As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 1, 2019

Registration No. 333-228455

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 1

ON

FORM S-8 TO FORM S-4

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Union Bankshares Corporation

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

1051 East Cary Street

Suite 1200

Richmond, Virginia 23219

(804) 633-5031

(Address, Including Zip Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)

Access National Corporation 2017 Equity Compensation Plan

Access National Corporation 2009 Stock Option Plan

(Full Title of the Plan)

John C. Asbury

President and Chief Executive Officer

Union Bankshares Corporation

1051 East Cary Street

Suite 1200

Richmond, Virginia 23219

(804) 633-5031

(Name, address and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ¨

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Registrant hereby amends its Registration Statement on Form S-4 (File No. 333-228455), filed with the Commission on November 16, 2018, as amended on December 10, 2018, and declared effective by the Commission on December 12, 2018 (the “Form S-4”), by filing this Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 on Form S-8 (the “Post-Effective Amendment No. 1”). The Form S-4, as amended by this Post-Effective Amendment No. 1, is referred to as the “Registration Statement.” The Registrant filed the Form S-4 in connection with the merger of Access National Corporation, a Virginia corporation (“Access”), with and into the Registrant, with the Registrant as the surviving corporation (the “Merger”). This Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 relates to shares of Registrant Common Stock originally registered on the Form S-4 that may be issued in connection with equity awards (“Access Awards”) previously granted under the Access Plans, which Access Awards were assumed by the Registrant in connection with the Merger, which was consummated on February 1, 2019. At the effective time of the Merger, each outstanding Access Award was converted into a corresponding award with respect to Registrant Common Stock.

PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(A) PROSPECTUS

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

The following documents filed by the Registrant with the Commission are hereby incorporated by reference herein:

All documents filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date of this Registration Statement, and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which de-registers all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents; provided, however, that documents or information deemed to have been furnished and not filed in accordance with the rules of the Commission shall not be deemed incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement, including any portion of any future annual or quarterly report to shareholders or document or current report furnished under current Items 2.02 or 7.01 of Form 8-K that is not deemed filed under such provisions. Any statement contained in a document incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

Not applicable.

The validity of the Registrant Common Stock to be issued in connection with the Merger will be passed upon for the Registrant by Rachael R. Lape, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the Registrant. As of February 1, 2019, Ms. Lape held 1,789 shares of Registrant Common Stock and 1,685 shares of Registrant Common Stock subject to unvested restricted stock awards.

The laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia pursuant to which the Registrant is incorporated permit it to indemnify its officers and directors against certain liabilities with the approval of its shareholders. The articles of incorporation of the Registrant, as amended to date (the “Union articles of incorporation”), provide that, to the full extent permitted by the Virginia Stock Corporation Act (the “VSCA”), the Registrant is required to indemnify a director or officer against liabilities, fines, penalties and claims imposed upon or asserted against him or her (including amounts paid in settlement) by reason of having been a director or officer and against all expenses (including counsel fees) reasonably incurred in connection therewith, except in relation to matters in which he or she has been adjudged liable because of willful misconduct or a knowing violation of the criminal law in his performance of his duty as such director or officer.

The Registrant has purchased officers’ and directors’ liability insurance policies. Within the limits of their coverage, the policies insure (i) the directors and officers of the Registrant against certain losses resulting from claims against them in their capacities as directors and officers to the extent that such losses are not indemnified by the Registrant and (ii) the Registrant to the extent that it indemnifies such directors and officers for losses as permitted under the laws of Virginia.

The VSCA establishes a statutory limit on liability of directors and officers of a corporation for damages assessed against them in a suit brought by or in the right of the corporation or brought by or on behalf of shareholders of the corporation and authorizes a corporation to specify a lower monetary limit on liability (including the elimination of liability for monetary damages) in the corporation’s articles of incorporation or bylaws; however, the liability of a director or officer will not be limited if such officer or director engaged in willful misconduct or a knowing violation of the criminal law or of any federal or state securities law. The Union articles of incorporation eliminate the personal liability of directors and officers to the Registrant or its shareholders for monetary damages to the full extent permitted by Virginia law.

Not applicable.

EXHIBIT INDEX

(a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement;

(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in this Registration Statement; provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.

(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(b) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Richmond, Commonwealth of Virginia, on February 1, 2019.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.