v3.25.2
Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2025
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (the "Parent Corporation") is a bank holding company headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut. The Parent Corporation offers a broad range of financial services through its banking subsidiary, Bankwell Bank (the "Bank" and, collectively with the Parent Corporation and the Parent Corporation's subsidiaries, "we", "our", "us", or the "Company").

The Bank is a Connecticut state chartered commercial bank, founded in 2002, whose deposits are insured under the Deposit Insurance Fund administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). The Bank provides a wide range of services to clients in our market, an area encompassing approximately a 100 mile radius around our branch network. In addition, the Bank pursues certain types of commercial lending opportunities outside our market, particularly where we have strong business relationships. The Bank operates branches in New Canaan, Stamford, Fairfield, Westport, Darien, Norwalk, and Hamden, Connecticut.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and the Bank, including its wholly owned passive investment company subsidiary. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The accounting and reporting policies of the Company conform to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and general practices within the banking industry. In preparing the consolidated financial statements, management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the consolidated balance sheet and revenue and expenses for the period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Material estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change in the near-term relate to the Allowance for Credit Losses-Loans ("ACL-Loans"), derivative instrument valuation, investment securities valuation, Allowance for Credit Losses-Securities, and deferred income taxes valuation.

Segments

The Company has one reportable segment. All of the Company’s activities are interrelated, and each activity is dependent and assessed based on how each of the activities of the Company supports the others. For example, lending is dependent upon the ability of the Company to fund itself with deposits and borrowings while managing the interest rate and credit risk. Accordingly, all significant operating decisions are based upon analysis of the Company as one segment or unit.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), acting as the Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM), determines the Company's one reportable segment. This determination is based on information about the Company's banking operations, its primary business, and the level of detail provided to the CODM for performance review. Similar operating performance, products and services, and customer bases allow for aggregation of business components into this one segment. The CODM evaluates financial performance by reviewing the consolidated financial results of the Company, analyzing factors such as revenue streams, significant expenses, and capital levels, as well as budget-to-actual results. Consolidated net income and related performance metrics are also used to benchmark the Company’s performance against competitors. The analysis of the Company’s results, including benchmarking, informs performance assessment and compensation decisions. The banking operations generate revenue through loans, investments, and deposits, while significant expenses include interest expense, the provision for credit losses, and salaries and employee benefits. All operations are domestic.

Basis of Consolidated Financial Statement Presentation

The unaudited consolidated financial statements presented herein have been prepared pursuant to the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X and do not include all of the information and note disclosures required by GAAP. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) and disclosures considered necessary for the fair presentation of the accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been included. Interim results are not necessarily reflective of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2025. The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Significant Concentrations of Credit Risk

Many of the Company's activities are with clients located in Connecticut and New York, with the majority of the Company's commercial real estate investor loans in Connecticut and some New York metro area counties. Declines in property values in these areas could significantly impact the Company. The Company has a significant concentration in commercial real estate loans, with a growing percentage being owner-occupied, which present a lower risk profile.

ACL-Loans and Allowance for Credit Losses-Unfunded Commitments ("ACL-Unfunded Commitments")

The ACL-Loans is measured on each loan’s amortized cost basis, excluding interest receivable, and is initially recognized upon origination or purchase of the loan, and subsequently remeasured on a recurring basis. The ACL-Loans is recognized as a contra-asset, and credit loss expense is recorded as a provision for loan losses in the consolidated statements of income. Loan losses are charged off against the ACL-Loans when management believes the loan is uncollectible. Subsequent recoveries, if any, are credited to the ACL-Loans. Loans are normally placed on nonaccrual status if it is probable that the Company will be unable to collect the full payment of principal and interest when due according to the contractual terms of the loan agreement, or the loan is past due for a period of 90 days or more unless the obligation is well-secured and is in the process of collection. The Company generally does not recognize an allowance for credit losses ("ACL") on accrued interest receivables, consistent with its policy to reverse interest income when interest is 90 days or more past due.

The Company also records an ACL-Unfunded commitments, which is based on the same assumptions as funded loans and also considers the probability of funding. The ACL is recognized as a liability, and credit loss expense is recorded as a provision for unfunded loan commitments within the provision for credit losses in the Consolidated statements of income.

For collectively evaluated loans and related unfunded commitments, the Company utilizes software provided by a third party, which includes various models for forecasting expected credit losses, to calculate its ACL. Management selected lifetime loss rate models, utilizing CRE, C&I, and Consumer specific models, to calculate the expected losses over the life of each loan based on exposure at default, loan attributes and reasonable, supportable economic forecasts. The models selected by the Company in its ACL calculation rely upon historical losses from a broad cross section of U.S. banks that also utilize the same third party for ACL calculations. Management reviewed the third party’s analysis of the banks included in the models as part of their model development dataset and determined the Company’s loan portfolio composition by property type, balance distribution by loan age, and delinquency status are similar, which supports the use of these loss rate models. The Company also noted the third party’s model development dataset has loan concentrations that are evenly distributed across the United States, while the Company’s portfolio is mainly concentrated in the Northeast. Based on the disparate regional concentration, management determined that a select group of peer banks is necessary to scale the loss rate models to produce an ACL that is more representative of the Company’s loan portfolio. This peer-based calibration, called a "peer scalar", utilizes the loss rates of a subset of peer banks to appropriately scale the initial model results. These peers have been selected by the Company given their similar characteristics, such as loan portfolio composition and location, to better align the models’ results to the Company’s expected losses.

Key assumptions used in the models include portfolio segmentation, risk rating, forecasted economic scenarios, the peer scalar, and the expected utilization of unfunded commitments, among others. Our loan portfolios are segmented by loan level attributes such as loan type, size, date of origination, and delinquency status to create homogenous loan pools. Pool level metrics are calculated, and loss rates are subsequently applied to the pools as the loans have similar characteristics.

To account for economic uncertainty, the Company incorporates multiple economic scenarios in determining the ACL. The scenarios include various projections based on variables such as Gross Domestic Product, interest rates, property price indices, and employment measures, among others. The scenarios are probability-weighted based on available information at the time the calculation is conducted. As part of our ongoing governance of ACL, scenario weightings and model parameters are reviewed periodically by management and are subject to change, as deemed appropriate.

The Company also considers qualitative adjustments to expected credit loss estimates for information not already captured in the quantitative loss estimation models. Qualitative factor adjustments may increase or decrease management’s estimate of expected credit losses. Qualitative loss factors are based on the Company’s judgment of market, changes in loan composition or concentrations, performance trends, regulatory changes, uncertainty of macroeconomic forecasts, and other asset specific risk characteristics.

When loans do not share risk characteristics with other financial assets they are evaluated individually. Management applies its normal loan review procedures in making these judgments. Individually evaluated loans consist of loans with credit quality indicators which are substandard or doubtful. The Company also individually evaluates all insurance premium loans. While insurance premium loans are considered consumer loans, the third-party Consumer ACL model is designed for unsecured lending, whereas these loans are secured. To account for the fully secured structure of this type of loan, management determined each loan will be individually evaluated, regardless of the credit quality indicators. These loans are evaluated based
upon their collateral, which primarily consists of cash, cash surrender value of life insurance, and in some cases real estate. In determining the ACL-Loans for individually evaluated loans, the Company generally applies a discounted cash flow method for instruments that are individually assessed. For collateral dependent financial assets where the Company has determined that foreclosure of the collateral is probable and where the borrower is experiencing financial difficulty, the ACL is measured based on the difference between the fair value of the collateral and the amortized cost basis of the asset as of the measurement date. Fair value is generally calculated based on the value of the underlying collateral less an appraisal discount and the estimated cost to sell.

ACL-Securities

The Company individually evaluates the available for sale debt securities and held to maturity securities for impairment credit losses. Available for sale securities include U.S. Treasuries, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds. U.S. Treasuries and mortgaged-backed securities are guaranteed by the U.S. Government and as a result, management has a zero loss expectation. No ACL-Securities was recorded for these securities as of June 30, 2025. For the corporate bond portfolio, the Company developed a metric that includes each issuer’s current credit ratings and key financial performance metrics to assess the underlying performance of each issuer. The analysis of the issuers’ performance and the intent of the Company to retain these securities support the determination that there is no expected credit loss, and therefore, no ACL-Securities were recognized on the corporate bond portfolio as of June 30, 2025. Of our held to maturity securities portfolio, four securities fair values were less each security's amortized cost as of June 30, 2025. Since this is a highly rated state agency and municipal obligation, the Company's expectation of nonpayment of the amortized cost basis is zero. No allowance for ACL-Securities was recorded for this security as of June 30, 2025.

Common Share Repurchases

The Company is incorporated in the state of Connecticut. Connecticut law does not provide for treasury shares, rather shares repurchased by the Company constitute authorized, but unissued shares. GAAP states that accounting for treasury stock shall conform to state law. Therefore, the cost of shares repurchased by the Company has been allocated to common stock balances.

Reclassification

Certain prior period amounts may be reclassified to conform to the 2025 financial statement presentation. These reclassifications only change the reporting categories and do not affect the consolidated results of operations or consolidated financial position of the Company.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

The following section includes changes in accounting principles and potential effects of new accounting guidance and pronouncements.

Recently issued accounting pronouncements not yet adopted

ASU No. 2024-03—Income Statement: "Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures": The amendments in this update is to improve the disclosures about a public business entity’s expenses and address requests from investors for more detailed information about the types of expenses (including employee compensation, depreciation, amortization, and depletion) in commonly presented expense captions. The amendments in this update are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026. ASU No. 2025-01—Income Statement: "Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures": Following the issuance of Update 2024-03, this amendment clarifies the initial effective date for entities that do not have an annual reporting period that ends on December 31 (referred to as non-calendar year-end entities). The amendment is effective for public business entities for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026. The Company believes this ASU will not have a material impact on existing disclosures and will continue to monitor for SEC action, and plan accordingly for adoption.

ASU No. 2023-09—Income Taxes (Topic 740): "Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures": The amendments in this update provide more transparency about income tax information through improvements to income tax disclosures primarily related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information. For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. The Company believes this ASU will not have a material impact on existing disclosures and will continue to monitor for SEC action, and plan accordingly for adoption.
Recently issued accounting pronouncements that have been adopted

ASU No. 2023-06, Disclosure Improvements: “Codification Amendments in Response to the SEC’s Disclosure Update and Simplification Initiative”: The amendments in this update modify the disclosure or presentation requirements of a variety of Topics in the Codification. Certain of the amendments represent clarifications to or technical corrections of the current requirements. Because of the variety of Topics amended, a broad range of entities may be affected by one or more of those amendments. The summary of the amendments applicable to the Company include:

Statement of Cash Flows - Requires an accounting policy disclosure in annual periods of where cash flows associated with derivative instruments and their related gains and losses are presented in the statement of cash flows.

Accounting Changes and Error Corrections - Requires that when there has been a change in the reporting entity, the entity disclose any material prior-period adjustment and the effect of the adjustment on retained earnings in interim financial statements.

Earnings Per Share - Requires disclosure of the methods used in the diluted earnings-per-share computation for each dilutive security and clarifies that certain disclosures should be made during interim periods. Amends illustrative guidance to illustrate
disclosure of the methods used in the diluted earnings-per-share computation.

Interim Reporting - Conforms to the amendments made to Topic 250 (Accounting Changes and Error Correction).

Commitments - Requires disclosure of assets mortgaged, pledged, or otherwise subject to lien and the obligations collateralized.

Debt - Requires disclosure of amounts and terms of unused lines of credit and unfunded commitments and the weighted-average interest rate on outstanding short-term borrowings. Entities that are not public business entities are not required to provide information about the weighted-average interest rate.

Equity - Requires entities that issue preferred stock to disclose preference in involuntary liquidation if the liquidation preference is other than par or stated value.

Derivatives - Adds cross-reference to disclosure requirements related to where cash flows associated with derivative instruments and their related gains and losses are presented in the statement of cash flows in Topic 230.

Transfers and Servicing—Secured Borrowing and Collateral - Requires:

a. That accrued interest be included in the disclosure of liabilities incurred in securities borrowing or repurchase or resale transactions.
b. Separate presentation of the aggregate carrying amount of reverse repurchase agreements on the face of the balance sheet if that amount exceeds 10 percent of total assets.
c. Disclosure of the weighted-average interest rates of repurchase liabilities for public business entities.
d. Disclosure of amounts at risk with an individual counterparty if that amount exceeds more than 10 percent of shareholder’s equity.
e. Disclosure for reverse repurchase agreements that exceed 10 percent of total assets on whether there are any provisions in a reverse repurchase agreement to ensure that the market value of the underlying assets remains sufficient. to protect against counterparty default and, if so, the nature of those provisions.

Financial Services - Requires that investment companies disclose the components of capital on the balance sheet.

For entities subject to the SEC’s existing disclosure requirements and for entities required to file or furnish financial statements with or to the SEC in preparation for the sale of or for purposes of issuing securities that are not subject to contractual restrictions on transfer, the effective date for each amendment will be the date on which the SEC’s removal of that related disclosure from Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K becomes effective, with early adoption prohibited. For all other entities, the amendments will be effective two years later. The amendments in this update are to be applied prospectively. For all entities, if by June 30, 2027, the SEC has not removed the applicable requirement from Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K, the pending content of the related amendment will be removed from the Codification and will not become effective for any entity. The Company has adopted this ASU in December 2024 and it did not have a material impact on existing disclosures.