Excerpted from "The North Carolina Banking Commission" by T. Harry Gatton

Six decades have passed since Gurney P. Hood became the first Commissioner of Banks for North Carolina. His 20 years in the office (1931-1951) were some of the most difficult days this state and nation have experienced, including the Great Depression and World War II.

Commissioner Hood and the Banking Commission brought to the office a high sense of ethics, and his name became equated with the very best of state banking regulation. The citizens of North Carolina understood that banking regulations were in good hands.

The Commissioner of Banks regulates and supervises banking activities under Chapter 53 of the General Statutes of North Carolina. The primary responsibilities of this office are to ensure the safe conduct of banking business, to maintain public confidence in state-chartered banks, and to protect the banks' depositors, debtors, creditors and shareholders.

The North Carolina Banking Commission provides rules for the guidance of the Commissioner of Banks as he supervises state-chartered banks and enforces the banking laws of North Carolina. It hears appeals resulting from the Commissioner's actions and considers applications for new bank charters and bank mergers.

The Commission according to law must have 22 members, including the State Treasurer, who is chairman and ex-officio member. The Commission is selected from a broad spectrum of economic matters. To provide expertise in banking, six practical bankers, persons who hold managerial or supervisory positions in a bank, are appointed. The Governor appoints five practical bankers while the President Pro Tempore of the Senate appoints one.

In order to represent fully the "consumer, industrial, manufacturing, professional, business and farming interests of our State" (North Carolina General Statute 53-92), twelve members must represent the borrowing public. The Governor appoints eleven public members, and the Speaker of the House appoints one.

Due to the merger of the Savings Institutions Division into the Banking Commission, 2 members of the Commission must be CEO's of State saving institutions. In addition, the Governor can appoint one member who can be either a practical banker or a member of the borrowing public.

In addition to the regulation of state-chartered banks, the Commissioner of Banks has also been given the following industries to regulate: