Carolina First Names Interim President

The South Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSFG) announced that it has named Christopher S. Gompper as the interim president of banking operations for its Carolina First markets in North and South Carolina. In his role as interim president, Gompper’s primary focus will be the day to day execution of strategies and plans that support the bank’s vision to be the relationship bank of choice in our local markets. Gompper will continue to be responsible for the bank’s retail performance and delivery functions, marketing, and wealth management. Ernie Diaz, the president of The South Financial Group’s banking operations for its Mercantile franchise in Florida, will assume leadership for commercial performance and delivery functions.

“We are pleased to have someone with Chris’ depth of experience and solid balance of sales, banking and strategy in this position,” said H. Lynn Harton, President and CEO of The South Financial Group. “He has the leadership abilities to build on the successful momentum of our local teams and to continue to aggressively take the steps necessary to improve our financial performance.”

With more than 25 years of banking experience, Gompper joined Carolina First in June 2005 as executive vice president of bank strategy and business segment performance. He was responsible for bank strategy and performance of commercial, retail and private banking, including marketing and branch administration functions. Additionally, Gompper managed the corporate level business units for treasury and merchant services, international, brokerage and trust.

“Our team in the Carolinas is focused on making a difference for our customers and communities,” said Gompper. “I am delighted to take on this new role, particularly given our talented and dedicated team. We are focused on the future and are excited about our opportunities to deepen our customer relationships and continue to expand our business.”

Prior to joining Carolina First, Gompper managed treasury and card services sales activities for AmSouth Bank in Birmingham, Alabama across their six-state franchise. Prior to that, he held senior management positions with a variety of banking companies including Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase.