v3.25.2
Capital Ratios
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2025
Capital Ratios  
Capital Ratios

Note 11 — Capital Ratios

Banks and bank holding companies are subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by state and federal banking agencies. Capital adequacy guidelines and, additionally for banks, prompt corrective action regulations, involve quantitative measures of assets, liabilities, and certain off-balance sheet items calculated under regulatory accounting practices. Capital amount and classifications are also subject to qualitative judgements by regulators about components, risk-weighting and other factors.

In July 2013, the FDIC and other regulatory bodies established a new, comprehensive capital framework for U.S. banking organizations, consisting of minimum requirements that increase both the quantity and quality of capital held by banking organizations. The final rules are a result of the implementation of the Basel III capital reforms and various related capital provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd Frank”). Consistent with the Basel international framework, the rules include a new minimum ratio of Common Equity Tier 1 (“CET1”) capital to risk-weighted assets of 4.5% and a CET1 capital conservation buffer of 2.5% of risk-weighted assets, effectively resulting in a minimum ratio of CET1 capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 7% upon full implementation. The capital conservation buffer is designed to absorb losses during periods of economic stress.  Banking institutions with a  ratio of CET1 capital to risk-weighted assets above the minimum but below the conservation buffer will face constraints on dividends, equity repurchases, and compensation based on the amount of the shortfall.  The rules also raised the minimum ratio of Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets from 4% to 6% and include a minimum leverage ratio of 4% for all banking organizations. Regarding the quality of capital, the rules emphasize CET1 capital and implements strict eligibility criteria for regulatory capital instruments. We believe that as of June 30, 2025, we meet all fully phased-in capital adequacy requirements.

In November 2017, the OCC, the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) and the FDIC finalized a proposed rule that extends the current treatment under the regulatory capital rules for certain regulatory capital deductions and risk weights and certain minority interest requirements, as they apply to banking organizations that are not subject to the advanced approaches capital rules. Effective January 1, 2018, the rule also paused the full transition to the Basel III treatment of mortgage servicing assets, certain deferred tax assets, investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions and minority interests. The agencies are also considering whether to make adjustments to the capital rules in response to the FASB’s Current Expected Credit Loss (“CECL”) Standard and its potential impact on regulatory capital. Pursuant to rules issued by the federal bank regulatory agencies in February 2019 and March 2020, banking organizations were given options to phase in the adoption of CECL over a three-year transition period through December 31, 2022 or over a

five-year transition period through December 31, 2024. Rather than electing to make one of the phase-in options, we immediately recognized the capital impact upon adopting CECL accounting standards on January 1, 2020, which resulted in an increase in our allowance for probable loan losses and a one-time cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings upon adoption.

In December 2017, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision unveiled its final set of standards and reforms to its Basel III regulatory capital framework, commonly called “Basel III Endgame” or “Basel IV.”  The Basel IV framework makes changes to the capital framework first introduced as “Basel III” in 2010 and aim to reduce excessive variability in banks’ calculations of risk-weighted capital ratios. Implementation of Basel IV began on January 1, 2023 and will continue over a five-year transition period by regulators in individual countries, including the U.S. federal bank regulatory agencies. The U.S. targeted implementation of Basel IV to begin on July 1, 2025, subject to a three-year transition period with full compliance expected by July 1, 2028. However, the future implementation of Basel IV remains unclear, as the Federal Reserve continues to review the Basel IV rules and has indicated that it may craft a new risk-based capital rule that would be less onerous for banks and require less stringent capital requirements.

As of June 30, 2025, our capital levels continue to exceed all capital adequacy requirements under the Basel III capital rules as currently applicable to us.

On May 24, 2018, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2018 (“EGRRCPA”) was enacted, and among other things, it includes a simplified capital rule change that effectively exempts banks with assets of less than $10 billion that exceed the “community bank leverage ratio,” from all risk-based capital requirements, including Basel III and its predecessors. The federal banking agencies must establish the “community bank leverage ratio” (a ratio of tangible equity to average consolidated assets) between 8% and 10% before community banks can begin to take advantage of this regulatory relief provision. Some of the Subsidiary Banks, with assets of less than $10 billion, may qualify for this exemption. Additionally, under the EGRRCPA, qualified bank holding companies with assets of up to $3 billion (currently $1 billion) will be eligible for the FRB’s Small Bank Holding Company and Savings and Loan Holding Company Policy Statement, which eases limitations on the issuance of debt by holding companies. On August 28, 2018, the FRB issued an interim final rule expanding the applicability of its Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement. While holding companies that meet the conditions of the policy statement are excluded from consolidated capital requirements, their depository institutions continue to be subject to minimum capital requirements. Finally, for banks that continue to be subject to the Basel III’s risk-based capital rules (e.g., assignment of a 150% risk weight to certain exposures), certain commercial real estate loans that were formally classified as high volatility commercial real estate (“HVCRE”) will not be subject to heightened risk weights if they meet certain criteria. Also, while acquisition, development, and construction loans will generally be subject to heightened risk weights, certain exceptions will apply. On September 18, 2018, the federal banking agencies issued a proposed rule modifying the agencies’ capital rules for HVCRE.

We had a CET1 to risk-weighted assets ratio of 23.23% on June 30, 2025 and 22.42% on December 31, 2024. We had a Tier 1 capital-to-average-total-asset (leverage) ratio of 19.51% and 18.84%, risk-weighted Tier 1 capital ratio of 23.84% and 23.06%, and risk-weighted total capital ratio of 25.06% and 24.31% at June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. Our CET1 capital consists of common stock and related surplus, net of treasury stock, and retained earnings. We and our Subsidiary Banks elected to opt-out of the requirement to include most components of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the calculation of CET1 capital. CET1 is reduced by goodwill and other intangible assets, net of associated deferred tax liabilities and subject to transition provisions. Tier 1 capital includes CET1 capital and additional Tier 1 capital. Additional Tier 1 capital includes the Capital and Common Securities issued by the Trusts (see Note 8 above) up to a maximum of 25% of Tier 1 capital on an aggregate basis. Any amount that exceeds the 25% threshold qualifies as Tier 2 capital. As of June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, the total of $108,868,000 of the Capital and Common Securities outstanding qualified as Tier 1 capital. We actively monitor the regulatory capital ratios to ensure that our Subsidiary Banks are well-capitalized under the regulatory framework.

The CET1, Tier 1 and total capital ratios are calculated by dividing the respective capital amounts by risk-weighted assets. Risk-weighted assets are calculated based on regulatory requirements and include total assets, excluding goodwill and other intangible assets, allocated by risk-weight category, and certain off-balance-sheet items, among other things. The leverage ratio is calculated by dividing Tier 1 capital by adjusted quarterly average total assets, which exclude goodwill and other intangible assets, among other things.

We and our Subsidiary Banks are subject to the regulatory capital requirements administered by the Federal Reserve, and, for our Subsidiary Banks, the FDIC. Regulatory authorities can initiate certain mandatory actions if we or any of our Subsidiary Banks fail to meet the minimum capital requirements, which could have a direct material effect on our financial statements. Management believes, as of June 30, 2025, that we and each of our Subsidiary Banks meet all capital adequacy requirements to which we are subject.