Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated historical financial statements and notes appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Quarterly Report”) and the financial information set forth in the tables herein.
Unless the context otherwise indicates, all references in this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, or MD&A, to the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” or “ours” or similar words are to Hilltop Holdings Inc. and its direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries, references to “Hilltop” refer solely to Hilltop Holdings Inc., references to “PCC” refer to PlainsCapital Corporation (a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilltop), references to “Securities Holdings” refer to Hilltop Securities Holdings LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilltop), references to “Hilltop Securities” refer to Hilltop Securities Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Securities Holdings), references to “Momentum Independent Network” refer to Momentum Independent Network Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Securities Holdings), Hilltop Securities and Momentum Independent Network are collectively referred to as the “Hilltop Broker-Dealers”, references to the “Bank” refer to PlainsCapital Bank (a wholly owned subsidiary of PCC), references to “FNB” refer to First National Bank, references to “SWS” refer to the former SWS Group, Inc., references to “PrimeLending” refer to PrimeLending, a PlainsCapital Company (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank) and its subsidiaries as a whole, references to “NLC” refer to National Lloyds Corporation (formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilltop) and its wholly owned subsidiaries.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Quarterly Report includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this Quarterly Report that address results or developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future, and statements that are preceded by, followed by or include, words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “goal,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “probable,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “target,” “view” or “would” or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases, including such things as our business strategy, our financial condition, our revenue, our liquidity and sources of funding, market trends, operations and business, taxes, the impact of natural disasters or public health emergencies, such as the current global outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”), information technology expenses, capital levels, mortgage servicing rights (“MSR”) assets, stock repurchases, dividend payments, expectations concerning mortgage loan origination volume, servicer advances and interest rate compression, expected levels of refinancing as a percentage of total loan origination volume, projected losses on mortgage loans originated, total expenses, the effects of government regulation applicable to our operations, the appropriateness of, and changes in, our allowance for credit losses and provision for (reversal of) credit losses, expected future benchmark rates, anticipated investment yields, our expectations regarding accretion of discount on loans in future periods, the collectability of loans, cybersecurity incidents, the redemption of junior subordinated debentures and the outcome of litigation are forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future performance taking into account all information currently available to us. These beliefs, assumptions and expectations are subject to risks and uncertainties and can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to us. If an event occurs, our business, business plan, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ include, among others:
| ● | the COVID-19 pandemic and the response of governmental authorities to the pandemic, which have had, and may continue to have an adverse impact on the global economy and our business operations and performance; |
| ● | the credit risks of lending activities, including our ability to estimate credit losses and the allowance for credit losses, as well as the effects of changes in the level of, and trends in, loan delinquencies and write-offs; |
| ● | effectiveness of our data security controls in the face of cyber attacks; |
| ● | changes in general economic, market and business conditions in areas or markets where we compete, including changes in the price of crude oil; |