Regions Bank history

Until their formal merger in March 1985, under revised banking regulations, the banks continued to operate independently.

In 1986, changes in the Interstate Banking Bill allowed bank holding companies to purchase bank branches outside the state in which they were chartered.

In 1994, 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.

The name "Regions" was purchased from First Commercial Corporation, the Arkansas Bank that Regions subsequently purchased in 1998.

In 2001, Regions acquired Morgan Keegan & Company for $789 million.

In 2002, the company announced that it will list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange.

On January 24, 2004, Regions merged with Memphis, Tennessee–based Union Planters Bank in a $5.9 billion transaction.

In 2006, Regions acquired AmSouth Bancorporation, another Birmingham-based bank, in a $10 billion transaction.

The combination of these two major bank holding companies into the new Regions was the last major unforced financial transaction in the United States before the Great Recession started to show signs beginning in 2007.

In 2008, Regions Bank received a $3.5 billion loan as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

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

In January 2012, Regions sold Morgan Keegan to Raymond James for $930 million.

In July 2018, the company sold its insurance operations to BB&T.