N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53C-8-10

Any person who shall willfully and maliciously make, circulate, transmit, or otherwise communicate any statement, rumor, or suggestion to one or more other persons that is directly or by inference false and derogatory to the financial condition, or affects the solvency or financial standing, of any bank, or who shall counsel, aid, procure, or induce another to make, circulate, transmit, or otherwise communicate any such statement or rumor, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.