# Exhibit 31.1

Rule 15d-14(a)
Certification of the Chief Executive Officer

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# Exhibit 31.1

# Rule 15d-14(a)
Certification of the Chief Executive Officer

I, Russel T. Williams, chief
executive officer, certify that:

|1. |  | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of BankGreenville Financial
               Corporation;
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|2. |  | Based on my knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue statement
               of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
               statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were
               made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
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|3. |  | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information
               included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial
               condition, results of operations and cash flows of the small business issuer as
               of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
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|4. |  | The small business issuers other certifying officer and I are responsible for
               establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
               Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial
               reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) for the
               registrant and have:
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| | (a)  
           Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure
          controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that
          material information relating to the small business issuer, including its
          consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities,
          particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
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| | (b)  
           Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such
          internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision,
          to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting
          and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance
          with generally accepted accounting principles;
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| | (c)  
           Evaluated the effectiveness of the small business issuers disclosure
          controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
          effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
          period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
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| | (d)  
           Disclosed in this report any change in the small business issuers
          internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the small
          business issuers most recent fiscal quarter (the small business
          issuers fourth fiscal quarter in the case of this annual report) that has
          materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the small
          business issuers internal control over financial reporting; and
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|5. |  | The small business issuers other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
               based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
               reporting, to the small business issuers auditors and the audit committee
               of the small business issuers board of directors (or persons performing
               the equivalent functions):
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| | (a)  
           All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation
          of internal controls over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to
          adversely affect the small business issuers ability to record, process,
          summarize and report financial information; and
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| | (b)  
           Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees
          who have a significant role in the small business issuers internal control
          over financial reporting.
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|--------------------- |  | -----------------------------
|                      |  |                              
|Date:  March 23, 2009 |  | By:   /s/  Russel T. Williams
|                      |  | Russel T. Williams           
|                      |  | Chief Executive Officer