) closed or converted on October 26, 2007. The branches in Northwest Georgia were converted on December 6, 2007, officially retiring the AmSouth name.

References

External links

Yahoo! - AmSouth Bancorporation
profile
Regions Financial
official site of parent corporation {{DEFAULTSORT:Amsouth Bancorporation Regions Financial Corporation Companies based in Birmingham, Alabama Banks based in Alabama Banks established in 1970 Defunct banks of the United States Banks disestablished in 2006 Defunct companies based in Alabama American companies established in 1970