(a) Except as otherwise expressly provided in this section, the board shall not approve an acquisition under this article if upon consummation of the transaction the applicant, including any depository institution affiliated with the applicant, would control thirty percent or more of the total amount of deposits held by depository institutions in this State.

(b) The board by regulation may promulgate a procedure whereby the limitation on control of deposits set forth in subsection (a) of this section may be waived for good cause shown.

(c) The board shall not approve an application for an acquisition under this article unless the South Carolina bank to be acquired, or all South Carolina bank subsidiaries of the bank holding company to be acquired, has as of the proposed date of acquisition been in existence and in continuous operation for more than five years; provided, however, that this prohibition shall not apply to an acquisition in which a newly organized bank sells stock to an existing bank holding company that has at least one subsidiary that is a South Carolina bank.