The South Financial Group Announces Dates for 3rd Quarter 2009 Earnings Release and Conference Call

The South Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSFG) announced it will release third quarter 2009 earnings on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 after the market closes. The press release and quarterly financial data supplement will be available at that time in the Investor Relations section of TSFG’s website, www.thesouthgroup.com. The South Financial Group will hold a conference call/webcast on Wednesday, October 21^st at 10:00 a.m. ET to review third quarter financial results. Additional material information, including forward-looking statements such as trends and projections, may be discussed during the conference call. Financial review presentation slides will accompany the conference call/webcast and be available in the Investor Relations section of TSFG’s website.

To participate in the conference call or webcast, please follow the instructions listed below.

Conference Call: Please call 1-888-405-5393 or 1-517-645-6236 using the access code "The South.” A 7-day rebroadcast of the call will be available via 1-888-568-0883 or 1-203-369-3208.

Webcast: To gain access to the webcast, which will be "listen-only,” please go to www.thesouthgroup.com under the Investor Relations tab and click on the link "Webcast/The South Financial Group 3^rd Quarter Earnings Conference Call.” For those unable to participate during the live webcast, it will be archived on The South Financial Group’s website until November 4, 2009.

General Information

The South Financial Group is a bank holding company focused on serving small businesses, middle market companies, and retail customers in the Carolinas and Florida. At June 30, 2009, it had approximately $12.6 billion in total assets and 177 branch offices. TSFG operates Carolina First Bank, which conducts banking operations in North Carolina and South Carolina (as Carolina First Bank), in Florida (as Mercantile Bank), and on the Internet (as Bank CaroLine). At June 30, 2009, approximately 46% of TSFG’s total customer deposits were in South Carolina, 42% were in Florida, and 12% were in North Carolina. Investor information is available at www.thesouthgroup.com.