UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

 

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.

period covered by the annual report.

As at December 31, 2020,2021, there were 50,010,94849,911,351 shares of the registrant's common stock outstanding.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Note – Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from their obligations under those Sections.

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the

registrant has elected to follow.

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the

Exchange Act).

EXPLANATORY NOTE

In this report, unless the context indicates otherwise, the term:

Refer also to the Glossary at the end of this document for additional terms.

This annual report contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based on our current beliefs, expectations or assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, our operational results and other future conditions. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "indicate," "intend," "may," "plan," "point to," "predict," "project," "seek," "target," "potential," "will," "would," "could," "should," "continue," "contemplate" and other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this annual report and include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectation concerning, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, capital and liquidity requirements, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which we operate.

There are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. We believe that these risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described in the section captioned "Risk Factors" that appear in Item 3. D.3.D. "Risk Factors" of this annual report. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read with the other cautionary statements in this annual report.

Although we base these forward-looking statements on assumptions that we believe are reasonable when made, we caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this report. In addition, even if our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate, are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this report, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.

Given these risks and uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement that we make in this report speaks only as of the date of such statement. Except to the extent required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any of those statements to reflect future events or developments. Comparisons of results for current and any prior periods are not intended to express any future trends or indications of future performance, unless specifically expressed as such, and should only be viewed as historical data.

Not applicable

The COVID-19 pandemic has created economic and financial disruptions that have adversely affected, and are likely to continue to adversely affect, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to negatively affect our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the scope and duration of the pandemic and the emergence of new variants, the continued effectiveness of our business continuity plan (including remote working arrangements implemented for staff), the direct and indirect impact of the pandemic on our employees, customers, clients, counterparties and service providers, as well as other market participants, actions taken by governmental authorities and other third parties in response to the pandemic, and the effectiveness and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines.

Risks Relating to the Markets in Which We Operate

Adverse economic and market conditions in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands and the UK, and other markets in which we operate, have in the past resulted in and could in the future result in lower revenue, lower asset quality, increased provisions and lower earnings.

Unfavorable market conditions (including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic) can result in a deterioration in the credit quality of our borrowers and the demand for our products and services, an increase in the number of loan delinquencies, defaults and charge-offs, additional provisions for loan losses, decreases in asset values, deterioration in investment performance and an overall material adverse effect on the quality of our loan portfolio.

Unlike banks that are more geographically diversified, our business is concentrated primarily in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the Channel Islands and the UK, and we may be more affected by a downturn in these markets than more diversified competitors.

Geopolitical events could disrupt our businesses and adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

We are exposed to risks arising out of geopolitical events, such as trade barriers, including the imposition of tariffs and other limitations on international trade and travel, exchange controls, government shutdowns, other measures taken by sovereign governments, including by the US, and uncertainty arising from recent or upcoming elections (including in the US and the UK) that can hinder economic or financial activity levels. Furthermore, unfavorable political, military or diplomatic events, armed conflict, terrorist acts and threats, and pandemics, and the responses to them by governments, could also negatively affect economic activity and have an adverse effect upon our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Furthermore, changes in legislation and regulation or an attempt by any territory or dependency of the UK in which we operate to declare independence from the UK or to implement changes in its constitution, including its fiscal and monetary policies, could have a negative effect on the applicable jurisdiction's position as an international business center. This could have a significant negative effect on the local economy and in turn negatively affect our business.

Because the primary markets in which we operate do not have well-diversified economies, a downturn in their key industries could affect their economies as a whole and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Bermuda is among the largest reinsurance markets in the world. The Cayman Islands is a leader in fund domiciliation for global asset managers, with 11,15712,719 regulated mutual funds as at JulyDecember 31, 20202021 according to CIMA. International financial services account for a significant portion of the economies of the Channel Islands. Many of our commercial customers are reinsurance or regulated fund service providers. As a result, a downturn in these key sectors, a change in laws or regulations (including the favorable tax treatment of entities in these jurisdictions), or a shift of business away from Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, or the Channel Islands, including as a result of the inclusion of any of these jurisdictions on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes or the implementation of the global minimum tax regime proposed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ("OECD") in any of these jurisdictions, could result in job losses and adversely impact the economies in these markets. Any downturn or further concentration in the reinsurance, investment and asset management and banking markets could also adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Banks domiciled in Bermuda, including us, are not supported by a central bank from which to borrow funds, so if we are unable to maintain sufficient liquidity by continuously attracting deposits and other short-term funding, our financial condition, including our capital ratios, funding costs or results of operations could be adversely affected.

Unlike many other jurisdictions, there is no central bank or similar governmental agency in Bermuda from which we may borrow US or Bermuda Dollars if we experience liquidity shortages, which may leave us without a lender of last resort in the event that Bermuda suffers a severe economic downturn at the same time as a liquidity shortage. Similarly, there is no central bank in the Cayman Islands, Jersey or Guernsey to act as a lender of last resort. Accordingly, we may not have a lender of last resort in case of future liquidity shortages and we may be unable to sufficiently fund our liquidity needs. While there is no central bank or similar governmental agency in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Jersey or Guernsey that insures bank deposits, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the United States, the Governments of Bermuda and Jersey and the Government of the States of Guernsey have each implemented a Deposit Insurance Scheme or Deposit Compensation Scheme. See Item 4.B. "Business Overview - Supervision and Regulation" and "- Certain jurisdictions in which we operate, including Bermuda, Guernsey and Jersey, have a Deposit Insurance Scheme or Deposit Compensation Scheme and we incur ongoing costs as a result.” The regulators in these jurisdictions have also required us to hold capital add-ons to compensate for the systemic importance of our bank to the economy in the absence of a central bank. Without a central bank from which we could borrow funds, liquidity management will be critical to the management of our consolidated balance sheet, and an inability to obtain sufficient liquidity could adversely affect our financial condition.

Certain jurisdictions in which we operate, including Bermuda, Guernsey and Jersey, have a Deposit Insurance Scheme or Deposit Compensation Scheme and we incur ongoing costs as a result.

As a bank licensed by the BMA, we are required to be a member of the Deposit Insurance Scheme ("DIS") and pay contributions to the Deposit Insurance Fund. Currently, our premium contribution is calculated by the Bermuda Deposit Insurance Corporation as 0.25% per annum of the average total amount of our Bermuda Dollar deposits that are covered by the DIS guarantee over a rolling three-month period, payable every three months in arrears. The amount of the contribution we are liable to pay may change from time to time as the total level of our insured Bermuda Dollar deposits changes; in addition, there is no guarantee that the current rate of premium contributions

As a bank licensed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, we are required to pay contributions to the Guernsey Deposit Compensation Scheme (the "Guernsey DCS"). Currently, we are required to pay an administration levy which is calculated by the Guernsey DCS Board. The amount of the contribution we are liable to pay may change from time to time and there is no guarantee that the current rate charged by the Guernsey DCS Board will stay the same and not increase. In the event of the failure of a Guernsey licensed bank, the Guernsey DCS Board will estimate the total level of compensation levy required and the Bank will be liable in equal shares with every other participant (i.e., every other licensed bank in Guernsey) for the first £10,000,000. If the total compensation levy exceeds £10,000,000, then the Bank will be liable on a pro-rata basis (calculated by reference to the total "value at risk" of our Guernsey deposits compared to the Guernsey market) with every other participant for the amount of such excess. We may also not be able to recover our contributions to the Guernsey DCS from any failed licensed bank whose insured depositors receive payments from the Guernsey DCS. Any contributions we are required to make as part of the Guernsey DCS (and any associated costs) are a cost to our business, and such costs, including any future increases, may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The Jersey Bank Depositors Compensation Scheme ("Jersey DCS") is funded primarily through an upfront loan from the States of Jersey. In the event of a bank failing, levies would be raised on Jersey banks, subject to certain caps for banking groups over a five-year period, based on the proportion of protected deposits each bank holds to repay the loan. In the event that the full £100 million liability of the Jersey DCS was called upon, banks would contribute approximately two-thirds of funding, with the States of Jersey contributing one-third.

We are not currently required to pay any contributions to the Jersey DCS. Any contributions we may be required in future to make as part of the Jersey DCS (and any associated costs) are a cost to our business, and such costs, including any future increases, may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

A decline in tourism in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands has, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and could in the future, adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Tourism is a major contributor to the economies of Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant decline in worldwide travel and tourism, including in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. See "Risks Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

Severe weather, and natural disasters and potential impacts of climate change could disrupt our businesses and adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

We cannot predict whether we will continue to be able to obtain insurance for hazard-related damages to our premises or, if obtainable and carried, whether this insurance will be adequate to cover our losses. Moreover, we expect any insurance of this nature to be subject to substantial deductibles and to provide for premium adjustments based on claims, and we do not carry insurance against all types of losses. For all these reasons, any future hazard-related costs and work interruptions could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The majority of the markets in which we operate do not have systemic credit bureau reports.

Unlike the US where the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") is designed to help ensure that credit bureaus furnish correct and complete information when evaluating loan applications, the majority of the markets in which we operate do not have systemic credit bureau reports. Therefore, we review each loan and we use a formal and documented tiered credit approval process that is administered through and governed by our risk management framework. Due to limitations in the availability of information, our assessment of credit risk associated with a particular customer may not be based on complete, accurate or reliable information. In addition, although we have made and continue to make improvements to our credit scoring systems to better assess borrowers' credit risk profiles, we cannot provide assurance that our credit scoring systems collect complete or accurate information reflecting the actual behavior of customers or that their credit risk can be assessed correctly. Without complete, accurate and reliable information, we have to rely on other publicly available resources and our internal resources, which may not be effective. As a result, our ability to effectively manage our credit risk and subsequently our impairment losses and allowance for credit losses may be materially adversely affected. In addition, because our credit approval process involves detailed analyses of the customer or credit risk, taking into account both quantitative and qualitative factors, it is subject to human or information technology systems errors. In exercising their judgment on current or future credit risk behavior of our customers, our employees may not always be able to assign an accurate credit rating, which may result in our exposure to higher credit risks than indicated by our risk rating system. In addition, we have been refining our credit policies and guidelines to address potential risks associated with particular industries or types of customers. However, we may not be able to timely detect all possible risks before they occur, or due to limited tools available to us, our employees may not be able to effectively implement them, which may increase our credit risk. Failure to effectively implement, consistently follow or continuously refine our credit risk management system may result in an increase in the level of nonperforming loans and a higher risk exposure for us, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

We rely on our reputation and the appeal of our brand to our customers. Any damage to our reputation and appeal could harm us and our business prospects.

The success of our strategy relies significantly on our reputation and the reputation of our senior management and the Board. In addition, our customers and key introducers must continue to associate our brand with meeting customer needs and delivering value to those customers. Adverse publicity (whether or not justified) relating to activities by our management, employees, agents or others with whom we do business, such as customer service mishaps or noncompliance with laws, could tarnish our reputation and reduce the value of our brand. With the increase in the use of social media outlets, such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter, adverse publicity can be disseminated quickly and broadly, making it increasingly difficult for us to effectively respond. Such unfavorable publicity could also require us to allocate significant resources to rebuild our reputation.

controversial industries such as gaming and cryptocurrencies, among others. See "Our"Our business may be negatively impacted by the economic substance legislation and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate, including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the Channel Islands." Any circumstance that causes real or perceived damage to our brand or reputation, or banking or wealth management generally in these jurisdictions, may negatively affect our relationships with our customers and key introducers, which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Potential reputational issues include, but are not limited to:

A failure to address the above or any other relevant issues appropriately could make customers unwilling to do business with us, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations and could damage our relationships with our employees and regulators.

We could be negatively affected if the soundness of other financial institutions and counterparties deteriorates or if such counterparties, including clearing houses, are unwilling to do business with us, in particular in respect of US Dollar transactions.

Given the high level of interdependence between financial institutions, we are and will continue to be subject to the risk of actual or perceived deterioration in the commercial and financial soundness of other financial services institutions. Within the financial services industry, the default by any one institution could lead to defaults by other institutions. Concerns about, or a default by, one institution could lead to significant liquidity problems, losses or defaults by other institutions, because the commercial and financial soundness of many financial institutions may be closely related as a result of their credit, trading, clearing or other relationships. Even the perceived lack of creditworthiness of, or questions about, a financial institution may lead to market-wide liquidity problems and losses or defaults by us or by other institutions. This risk is sometimes referred to as "systemic risk" or "contagion" and may adversely affect financial intermediaries, such as clearing agencies, clearing houses and banks with whom we interact on a daily basis. In particular, BNYM and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. ("Wells Fargo") act as clearing houses for all our US Dollar transactions. If BNYM's or Wells Fargo's ability to act as our clearing houses becomes impaired or BNYM or Wells Fargo cease to act as our clearing houses for any other reason and other financial institutions are not willing to provide the services currently provided to us by BNYM and Wells Fargo, we could lose our ability to engage in US Dollar transactions, which could lead to severe disruptions in our operations and adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our strategy includes expansion of our business through acquisitions of, or investments in, other companies or new products and services, but we may not be able to achieve regulatory approval for such transactions or be able to achieve the anticipated cost savings, growth opportunities and other benefits anticipated from such transactions.

We seek to grow both organically and through acquisitions. In the past several years, we have made various acquisitions and investments intended to complement and expand our businesses, including our July 2019 acquisition of ABN AMRO (Channel Islands) Limited, our February 2018 agreement with Deutsche Bank to refer Deutsche Bank's clients from their banking and custody business in the Cayman and Channel Islands to us, and our March 2018 acquisition of Deutsche Bank’s GTS business, excluding its US operations. Our long-term growth strategy includes identifying and effecting selective acquisitions in our core geographies, but we cannot be sure that we will be able to continue to identify suitable acquisition candidates or investment opportunities. Even if we identify suitable targets, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain the necessary funding on acceptable terms, if at all, to finance any of those potential acquisitions or investments.

We may also be required to obtain regulatory approval (including from the BMA) prior to any potential acquisition or investment depending on the transaction and the laws and regulations of the target’s country of incorporation (for example, from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission in respect of the acquisition of ABN AMRO (Channel Islands) Limited). Regulators consider a number of factors when determining whether to approve a proposed transaction, and we may have difficulty obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals, government permits or licenses required for such acquisitions. We may fail to pursue, evaluate or complete strategic and competitively significant business opportunities as a result of our inability, or our perceived inability, to obtain any required regulatory approvals in a timely manner or at all.

Even where we are able to complete an acquisition or an investment, we cannot be sure that such acquired entity, business or asset or such investment will perform in line with our assumptions or expectations or otherwise complement our business or strategy due to a variety of factors, including lower revenues than expected, unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures, customer loss and business disruption (including, without limitation, difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees, customers, clients or suppliers) and risks associated with the disruption of management’s attention from ongoing business operations due to acquisition and integration activities.

In addition, a significant portion of the purchase price of companies that we may acquire may be allocated to goodwill and other intangible assets. Intangible assets are tested for impairment annually or when there is a triggering event requiring such testing; an intangible asset that is subject to amortization is periodically reviewed for impairment.

Goodwill is tested for impairment on an annual basis. As at December 31, 2020,2021, we had $25.6$25.4 million and $67.2$60.8 million of goodwill and intangible assets, respectively. In the future, if our acquisitions do not yield expected returns or there are changes in discount rates, we may be required to take additional charges to our earnings based on the impairment assessment process, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

A decline in the residential real estate market, including in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands and the United Kingdom, could increase the risk of loans being impaired and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The value of the securities in our investment portfolio may decline in the future.

As at December 31, 2020,2021, we owned $4.9$6.2 billion of investment securities consisting primarily of securities issued by the US government and US governmental agencies. In 2020,2021, our investment portfolio had an average yield of 2.41%1.79%.

The fair value of our investment securities may be adversely affected by market conditions, including changes in interest rates, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the occurrence of any events adversely affecting the issuer of particular securities in our investment portfolio. We perform periodic reviews to determine if a credit impairment exists. Our Group Asset and Liability Committee reviews the results of the impairment analysis and advises whether a credit impairment exists. The process for determining whether a credit impairment exists usually requires complex, subjective judgments about the future financial performance of the issuer of the relevant security in order to assess the probability of receiving all contractual principal and interest payments on the security.

We did not record any credit impairment losses on investments in the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 2019 and 2018. However, in prior periods we have experienced higher2019. We may be required to recognize credit impairments in the future periods, which could have an adverse effect on investments, in particular as a resultour business, financial conditions or results of investments in structured securities.operations. See "- If we are unable to effectively manage our liquidity we may need to seek additional financing and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected."

Fluctuations in interest rates and inflation may negatively impact our net interest margin and our profitability.

Net interest income is a significant component of our revenues and changes in prevailing interest rates may adversely affect our business, including the level of net interest income we earn, and for our banking business, the levels of deposits and the demand for loans.

Changes in interest rates may negatively affect the value of our assets and our ability to realize gains or avoid losses from the sale of those assets, all of which also ultimately affect earnings and capital, as well as our regulatory solvency position. A sustained increase in the inflation rate in our key markets may also have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. For example, a sustained increase in the inflation rate may result in an increase in nominal market interest rates. A failure to accurately anticipate higher inflation and factor it into our product-pricing assumptions may result in mispricing of our products, which could adversely affect our business, financial position or results of operations. On the other hand, recent concerns regarding negative interest rates and the low level of interest rates generally may negatively impact our net interest income, which may have an adverse impact on our profitability.

Our loan and investment portfolios are subject to risk of prepayment, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

Our fixed rate loan and investment portfolios are subject to prepayment risk, which results from the ability of a borrower or issuer to pay a debt obligation prior to maturity. Generally, in a low interest rate environment, prepayment activity increases, which reduces the weighted average lives of our earning assets and could have a material adverse effect on us. For example, in 2020recent decreases in global market interest rates and increased prepayment speeds resulted in lower yields on the Bank's investments as compared to the previous year.investments. Prepayments also require us to recognize net premiums or commissions as income over a shorter period of time, thereby reducing the corresponding asset yield and net interest income. Prepayment risk also has a significant adverse impact on credit card and collateralized mortgage loans, since prepayments could shorten the weighted average life of these assets, which may result in a mismatch in our funding obligations and reinvestment at lower yields. Prepayment risk is inherent to our commercial activity and an increase in prepayments could have a material adverse effect on us.

If we are unable to effectively manage our liquidity we may need to seek additional financing and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected.

We need liquidity to pay our operating expenses, fund depositor withdrawals, interest on our debt and dividends on our common shares, and to replace certain maturing liabilities. Without sufficient liquidity, we will be forced to curtail our operations and our business will suffer.

Our main source of funding is customer deposits. As at December 31, 2020,2021, we had $13.3$13.9 billion in deposits (55% USD deposits, 18% USD-pegged deposits), with 36%33% of our deposits derived from our Bermuda segment, 31%33% from the Cayman Islands segment, and 33%34% from the Channel Islands segment. In addition, we source our funding from net income generated by the Bank, net of dividends paid, and to a lesser extent from other sources including the sale of securities to institutional counterparties under repurchase agreements and the sale of equity securities and AFS securities. Our deposit base includes both demand and term liabilities, but the significant majority of such deposits are demand deposits or are due within six months. Because we rely primarily on short-term deposits for funding, a sudden or unexpected shortage of funds in the banking systems in which we operate may prevent us from obtaining necessary funding without incurring higher costs. Our deposit base includes deposits from commercial and institutional clients which may be more sensitive to financial strength rating changes. A significant withdrawal of deposits in either of these markets could significantly affect our liquidity and our ability to meet our funding needs.

In addition, as a bank with subsidiaries located in various jurisdictions, the Bank’s access to inter-company funds can be restricted because our regulated banking subsidiaries are required to maintain certain liquidity ratios or minimum levels of capital in accordance with the laws of the jurisdictions in which they operate or otherwise. The necessity of maintaining these ratios or levels of capital or other liquidity considerations could restrict the ability of these subsidiaries to transfer funds to us, in the form of cash dividends, loans or advances.

In the event that our current resources do not satisfy our needs, we may need to seek additional financing. The availability of additional financing will depend on a variety of factors, such as market conditions, the general availability of credit, the volume of trading activities, the overall availability of credit to the financial services industry, our credit ratings and credit capacity, as well as the possibility that customers or lenders could develop a negative perception of our long- or short-term financial prospects, including as a result of economic uncertainty or any downgrade in sovereign credit ratings in key markets in which we operate.

Changes in banks’ inter-bank lending rate reporting practices and the phase-out of the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Uncertainty as to the nature of potential changes, alternative reference rates or other reforms may adversely affect market liquidity, the pricing of LIBOR-based instruments and the availability and cost of associated hedging instruments and borrowings. Payments under contracts referencing new reference rates may differ from those referencing LIBOR. The transition may change the Bank’s risk profile and require changes to its risk and pricing models, valuation tools, product design and hedging strategies. Although the Bank is unable to quantify the ultimate impact of the transition from LIBOR given the uncertain nature of the potential changes, it continues to monitor the developments related to the future of LIBOR in line with any regulatory or quasi-regulatory guidance. Moreover, the failure to manage any potential transition from LIBOR to a different reference rate, or rates, may adversely affect the Bank’s reputation, business and financial condition, and results of operations.

We face competition in all aspects of our business, and may not be able to attract and retain wealth management, trust and banking clients at current levels.

We compete with a broad range of financial institutions. Many of our competitors are larger and have broader ranges of product and service offerings, increased access to capital, greater efficiency and pricing power. We face competition from other lending institutions and from numerous other providers of financial services, including the following:

In our banking business, we face competition mainly from other local banks, such as Bermuda Commercial Bank and Clarien Bank in Bermuda and from Cayman National Corporation in the Cayman Islands, as well as from subsidiaries of international banks, being Royal Bank of Canada in the Cayman Islands and HSBC in Bermuda, whom we view as our most significant competitors. In our wealth management business line, we face competition from local competitors, as well as much larger financial institutions, including financial institutions that are not based in the markets in which we operate. Revenues from the trust and wealth management business depend in large part on the level of AUA.

In our trust business, we face competition primarily from other specialized trust service providers. Many of our competitors in the international financial sector offer fund administration and corporate services work alongside private client fiduciary services.

Our ability to successfully attract and retain trust, wealth management and banking clients is dependent upon our ability to compete with competitors' investment products, retail products and services, level of investment performance, client services and marketing and distribution capabilities. If we are not successful, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected.

The Bank's credit ratings have a direct effect on its competitive position, and declines in the Bank's ratings would increase the cost of borrowing funds and make our ability to raise new funds, attract and retain deposits or renew maturing debt more difficult, which may negatively affect long-term and short-term funding.

The Bank's credit strength ratings are an important component of its liquidity profile and competitive position. Ratings show each agency's view of our financial strength, operating performance and ability to meet debt obligations as they become due. Nationally recognized statistical rating organizations ("NRSROs") periodically review the financial performance and condition of banks and may downgrade or change the outlook on a bank's ratings due to, for example: a change in a bank's regulatory capital ratios; a change in an NRSRO's determination of the amount of capital cushion required to maintain a particular rating; an increase in the perceived risk of a bank's investment portfolio; reduced confidence in management; or other considerations that may or may not be under our control. The Bank has credit ratings from Standard & Poor's ("S&P"), Moody's Investor Service ("Moody's") and Kroll Bond Rating Agency ("KBRA"). Each of the rating agencies reviews its ratings and rating methodologies on a recurring basis and may decide on a downgrade at any time. The Bank's ratings as at December 31, 20202021 are shown in the table below:

Negative changes in the Bank's long-term deposit ratings would also likely increase the cost of raising long-term funding in the capital markets or of borrowing funds. Even where we can access the capital markets, negative changes in our ratings could affect our share price and make any equity offerings more difficult and dilutive to current shareholders, further driving down the Bank's share price. Our ability to replace maturing or existing debt may be more difficult and expensive. In addition, our lenders and counterparties in derivative transactions are sensitive to the risk of a ratings downgrade. However, we may issue additional debt securities in the future which may increase the impact of a one-notch downgrade in credit ratings.

Management cannot predict what actions rating agencies may take, or what actions we may take in response to the actions of rating agencies that could adversely affect our business. As with other companies in the financial services industry, our ratings could be downgraded at any time and without any notice by any NRSRO, which could adversely affect our business, financial conditions or results of operations.

We could fail to attract, retain or motivate highly skilled and qualified personnel, including our senior management, other key employees or members of the Board, which could adversely affect our business.

Our ability to implement our strategic plan and our future success depends on our ability to continue to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled, diverse and qualified personnel, including our senior management and other key employees and directors, competitively with our peers. The marketplace for skilled personnel is becoming more competitive, which means the cost of hiring, incentivizing and retaining skilled personnel may continue to increase. The failure to attract or retain, including as a result of an untimely death or illness of key personnel, or replace a sufficient number of appropriately skilled and key personnel could place us at a significant competitive disadvantage and prevent us from successfully implementing our strategy or effectively managing our risk framework and business operations. This could impair our ability to implement our strategic plan successfully, achieve our performance targets and otherwise have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We may also be unable to attract and retain staff due to our locations. Many of our employees are employed in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the Channel Islands, which are small markets. To the extent we have needs for employees in these locations, this may be an impediment to attracting and retaining experienced personnel. Further, immigration laws in small markets may impose limitations on attracting experienced personnel.

We rely on third parties to provide services that are integral to our ordinary operations, and their failure to perform in a satisfactory manner could negatively affect us.

In addition, BNYM and Wells Fargo act as clearing houses for all our US Dollar transactions and, if our relationships with BNYM and Wells Fargo are terminated, we could lose our ability to engage in US Dollar transactions. For more information see " - We could be negatively affected if the soundness of other financial institutions and counterparties deteriorates or if such counterparties, including clearing houses, are unwilling to do business with us, in particular in respect of US Dollar transactions."

Information provided to us about clients and counterparties may not be accurate or complete.

In deciding whether to extend credit or enter into other transactions with clients and counterparties, we rely on information furnished by or on behalf of clients and counterparties, including financial statements and other financial information. We also may rely on representations of clients and counterparties as to the accuracy and completeness of that information and, with respect to financial statements, on reports of independent auditors. Such information could turn out to be inaccurate, including as a result of fraud or misrepresentation on behalf of our clients, counterparties or other third parties, which would increase our credit risk and expose us to possible write-downs and losses.

We cannot be certain that our underwriting and operational controls will prevent or detect such fraud or that we will not experience fraud losses or incur costs or other losses related to such fraud. Our clients and counterparties may also experience fraud in their businesses which could adversely affect their ability to repay their loans or make use of our services.

During the periods reported in this annual report, we have not experienced any material losses, or had to write down collateral, as a result of fraud or misrepresentation, but we cannot be certain that the Bank will not experience any such losses or have to write down any such collateral in the future, which could have a material adverse impact on our results of operation and financial condition.

Our business is subject to risks related to litigation and regulatory actions.

We are, from time to time, involved in various legal and regulatory proceedings arising from our normal business activities. These claims and legal actions, including supervisory actions by our regulators or proceedings or investigations brought by other regulators, could involve large monetary claims and significant defense costs. The outcome of these cases is uncertain. Substantial legal liability or significant regulatory action against us could have material financial effects or cause significant reputational harm to us, which in turn could seriously harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. We may be exposed to substantial uninsured liabilities, which could materially affect our results of operations and financial condition.

The appraisals and other valuation techniques we use in evaluating and monitoring loans secured by real property may not accurately describe the net value of the collateral that we can realize.

In considering whether to make a loan secured by real property, we generally require an appraisal of the property. However, an appraisal is only an estimate of the value of the property at the time the appraisal is made, and, as real estate values may change significantly in relatively short periods of time (especially in periods of heightened economic uncertainty), this estimate may not accurately describe the net value of the real property collateral after the loan is made. As a result, we may not be able to realize the full amount of any remaining indebtedness when we foreclose on and sell the relevant property. In addition, we rely on appraisals and other valuation techniques to establish the value of our OREO and to determine certain loan impairments. If any of these valuations isare inaccurate, our consolidated financial statements may not reflect the correct value of our OREO, and our allowance for credit losses may not reflect accurate loan impairments. This could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our operations are reliant on effective implementation and use of technology and require us to adapt to new technologies, and a breach, interruption or failure of our technology services or the inability to effectively integrate new technologies could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We rely heavily on communications and information systems to conduct business. In particular, we rely on technology to provide key components of our information system infrastructure, including loan, deposit and general ledger processing, risk management information collection and processing for internal control purposes, internet connections and network access. Any disruption in service of these key components, due to system errors, a natural catastrophe, or the termination of any third-party software licenses upon which any of these systems is based, could adversely affect our ability to effectively deliver products and services to clients, to detect, assess and manage risk and otherwise to conduct operations. See "- We rely on third parties to provide services that are integral to our ordinary operations, and their failure to perform in a satisfactory manner could negatively affect us.” Furthermore, any security breach, due to computer viruses, programming, malfeasance or human errors or other events or developments, of information systems or data, whether managed by us or third parties, could interrupt our business, harm our reputation or cause a decrease in the number of clients using our services. The financial services industry is continually undergoing rapid technological change with frequent introductions of new, and technology-driven products and services. We face the risk of having to establish and maintain further improved technological capabilities, and our future success depends, in part, on our ability to recognize and implement new technologies to address our operational and internal control needs, operational efficiencies and to meet the demands of our clients. See "- Cyber-attacks, distributed denial of service attacks and other cyber-security matters, if successful, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.”

The widespread adoption of new technologies, including cryptocurrencies and payment systems, could require substantial expenditures to modify or adapt our existing products and services as we continue to grow our internet and mobile banking capabilities. The persistence or acceleration of this shift in demand towards internet and mobile banking may necessitate changes to our retail distribution strategy, which may include restructuring our branches and work force. These actions could lead to losses on these assets and may lead to increased expenditures to reform our retail distribution channel.

Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements than we do. We may not be able to effectively implement new, technology-driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers. In addition, the implementation of technological changes and upgrades to maintain current systems and integrate new ones may also cause service interruptions, transaction processing errors and system conversion delays and may cause us to fail to comply with applicable laws. Failure to successfully keep pace with technological change affecting the financial services industry and avoid interruptions, errors and delays could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or competitive position.

Cyber-attacks, distributed denial of service attacks and other cyber-security matters, if successful, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We are under continuous threat of loss due to cyber-attacks, especially as we continue to expand customer capabilities to utilize the internet and other remote channels to transact business. Third parties with whom we or our customers do business also present operational and information security risks to us, including security breaches or failures of their own systems. Two of the most significant cyber-attack risks that we face are e-fraud and loss of sensitive customer data. Such attacks are infrequent, but could present significant reputational, legal and regulatory costs to us if successful.

We also face risks related to cyber-attacks and other security breaches in connection with credit card transactions that typically involve the transmission of sensitive information regarding our customers through various third parties, including merchant acquiring banks, payment processors, payment card networks (e.g., Visa or Mastercard), our processors, and BNYM and Wells Fargo as clearing banks. Some of these parties have in the past been the target of security breaches and cyber-attacks, and because the transactions involve third parties and environments such as the point of sale that we do not control or secure, future security breaches or cyber-attacks affecting any of these third parties could impact us through no fault of our own, and in some cases we may have exposure and suffer losses for breaches or attacks relating to them, including from remediation costs, increased future protection costs, reputational harm, loss of customers and potential regulatory inquiries and/or civil litigation. We also rely on numerous other third-party service providers to conduct other aspects of our business operations and face similar risks relating to them.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our employees (and staff of service providers) have been working remotely or from other sites. These working arrangements could potentially provide increased opportunities for cyber threat actors to exploit.

Failure to comply with any applicable anti-corruption legislation could result in fines, criminal penalties and an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

may be out of scope of economic substance requirements, may already be compliant with the economic substance requirements, or may be required to restructure their business and operations to comply with economic substance requirements, which may include exiting jurisdictions and terminating their banking relationship with us. The new economic substance requirements and any addition of a jurisdiction to the EU's list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions may lead to a decline in AUM, a reduction in our client base and/or a general economic downturn in the jurisdictions in which we operate, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our business in Bermuda may be negatively impacted by the proposed Bermuda Tax Reform legislation.

direct and indirect US shareholders and/or US account holders. To avoid becoming subject to FATCA withholding, we and other financial institutions may be required to report information to the IRS regarding the holders of our common shares and to withhold on a portion of payments under our common shares to certain holders that fail to comply with the relevant information reporting requirements (or that hold our common shares directly or indirectly through certain non-compliant intermediaries). However, under proposed Treasury regulations, such withholding will not apply to payments made before the date that is two years after the date on which final regulations defining the term “foreign passthru payment” are enacted. The rules for the implementation of this legislation have not yet been fully finalized, so it is impossible to determine at this time what impact, if any, this legislation will have on holders of the common shares.

Competitors or other third parties may allege that we, or consultants or other third parties retained or indemnified by us, infringe on their intellectual property rights. Even in instances where we believe that claims and allegations of intellectual property infringement against us are without merit, defending against such claims is time consuming and expensive and could result in the diversion of time and attention of our management and employees. In addition, although in some cases a third party may have agreed to indemnify us for such costs, such indemnifying party may refuse, or be unable, to uphold its contractual obligations.

Moreover, we rely on a variety of measures to protect our intellectual property and proprietary information, including copyrights, trademarks, and controls on access and distribution. These measures may not prevent misappropriation or infringement of our intellectual property or proprietary information and a resulting loss of competitive advantage. In any event, we may be required to litigate to protect our intellectual property and proprietary information from misappropriation or infringement by others, which is expensive and could cause a diversion of resources and may not be successful.

Our insurance coverage may not be adequate to cover all possible losses that we could suffer, and our insurance costs could increase in the future.

Our insurance policies do not cover all types of potential losses and liabilities and are subject to limits and excesses. There can be no assurance that our insurance will be sufficient to cover the full extent of all losses or liabilities for which we are ultimately responsible, which could result in losses being incurred by the Bank. Additionally, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to renew our current insurance policies on favorable terms, or at all.

Changes in accounting policies and practices may be adopted by applicable regulatory agencies or other authoritative bodies, which could materially impact our financial statements.

The value of the common shares may fluctuate significantly.

declared and paid by the Board only as permitted under applicable law. In determining the amount of any future dividends, factors the Board may take into account include: (1) our financial results; (2) our available cash, as well as anticipated cash requirements (including debt servicing); (3) our capital requirements, including the capital requirements of our subsidiaries; (4) our capital requirements to fund potential acquisitions; (5) contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions on, and implications of, the declaration and payment of dividends by us to our shareholders or share buy-back activity; (6) general economic and business conditions; (7) restrictions applicable to the Bank and its subsidiaries under Bermuda and other applicable laws, regulations and policies, including the requirement to obtain a letter of no objection from the BMA for the payment of dividends on our common shares; and (8) any other factors that the Board may deem relevant. Therefore, there can be no assurance that we will declare or pay any dividends to holders of the common shares, or as to the amount of any such dividends.

Corporate Information

We are a company incorporated under the laws of Bermuda, incorporated on October 22, 1904, pursuant to the The N.T. Butterfield & Son Bank Act, 1904 (the "Butterfield Act"). We are registered with the Registrar of Companies in Bermuda under registration number 2106. Our registered office and principal executive offices are located at 65 Front Street, Hamilton, HM 12, Bermuda. Our agent for service of process in the United States is C T Corporation System, 28 Liberty Street, New York, New York 10005. Our telephone number is (441) 295 1111. We maintain a website at www.butterfieldgroup.com. Neither this website nor the information on or accessible through this website is included or incorporated in, or is a part of, this report.

The SEC maintains an internet site at https://www.sec.gov that contains reports, information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

The origin of The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited dates back to the founding of the trading firm of Nathaniel Butterfield circa 1784. In 1858, our company was established as a bank in Bermuda and has been instrumental to the functioning of the local economy ever since. The Bank was later incorporated under a special act of the local Parliament in 1904. In the 1960s, as international businesses began contributing substantially to Bermuda's economy, we developed services to work to meet their needs. In 1967, we opened offices in the Cayman Islands and by the 1980s had expanded our operations to include retail banking, investment management, and fund administration. In 1973, we opened our Guernsey office in order to provide customers with access to the Pound Sterling currency after Bermuda's departure from the British Sterling zone. In addition to being Bermuda's first bank, we opened the first ATMs in Bermuda in the 1980s and launched Bermuda's first internet banking service in 2001. In 1971, we listed our common shares on the BSX ("Bermuda Stock Exchange") under the ticker symbol "NTB.BH". In 2016, we listed our common shares on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "NTB".

In 2008 and 2009, as a result of the global financial crisis, we realized losses attributable primarily to US non-agency mortgage backed securities in our investment portfolio, as well as write-downs on local market hospitality loans. To raise capital to offset these losses, the Bank executed a $200 million preference share offering in June 2009. In 2009 and 2010, we implemented a comprehensive restructuring plan for the Company: we hired a new management team, de-risked our balance sheet, and raised $550 million of common equity from a group of investors as well as existing shareholders.

Since our restructuring, we have pursued a strategy to focus on our core business in banking and wealth management. We have executed upon our strategy by streamlining the Company's operations through exiting non-core markets, repositioning our balance sheet, investing in efficiency initiatives, and continuing to invest in our core business lines to grow both organically and through acquisitions. By following this strategy, we have improved our financial results and have been able to initiate a progressive capital return policy for investors. The following are the most recent key steps in executing our strategy:

We are a full service bank and wealth manager headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. We operate our business through three geographic segments: Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the Channel Islands and the UK. We offer banking services, comprising of retail, private and corporate banking, treasury services, and wealth management, which consists of investment management, advisory and brokerage services, trust, estate, and company management in both our Bermuda and Cayman Islands segments, as well as custody services in our Bermuda segment. The Channel Islands and the UK segment include the jurisdictions of Guernsey and Jersey (Channel Islands), and the UK. In the Channel Islands, a broad range of services are provided to private clients and financial intermediaries including private banking and treasury services, internet banking, wealth management and fiduciary services. In 2021, the Channel Islands entered the local mortgage market offering various products to local residents. The UK jurisdiction provides mortgage services for high-value residential properties. We also have operations in the jurisdictions of The Bahamas, Canada, Mauritius, Singapore and Switzerland, which we include in our Other segment.

For the year ended December 31, 2020,2021, we generated $494.2$499.7 million in net revenue after provision for credit losses and other gains/losses ("net revenue"). Our total net revenue, before inter-segment eliminations, by each of our three geographic segments and our non-reportable "Other" segment for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 2019 and 20182019 are as follows:

In our Bermuda and Cayman Islands segments, our bank provides a full range of retail and corporate banking services to individuals, local businesses, captive insurers, reinsurance companies, trust companies, and hedge funds. The key products we offer include personal and business deposit services, residential and commercial mortgages, small and medium-sized enterprise and corporate loans, credit and debit cards, merchant acquiring, mobile and internet banking, and cash management.

In all of our segments, we offer wealth management to high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices, and institutional and corporate clients. Our wealth management platform has three lines of business: trust, private banking, and asset management.

The trust business line, which utilizes specialists in each of our geographic areas, responds to client needs in estate and succession planning, administration of complex asset holdings, and efficient coordination of family affairs. In addition, the business provides pension and employee benefits services for multinational corporations, as well as services that involve administration of and fiduciary responsibility for customized trust structures holding a wide range of asset types including financial assets, property, business assets and art.

Our private banking business line offers access to a suite of services, targeted toward high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, trusts, and family offices, that can be customized to each client's needs and preferences and delivered as part of a coordinated strategy by a dedicated private banker. We provide clients in our Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and Channel Islands and the UK segments with an integrated model that combines traditional wealth management with banking, lending, cash management, foreign exchange services, custody and access to asset management and trust professionals within Butterfield. We also provide our clients with access to their account information through the use of internet and mobile banking.

The charts below provide the geographic distribution of our Net Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020.2021.

The Bermuda and Cayman Islands banking markets have historically been characterized by a limited number of participants and significant barriers to entry. In addition, these markets provide us with access to several attractive customer bases: in retail banking, we serve local residents and businesses; in corporate banking, we serve captive insurers, hedge funds, middle-market reinsurers, and other corporates; and in wealth management, we serve private trust clients and high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals and families.

The international trust market is primarily concentrated in select jurisdictions, including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Switzerland. The leading international trust law firms serve as key introducers of clients to Butterfield and are the primary source of new business. Trust clients often hold assets that are international in nature, and as a result, performance of trust businesses is not generally linkedexpected to have limited correlation with the performance of the domestic economies where clients are served.

The private banking market in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Guernsey is composed largely of resident high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals meeting minimum deposit and/or loan thresholds. Clients are introduced to the private bank through Butterfield's retail banking operation upon reaching the appropriate deposit or loan threshold, Butterfield's trust and asset management arms, as well as through external introducers. Although locally based, private banking clients often hold international assets, and as a result, business performance is not necessarily correlated to the domestic economies where clients are served.

Our asset management business line operates in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Guernsey. As at December 31, 2020, 71%2021, 69% of our AUM was in Bermuda, 14%16% was in the Cayman Islands, and 14%15% was in Guernsey. In Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, a majority of our institutional and private clients are domestic from a domicile perspective while a majority of our clients in Guernsey are tied to our trust business and are international in nature.

The following chart presents our corporate structure, indicating our principal regulated subsidiaries as at December 31, 2020.2021. All of the subsidiaries listed below are wholly owned by the Bank.

The Bank itself is licensed in Bermuda to provide banking services and wealth managementcustody services. Through Butterfield Asset Management Limited and Butterfield Securities (Bermuda) Limited, it is licensed and provides investment services and, through Butterfield Trust (Bermuda) Limited and Bermuda Trust Company Limited, it is licensed and provides corporate trustee, fiduciary and corporate administration services. Butterfield Securities (Bermuda) Limited also provides investment advisory and listing sponsor services.

Butterfield Trust (Bahamas) Limited provides trust and fiduciary services.

Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Limited provides banking services and Butterfield Trust (Cayman) Limited provides trustee, fiduciary and corporate administration services.

Butterfield Bank (Guernsey) Limited provides private banking, intermediarycorporate banking, custody services and custody services.mortgage lending. Butterfield Trust (Guernsey) Limited provides trustee and fiduciary services.

Butterfield Mortgages Limited provides residential property lending services.

Butterfield Holdings (Switzerland) Limited provides investment services and Butterfield Trust (Switzerland) Limited provides trust and fiduciary services.

Butterfield Bank (Jersey) Limited provides deposit-taking, mortgage services, investment business and custody services.

Butterfield Trust (Asia) Limited provides trust and fiduciary services.

The financial services industry and each of the markets in which we operate are competitive. We face strong competition in gathering deposits, making loans and obtaining client assets for management. We compete, both domestically and internationally, with globally oriented asset managers, retail and commercial banks, investment banking firms, brokerage firms and other investment service firms. Due to the trend toward consolidation in the global financial services industry, our larger competitors tend to have broader ranges of product and service offerings, greater access to capital, and greater efficiency. Larger financial institutions may also have greater ability to leverage increasing regulatory requirements and investment in expensive technology platforms. We also face competition from non-banking financial institutions. These institutions have the ability to offer services previously limited to commercial banks. In addition, non-banking financial institutions are not subject to the same regulatory restrictions as banks, and can often operate with greater flexibility and lower cost structures.

In our wealth management business line, we face competition from local competitors, as well as much larger financial institutions, including financial institutions that are not based in the markets in which we operate. Revenues from the trust and wealth management business depend in large part on the level of assets under management, and larger international banks may have higher levels of assets under management.

In our trust business line, we face competition primarily from other specialized trust service providers. There are many trust companies in the main international financial centers, and many of our competitors in this sector offer fund administration and corporate services alongside private client fiduciary services.

Competition for deposits is also affected by the ease with which customers can transfer deposits from one institution to another. Our cost of funds fluctuates with market interest rates and may be affected by higher rates being offered by other financial institutions. Our management believesWe believe that our most direct competition for deposits comes from international and domestic financial services firms that target the same customers as the Bank.

Our deposits are generated principally by our banking business line, which offers retail and corporate checking, savings, and term deposits through our segments in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the Channel Islands. In addition, wealth management, through its private banking business line, also provides deposit services to high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients in those same geographic segments. As at December 31, 2020,2021, our Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Channel Islands and the UK segments contributed $4.8$4.5 billion, $4.1$4.6 billion and $4.3$4.7 billion, respectively, to our total deposit base.

Total deposits as at December 31, 20202021 were $13.3$13.9 billion, up 6.5%4.7% over total deposits as at December 31, 2019.2020. Demand deposits, which include checking, savings and call accounts, totaled $10.6$10.9 billion, or 79.9%78.8% of our total deposits, as at December 31, 2020,2021, compared to $9.4$10.6 billion, or 75.5%79.9%, as at December 31, 2019.2020. Term deposits totaled $2.6$2.9 billion as at December 31, 2020.2021. The cost of funds on total deposits decreased from 47 basis points in 2019 to 21 basis points in 2020.2020 to 11 basis points in 2021. The increase in deposit balances was driven by bothretail and corporate and retail depositorsdeposit increases in BermudaCayman and the CaymanChannel Islands, the latter driven by the retail loan deferral programs in these segments, and partially offset by expected runoffcorporate deposit decreases in the Channel Islands as the deposit book was repriced.Bermuda. Cost of funds decreased primarily due to both lower term deposit volumes and costs and the impactactive repricing of the aforementioned active deposit repricing in the Channel Islands.deposits.

We offer a broad set of lending products and services including residential mortgage lending, automobile lending, credit cards, consumer financing, and overdraft facilities to our retail customers, and commercial real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, and overdraft facilities to our commercial and corporate customers. These offerings are provided to our retail, commercial, and private banking clients in our key jurisdictions of Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. We also offer residential mortgage lending through our private banking business in Guernsey and to our high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients in the UK. Our loan portfolio, net of allowance for credit losses, stood at $5.2 billion as at December 31, 2021 compared to $5.2 billion as at December 31, 2020. The loan portfolio represented 35.0%34.2% of total assets as at December 31, 2020,2021, and loans, net of allowance for credit losses, as a percentage of total deposits were 38.9%37.8%. The effective yield on total loans for the year ended December 31, 20202021 was 4.54%4.26%, compared to 5.36%4.54% for the year ended December 31, 2019.2020.

The residential mortgage portfolio comprises mortgages to clients with whom we are seeking to establish (or already have) a comprehensive financial services relationship. It includes mortgages to individuals and corporate loans secured by way of first ranking charges over the residential property to which each specific loan relates, generally on terms which allow for the repossession and sale of the property if the borrower fails to comply with the terms of the loan. As at December 31, 2020,2021, residential mortgages totaled $3.4$3.6 billion, accounting for approximately 65.5%68.8% of the Group's total gross loan portfolio and approximately 64.5%with $36.6 million of residential mortgage non-accrual loans representing 59.9% of total non-accrual loans in the Group's loan portfolio.

We provide loans, as part of our normal banking business, in respect of automobile financing, consumer financing, credit cards and overdraft facilities to retail and private banking clients in the jurisdictions in which we operate. As at December 31, 2020,2021, non-residential loans to consumers totaled $230.8$214.8 million, accounting for approximately 4.4%4.1% of the Group's total gross loan portfolio and approximately 1.6%1.9% of total non-accrual loans in the Group's loan portfolio.

Commercial real estate loans are offered to real estate investors, developers and builders domiciled primarily in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and the UK. To manage the Group's credit exposure on such loans, the principal collateral is real estate held for commercial purposes and is supported by a registered mortgage. Cash flows from the properties, primarily from rental income, are generally supported by long-term leases.

As at December 31, 2020,2021, our commercial real estate loan portfolio totaled $760.2$693.2 million, accounting for approximately 14.6%13.2% of the Group's total gross loan portfolio and approximately 8.7%with $4.7 million of commercial real estate non-accrual loans representing 7.8% of total non-accrual loans in the Group's loan portfolio.

Our commercial real estate loan portfolio is broken down into two categories: commercial mortgage and construction. As at December 31, 2020,2021, commercial mortgages totaled $715.3$683.5 million, and construction loans totaled $44.8$9.6 million, accounting for approximately 94.1%98.6% and 5.9%1.4% of our commercial real estate loan portfolio, respectively.

The commercial and industrial loan portfolio includes loans and overdraft facilities advanced primarily to corporations and small and medium-sized entities, which are generally not collateralized by real estate and where loan repayments are expected to flow from the operation of the underlying businesses. As at December 31, 2020,2021, the Group's commercial loan portfolio, excluding loans to governments, totaled $520.2$478.4 million, accounting for approximately 10.0%9.1% of the Group's total gross loan portfolio and the Group's loans to governments totaled $279.4$259.6 million, accounting for approximately 5.4% of our loan portfolio. As at December 31, 2020, other commercial loans accounted for approximately 25.1%4.9% of our total gross loan portfolio. There was $18.6 million of other commercial non-accrual loans.loans representing approximately 30.4% of total non-accrual loans in the loan portfolio.

Given the large customer deposit base commanded in our Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Channel Islands operations, and the relatively low volume of lending demand from our customer base, our investment strategy is more important than may be the case for most financial institutions. In recognition of this, we maintain what we believe to be a conservative approach to investments, requiring the purchase of mainly fixed-rate investments in order to manage interest rate risk. Our investment portfolio comprises mainly securities issued or guaranteed by the US government or federal agencies. The securities in which we invest are limited generally to securities that are considered investment grade (i.e., "BBB" and higher by S&P's Financial Services LLC or an equivalent credit rating). Effective April 1, 2013, we entered into an agreement with Alumina pursuant to which Alumina provides investment advisory services to us in respect of our US Treasury and agency portfolio.

As at December 31, 2020,2021, the Group held $4.9$6.2 billion in investments, representing approximately 33.0%40.7% of total assets.

We operate across multiple currency jurisdictions with multi-currency products. In our deposit taking jurisdictions—Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey—there are currently no dedicated central banks, and no pre-funded deposit insurance scheme infrastructures (such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the United States), with the exception of Bermuda, where a pre-funded deposit insurance scheme has been implemented, and as described below in “- Supervision and Regulation” and “Risk Factors - Risks Relating to the Markets in Which We Operate - Certain jurisdictions in which we operate, including Bermuda, Guernsey and Jersey, have a Deposit Insurance Scheme or Deposit Compensation Scheme and we incur ongoing costs as a result”. In addition, we do not have access to borrowing or deposit facilities with the US Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank; therefore, we conservatively manage client deposit balances and the liquidity risk profile of our balance sheets. This involves the retention of significant cash or cash equivalent balances, management of intra-bank counterparty exposure and management of a significant short-dated Canadian, UK and US Treasury Bill portfolio. As at December 31, 2020,2021, the cash due from banks of $3.3$2.2 billion was composed primarily of $2.7$1.6 billion in interest earning cash equivalents, which are investments with a less than 90-day duration. The remaining amounts were comprised of non-interest earningbearing and interest earningbearing deposits of $0.1 billion and $0.4 billion, respectively.

We provide foreign exchange services in the normal course of business in all banking jurisdictions. The major contributors to foreign exchange revenues are Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, accounting for 79%78% of our foreign exchange revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020.2021. We do not maintain a proprietary trading book. Foreign exchange commission income is generated from client-driven transactions and totaled $37.2$43.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2020.2021.

Through our wholly-owned trust subsidiaries, we provide custody administration and settlement services to a wide range of internal and external investment clients dealing in global markets. Our custody service currently offers custody settlement and safekeeping services in 39 markets globally, including major markets and smaller, less-developed markets, with principal markets covered being the United States, Canada, Europe and the Far East.Asia.

Our custody service offers safekeeping services for physical and book-entry assets. Custody for listed securities is conducted through Bank of New York Mellon.BNYM. Hedge funds, mutual funds and exchange traded funds are held by Brown Brothers Harriman. Trading in investment transactions is settled via our global sub-custodians, BNYM and BBH. Custody services are offered from our Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Channel Islands segments and complement core wealth management services offered by other parts of the Group, and we currently anticipate this business to grow generally proportionallyin line with our wealth management business. Clients of our custody service include a wide range of investment funds and other investment vehicles, corporations and trusts whose related banking requirements are provided by the Bank. As such, the custody client base, in addition to delivering a fee based income, also provides cash balances and foreign exchange transaction flows.

We devote significant resources to maintaining stable, reliable, efficient and scalable information technology systems. We work with our third-party vendors to monitor and maximize the efficiency of our use of their applications. We use integrated systems to originate and process loans and deposit accounts, which reduces processing time,

improves customer experience and reduces costs. Most customer records are maintained digitally. We are also currently executing several initiatives to enhance our online and mobile banking services to further improve the overall client experience.

Currently, our information technology is operationally divided into two platforms: (i) Bermuda and Cayman and (ii) Channel Islands and the UK and Group Trust. In our Bermuda and Cayman operations, we operate on a single industry standard banking technology platform utilizing a predominantly outsourced and supported model hosted across paired data centers in Canada. In our Channel Islands and UK and Group Trust operations, we hub core services in a single location, Guernsey.and applications are hosted across both Guernsey and Jersey data centers.

Protecting our systems to ensure the safety of our customers' information is critical to our business. We use multiple layers of protection to control access and reduce risk, including conducting penetrationaccess testing and regular vulnerability scanning on our platforms, systems and applications to reduce the risk that any attacks are successful. To protect against disasters, we have a backup offsite core processing systemBusiness Continuity Management framework and recoveryIT Disaster Recovery plans. For more information, see Item 3.D. "Risk Factors - Risks Relating to Risk Oversight and Internal Controls".

Through our Marketing & Communications department, we engage select advertising, branding and promotional companies on an as-needed basis and provide business development and sales support for businesses in all jurisdictions. In support of our banking businesses, we broadly market our products and services through print, broadcast, web and social media advertising in the major markets in which we operate. Trust and fiduciary services are marketed primarily to intermediaries through representative attendance at and sponsorship of industry conferences and through print advertising in international trade journals.

In the highly competitive banking industry in which we operate, intellectual property is important to the success of our business. We own a variety of trademarks, service marks, trade names and logos and spend time and resources maintaining this intellectual property portfolio. We control access to our intellectual property through license agreements, confidentiality procedures, non-disclosure agreements with third parties, employment agreements and other contractual rights to protect our intellectual property. For more information, see Item 3.D.     "Risk Factors - Risks Relating to Our Strategy, Brand, Portfolio and Other Aspects of Our Business".

The Bank is subject to regulation and supervision by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (the "BMA") under:

The Bank is also subject to regulation by the Minister of Finance in Bermuda under the Companies Act 1981, the Banking (Special Resolution Regime) Act 2016 and the Economic Substance Act 2018.2018 and regulations promulgated thereunder (including applicable guidance notes published by the Registrar of Companies from time to time). It is also subject to the Deposit Insurance Act 2011 and the Deposit Insurance Rules 2016.

Supervision and Monitoring by the BMA

Our activities are regulated by the BMA and our ability to engage in certain activities is subject to prior approval by the BMA. One of the principal objectives of the BMA is to supervise, regulate and inspect financial institutions which operate in or from within Bermuda and further to promote the financial stability and soundness of such financial institutions. The supervision is primarily for the benefit and protection of the Bank's clients and not for the benefit of our investors. The BMA is also responsible for managing and regulating transactions in foreign currency or gold.

In addition to conducting on-site reviews, the BMA utilizes a comprehensive quarterly statistical return system that enables off-site monitoring of institutions licensed under the BDCA. The statistical system, which follows the standards imposed on banks in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority and is consistent with Basel Committee Standards, provides the BMA with a detailed breakdown of the Bank's balance sheet and profit-and-loss accounts on both a consolidated and unconsolidated basis. This information enables the BMA to monitor the soundness of the Bank's financial position and ensure that it meets certain capital requirements.

As the Bank's supervisory authority in Bermuda, the BMA is responsible for the consolidated supervision of our worldwide operations. There are also host regulatory bodies performing a similar function to that of the BMA in all major locations in which the Bank operates regulated activities. Many of these local authorities require detailed reporting on the activities of the Bank's subsidiaries located in their jurisdictions. As part of its oversight process, the BMA receives copies of each of these reports on a regular basis and liaises with the regulatory authorities in the respective locations.

From time to time, in the ordinary course of business, the Bank enters into agreements with the BMA under which the Bank agrees to achieve or maintain certain levels of capital and to obtain the BMA's prior approval to take certain corporate actions. Certain actions that may not be taken without prior BMA approval include: (1) creating or increasing the authorized amount of, or issuing any class of shares; (2) repurchasing any class of shares; and (3) entering into a material acquisition.

Under the market disclosure requirements (referred to as Pillar III disclosures) applicable under the Basel III Accord ("Basel III"), the Bank is required to publish information about the risks to which it is exposed. Effective as of January 1, 2015, the BMA adopted capital and liquidity regulatory requirements consistent with Basel III, a framework released by the BCBS. Basel III aims to raise the quality, consistency and transparency of the capital base, limit the build-up of excess leverage and increase capital requirements for the banking sector. Basel III adopts CET1 capital as the predominant form of regulatory capital with the CET1 ratio as a new metric. Basel III also adopts the new Leverage Ratio, LCR and NSFR regimes.

The Basel III regulatory framework adopts a phased implementation approach for Bermuda banks with full implementation onfrom January 1, 2019, consistent with BCBS recommendations. As of January 1, 2019, theThe Bank is subject to the following requirements:

The minimum capital ratio requirements set forth above do not reflect additional Pillar II add-on requirements that the BMA may impose upon the Group as a prudential measure from time to time. As the Group's capital requirements remain under continuous review by the BMA pursuant to its prudential supervision, the Group cannot guarantee that the BMA will not seek higher total capital ratio requirements from time to time.

Effective February 29, 2020, the Bermuda Banking Code of Ethical Conduct was promulgated. This is a voluntary code that the Bank subscribes to. It sets out a number of guiding principles and commitments in the Bermuda banking industry for customers. The code complements the Bermuda Banks and Deposit Companies Act 1999BDCA in promoting best practice and encouraging higher standards for the benefit of customers through competition and market forces.

Bermuda Monetary Authority Act 1969

Banks and Deposit Companies Act 1999

In addition, the BMA has the power to do any or all of the following:

The Bank is required to report certain transactions to the BMA. These include any transaction or transactions relating to any one person as a result of which the Bank would be exposed to a risk of incurring losses in excess of 10% of the Bank's available capital resources, or where the Bank proposes to enter into a transaction or transactions relating to any one person, which, either alone or together with previous transactions entered into by the Bank in relation to the same person, would result in the Bank being