SouthState Corp

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

SouthState’s management, with the participation of its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of SouthState’s disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2025, in accordance with Rule 13a-15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We applied our judgment in the process of reviewing these controls and procedures, which, by their nature, can provide only reasonable assurance regarding our control objectives. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer concluded that SouthState’s disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2025, were effective to provide reasonable assurance regarding our control objectives.

In conducting the evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting as of March 31, 2025, we excluded the operations of Independentas permitted by the guidance issued by the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission (not to extend more than one year beyond the date of the acquisition or for more than one annual reporting period). In conducting the evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2025, we excluded those disclosure controls and procedures of Independent that are subsumed by internal control over financial reporting. The merger was completed on January 1, 2025. As of January 1, 2025, Independent’s assets represented approximately 25 percent of our consolidated assets. See Note 4 — Mergers and Acquisitions for further discussion of the merger and its impact on our consolidated financial statements.

The design of any system of controls and procedures is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events. There can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions, regardless of how remote.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

During the first quarter of 2025, Independent merged into SouthState Corporation. We are working to integrate Independent into our overall internal control over financial reporting processes. Except for changes made in connection with this integration of Independent, there has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting during the three months ended March 31, 2025, that has materially affected, or is likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.