Power Breakfast: First bank in Georgia repays TARP, whistleblowers, HOPE, Delta, Spa Sydell, Coke

Let’s end the week on some good news written by AJC reporter Scott Trubey.

An Atlanta community bank this week became the first in the state to repay Uncle Sam for aid it received during the depths of the financial crisis, Trubey writes.

The parent company of Georgia Commerce Bank has repurchased $9.1 million in preferred shares and warrants held by the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, Trubey reports.

The announcement is a jolt of good news for a beleaguered state banking industry better known the past few years for leading the nation in bank failures, Trubey writes.

Georgia Commerce used the funds it received in February 2009 not as a bailout to fill holes in its balance sheet, but to make new loans, bank Chairman and CEO Mark Tipton said.

“We grew our loans 13 percent from the moment we got TARP to Wednesday, when we paid it off,” he said.

Also in the AJC:

• Lobbyists supply special-interest feast for state legislators
• Major cuts planned for HOPE, pre-k
• Atlanta schools protect those who would intimidate whistleblowers
• Spa Sydell emerges from bankruptcy
• Delta fined for treatment of disabled passengers
• Atlanta Opera receives $9 million bequest
• Coca-Cola names Greenberg to board of directors

In other media:

• Egyptians say military discourages an open economy
• G-20 to wrestle over balancing global economy
• SEC investigating pricing of municipal bonds
• JPMorgan grants CEO big stock bonus

- Henry Unger, The Biz Beat

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