FNB United wants permission to change name, give execs more stock

Most people never hear about FNB United Corp. The Asheboro-based company's banks operate under the name CommunityOne through a large swath of North Carolina's mountains and Piedmont.

That's the main reason why the bank's management is asking for permission to change the parent company's name to CommunityOne Bancorp. The proposal will appear on the company's annual meeting ballot, according to a securities filing. The new name "better reflects FNB's identity and future direction as a state-wide community bank," it states.

FNB United also owns Bank of Granite after the two banks' joint recapitalization and merger in 2011. The company is now working to combine the two charters.

The bank's management is also asking for permission to triple the number of common shares it offers executives as part of their pay packages. Currently, the bank can give out 600,000 shares per year. FNB wants authority to give out 1.8 million. Each employee can now receive 50,000 shares per year. The proposal calls for that to double.

In December, FNB gave out 110,059 shares to its top six executives.