Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation Re-Elects Palmer, Sidhu and Stephens

Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation (the "Company,") (NASDAQ: ACFC), the holding company for Atlantic Coast Bank (the "Bank"), today reported on its 2014 annual meeting of stockholders. In formal business conducted at the meeting, stockholders re-elected three directors to three-year terms that expire with the 2017 annual meeting: W. Eric Palmer, Operations Administrator for the Affiliated Practice Network of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville; Jay S. Sidhu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of both Customers Bancorp, Inc. and Customers Bank, both headquartered in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania; and John K. Stephens, who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and the Bank since October 2013.

Directors whose terms continue to future years are: Dave Bhasin, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of D.B. Concepts, Inc. and affiliated companies, which operates franchised restaurants throughout eastern Pennsylvania; Kevin G. Champagne, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Company and the Bank, and retired President and Chief Executive Officer of Seacoast Financial Services Corporation; Bhanu Choudhrie, formerly an Executive Director of C&C Alpha Group, Ltd, a London-based private equity group; John J. Dolan, Vice Chairman of the Board for the Company and the Bank, and retired President and Chief Executive Officer of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation; James D. Hogan, former interim Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company and the Bank; and H. Dennis Woods, retired employee of CSX Transportation, Inc.

In other matters, stockholders also ratified the appointment of McGladrey LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2014.

The Company also announced that, following the Company's receipt of notifications from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, each indicating no objection to the appointment, John C. ("Jay") Lent has formally assumed the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company and the Bank. He succeeds James D. Hogan, who most recently served as interim Chief Financial Officer during the executive search and approval process for Jay Lent.

Commenting on Lent's appointment, John K. Stephens, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased to further strengthen our management team with the naming of Jay Lent as Chief Financial Officer. Jay brings to our company the skills and experience honed in a banking career that spans 34 years. We are confident that Jay will make a very positive impact on our financial management and strategies, and we look forward to his input, insight and contributions to our future growth."

About the Company

Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation is the holding company for Atlantic Coast Bank, a federally chartered and insured stock savings bank. It is a community-oriented financial institution serving northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia markets. Investors may obtain additional information about Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation on the Internet at www.AtlanticCoastBank.net, under Investor Information.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements in this release that are not strictly historical are forward-looking and are based upon current expectations that may differ materially from actual results. These statements relate to future events or future predictions, including events or predictions relating to our future financial performance, and are generally identifiable by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "plan," "intend," "on condition," "target," "estimates," "preliminary," or "anticipates" or the negative thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussion of strategy or goals or other future events, circumstances or effects, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made herein. These risks and uncertainties involve general economic trends and changes in interest rates, increased competition, changes in demand for financial services, state of the banking industry generally, uncertainties associated with newly developed or acquired operations, and market disruptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unforeseen events, except as required to be reported under the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.