SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
We are including the following discussion to inform our existing and potential security holders generally of some of the risks and uncertainties that can affect the Company and to take advantage of the “safe harbor” protection for forward-looking statements afforded by applicable federal securities laws.
All statements other than statements of historical fact included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, any prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectus authorized for use in connection with a particular offering, including any regarding our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future operations or performance, business strategy, and industry trends, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by terms or phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will” or other words and similar expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Items contemplating or making assumptions about actual or potential future income, market size, collaborations, and trends or operating results also constitute such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and important factors (many of which are beyond our control) that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause our financial performance to differ materially from that expressed in such forward-looking statements:
•
the use of proceeds from any sale of securities by us;
•
general economic conditions, whether national or regional, and conditions in the lending markets in which we participate that may have an adverse effect on the demand for our loans and other products;
•
our credit quality and related levels of nonperforming assets and loan losses, and the value and salability of the real estate that we own or that is the collateral for our loans;
•
failures or breaches of or interruptions in the communication and information systems on which we rely to conduct our business that could reduce our revenues, increase our costs or lead to disruptions in our business;
•
our dependence on capital distributions from the Bank;
•
results of examinations of us by our regulators, including the possibility that our regulators may, among other things, require us to increase our allowance for loan losses or to write-down assets;
•
changing bank regulatory conditions, policies or programs, whether arising as new legislation or regulatory initiatives, that could lead to restrictions on activities of banks generally, or the Bank in particular;
•
more restrictive regulatory capital requirements and increased costs, including deposit insurance premiums;
•
regulation or prohibition of certain income producing activities or changes in the secondary market for loans and other products;
•
changes in the interest rate environment and market prices, including interest rate changes made by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”), the discontinuation of LIBOR as an interest rate benchmark, as well as cash flow reassessments may reduce net interest margin and/or the volumes and values of loans and deposits as well as the value of other financial assets and liabilities;
•
our liquidity requirements being adversely affected by changes in our assets and liabilities;
•
the effect of legislative or regulatory developments, including changes in laws concerning taxes, banking, securities, insurance and other aspects of the financial services industry;
•
competitive factors among financial services organizations, including product and pricing pressures and our ability to attract, develop and retain qualified banking professionals;