Daily Record Financial News &
Monday, June 20, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 156 • Two Sections
For 18 months, Lauren Jones fought to keep her 5-year-old son from having to live with his father in Honduras. A Jacksonville law firm helped her win custody in the Hague Convention case.
A mother’ s victory to keep son
Geer
Way
Stepped-up security required by the NFL
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
The best day of Lauren Jones’ life was the day her son, Rui, was born in February 2011. The second best day was June 8 of this year, the day U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled her happy-go-lucky, smart, brown-haired boy would stay with her in the United States. That ruling was the end of what Jones calls a living nightmare. One that involved her husband, who is Rui’s father. And one that ended up coming out the Port St. Joe mother’s way with the help of the Jacksonville-based Gillis Way & Campbell law firm. Hague Convention cases — those dealing with international child-custody disputes — are a rarity in the U.S. Northern District of Florida court. They’re difficult, requiring an abbreviated turnaround. In Jones’ case, her husband filed a Hague Convention petition in early March and the nonjury trial was set for early May. The time before that was hell for Jones. The time between was a coordinated scramble by attorneys Ethan Way and April Geer. And after it, the four weeks of waiting were agonizing for everyone involved. Jones in that time would watch Rui play T-ball or swim in the pool, doing normal kid things many parents take for granted. She was hoping it wouldn’t be the last time.
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Special to the Daily Record
The nightmare unfolding
Hague
www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Metal detectors coming to EverBank
By David Chapman, Staff Writer
Jones moved to Honduras in 2002 and ended up meeting her husband in 2007. They got married in 2009 and made the Central American country their home. Rui was born in 2011. They traveled back to the U.S. a few times for visits, but Honduras was home. It was until September 2012, when Jones’ husband became physical during a trip in the U.S.
35¢
It’s not related to the shootings in the Orlando nightclub, but there soon will be a higher level of security screening for fans attending events at EverBank Field. The city has issued a request for proposals for walk-through magnetometers that will be installed at stadium entrances by the time the NFL season begins. Jacksonville Jaguars spokesman Dan Edwards said it’s the latest measure in the league’s stadium safety policy. Planning the project began about a year ago, he said. “Security and safety is the priority,” Edwards said. “The intent is to safeguard the fans, the players, the people who work in the stadium and the building.” The NFL implemented a stadium security policy after 9/11, said Bill McConnell, general manager of SMG Jacksonville, which manages EverBank Field and the other city sports and Edwards entertainment venues. Over the years, security measures at NFL stadiums have periodically increased. In 2011, the league began using wandtype magnetometers to screen fans, augmenting pat-downs. Two years later, the rules changed to require fans to bring personal items into stadiums only in transparent bags. The latest mandate, McConnell said, is for NFL venues to have walk-through metal detectors. Based on experience at stadiums already equipped with walk-through scanners, the
Lauren Jones, 41, and her son, Rui. Jones succeeded in a Hague Convention petition filed by her abusive husband that sought to bring Rui to Honduras, where he was born. Jacksonville-based Gillis Way & Campbell helped her win the case.
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Atlantic Coast Bank becoming commercial bank Atlantic Coast Bank began life in 1939 as a credit union established in Waycross, Ga., to serve employees of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, a predecessor of CSX. In 2000, the Atlantic Coast Federal Credit Union converted to a savings bank under its current name, Atlantic Coast Bank. Now in 2016, it wants to become a commercial bank. The bank’s parent company, Atlantic Coast Financial Corp., said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week it applied to the Florida Office of Financial Regulation to convert from a federally chartered sav-
Public
ings bank to a state-chartered commercial bank. The filing notes this change won’t impact customers, but doesn’t give a reason why the bank is making a change. Tracy Keegan, Atlantic Coast Financial’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said there is a very simple explanation: switching from a federal to a state charter will make the bank’s regulatory process less complicated. Keegan said the bank has to go through several levels in the federal system to get issues resolved with its regulators. Once the state’s Office of Financial Regula-
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tion becomes its primary regulator, the bank will have more direct access and can get issues resolved quicker. “It’s basically just for local decision-making,” she said. The bank is also applying for membership to the Federal Reserve System, which will give it access to the system’s services but also means it is subject to supervision by the Federal
Reserve Board. As for the switch from a savings bank to a commercial bank, “that’s just really a technicality,” Keegan said. That’s true. It really doesn’t matter anymore whether a financial institution is classified as a commercial or savings bank. Until the late 1970s, savings and loans or savings banks were institutions that were restricted to only making home mortgage loans. But after four decades of deregulation in the industry, savings and loans can basically offer the same services as commercial banks.
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Certainly customers never see a difference. Atlantic Coast Bank has gone through many changes over the years. When it converted from a credit union, it became a mutual savings bank, which is technically a savings and loan owned by its depositors. However, in 2004 its holding company became a public company with an initial offering of stock. The company shifted its focus from Southeast Georgia to Northeast Florida and moved its headquarters from Waycross to Jacksonville in 2011. However, three Basch continued on Page A-7
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