Truist Financial Corporation was officially formed in December 2019 through a massive, transformational merger of equals between two historic American banking institutions: BB&T Corporation, which stood for Branch Banking and Trust Company, and SunTrust Banks, Inc. Prior to the completion of this multi-billion-dollar combination and comprehensive corporate rebranding initiative, the two constituent financial enterprises operated independently with extensive branch networks spanning the American Southeast. Following the merger, corporate leadership selected the name Truist to represent a unified brand identity combining the heritage of both legacy institutions.