A North Carolina savings and loan holding company, a North Carolina association, a Southern Region savings and loan holding company, or a Southern Region association may acquire or control, and shall not cease to be a North Carolina savings and loan holding company, a North Carolina association, a Southern Region savings and loan holding company, or a Southern Region association, as the case may be, by virtue of its acquisition or control of:

(1)        An association having branch offices in a state not within the region, if such association has been acquired pursuant to the provisions of Section 123 of the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 (12 U.S.C. § 1730a(m)), or comparable provisions of state law;

(2)        An association which is not a Southern Region association if such association has been acquired in the regular course of securing or collecting a debt previously contracted in good faith, and if the association or savings and loan holding company divests the securities or assets acquired within two years of the date of acquisition. A North Carolina association, a North Carolina savings and loan holding company, or a Southern Region association may retain these interests for up to three additional periods of one year if the Commissioner of Banks determines that the required divestiture would create undue financial difficulties for that association or savings and loan holding company. (1983 (Reg. Sess., 1984), c. 1087, s. 1; 2001-193, s. 16.)