Update: Bham News Article

I am very glad that our company responded quickly to this crazy article (see below). I am still frustrated!!!!!!!!
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Update: Birmingham not moving deposits from Regions, despite county treasurer's questions
Posted by Russell Hubbard -- Birmingham News February 04, 2009 4:07 PM

Jefferson County's treasurer has asked the commission to advise her if the county's deposits should be yanked from Regions Bank, whose holding company has been suffering from financial losses, falling share prices and credit downgrades.
But a Regions' spokesman said the bank is safe, and the city of Birmingham said it isn't concerned about its deposits there.

Jennifer Champion, elected treasurer last year to manage the county's $660 million budget, said she today sent a memo to Commission President Bettye Fine Collins and the four commissioners requesting guidance.

The county has 12 accounts with Regions, holding tens of millions of dollars at any one time, Champion said in an interview. She said she wonders about Regions soundness after the company's shares have fallen by more than 90 percent in the past year, and its creditworthiness has been downgraded by Wall Street ratings agencies. "I need to do what I can to protect the taxpayer," Champion said.

Regions spokesman Tim Deighton said the bank is sound and is well capitalized. "Stock price has no bearing on the company's safety and soundness," Deighton said. "In fact, we have very healthy capital ratios, which Moody's Investor Service noted, and those ratios are a very good indicator of a bank's safety and soundness."

The city of Birmingham isn't abandoning Regions. It has $72 million with the bank, and Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford said that money will remain there. "I'm not moving one single dime," he said. "This problem, as unfortunate as it is, is a worldwide problem. Tell me a bank you're going to put it in that hasn't suffered some loses to some degree? This is not the time to be beating up on our local institutions. "

Regions, the area's largest private employer with 6,000 workers, has been hurt by delinquent loans from real-estate borrowers. The company had a fourth-quarter loss of $6.2 billion. Shares Wednesday fell below $2.50 in late-afternoon trading.
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