Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. ("Bancorp" or "Company") is a bank holding company, a financial holding company and the parent of Great Southern Bank ("Great Southern" or the "Bank"). Bancorp was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware in July 1989 as a unitary savings and loan holding company. The Company became a one-bank holding company on June 30, 1998, upon the conversion of Great Southern to a Missouri-chartered trust company. In 2004, Bancorp was re-incorporated under the laws of the State of Maryland.

As a Maryland corporation, the Company is authorized to engage in any activity that is permitted by the Maryland General Corporation Law and not prohibited by law or regulatory policy. The Company currently conducts its business as a financial holding company. Through the financial holding company structure, it is possible to expand the size and scope of the financial services offered by the Company beyond those offered by the Bank. The financial holding company structure provides the Company with greater flexibility than the Bank has to diversify its business activities, through existing or newly formed subsidiaries, or through acquisitions of or mergers with other financial institutions as well as other companies. At December 31, 2017,2018, Bancorp's consolidated assets were $4.41$4.68 billion, consolidated net loans were $3.73$3.99 billion, consolidated deposits were $3.60$3.73 billion and consolidated total stockholders' equity was $471.7$532.0 million. For details about the Company'sCompany’s assets, revenues and profits for each of the last five fiscal years, see Item 6. "Selected“Selected Financial Data."”  The assets of the Company consist primarily of the stock of Great Southern and cash.

Through the Bank and subsidiaries of the Bank, the Company has historically offeredalso offers insurance travel, investment and related services, which are discussed further below.  The travel and investment services divisions were sold on November 30, 2012.  The activities of the Company are funded by retained earnings and through dividends from Great Southern. Activities of the Company may also be funded through borrowings from third parties, sales of additional securities or through income generated by other activities of the Company.

The executive offices of the Company are located at 1451 East Battlefield, Springfield, Missouri 65804, and its telephone number at that address is (417) 887-4400.

Great Southern was formed as a Missouri-chartered mutual savings and loan association in 1923, and, in 1989, converted to a Missouri-chartered stock savings and loan association. In 1994, Great Southern changed to a federal savings bank charter and then, on June 30, 1998, changed to a Missouri-chartered trust company (the equivalent of a commercial bank charter). Headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, Great Southern offers a broad range of banking services through its 10499 banking centers located in southern and central Missouri; the Kansas City, Missouri area; the St. Louis, Missouri area; eastern Kansas; northwestern Arkansas; eastern Nebraska; the Minneapolis, Minnesota area and eastern, western and central Iowa. At December 31, 2017,2018, the Bank had total assets of $4.40$4.67 billion, net loans of $3.73$3.99 billion, deposits of $3.64$3.78 billion and equity capital of $533.2$580.0 million, or 12.1%12.4% of total assets. Its deposits are insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund ("DIF") to the maximum levels permitted by the FDIC.

The size and complexity of the Bank'sBank’s operations increased substantially in 2009 with the completion of two Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC")-assisted transactions, and again in 2011, 2012 and 2014 with the completion of another FDIC-assisted transaction in each of those years.  In 2009, the Bank entered into two separate purchase and assumption agreements (including loss sharing) with the FDIC to assume all of the deposits (excluding brokered deposits) and certain liabilities and acquire certain assets of TeamBank, N.A. and Vantus Bank.  In these two transactions we acquired assets with a fair value of approximately $499.9 million (approximately 18.8% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition) and $294.2 million (approximately 8.8% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition), respectively, and assumed liabilities with a fair value of $610.2 million (approximately 24.9% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition) and $440.0 million (approximately 13.2% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition), respectively.  They also resulted in gains of $43.9 million and $45.9 million, respectively, which were included in Noninterest Income in the Company'sCompany’s Consolidated Statement of Income for the year ended December 31, 2009.  Prior to these acquisitions, the Company operated banking centers in Missouri with loan production offices in Arkansas and Kansas.  These acquisitions added 31 banking centers and expanded our footprint to cover five states – Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Nebraska.  In 2011, the Bank entered into a purchase and assumption agreement (including loss sharing) with the FDIC to assume all of the deposits and certain liabilities and acquire certain assets of Sun Security Bank, which added locations in southern Missouri and St. Louis.  In this transaction we acquired assets with a fair value of approximately $248.9 million (approximately 7.3% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition) and assumed liabilities with a fair value of $345.8

million (approximately 10.1% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition).  It also resulted in a gain of $16.5 million which was included in Noninterest Income in the Company'sCompany’s Consolidated Statement of Income for the year ended December 31, 2011. In 2012, the Bank entered into a purchase and assumption agreement (including loss sharing) with the FDIC to assume all of the deposits and certain liabilities and acquire certain assets of Inter Savings Bank, FSB ("InterBank"(“InterBank”), which added four locations in the greater Minneapolis, Minnesota area and represented a new market for the Company.  In this transaction we acquired assets with a fair value of approximately $364.2 million (approximately 9.4% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition) and assumed liabilities with a fair value of approximately $458.7 million (approximately 11.9% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition).  It also resulted in a gain of $31.3 million which was included in Noninterest Income in the Company'sCompany’s Consolidated Statement of Income for the year ended December 31, 2012.

In 2014, the Bank entered into a purchase and assumption agreement (without loss sharing) with the FDIC to assume all of the deposits and certain liabilities and acquire certain assets of Valley Bank ("Valley"(“Valley”), which added five locations in the Quad Cities area of eastern Iowa and six locations in central Iowa, primarily in the Des Moines market area.  These represented new markets for the Company in eastern Iowa and enhanced our market presence in central Iowa.  In this transaction we acquired assets with a fair value of approximately $378.7 million (approximately 10.0% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition) and assumed liabilities with a fair value of approximately $367.9 million (approximately 9.8% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition).  It also resulted in a gain of $10.8 million which was included in Noninterest Income in the Company'sCompany’s Consolidated Statement of Income for the year ended December 31, 2014.

Also in 2014, the Bank entered into a purchase and assumption agreement to acquire certain assets and depository accounts from Neosho, Mo.-based Boulevard Bank ("Boulevard"(“Boulevard”), which added one location in the Neosho, Mo. market, where the Company already operated.  In this transaction, which was completed in 2014, we acquired assets (primarily cash and cash equivalents) with a fair value of approximately $92.5 million (approximately 2.6% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition) and assumed liabilities (all deposits and related accrued interest) with a fair value of approximately $93.3 million (approximately 2.6% of the Company'sCompany’s total consolidated assets at acquisition).  This acquisition resulted in recognition of $790,000 of goodwill.

The Company also opened commercial loan production offices in Dallas, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma during 2014.  The primary products offered in these offices are commercial real estate, commercial business and commercial construction loans.

In 2015, the Company announced plans to consolidate operations of 16 banking centers into other nearby Great Southern banking center locations.  As part of an ongoing performance review of its entire banking center network, Great Southern evaluated each location for a number of criteria, including access and availability of services to affected customers, the proximity of other Great Southern banking centers, profitability and transaction volumes, and market dynamics.  Subsequent to this announcement, the Bank entered into separate definitive agreements to sell two of the 16 banking centers, including all of the associated deposits (totaling approximately $20 million), to separate bank purchasers.  One of those sale transactions was completed on February 19, 2016 and the other was completed on March 18, 2016.  The closing of the remaining 14 facilities, which resulted in the transfer of approximately $127 million in deposits and banking center operations to other Great Southern locations, occurred at the close of business on January 8, 2016.

Also in 2015, the Company announced that it entered into a purchase and assumption agreement to acquire 12 branches, including related loans, and to assume related deposits in the St. Louis, Mo., area from Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank. The acquisition was completed at the close of business on January 29, 2016.  The deposits assumed totaled approximately $228 million and had a weighted average rate of approximately 0.28%.  The loans acquired totaled approximately $159 million and had a weighted average yield of approximately 3.92%.

The loss sharing agreements related to the FDIC-assisted transactions in 2009, 2011 and 2012 added to the complexity of our operations by creating the need for new employees and processes to ensure compliance with the loss sharing agreements and the collection of problem assets acquired.  See Note 4 included in Item 8. "Financial“Financial Statements and Supplementary Information"Information” for a more detailed discussion of these FDIC-assisted transactions and the loss sharing agreements.  The loss sharing agreements related to the 2009 and 2011 FDIC-assisted transactions were terminated during 2016.  The loss sharing agreements related to the 2012 FDIC-assisted transaction were terminated during 2017.  See "Loss“Loss Share Agreements"Agreements” below for additional information regarding the termination of these agreements.

The Company opened a commercial loan production office in Chicago, Illinois during 2017.  The primary products offered in this office are commercial real estate, commercial business and commercial construction loans.

The Company opened two commercial loan production offices – one in Denver, Colorado and one in Atlanta, Georgia – in late 2018.  The primary products offered in these offices are commercial real estate, commercial business and commercial construction loans.

Great Southern is principally engaged in the business of originating commercial real estate loans, construction loans, other commercial loans, residential real estate loans and consumer loans and funding these loans by attracting deposits from the general public, obtaining brokered deposits and through borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines (the "FHLBank") and others.

For many years, Great Southern has followed a strategy of emphasizing loan origination through residential, commercial and consumer lending activities in its market areas. The goal of this strategy is to be one of the leading providers of financial services in Great Southern'sSouthern’s market areas, while simultaneously diversifying assets and reducing interest rate risk by originating and holding adjustable-rate loans and fixed-rate loans, primarily with terms of five years or less, in its portfolio and by selling longer-term fixed-rate single-family mortgage loans in the secondary market. The Bank continues to place emphasize real estate lending while also expanding and increasing its originations of commercial business and consumer loans.

The corporate office of the Bank is located at 1451 East Battlefield, Springfield, Missouri 65804 and its telephone number at that address is (417) 887-4400.

When used in this Annual Report and in other documents filed or furnished by the CompanyGreat Southern Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in the Company's press releases or other public or stockholder communications, and in oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer, the words or phrases "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," "intends" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, (i) the possibility that the changes in non-interest income, non-interest expense and interest expense actually resulting from Great Southern Bank's recently completed transaction with West Gate Bank might be materially different from estimated amounts; (ii) the possibility that the actual reduction in the Company'sCompany’s effective tax rate expected to result from H.R.1, originallyH. R. 1, formerly known as the "Tax“Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,"Act” (the "Tax“Tax Reform Legislation"Legislation”) might be different from the reduction estimated by the Company; (ii)(iii) expected revenues, cost savings, earnings accretion, synergies and other benefits from the Company's  merger and acquisition activities might not be realized within the anticipated time frames or at all, and costs or difficulties relating to integration matters, including but not limited to customer and employee retention, might be greater than expected; (iii)(iv) changes in economic conditions, either nationally or in the Company's market areas; (iv)(v) fluctuations in interest rates; (v)(vi) the risks of lending and investing activities, including changes in the level and direction of loan delinquencies and write-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses; (vi)(vii) the possibility of other-than-temporary impairments of securities held in the Company's securities portfolio; (vii)(viii) the Company's ability to access cost-effective funding; (viii)(ix) fluctuations in real estate values and both residential and commercial real estate market conditions; (ix)(x) demand for loans and deposits in the Company's market areas; (x)(xi) the ability to adapt successfully to technological changes to meet customers' needs and developments in the marketplace; (xi)(xii) the possibility that security measures implemented might not be sufficient to mitigate the risk of a cyber attack or cyber theft, and that such security measures might not protect against systems failures or interruptions; (xii)(xiii) legislative or regulatory changes that adversely affect the Company's business, including, without limitation, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and its implementing regulations, the overdraft protection regulations and customers' responses thereto and the Tax Reform Legislation; (xiii)(xiv) changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines; (xiv)(xv) monetary and fiscal policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the "Federal Reserve Board" or the "FRB")Board and the U.S. Government and other governmental initiatives affecting the financial services industry; (xv)(xvi) results of examinations of the Company and theGreat Southern Bank by their regulators, including the possibility that the regulators may, among other things, require the Company to limit its business activities, changes its business mix, increase its allowance for loan losses, write-down assets or increase its capital levels, or affect its ability to borrow funds or maintain or increase deposits, which could adversely affect its liquidity and earnings; (xvi)(xvii) costs and effects of litigation, including settlements and judgments; and (xvii)(xviii) competition. The Company wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above and other risks described from time to time in documents filed or furnished by the Company with the SEC could affect the Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods in any current statements.

The Company does not undertake -and specifically declines any obligation- to publicly release the result of any revisions which may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

Bancorp maintains a website at www.greatsouthernbank.com. The information contained on that website is not included as part of, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Bancorp currently makes available on or through its website Bancorp's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments, if any, to these reports. These materials are also available free of charge (other than a user's regular internet access charges) on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov.