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SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2026
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
NOTE 1. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Nature of Operations
First Busey Corporation, a Nevada corporation organized in 1980, is an $18.19 billion financial holding company headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. First Busey’s stock is traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market, with its common stock trading under the symbol “BUSE” and its depositary shares of Busey Series B Preferred Stock trading under the symbol “BUSEP.”
Busey operates and reports its business in three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and FirsTech. Busey provides a full range of banking and wealth management services through Busey Bank, and payment technology solutions through Busey Bank’s wholly owned subsidiary, FirsTech. For additional information about Busey's operating segments, see Note 16. Operating Segments and Related Information.” Busey also has various other subsidiaries that are not significant to the consolidated entity.
Basis of Financial Statement Presentation
These unaudited consolidated financial statements and related notes should be read together with the audited consolidated financial statements included in Busey's 2025 Annual Report. These interim unaudited consolidated financial statements serve to update Busey's 2025 Annual Report and may not include all information and notes necessary to constitute a complete set of financial statements.
Busey’s unaudited consolidated financial statements are prepared in conformity with GAAP, and reflect the elimination of intercompany accounts and transactions. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. These reclassifications did not have a material impact on Busey’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.
In the opinion of Busey’s management, the unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all normal, recurring adjustments needed to present fairly Busey’s results for the interim periods. The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year or any other interim period.
Use of Estimates
In preparing the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP, Busey’s management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and the disclosures provided. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Critical accounting estimates which are particularly susceptible to significant change relate to the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations, goodwill, income taxes, and the determination of the ACL.
Trust Assets
Assets held for customers in a fiduciary or agency capacity, other than trust cash on deposit at Busey Bank, are not Busey’s assets and, accordingly, are not included in the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements. Busey had assets under care of $16.51 billion at June 30, 2026, and $15.66 billion at December 31, 2025.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand, cash items in process of collection, amounts due from other banks, and interest-bearing deposits held with other financial institutions with original maturities of three months or less. The carrying amount of these instruments is considered a reasonable estimate of fair value.
Restrictions on Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) includes amounts generally described as restricted cash, as summarized in the table below:
As of
(dollars in thousands)LocationJune 30,
2026
December 31,
2025
Restricted cash and cash equivalents
Contractually restricted by third-party service providersCash and due from banks$13,647 $13,647 
Cash pledged to secure obligations under derivative contractsInterest-bearing deposits14,400 14,400 
Restricted cash subject to call by the Federal Reserve BankInterest-bearing deposits68,055 68,055 
Total restricted cash and cash equivalents$96,102 $96,102 
Interest-bearing time deposits in other banks
Interest-bearing time deposits in other banks consist of certificates of deposit with original maturities greater than three months and are carried at amortized cost.
Income Taxes
Busey is subject to income taxes in U.S. federal and various state jurisdictions. First Busey and its subsidiaries file consolidated federal and state income tax returns with each subsidiary computing its taxes on a separate entity basis. Tax regulations within each jurisdiction are subject to the interpretation of the related tax laws and regulations, which requires significant judgment. Busey monitors evolving federal and state tax legislation and its potential impact on operations on an ongoing basis.
As of June 30, 2026, Busey remains under examination by the Illinois Department of Revenue for M&M's tax filings for the tax years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023.
Preferred Stock
The following table summarizes First Busey’s preferred stock issuances as of both June 30, 2026, and December 31, 2025:
Title of Each IssueShares AuthorizedShares IssuedShares OutstandingPar Value
Preferred stock, $0.001 par value:
1,000,000 
Series A Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock7,750 7,750 7,750 $7.75 
8.25% Fixed-Rate Series B Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock
230,000 215,000 215,000 $215.00 
Changes in preferred stock issued are presented in the following table:
Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,
Title of Each Issue2026202520262025
Series A Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock1
$— $— $— $7.75 
8.25% Fixed-Rate Series B Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock2
— 215.00 — 215.00 
___________________________________________
1.Busey Series A Preferred Stock was issued on March 1, 2025.
2.Busey Series B Preferred Stock was issued on May 20, 2025.
Impact of Recently Adopted Accounting Standards
In July 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-05 “Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses for Accounts Receivable and Contract Assets,” providing a practical expedient to reduce complexity in estimating the ACL for current accounts receivable and current contract assets arising from transactions subject to ASC 606 by permitting an entity to assume that current conditions as of the balance sheet date will remain static for the remaining life of these assets. Busey adopted this ASU prospectively for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2026, and elected the practical expedient for in-scope assets. Loans and other financial assets measured at amortized cost are not within the scope of this ASU. Because Busey does not currently have in-scope assets, adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on Busey’s financial position or results of operations.
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-04 “Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20): Induced Conversions of Convertible Debt Instruments” to clarify when certain settlements of convertible debt instruments should be accounted for as an induced conversion. This ASU was adopted on a prospective basis for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2026. Because Busey does not currently have any convertible debt, adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on Busey’s financial position or results of operations.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted
In May 2026, the FASB issued ASU 2026‑02 “Environmental Credits and Environmental Credit Obligations (Topic 818),” which establishes recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure requirements for environmental credits and environmental credit obligations. This update is to be applied on a retrospective basis, and will be effective for Busey for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2028. Early adoption is permitted as of the beginning of an annual reporting period. Busey is currently evaluating the applicability and effect of this ASU on its financial position, results of operations, and related disclosures.
In November 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-09 “Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Hedge Accounting Improvements” to expand the hedged risks permitted to be aggregated in a group of individual forecasted transactions, enabling entities to apply hedge accounting treatment to a broader portfolio of forecasted transactions. Under the amendments in this update, a group of individual forecasted transactions can be designated as a cash flow hedge if they have a similar risk exposure. Individual forecasted transactions are considered to have a similar risk exposure when the derivative used as the hedging instrument is highly effective against each hedged risk in the group. This update is to be applied on a prospective basis for all hedging relationships; there is an option to elect to adopt the amendments in this update for hedging relationships that exist as of the date of adoption. This update will be effective for Busey for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. Busey is currently evaluating the effect this ASU may have on its financial position and results of operations.
In November 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-08 “Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Purchased Loans” to expand the population of purchased loans subject to a “gross-up” accounting treatment, under which an ACL is recognized for the estimated credit losses at the acquisition date and the loan values are recorded at their estimated fair values plus a gross-up to offset the ACL. The gross-up accounting treatment prevents double recognition of an ACL through credit loss expense that was already considered in the fair value measurement of acquired loans. Under the guidance in this update, the gross-up accounting treatment applies to all non-PCD loans (excluding credit cards) acquired in a business combination and all non-PCD loans (excluding credit cards) that were purchased at least 90 days after origination and for which the purchaser was not involved in the loan origination. This update is to be applied prospectively, and will be effective for Busey for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. For future transactions, Busey will evaluate the effect this ASU may have on its financial position and results of operations.
In September 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-07 “Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) and Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Derivatives Scope Refinements and Scope Clarification for Share-Based Noncash Consideration from a Customer in a Revenue Contract,” to reduce diversity in the application of derivative accounting practices. This update provides a scope limitation on the definition of a derivative subject to derivative accounting under ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging, to exclude certain non-exchange-traded contracts with contingencies based on operations or activities specific to one of the parties to the contract. In addition, this update clarifies that share-based noncash consideration from a customer that is contingent on the satisfaction of performance obligations should not be recognized at contract inception as a derivative asset or an equity security, but rather should be accounted for under the guidance in ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, and that guidance in other topics does not apply to share-based noncash consideration from a customer for the transfer of goods or services unless or until the entity’s right to receive or retain the share-based noncash consideration is unconditional under ASC Topic 606. The amendments in this update may be applied on either a prospective or modified retrospective basis, and will be effective for Busey for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. Busey is currently evaluating the effect this ASU may have on its financial position and results of operations.
In September 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-06 “Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Internal-Use Software,” changing the criteria for capitalizing software costs to the following: (1) a commitment has been made to fund the software project, and (2) it is probable the project will be completed and used to perform its intended function. Under this update, software development stages are no longer a consideration in the determination of which costs are capitalized. The amendments in this update may be adopted on a prospective, modified transition, or retrospective basis, and will be effective for Busey for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2028. Early adoption is permitted. Busey is currently evaluating the effect this ASU may have on its financial position and results of operations.
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03 “Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses” to require additional disclosures within the notes to the financial statements about certain expense items. Specifically, disaggregation of income statement captions that contain expenses within the following five categories is required: (1) purchases of inventory, (2) employee compensation, (3) depreciation, (4) intangible asset amortization, and (5) depreciation, depletion, and amortization (“DD&A”) costs recognized as part of oil- and gas-producing activities or other amounts of depletion expense. Further, this update requires disclosure of the total amount of selling expenses and the entity’s definition of selling expenses. This update provides a practical expedient for banks and bank holding companies to continue presenting salaries and employee benefits in conformity with SEC Rule 210.9-04 instead of requiring those entities to apply the employee compensation definition included in Subtopic 220-40. The amendments in this update may be applied on either a prospective or retrospective basis and will be effective for Busey beginning with the annual reporting period ending December 31, 2027, and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2028. Early adoption is permitted. Because this update relates only to disclosure, Busey does not expect adoption of this ASU to have any impact on its financial position or results of operations.
In October 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023‑06 “Disclosure Improvements: Codification Amendments in Response to the SEC’s Disclosure Update and Simplification Initiative” which aligns certain GAAP disclosure requirements with those of the SEC in order to better facilitate comparisons between SEC registrants and entities that are not subject to SEC reporting requirements. The amendments in this ASU should be applied prospectively, and the effective date will be the date on which the SEC removes the related disclosure from Regulation S‑X or Regulation S‑K. Early adoption is prohibited. If the SEC has not removed the related disclosures by June 30, 2027, the pending content of this update will be removed from the ASC and have no further effect. Because this update relates only to disclosure, Busey does not expect adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on its financial position or results of operations.
Subsequent Events
Busey has evaluated subsequent events for potential recognition and/or disclosure through the date the unaudited consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report were issued, and noted the following:
On July 13, 2026, Busey entered into a letter agreement with its Chief Executive Officer, which included an equity grant with a three‑year vesting term. First Busey filed a copy of the letter agreement as Exhibit 10.1 to a Current Report filed with the SEC on July 14, 2026.
On July 31, 2026, First Busey filed a Current Report with the SEC, announcing the retirement of a member of its board of directors from his position, effective July 29, 2026. Effective at that time, the board of directors passed a resolution to reduce its size to 11 directors.
Other than these, there were no significant events subsequent to the quarter ended June 30, 2026, through the filing date of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.