Jim Bedsole is the Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance & Risk Officer for BankSouth headquartered on Lake Oconee in Greensboro, GA. Mr. Bedsole has thirty years of experience in managing bank risk, regulatory compliance, auditing, security, and corporate governance with both regional and community banks. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. He is also a graduate of the ABA National Graduate School of Compliance Management. He is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager, Certified Bank Auditor, Certified Financial Services Auditor, and Certified AML and Fraud Professional.

Jim is a frequent speaker on the topics of risk management, compliance, consumer protection regulations, auditing, and Internet banking regulation. He is currently the chairman of the Georgia Bankers Association Compliance Committee and the vice chairman of the GBA Compliance School Board. He formerly served as co-chair of the ABA Enterprise Risk Management Working Group for Community Banks and on the ABA Risk Management Forum Advisory Committee. He is a former chairman of the SC Bankers Association Compliance and Regulatory Committee and former chairman of the SC Bankers Association Disaster Recovery Committee. He has served on the faculty of the ABA National Compliance School and the NC School of Banking and is currently on the faculty of the Georgia Bankers Association Bank Compliance School.

He has authored articles appearing in both regional and national publications, including ABA Bank Compliance Magazine, Palmetto Banker and numerous Internet web sites. He is also an active private pilot with an instrument rating.