v3.25.2
Capital Requirements
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2025
Capital Requirements [Abstract]  
Capital Requirements Capital Requirements
The Bank is subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by federal and State of Utah banking agencies (the regulators). Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory, and possibly additional discretionary, actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on the Bank’s financial statements. Under capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, the Bank must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of the Bank’s assets, liabilities, and certain off -balance-sheet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. The Bank’s capital amounts and classification are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, risk -weighting, and other factors. Prompt corrective action provisions are not applicable to the bank holding company.
Beginning January 1, 2020, the Bank qualified and elected to use the community bank leverage ratio (“CBLR”) framework for quantitative measures which requires the Bank to maintain minimum amounts and ratios of Tier 1 capital to average total consolidated assets. Management believes, as of June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, that the Bank’s capital levels exceed the regulatory floors required to be classified as a well-capitalized bank.
As of June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, the most recent notification from the FDIC categorized the Bank as well-capitalized under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action (there are no conditions or events since that notification that management believes have changed the Bank’s category). The following table sets forth the actual capital amounts and ratios for the Bank and the minimum amount and ratio of capital required to be categorized as well-capitalized as of the dates indicated:
Actual Well-Capitalized
Requirement
($ in thousands)AmountRatio AmountRatio
June 30, 2025  
Leverage ratio (CBLR election)$143,711 18.0%$71,993 9.0%
December 31, 2024  
Leverage ratio (CBLR election)$135,375 20.6%$59,196 9.0%
Bank Dividends
The Federal Reserve’s policy statement and supervisory guidance on the payment of cash dividends by a Bank Holding Company (“BHC”), such as FinWise Bancorp, expresses the view that a BHC should generally pay cash dividends on common stock only to the extent that (1) the BHC’s net income available over the past year is sufficient to cover the cash dividend, (2) the rate of earnings retention is consistent with the organization’s expected future needs and financial condition, and (3) the regulatory capital adequacy ratios are met. Should an insured depository institution controlled by a bank holding company be “significantly undercapitalized” under the applicable federal bank capital ratios, or if the bank subsidiary is “undercapitalized” and has failed to submit an acceptable capital restoration plan or has materially failed to implement such a plan, federal banking regulators (in the case of the Bank, the FDIC) may choose to require prior Federal Reserve approval for any capital distribution by the BHC.
In addition, since FinWise Bancorp is a legal entity separate and distinct from the Bank and does not conduct stand-alone operations, an ability to pay dividends depends on the ability of the Bank to pay dividends to FinWise Bancorp. The FDIC and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (“UDFI”) may, under certain circumstances, prohibit the payment of dividends to FinWise Bancorp from the Bank. Utah corporate law also requires that dividends can only be paid out of funds legally available.
The Company has not paid any cash dividends on its common stock since inception and it does not intend to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. However, the Company’s Board of Directors may declare a cash or stock dividend out of retained earnings provided the regulatory capital ratio and other regulatory requirements are met. The Company plans to
maintain capital ratios that meet or exceed the well-capitalized standards per the regulations and, therefore, would limit dividends to amounts that are appropriate to maintain those well-capitalized regulatory capital ratios.