As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 1, 2021.
Registration No. 333-257929
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
AMENDMENT NO. 3
to
FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
FINWISE BANCORP
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Utah | | | 6022 | | | 83-0356689 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | | (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) | | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
756 East Winchester
Suite 100
Murray, UT 84107
(801) 501-7200
(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal
Executive Offices)
Kent Landvatter
President and Chief Executive Officer
FinWise Bancorp
756 East Winchester
Suite 100
Murray, UT 84107
(801) 501-7200
(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent For Service)
Copies to:
Peter G. Smith, Esq. Terrence Shen, Esq. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP 1177 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 (212) 715-9100 | | | Beth A. Whitaker, Esq. Heather Archer Eastep, Esq. Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 3700 Dallas, TX 75202 (214) 979-3000 |
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. ☐
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer | | | ☐ | | | Accelerated filer | | | ☐ |
Non-accelerated filer | | | ☒ | | | Smaller reporting company | | | ☒ |
| | | | | Emerging growth company | | | ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file an amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until this Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
Subject to Completion, dated November 1, 2021PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
Shares
Common Stock
This prospectus relates to the initial public offering of FinWise Bancorp. We are offering shares of our common stock.
Prior to this offering, there has been no established public market for our common stock. We currently estimate that the initial public offering price of our common stock will be between $ and $ per share. We have been approved to list our common stock on NASDAQ under the symbol “FINW.”
We are an “emerging growth company” as defined under the federal securities laws, and may take advantage of reduced public company reporting and relief from certain other requirements otherwise generally applicable to public companies. See “Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company.”
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 26.
| | | Per Share | | | Total | |
Initial public offering price | | | $ | | | $ |
Underwriting discount(1) | | | $ | | | $ |
Proceeds to us (before expenses) | | | $ | | | $ |
| (1) | The underwriters will also be reimbursed for certain expenses incurred in this offering. See “Underwriting” for additional information. |
We have granted the underwriters an option exercisable for 30 days after the date of this prospectus to purchase, from time to time, in whole or in part, up to an additional shares of common stock from us on the same terms set forth above.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other state securities commission nor any other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
The shares of our common stock that you purchase in this offering are not deposits, savings accounts or other obligations of our bank or nonbank subsidiaries and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.
The underwriters expect to deliver shares of common stock to purchasers on or about , 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.
Joint Book-Running Managers
 | | |  |
Prospectus dated , 2021
ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS
In this prospectus, unless we state otherwise or the context otherwise requires, references to “we,” “our,” “us,” “the Company” and “FinWise Bancorp” refer to FinWise Bancorp and its wholly owned subsidiary, FinWise Bank, which we sometimes refer to as “FinWise Bank,” “FinWise,” “the Bank” or “our Bank,” and references to “common stock” refer to our voting common stock.
This prospectus describes the specific details regarding this offering and the terms and conditions of our common stock being offered hereby and the risks of investing in our common stock. For additional information, please see the section entitled “Where You Can Find More Information.”
Unless otherwise stated, all information in this prospectus gives effect to a six-for-one stock split of our common stock completed effective July 26, 2021. The effect of the stock split on outstanding shares and per share figures has been retroactively applied to all periods presented in this prospectus.
Unless otherwise stated or the context requires, all information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters have not exercised their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock.
Unless otherwise stated or the context requires, all amounts in this prospectus expressed as percentages for quarterly periods are calculated on an annualized basis.
The information contained in this prospectus, or any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you, is accurate only as of its date, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any sale of our common stock. Our assets, business, cash flows, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects or results of operations may have changed since that date.
You should not interpret the contents of this prospectus, or any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you, to be legal, business, investment or tax advice. You should consult with your own advisors for that type of advice and consult with them about the legal, tax, business, financial and other issues that you should consider before investing in our common stock.
You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus that we authorize to be delivered to you.
We and the underwriters have not authorized anyone to provide any information to you other than that contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. We and the underwriters take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you.
No action is being taken in any jurisdiction outside the United States to permit a public offering of our securities or possession or distribution of this prospectus in that jurisdiction. Persons who come into possession of this prospectus in jurisdictions outside the United States are required to inform themselves about, and to observe, any restrictions as to the offering and the distribution of this prospectus applicable to those jurisdictions. We and the underwriters are not making an offer of these securities in any jurisdiction where such offer is not permitted.
“FinWise” and its logos and other trademarks referred to and included in this prospectus belong to us. Solely for convenience, we refer to our trademarks in this prospectus without the ® or the ™ or symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate that we will not fully assert under applicable law our trademark rights. Other service marks, trademarks and trade names referred to in this prospectus, if any, are the property of their respective owners, although for presentational convenience we may not use the ® or the ™ symbols to identify such trademarks.
Market and Industry Data
This prospectus includes government, industry and trade association data, forecasts and information that we have prepared based, in part, upon data, forecasts and information obtained from independent trade associations, industry publications and surveys, government agencies and other information available to us, which information may be specific to particular markets or geographic locations. Statements as to our market position are based on market data currently available to us. Industry publications and surveys and forecasts generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Our estimation of the total available market for our nationwide strategic relationship program (“Strategic Program”) business line is based on industry data for unsecured personal loans. We believe the total available market may be larger than as indicated in this prospectus as the Bank offers Strategic Programs specific to point of sale lending and commercial lending which may not be
accounted for in our estimates. Although we believe these sources are reliable, we have not independently verified the information obtained from these sources. Some data is also based on our good faith estimates, which are derived from management’s knowledge of the industry and independent sources. We believe our internal research is reliable, even though such research has not been verified by any independent sources. While we are not aware of any misstatements regarding the industry data presented herein, our estimates involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in this prospectus. Forward-looking information obtained from these sources is subject to the same qualifications and the additional uncertainties regarding the other forward-looking statements in this prospectus.
Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company
As a company with less than $1.07 billion in total annual gross revenue during our last fiscal year, we qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. An emerging growth company may take advantage of reduced reporting requirements and is relieved of certain other significant requirements that are otherwise generally applicable to public companies. For as long as we are an emerging growth company, we are:
| • | permitted to present only two years of audited financial statements, in addition to any required interim financial statements, and only two years of related discussion in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations;” |
| • | exempt from the requirement to obtain an attestation from our auditors on management’s assessment of our internal control over financial reporting under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; |
| • | permitted to choose not to comply with any new requirements adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, requiring mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and our audited financial statements; |
| • | permitted to provide less extensive disclosure about our executive compensation arrangements; and |
| • | not required to hold non-binding shareholder advisory votes on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements. |
We may take advantage of some or all of these provisions for up to five years or such earlier time as we cease to qualify as an emerging growth company, which will occur if (i) we have total annual gross revenues of $1.07 billion or more (as that amount may be periodically adjusted by the SEC), (ii) we issue more than $1.0 billion of non-convertible debt in a three-year period, or (iii) we become a “large accelerated filer” under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, including the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of any June 30, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We have taken advantage of certain reduced reporting obligations in this prospectus. In addition, we expect to take advantage of certain of the reduced reporting and other requirements of the JOBS Act with respect to the periodic reports we will file with the SEC and proxy statements that we use to solicit proxies from our shareholders. Accordingly, the information contained herein or provided in the future may be different than the information you receive from other public companies in which you hold stock.
In addition to reduced disclosure and the other relief described above, the JOBS Act provides emerging growth companies with an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards affecting public companies. We have elected to take advantage of this extended transition period.
This summary highlights selected information contained elsewhere in this prospectus. You should read the entire prospectus carefully before making an investment decision, including the information under the headings “Risk Factors,” “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business” and the historical consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.
Who We Are
Overview
We are FinWise Bancorp, a Utah bank holding company headquartered in Murray, Utah. We operate through our wholly-owned subsidiary, FinWise Bank, a Utah state-chartered non-member bank. We make loans to and take deposits from consumers and small businesses across the United States of America (“USA”). We believe four of our distinguishing characteristics are:
| • | our strategic relationships with third party loan origination platforms, many of whom use technology to facilitate loan origination, that allow us to capture a high volume of diverse loan origination and loan performance data from the billions of dollars of loans that we have originated, sold or held in four main lending areas; |
| • | our FinView™ Analytics Platform (“FinView™”), including our enterprise data warehouse, which is a proprietary technology developed by us to enhance our ability to gather and interpret performance data for the loans originated by us and to help us identify attractive risk-adjusted market sectors; |
| • | our core deposits which, as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, constituted 79.3% and 91.5% of our funding sources, respectively (excluding the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (the “PPPLF”)), and have been highly reliable and relatively low cost (our core deposits comprise the sum of demand deposits, negotiable order of withdrawal (“NOW”) accounts, money market deposit accounts (“MMDA”), savings accounts, and time deposits under $250,000 that are not brokered deposits); and |
| • | our seasoned management team, which has considerable banking experience, particularly in our core lines of business. |
Combined, we believe these attributes enable us to effectively manage our risk and achieve superior rates of growth and profitability compared to other banks, as reflected in S&P Global Market Intelligence rankings of banks and thrifts. For each of the past five years, FinWise Bank has been recognized as a Top Performing Bank by S&P Global Market Intelligence and in 2020, FinWise Bank ranked as the second-best performing bank and thrift in the USA with up to $3 billion in assets. The 2020 ranking was based on a scoring system comprised of six key ratios encompassing profitability, revenue growth, capitalization and credit quality. The following table illustrates FinWise Bank’s rank and percentile rank as compared to other banks and thrifts less than $1 billion or $3 billion in size as of December 31 for each of the years presented:
Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence
We are able to generate significant interest and non-interest income from the billions of dollars of loans that we annually originate, sell or hold in four main lending areas: (i) nationwide strategic relationship programs (“Strategic Programs”), (ii) multi-state Small Business Administration (“SBA”) 7(a) lending program,
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(iii) residential and commercial real estate lending in and around the Salt Lake City, Utah metropolitan statistical area (“MSA”), and (iv) multi-state consumer lending primarily through our point-of-sale (“POS”) lending program. Except in the case of our recent funding of Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans, we have principally relied on core deposits, including deposits from other financial institutions (“Institutional Deposits”), to fund our lending activities but also have used brokered deposits and borrowings when we deem appropriate. In 2020, as a result of high volumes of PPP lending, we accessed the PPPLF as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act of 2020. See “SBA 7(a) Lending” below.
As of December 31, 2020, on a consolidated basis, we had total assets of $317.5 million, total loans of $261.8 million including $107.1 million in PPP loans, total deposits of $164.5 million, and total shareholders’ equity of $45.9 million. As of September 30, 2021, on a consolidated basis, we had total assets of $338.3 million, total loans of $249.2 million including $2.3 million in PPP loans, total deposits of $253.0 million, and total shareholders’ equity of $69.1 million. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we originated $2.6 billion in total loans, had net income of $11.2 million and a 28.4% return on average equity. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we originated $4.3 billion in total loans, had net income of $21.5 million and a 49.8% return on average equity. The chart below depicts our growth in total assets from December 31, 2010 through September 30, 2021, and net income (loss) and profitability metrics (ROAA and ROAE) for each of the years ended December 31, 2010 through December 31, 2020, and the nine months ended September 30, 2021:
Note: Total assets as of December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2021 includes approximately $107.1 million and $2.3 million in PPP loans, respectively. The proportion of PPP loans to total assets as of December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2021 is illustrated in the chart above in orange.
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Note: We calculate our average assets and average equity for a year by dividing (a) the sum of our total asset balance or total shareholder’s equity balance, as the case may be, as of the close of business (i) at the beginning of the relevant year and (ii) at the ending of the relevant year, by (b) two. We calculate our average assets and average equity for a given reporting period representing a less than annual period by dividing (a) the sum of our total asset balance or total shareholder’s equity balance, as the case may be, as of the close of business (i) at the beginning of the relevant reporting period, and (ii) at the ending of the relevant reporting period, by (b) two.
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Our History
Founded in 1999, FinWise Bank (formerly known as Utah Community Bank) operated as a local community bank focusing on real estate lending in and around the Salt Lake City, Utah MSA. The Company was formed in 2002 and acquired 100% of the stock of Utah Community Bank.
During the Great Recession, the Bank experienced considerable asset quality issues and entered into a Cease and Desist Order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) in 2009. In 2010, the Bank began a search for new leadership and approached Mr. Kent Landvatter about becoming Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Landvatter believed that he could resolve the Bank’s financial and regulatory issues and that its relatively small balance sheet ($32.4 million in assets as of December 31, 2010), single branch location and limited legacy technology infrastructure provided flexibility that made the Bank an appealing launching point for his strategic plan. In September 2010, Mr. Landvatter, a 30-year veteran of banking at the time, with experience serving as the president of Comenity Capital Bank and Goldman Sachs Bank, USA, joined the Company and the Bank as President and Chief Executive Officer. Upon joining the Company, Mr. Landvatter developed a plan to promptly resolve the Cease and Desist Order in 2011 and then began to execute on a data and technology-driven banking strategy informed by his experience in and around similar banking businesses. The timeline below sets forth key milestones in the deployment of our strategic plan along with related results since 2010.
In August 2011, the FDIC Cease and Desist Order was removed and we launched our POS lending program.
In 2014, we launched our SBA 7(a) lending program, and began receiving loan referrals from Business Funding Group, LLC (“BFG”). BFG is a nationally significant referral source of SBA loans and the Bank’s primary SBA referral source.
In 2015, Mr. Javvis Jacobson joined the Company and the Bank as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer to lead our financial and day-to-day operational matters.
In 2016, Mr. David Tilis, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, joined the Bank’s management team to lead the launch of our Strategic Programs. We also launched the development of FinView™ that year.
In 2018, we opened a loan production office in Rockville Centre, New York primarily to support our Strategic Programs and SBA lending program. Mr. James Noone also joined the Bank in 2018 as Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer. Mr. Noone implemented comprehensive processes leading to a significant expansion of our SBA lending program. Also in 2018, in part based on analytics generated by FinView™, we began retaining selected Strategic Program loans.
In 2019, to further solidify our mutually beneficial relationship, the Company issued additional shares of its common stock, representing 10.9% of the Company’s outstanding common stock at the time of purchase, to certain members of BFG in exchange for a 10.0% membership interest in BFG. The BFG ownership interest that we acquired through this transaction is comprised of Class A Voting Units representing approximately 5.0% of both the voting membership interests and the aggregate membership interests of BFG and Class B Non-Voting Units representing approximately 5.0% of the aggregate membership interests of BFG.
In 2020, the Company issued 270,000 warrants to purchase shares of our common stock to certain members of BFG in exchange for a right of first refusal to acquire, and an option to purchase, any and all membership interests in BFG
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until January 1, 2028. Such warrants were issued at an exercise price of $6.67 per share and are not subject to vesting provisions. Unless otherwise exercised, the warrants issued by the Company will expire on March 31, 2028. As of October 29, 2021, BFG members beneficially owned an aggregate of 3,357,168 shares (including these warrants), excluding any shares that any such persons may purchase through the directed share program described in “Underwriting—Directed Share Program,” or approximately 37.1% of our issued and outstanding common stock, as calculated in accordance with the SEC’s beneficial ownership rules as discussed under “Principal Shareholders” below. See “Business—Relationship with Business Funding Group” below. Later in 2020, the Bank’s diversification strategy was tested and, to date, proved resilient to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms. Dawn Cannon also joined the Bank’s management team as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer to lead and expand our operational capabilities, including the growth of our POS lending programs as part of our long-term strategic plan.
As of October 29, 2021, our directors and executive officers beneficially owned an aggregate of 3,055,182 shares, excluding any shares that any such persons may purchase through the directed share program described in “Underwriting—Directed Share Program,” or approximately 33.1%, of our issued and outstanding common stock. One of our directors is also a BFG owner whose ownership interest is further disclosed in “Risk Factors—Risks Related to this Offering and an Investment in Our Common Stock—Our executive management, board of directors, and BFG owners have significant control over our business” below. Mr. Michael O’Brien joined the Company’s and the Bank’s management team as Executive Vice President, Chief Compliance and Risk Officer and Corporate Counsel.
Our Business Model
For many years, we have closely observed how technology has digitized the banking industry. Due in part to lifestyle and economic changes resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, we have recently noticed an increasing preference for technology-based banking solutions as consumers and businesses seek tailored, technologically automated banking experiences delivered through online and mobile channels. Technological innovation is allowing forward thinking financial services businesses to meet this need. We are positioned to benefit from this trend by: (i) partnering with technology-oriented loan origination platforms in our Strategic Programs, SBA lending, and POS lending business lines, and (ii) successfully deploying our own in-house technology to deliver loan and deposit solutions to our customers directly and through third parties. We believe that for certain consumer and commercial banking business lines, in which our management team has considerable experience, developing and using technology to deliver products and services and leveraging technology to collect and organize data is a competitive advantage. Our business model for the past 10 years has been designed to capitalize on this advantage and these trends.
We believe recent advances in technology have also greatly expanded the ability to efficiently capture, store and utilize data for the purpose of informing business decisions. Since 2016, we have focused on enhancing the technological infrastructure and data analytics that make up what we call our FinView™ Analytics Platform, which we use to collect, analyze and apply data to provide potential borrowers with enhanced access to credit while managing the Bank’s risk profile. FinView™ is now five years in the making and as we continue to improve its functionality and aggregate data, FinView’s™ usefulness increases. In 2017, the Bank began using its first Application Programming Interface (“API”) to connect with our Strategic Program service providers to facilitate credit decisioning and funding. Beginning in 2018, FinView™ data was used to analyze the retention of selected Strategic Program loans. In 2020, the Bank enhanced its enterprise data warehouse to more efficiently capture loan origination and servicing data. In 2021, the Bank is in the process of building out FinView’s™ business analytics module and launching an updated version of its API. We believe the expanding functionality of FinView™ will permeate other areas of the Bank, leading us to new insights and opportunities. For example, in the future, we expect to develop machine learning and artificial intelligence as part of FinView™. The compilation of millions of loan origination and servicing data points creates deep insights that drive better informed decision-making across asset classes and enables more efficient product launches.
We believe that customers will gravitate to banks that offer them desirable products in a convenient, compliant and safe manner. Using our strategy, we are able to reach a large number of consumers and small businesses and deliver highly regulated, appropriately risk priced banking products that help our customers meet their financial goals and improve their lives. To accomplish this, we have developed a strong culture of compliance and have entered into strategic relationships with loan origination platforms who share our desire to provide borrowers with viable and compliant banking products. Borrowers to whom we originate loans through our Strategic Programs include consumers considered super prime (FICO score of 720 and higher), prime (FICO score of 660 through 719), near prime (FICO score of 640 through 659) and subprime (FICO score below 660), as well as consumers that lack a credit history as reported through one of the three credit
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bureaus. Our focus on developing relationships with seasoned and compatible loan origination platforms, our technology infrastructure and our in-house expertise provide us the tools to serve a diverse set of customers and provide an improved banking experience.
Our Enhanced Credit Risk Management Tools
We believe a critical aspect of managing credit risk lies in understanding key indicators of credit performance and applying them timely, consistently and effectively. Our strategy and expertise afford us unique tools to manage credit risk including (i) the ability to curate a diversified loan portfolio based on access to a broad array of bank-originated loans underwritten within program-specific criteria, and (ii) collecting, interpreting and utilizing detailed loan origination and performance data to monitor and adjust risk exposure. These tools have enhanced our credit risk management and allowed the Bank to selectively and purposefully build and maintain a diversified loan portfolio with superior risk-adjusted returns. In addition to customary credit risk management tools, where possible we use these tools in our lending programs. For example:
| • | In SBA 7(a) lending, we lend to small business and professionals. Our credit risk management is augmented by the fact the loans are partially guaranteed by the SBA. We further mitigate our credit risk in this program by using data, such as the nature of the business, use of proceeds, length of time in business and management experience to help us target loans that we believe have lower credit risk. Our prudent underwriting, closing and servicing processes are essential to effective utilization of the SBA 7(a) program, as the SBA guaranty is conditioned upon proper underwriting, closing and servicing by the lender. |
| • | In our Strategic Program lending, we originate unsecured and secured consumer and business loans to borrowers with certain Bank-approved credit profiles. The credit profiles are based on specific predetermined underwriting criteria informed by our extensive data and analytics. While we sell the vast majority of loans in this lending program shortly after origination, the Bank may choose to retain a portion of the funded loans and/or receivables. Our credit risk is mitigated by focusing on amortizing loans, lending to borrowers with demonstrated ability to repay, and extending loans that are priced appropriately to the credit profile of the borrower (including credit history). Smaller loans are often unsecured and therefore rely more on predictive models that allow us to appropriately price credit based on probable losses. |
Management tracks, manages and reports credit exposure limits for each lending program and bank-wide in order to comply with limits set by our board of directors. Our policies also dictate bank wide diversification and program specific limits.
Our Lending Programs
We have experienced significant growth in assets, loans, deposits and earnings during the last three years, all of which has been achieved organically. While the Bank regularly identifies target markets and products which we seek to launch as pilot programs, we believe the primary source of continued growth of the Bank will be from our current core business lines:
| • | SBA 7(a) Lending: Since 2014, we have utilized relationships with third parties (primarily BFG) to originate loans partially guaranteed by the SBA, to small businesses and professionals. We typically sell the SBA-guaranteed portion (generally 75% of the principal balance) of the loans we originate at a premium in the secondary market while retaining all servicing rights and the unguaranteed portion. We analyze public data provided by the SBA to target or avoid loans and industries with specific characteristics that may lead to unacceptable rates of future loan losses. We believe the experience of our management team, our ability to analyze loan performance data, our loan processing structure, our ability to leverage our referral relationship with BFG, careful underwriting, servicing and proactive collection policies have resulted in charge-off experience in our SBA portfolio that outperforms industry averages. Based on data sets for the SBA beginning January 1, 2014 through September 30, 2021, SBA 7(a) loans made by the Bank have a charge-off rate of 0.2% versus 0.9% for the entire SBA 7(a) lending industry on average. We believe, based on our current relatively low market penetration, the opportunity to continue to expand this business line is significant and that the SBA 7(a) product provides an entry point to broaden our banking relationship with these customers to potentially include deposits and POS financing opportunities. Loan terms generally range from 120 to 300 months and interest rates currently range from the prime rate plus 200 basis points to the prime rate plus 275 basis points, as adjusted quarterly. In 2020, we originated approximately $80.3 million in SBA 7(a) loans and held approximately $96.2 million of SBA 7(a) loans on our balance |
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sheet as of December 31, 2020, excluding PPP loans. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we originated approximately $118.0 million in SBA 7(a) loans and held approximately $122.9 million of SBA 7(a) loans on our balance sheet as of September 30, 2021, excluding PPP loans, of which $59.9 million was guaranteed by the SBA and $63.0 million was unguaranteed. Excluding the impact of an aggregate of $2.3 million in PPP loan balances outstanding as of September 30, 2021 our loan portfolio as of that date is comprised of 25.5% in unguaranteed portion of SBA 7(a) loans and 24.3% in guaranteed portions of SBA 7(a) loans.
As an experienced SBA 7(a) lender, we were an active participant in the PPP. Through these efforts, we provided PPP loans to 700 businesses, totaling approximately $126.6 million, as of December 31, 2020. No PPP loans were originated by the Company during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. In addition to a 1.0% interest rate paid by the borrower, the PPP loans also resulted in fees paid by the SBA to the Bank for processing PPP loans, which fees are accreted into interest income over the life of the applicable loans. If a PPP loan is forgiven or paid off before maturity, the remaining unearned fee is recognized into income at that time. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company recognized approximately $0.4 million in PPP-related SBA accelerated deferred loan fees through interest income as a result of PPP loan forgiveness. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company recognized approximately $1.8 million in PPP-related SBA accreted deferred loan fees through interest income, $1.4 million of which were accelerated as a result of PPP loan forgiveness. The majority of the approximately $0.1 million remaining in deferred fees as of September 30, 2021 are expected to be recognized as the PPP loans are forgiven, which we expect to occur over the next several quarters.
| • | Strategic Programs: Over the past five years, we have established Strategic Programs with various third-party consumer and commercial platforms that use technology to streamline the Bank’s origination of consumer and small commercial loans. We currently have 11 Strategic Program relationships. We are highly selective in establishing relationships with platforms for our Strategic Programs. We also place a high priority on regulatory compliance and have implemented comprehensive compliance management systems with an emphasis on oversight of platforms in our Strategic Program. Finally, we seek to establish relationships with Strategic Program platforms whose philosophy aligns with our goal of helping our customers move forward, and who augment our product offerings and enable us to realize operating efficiencies. We typically retain Strategic Program loans for a number of business days after we originate the loans, following which we may sell the loan receivables or whole loans to the Strategic Program platform or other investors. The terms of our Strategic Programs generally require each Strategic Program platform to establish a reserve deposit account with the Bank, intended to protect the Bank in the event a purchaser of loan receivables originated through our Strategic Programs cannot meet its contractual obligation to purchase. |
Beginning in 2018, we began selectively retaining a portion of the loans or receivables for investment based on analytics generated by FinView™ and the capacity and appetite of the Bank. We have also selectively purchased pools of loans from our Strategic Program service providers. Increased retention of loan originations for investment is part of the Bank’s long-term strategy. These Strategic Programs have given us access to superior yield on held-for-investment loans supported by predictive models and more expansive distribution channels for our lending. Our Strategic Programs also cover a wide range of borrower credit profiles, loan terms and interest rates. Loan terms range from 1 to 72 months. Interest rates currently range from 8% to 160%. In 2020, we originated approximately $2.4 billion in Strategic Program loans and we held for investment approximately $7.3 million in Strategic Program loans and approximately $21.0 million in Strategic Program loans held-for-sale as of December 31, 2020. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we originated approximately $4.1 billion in Strategic Program loans and we held for investment approximately $25.2 million in Strategic Program loans and approximately $62.7 million in Strategic Program loans held-for-sale as of September 30, 2021. Business checking and money market demand accounts associated with Strategic Program relationships held balances of approximately $70.1 million and $97.3 million (including $18.6 million and $42.3 million held as collateral) as of December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2021, respectively.
| • | Residential and Commercial Real Estate Lending. We operate a single branch location in Sandy, Utah. From this branch, we offer commercial and consumer banking services throughout the greater Salt Lake City, Utah MSA. These products are delivered using a high-touch service, relationship banking approach. The majority of the lending product consists of residential non-speculative construction loans which generate both non-interest income and interest income. Construction loan terms generally range from 9 to |
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12 months and interest rates currently range from the prime rate to the prime rate plus 200 basis points. All of the loans generated through this branch are held on our balance sheet. As of December 31, 2020, our branch-based banking operations consisted of approximately $25.3 million in loans (including approximately $20.6 million of residential and commercial real estate loans) and approximately $51.4 million in deposits. As of September 30, 2021, our branch-based banking operations consisted of approximately $32.1 million in loans (including approximately $27.5 million of residential and commercial real estate loans) and approximately $53.8 million in deposits. The deposit operations at our branch focus on local businesses and individual customers that are seeking personal service and the relationships developed with our local bankers. These deposits comprise demand deposits, NOW accounts, MMDAs, savings accounts, and time deposits under $250,000 that are not brokered deposits.
| • | Consumer Lending via our POS Lending Program: Since 2011, the Bank has offered collateralized and uncollateralized loans to finance the purchase of retail goods and services, such as pianos, spas, and home improvements. Loan applications are submitted at the point-of-sale through an online portal. Historically, all of the loans originated through our POS lending program have been held on our balance sheet. We currently manage the credit risk associated with these loans through a variety of processes, including targeting super prime (FICO score of 720 and higher), prime (FICO score of 660 through 719) and near-prime (FICO score of 640 through 659) borrowers, prudent underwriting, proper administration, careful servicing, proactive collection policies and comprehensive merchant due diligence. Loan terms are generally 60 months and interest rates currently range from 7.0% to 14.5%. We utilize a high degree of automation in this program and track loan applications, analyze credit and approve loans by deploying a combination of FinView™ and “off-the-shelf” technology solutions. The majority of the approximately $5.5 million and $4.7 million in consumer loans outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2021, respectively, that were not generated through our Strategic Programs were originated in connection with our POS lending program. In 2020, we originated approximately $2.8 million in POS loans and held approximately $4.4 million of POS loans on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2020. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we originated approximately $1.8 million in POS loans and held approximately $3.9 million of POS loans on our balance sheet as of September 30, 2021. We expect to expand this program via enhanced marketing efforts. |
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The charts below illustrate our loan origination volume and revenue by business line for the year ended December 31, 2020, as well as the composition of the loan portfolio by business line as of December 31, 2020. “Revenue” is a non-GAAP measure total of gross interest income and gross non-interest income.
Year End 2020 Origination Volume | | | Loan Portfolio as of 12/31/20 |
 | | |  |
Year End 2020 Revenue by Business Line | |||
 | |||
Note: Commercial non-real estate loan volume and revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020 and commercial non-real estate loan balances outstanding as of December 31, 2020 are included in the “Other” category. The “RE Lending” category includes both residential and commercial real estate.
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The charts below illustrate our loan origination volume and revenue by business line for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, as well as the composition of the loan portfolio by business line as of September 30, 2021.
Q3 2021 Origination Volume | | | Loan Portfolio as of 09/30/21 |
 | | |  |
Q3 2021 Revenue by Business Line | |||
 | |||
Note: Commercial non-real estate loan volume and revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and commercial non-real estate loan balances outstanding as of September 30, 2021 are included in the “Other” category. The “RE Lending” category includes both residential and commercial real estate.
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Funding and Deposits
We use a diversified funding strategy with an emphasis on core deposits, from our local lending Strategic Programs and SBA lending program, coupled with brokered and core Institutional Deposits and borrowings as needed. While our long-established Utah branch has been a significant and reliable source of deposits, our recent growth in core deposits is principally driven by funds deposited through our Strategic Programs. The terms of our Strategic Programs generally require each Strategic Program platform to establish a reserve deposit account with the Bank, intended to protect the Bank in the event a purchaser of loan receivables originated through our Strategic Programs cannot meet its contractual obligation to purchase. The reserve deposit account balance is typically a formula that may be at least equal to the total outstanding balance of loans held-for-sale by the Bank related to the Strategic Program. The Bank has the right to withdraw amounts from the reserve deposit account to fulfill loan purchaser obligations created under the Strategic Program agreements. Depending on the strength of the relationship between the Bank and our Strategic Program relationship, we may reduce the required amount of reserve deposits held and/or allow a portion of the requirement to be fulfilled by a letter of credit. In addition to the reserve deposit account, certain Strategic Program relationships have opened operating deposit accounts at the Bank. To further expand our funding options, in 2020, we piloted a new deposit product targeting SBA 7(a) customers. Our initial pilot of this program aided in growing SBA customer deposits to approximately $6.9 million and approximately $6.2 million as of December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2021 respectively. We expect to deploy marketing strategies to promote this product going forward. We may also pursue additional deposit gathering opportunities using our existing online and mobile banking products that give us the ability to attract deposits nationwide. Due to our lending strategies and ability to serve customers on a nationwide basis at declining marginal cost, we can afford to attract customers by offering competitive interest rates. Finally, our brokered and core Institutional Deposits have provided efficient low-overhead funding for growth. The charts below illustrate the changing composition of our deposit portfolio as of December 31, 2018, December 31, 2019, December 31, 2020, and September 30, 2021.
Total Deposits Breakdown
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Our Competitive Strengths
Our business model is highly profitable. We believe our technology and systems along with our seasoned management team allow us to identify and access business lines where we can provide valuable products and services to our customers and generate superior returns for our shareholders. When compared to other banks over the past three years, we have consistently and efficiently produced higher profit performance driven by our superior risk adjusted net interest margins, ability to generate high levels of noninterest income and our scalable operating systems. For example, for the year ended December 31, 2020, our return on average assets was 4.5% compared to 0.7% for all U.S. Banks, our return on average equity was 28.4% compared to 6.9% for all U.S. Banks, our net interest margin was 11.0% compared to 2.8% for all U.S. Banks, our noninterest income to average assets ratio was 5.8% compared to 1.4% for all U.S. Banks and our efficiency ratio was 51.6% compared to 59.8% for all U.S. Banks (based on information from the FDIC.gov website “Statistics on Depository Institutions Report”). For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, our return on average assets was 8.7%. Our return on average equity for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was 49.8%. Our net interest margin for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was 14.5%. Our noninterest income to average assets ratio for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was 9.2%. Our efficiency ratio for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was 38.1%. The charts below provide comparative profit performance measures for the years ended December 31, 2018, December 31, 2019, and December 31, 2020 and the nine months ended September 30, 2021 (for the Company).
Return on Average Assets | | | Return on Average Equity |
 | | |  |
Net Interest Margin | | | Noninterest Income / Average Assets |
 | | |  |
Efficiency Ratio | |||
 | |||
Source: All U.S. Banks information is from the FDIC website “Statistics on Depository Institutions Report.”
Note: Efficiency ratio is calculated by dividing noninterest expense by the sum of net interest income and noninterest income. See “GAAP Reconciliation and Management Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.” According to the FDIC website, the data for All U.S. Banks represents 5,406, 5,177 and 5,001 banks for 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively. The data for All U.S. Banks as of September 30, 2021 is not available as of the date of this prospectus.
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We apply disciplined underwriting and credit risk management. We have a disciplined credit culture with traditional credit quality practices augmented by data- and analytics-driven decision-making (through FinView™), risk management, and a broad, diversified loan portfolio. Our credit management processes emphasize prudent underwriting, proper administration, careful servicing and proactive collection policies. We believe we have positioned the Company to successfully navigate a wide range of credit environments including the current uncertain economic environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of our SBA borrowers are engaged in various pandemic resilient industries. For more information on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Company and the Bank, please see the section entitled “Recent Developments,” below.
We use data analytics and diversification as a risk management tool. We believe that our data driven loan diversification strategy plays a key role in managing a variety of risks, including credit risks, revenue volatility risk, and market cycle risk. When considering how to best diversify our loan portfolio, we consider several factors including our aggregate and business-line specific concentration risks, our business line expertise, and the ability of our infrastructure to appropriately support the product. Our ability to hold or sell newly originated loans allows us to alter the mix of our interest and non-interest income and rebalance our loan portfolio based on our credit risk appetite.
An example of our effective use of data and diversification is our SBA 7(a) loan portfolio, the largest portion of the Bank’s loan portfolio as of September 30, 2021. As of September 30, 2021, our SBA 7(a) portfolio (excluding PPP) is comprised of more than 377 loans across a variety of industries, with borrowers in 35 states as represented in the following map.
Note: Percentage categories shown is calculated by dividing (a) accumulated total unguaranteed SBA 7(a) balance for each NAICS Sub-Sector by (b) the total unguaranteed SBA 7(a) balance outstanding of approximately $63.0 million as of September 30, 2021. New York state and New Jersey comprise 50.2% and 10.4%, respectively, of the Bank’s unguaranteed SBA 7(a) portfolio balance as of September 30, 2021.
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Our largest industries by exposure are professional, scientific and technical services (including law firms), non-store retailers (e-commerce), and ambulatory healthcare services with the remainder of the exposure being spread across several North American Industry Classification System (“NAICS”) sub-sectors. The following table presents a breakdown of the ten largest NAICS sub-sector concentrations within our SBA 7(a) portfolio as of September 30, 2021:
SBA (7) Portfolio Breakdown
NAICS Sub-Sector Code | | | Description | | | September 30, 2021 % of Total |
541 | | | Professional, Scientific and Technical Services | | | 15.9% |
454 | | | Non-Store Retailers (Electronic Shopping) | | | 15.6% |
423 | | | Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods | | | 8.5% |
621 | | | Ambulatory Health Care Services | | | 6.3% |
445 | | | Food and Beverage Stores (Grocery, Convenience) | | | 4.5% |
623 | | | Nursing and Residential Care Facilities | | | 4.4% |
448 | | | Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores | | | 4.3% |
238 | | | Specialty Trade Contractors | | | 4.1% |
811 | | | Manufacturing Repair and Maintenance | | | 3.8% |
442 | | | Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores | | | 2.9% |
| | | All Other | | | 29.7% | |
Total | | | | | 100.0% |
Note: Percentage shown is calculated by dividing (a) accumulated total unguaranteed SBA 7(a) balance for each NAICS Sub-Sector by (b) the total unguaranteed SBA 7(a) balance outstanding of approximately $63.0 million as of September 30, 2021.
Data metrics that we frequently use in assessing risk in this portfolio include tenure of the business’ operating history, average FICO score and Debt Service Coverage Ratio. In addition, the experience of our management team with specific collateral and transaction types are also factored into our decision to extend credit.
Our Bank has prudently managed high rates of growth and we are able to access large market opportunities. We have built our Bank to prudently manage rapid growth. Many of our business lines are well suited to iterative processes that optimize economies of scale without sacrificing credit discipline or regulatory compliance standards. We utilize third parties to expand our market reach and we look to our talented employees to implement systems, technology, data and automation to operate efficiently and facilitate responsible growth.
We have historically entered markets that offer growth opportunities and that align with our core competencies, the prevailing trends within the banking industry and our strategic plan. We estimate the sizes of our three multi-state business lines to be:
| • | Strategic Programs: $100 billion in total available market based on industry data and estimates. Our estimation of the total available market for the Strategic Program business line is based on industry data for unsecured personal loans. We believe the total available market may be larger than this as the Bank offers Strategic Programs specific to POS lending and commercial lending which may not be accounted for in the above estimates. |
| • | SBA Lending $150 billion in total available market based on SBA agency reports. |
| • | POS Lending: $160 billion in total available market based on industry data and estimates. |
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Recent performance demonstrates our strong growth trajectory. From January 1, 2018 through September 30, 2021, our compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”), in total assets (excluding approximately $2.3 million of PPP loans outstanding as of September 30, 2021) was 55.0%, our CAGR in total loans outstanding (excluding approximately $2.3 million of PPP loans outstanding as of September 30, 2021) was 50.0% and our CAGR in total deposits was 51.6%. From January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020, our CAGR in loan originations (excluding approximately $126.6 million of PPP loans originated during the year ended December 31, 2020) was 131.2%. As shown in the charts below, we grew total assets by 78.6%, 52.5%, 79.3% and 6.6% during the years ended December 31, 2018, December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2020 and the nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively, compared to all U.S. Banks which grew assets by 3.3%, 2.6% and 14.1%, respectively (based on information from the FDIC.gov website “Statistics on Depository Institutions Report”) during the years ended December 31, 2018, December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
Asset Growth Rate (Over Prior Period) | | | Total Loan Originations ($000s) |
 | | |  |
Source: All U.S. Banks information is from the FDIC website “Statistics on Depository Institutions Report.”
Note: According to the FDIC website, the data for All U.S. Banks represents 5,406, 5,177 and 5,001 banks for 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively. The data for All U.S. Banks as of September 30, 2021 is not available as of the date of this prospectus.
Our profit margins improve with scale. We are a bank that uses technology and data as a competitive advantage. Our proprietary and “off-the-shelf” technology and systems allow us to originate a large volume of loans and achieve considerable growth with limited marginal cost. We currently source most of our loan originations through our Strategic Programs. These Strategic Programs require us to make an upfront investment in terms of due diligence, underwriting and integration (for which we are compensated in the form of set-up fees), but once established the ongoing operation has been highly efficient. In addition, our strategic plan contemplates increasing the amount of loans originated through our Strategic Program business line that we hold for investment. We believe increasing these Strategic Program loan balances will be highly profitable and require a relatively small additional investment in credit risk management. Lastly, since our technology, systems and policies are highly iterative we believe they are well suited to high levels of throughput and resulting economies of scale. As a result, this operating leverage is expected to increase profitability as we scale.
Core deposits are our primary source of funding. We use a diversified funding strategy including core deposits from our branch, deposits originated through SBA lending programs and Strategic Programs, with brokered and core Institutional Deposits and borrowings as needed. As mentioned above, a significant portion of our core deposits include funds deposited through our Strategic Programs, to support reserve requirements. In addition to the reserve deposit account, certain Strategic Program relationships have opened operating accounts. In 2020, we piloted a new deposit product targeted to SBA 7(a) customers. Marketing strategies to expand this product will be deployed in 2021. Additional deposit gathering opportunities may be available via our online and mobile banking products that give us the ability to attract deposits nationwide. We are well-positioned to offer our clients competitive deposit rates because of the strong yields on our earning assets, our ability to use technology and the relatively low marginal cost of our operations. In 2020, as a result of high levels of PPP loan origination, we also accessed the PPPLF as a funding strategy.
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Our experienced management team is supported by a high-performing workforce. We have a highly experienced executive team with deep expertise in our core products, risk, compliance, operations, project management and information technology. Our executive team, which has over 130 combined years of financial services experience, has successfully operated through a range of economic cycles. Complementing their experience at the Bank, most of our executive officers have had prior management experience at other leading companies and financial institutions. Our leadership team is supported by a high quality, highly-motivated set of managers and employees. We strive to provide employees with opportunities for advancement and growth in an attractive work environment with a competitive benefits package. These strategies have resulted in minimal turnover in a highly-competitive market. Key members of our executive team include:
| • | Kent Landvatter. Mr. Landvatter joined the Company and the Bank in September 2010 as the President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Landvatter has over 40 years of financial services and banking experience, including experience with distressed banks and serving as the president of two de novo banks, Comenity Capital Bank and Goldman Sachs Bank, USA. |
| • | Javvis Jacobson. Mr. Jacobson joined the Company and the Bank in March 2015 as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Jacobson has over 20 years of financial services experience, including at Deloitte, where he served for several years managing audits of financial institutions. Mr. Jacobson also served for several years as the Chief Financial Officer of Beehive Credit Union with over $190 million in assets. |
| • | James Noone. Mr. Noone joined the Bank in February 2018 and was named Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer in June 2018. Mr. Noone has 20 years of financial services experience including commercial and investment banking as well as private equity. Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Noone served as Executive Vice President of Prudent Lenders, an SBA service provider from 2012 to 2018. |
| • | Dawn Cannon. Ms. Cannon joined the Bank in March 2020 as the Senior Operating Officer and was named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in July 2020. Ms. Cannon has over 17 years of banking experience, including serving as the Executive Vice President of Operations of EnerBank, an industrial bank that focused on lending programs similar to our POS lending program, where she was instrumental in building it from 23 to 285 full time employees and from $10 million to $1.4 billion in total assets. |
| • | Michael O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien joined the Company and the Bank in September 2021 as Executive Vice President, Chief Compliance and Risk Officer and Corporate Counsel. Mr. O’Brien has over 20 years of legal, compliance and risk management experience in financial services. He practiced law in New York and Washington, D.C. with nationally recognized law firms prior to legal positions with E*TRADE Financial and Sallie Mae Bank. Mr. O’Brien also previously served as Chief Compliance Officer of EnerBank USA, a Utah industrial bank. He is currently licensed to practice law in Utah and Washington, D.C. |
| • | David Tilis. Mr. Tilis joined the Bank in March 2016 as a Vice President and Director of Specialty Lending and now serves as the Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President. Mr. Tilis has over 15 years of financial services experience, including serving as a Vice President of Cross River Bank overseeing SBA lending and playing a significant role in strategic relationships. |
Recent Developments
Since March 2020, our nation has experienced a massive health and economic crisis as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which continues to negatively impact the health and finances of millions of people and businesses and have a pronounced impact on the global and national economy. To control the spread of the Covid-19 virus, governments around the world instituted widespread shutdowns of the economy which resulted in record unemployment in a matter of weeks. In an effort to reduce the impact of economic shutdowns, the United States Congress has passed the CARES Act, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and recently the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. These relief measures have provided stimulus payments to individuals, expanded unemployment benefits, and created programs that provided critical financing to small businesses through products such as Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDL”) and the PPP, both of which are being administered by the SBA. Additionally, the United States government agreed to make six months of payments on SBA loans and increase the SBA guaranty on SBA 7(a) loans to 90% for loans originated from February 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021. We are proud of the impact we made throughout
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the country by our participation in the first round of PPP lending. As described above, we were able to provide PPP loans to 700 businesses totaling approximately $126.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. As of September 30, 2021, PPP borrowers have applied for and received forgiveness payments from the SBA for $124.2 million of PPP loan principal and have made $0.2 million of principal payments. Our participation in the PPP has generated new customers, some of whom we expect to retain for conventional and SBA lending products following the end of the PPP. The Bank did not originate any additional PPP loans for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2021.
In September 2021, we combined our Compliance and Risk Departments and added the role of Corporate Counsel to our executive management team. We believe combining these departments will provide more efficient and effective oversight of our compliance and risk functions and that the volume of legal work will be better coordinated by in-house counsel. Mr. Michael O’Brien has assumed the role of Chief Compliance and Risk Officer and Corporate Counsel of both the Company and the Bank. We believe this organizational change will better position the Company and the Bank for future scalable growth.
Selected Financial Highlights
We believe the Bank’s diversified loan portfolio and associated revenue streams have enabled the Bank to sustain and grow its business despite the adverse conditions relating to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. During the first and second quarters of 2020, we recorded higher than normal provisions to position ourselves for the possibility of elevated losses on loans resulting from the pandemic. The provision amounts reflected our early uncertainty surrounding the impact of the pandemic. Provisions ceased in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 when we determined that our loan portfolios were not materially impacted at that time. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and year ended December 31, 2020, the provision for loan losses amounted to $5.5 million and $5.2 million, respectively, compared to $5.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and $5.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. We believe our SBA 7(a) underwriting program has remained strong throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and our SBA 7(a) loans are well collateralized when compared to the SBA industry in general. Additionally, the Bank has low exposure to industries severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, such as hospitality and restaurants. The only outstanding balances relating to the hotel or restaurant industries as of December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2021 were within our SBA portfolio. The outstanding unguaranteed balance of loans to hotels totaled $1.4 million and $1.4 million as of December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2021, respectively. The outstanding unguaranteed balance of loans to restaurants totaled $0.3 million and $0.4 million as of December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2021, respectively. The dollar amount of short-term modifications of loans held-for-investment not classified as troubled debt restructurings was $1.2 million and $0.2 million as of December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2021, respectively.
Corporate Information
Our principal executive offices are located at 756 East Winchester Street, Suite 100, Murray, Utah 84107. Our telephone number is (801) 501-7200. Our website is www.finwisebancorp.com. The information on, or accessible through, our website or any other website cited in this prospectus is not part of, or incorporated by reference into, this prospectus and should not be relied upon in determining whether to make an investment decision.
Change in Authorized Shares of Capital Stock
At a meeting of our shareholders held on July 26, 2021, our shareholders voted to approve the Fourth Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, which, among other things, (i) increase the authorized shares of common stock from 20,000,000 (without regard for the six-for-one stock split of July 26, 2021) to 40,000,000 and (ii) decrease the authorized shares of preferred stock from 5,000,000 to 4,000,000. Our common shareholders approved such amendment at the meeting on July 26, 2021, and the amendment was thereafter filed with the Utah Department of Commerce.
Stock Split
On July 26, 2021, we effected a six-for-one stock split of our common stock, whereby each share of our common stock was automatically divided into six shares of common stock. As a result of the stock split, each shareholder held the same percentage of common stock outstanding after the stock split as that shareholder held immediately prior to the stock split. There was no change to the par value of our common stock as a result of the stock split. The effect of the stock split on outstanding shares and per share figures has been retroactively applied to all periods presented in this prospectus.
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Summary Risk Factors
Our business and this offering are subject to a number of substantial risks and uncertainties of which you should be aware before making a decision to invest in our common stock. These risks are discussed more fully in the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 26. Some of these risks include the following:
| • | the impact, duration and severity of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic (including the emergence of any new variants thereof), the response of governmental authorities to the Covid-19 pandemic and our participation in Covid-19-related government programs such as the PPP administered by the SBA and created under the CARES Act; |
| • | cybersecurity breaches and system failures affecting FinView™; |
| • | operational and strategic risks, including the risk that we may not be able to implement our growth strategy and risks related to cybersecurity, our continued ability to establish relationships with Strategic Program service providers, and the possible loss of key members of our senior leadership team; |
| • | credit risks, including risks related to the significance of SBA 7(a), Strategic Programs and construction loans in our portfolio, our relationship with BFG, our ability to effectively manage our credit risk and the potential deterioration of the business and economic conditions in our markets; |
| • | liquidity and funding risks, including the risk that we will not be able to meet our obligations due to risks relating to our funding sources; |
| • | market and interest rate risks, including risks related to interest rate fluctuations and the monetary policies and regulations of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or the Federal Reserve; |
| • | third-party risk, including risks that we may be unable to maintain or increase loan originations facilitated through our Strategic Programs; |
| • | reputational risks, including the risk that we may be subject to negative publicity about us or our industry, including the transparency, fairness, user experience, quality, and reliability of our lending products or distribution channels; |
| • | legislative, regulatory, legal, and reputational risks related to our Strategic Programs, including those relating to our small dollar lending program; |
| • | reversal of regulatory pronouncements that provided clarity for Strategic Programs on “true lender” rules; |
| • | legal, accounting and compliance risks, including risks related to the extensive state and federal regulation under which we operate and changes in such regulations; |
| • | changes in the regulatory oversight environment impacting our Strategic Programs or non-compliance of federal and state consumer protection laws by our Strategic Program service providers; and |
| • | offering and investment risks, including illiquidity and volatility in the trading of our common stock, limitations on our ability to pay dividends and the dilution that investors in this offering will experience. |
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Common stock offered by us
shares of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share (or shares if the underwriters exercise their option in full to purchase additional shares).
Underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares
We have granted the underwriters an option exercisable for 30 days after the date of this prospectus to purchase, from time to time, in whole or in part, up to an additional shares from us at the public offering price less underwriting discounts and commissions.
Shares of common stock to be outstanding after this offering
shares of common stock (or shares if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares of common stock).
Use of proceeds
Assuming an initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, we estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of our common stock in this offering, after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us, will be $ million (or $ million if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares of common stock). We intend to use the net proceeds to us from this offering to fund organic growth, to continue the buildout of our operating infrastructure, and for general corporate purposes, which could include future acquisitions, maintenance of our required regulatory capital levels and other growth initiatives. See “Use of Proceeds.”
Dividend policy
Holders of our common stock are only entitled to receive dividends when, as and if declared by our board of directors out of funds legally available for dividends. We have not paid any cash dividends on our capital stock since inception, and we currently have no plans to pay dividends for the foreseeable future. Our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders in the future will depend on regulatory restrictions, our liquidity and capital requirements, our earnings and financial condition, the general economic climate, contractual restrictions, our ability to service any equity or debt obligations senior to our common stock and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. For additional information, see “Dividend Policy.”
Directed share program
At our request, the underwriters have reserved up to 5.0% of the shares of our common stock offered by this prospectus for sale, at the initial public offering price, to our directors, officers, principal shareholders, employees, business associates, and related persons who have expressed an interest in purchasing our common stock in this offering. We will offer these shares to the extent permitted under applicable regulations in the United States through a directed share program. See the section entitled “Underwriting—Directed Share Program.”
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NASDAQ Listing
We have been approved to list our common stock on NASDAQ under the trading symbol “FINW.”
Risk factors
Investing in our common stock involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 26 for a discussion of certain factors that you should carefully consider before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock.
Except as otherwise indicated, references in this prospectus to the number of shares of common stock outstanding after this offering are based upon 8,746,110 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2021. Unless expressly indicated or the context otherwise requires, all information in this prospectus:
| • | assumes no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase up to an additional shares of common stock; |
| • | assumes that the shares of common stock sold in this offering are sold at $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus; |
| • | excludes 881,988 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of stock options outstanding as of September 30, 2021, at a weighted average exercise price of $4.30 per share (comprising 481,728 shares of fully vested common stock issuable upon exercise of stock options and 400,260 shares of unvested common stock issuable upon exercise of stock options); |
| • | does not attribute to any director, executive officer, employee, principal shareholder, business associate or other related person any purchases of shares of our common stock in this offering, including through the directed share program described in “Underwriting—Directed Share Program”; and |
| • | excludes 270,000 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of fully vested warrants outstanding at a weighted average exercise price of $6.67 per share. |
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You should read the following selected historical consolidated financial and other data in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and the sections entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Capitalization” included elsewhere in this prospectus. The following tables set forth selected historical consolidated financial and other data (i) as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 and (ii) as of and for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018. Selected consolidated financial data as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 have been derived from our unaudited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus and have not been audited but, in the opinion of our management, contain all adjustments (consisting of only normal or recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly in all material respects our financial position and results of operations for such periods in accordance with GAAP. Selected consolidated financial data as of years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 have been derived from our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have derived the selected consolidated financial data as of and for the years ended December 31, 2018 from our audited financial statements not included in this prospectus. The information presented in the table below has been adjusted to give effect to a six-for-one stock split of our common stock completed effective July 26, 2021. The effect of the stock split on outstanding shares and per share figures has been retroactively applied to all periods presented below. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of any future period. The performance ratios and asset quality and capital ratios are unaudited and derived from our audited financial statements and other financial information as of and for the periods presented.
Balance Sheet Data | | | As of and for the Nine Months Ended September 30, | | | As of and for the years ended December 31, | |||||||||
($ in thousands) | | | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | 2018 |
Total assets | | | $338,316 | | | $318,340 | | | $317,515 | | | $177,062 | | | $116,085 |
Cash and cash equivalents | | | 68,106 | | | 32,169 | | | 47,383 | | | 34,779 | | | 26,004 |
Investment securities held-to-maturity, at cost | | | 4,414 | | | 1,929 | | | 1,809 | | | 453 | | | 570 |
Loans receivable, net | | | 178,748 | | | 227,266 | | | 232,074 | | | 105,725 | | | 78,034 |
Strategic Program loans held-for-sale, at lower of cost or fair value | | | 62,702 | | | 45,035 | | | 20,948 | | | 25,109 | | | 6,956 |
SBA servicing asset | | | 4,368 | | | 2,419 | | | 2,415 | | | 2,034 | | | 1,581 |
Investment in Business Funding Group, at fair value | | | 5,241 | | | 3,785 | | | 3,770 | | | 3,459 | | | — |
Deposits | | | 253,036 | | | 184,623 | | | 164,476 | | | 142,021 | | | 94,824 |
PPP Liquidity Facility | | | 2,259 | | | 84,330 | | | 101,007 | | | — | | | — |
Total shareholders’ equity | | | 69,138 | | | 40,929 | | | 45,872 | | | 33,095 | | | 19,225 |
Tangible shareholders’ equity(1) | | | 69,138 | | | 40,929 | | | 45,872 | | | 33,095 | | | 19,225 |
| | | For the Nine Months Ended September 30, | | | For the Years Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
($ in thousands, except for per share data) | | | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | 2018 |
Income Statement Data | | | | | | | | | | | |||||
Interest income | | | $33,690 | | | $20,941 | | | $29,506 | | | $21,408 | | | $8,073 |
Interest expense | | | 984 | | | 1,352 | | | 1,756 | | | 1,462 | | | 846 |
Net interest income | | | 32,706 | | | 19,589 | | | 27,750 | | | 19,946 | | | 7,227 |
Provision for loan losses | | | 5,536 | | | 5,234 | | | 5,234 | | | 5,288 | | | 980 |
Net interest income after provision for loan losses | | | 27,170 | | | 14,355 | | | 22,516 | | | 14,658 | | | 6,247 |
Noninterest income: | | | | | | | | | | | |||||
Strategic Program fees | | | 11,877 | | | 6,878 | | | 9,591 | | | 8,866 | | | 5,026 |
Gain on sale of loans | | | 7,876 | | | 2,560 | | | 2,849 | | | 4,167 | | | 2,957 |
SBA loan servicing fees | | | 800 | | | 745 | | | 1,028 | | | 607 | | | 545 |
Other noninterest income | | | 2,162 | | | 758 | | | 905 | | | 223 | | | 128 |
Total noninterest income | | | 22,715 | | | 10,941 | | | 14,373 | | | 13,863 | | | 8,656 |
Noninterest expense | | | 21,140 | | | 16,092 | | | 21,749 | | | 15,685 | | | 9,538 |
Provision for income taxes | | | 7,273 | | | 2,622 | | | 3,942 | | | 3,177 | | | 1,333 |
Net income | | | $21,472 | | | $6,582 | | | $11,198 | | | $9,659 | | | $4,032 |
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| | | For the Nine Months Ended September 30, | | | For the Years Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
($ in thousands, except for per share data) | | | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | 2018 |
Per Share Data (Common Stock) | | | | | | | | | | | |||||
Earnings: | | | | | | | | | | | |||||
Basic | | | $2.47 | | | $0.76 | | | $1.29 | | | $1.37 | | | $0.65 |
Diluted(2) | | | $2.34 | | | $0.76 | | | $1.28 | | | $1.37 | | | $0.65 |
Book value(3) | | | $7.90 | | | $4.73 | | | $5.30 | | | $3.80 | | | $2.74 |
Tangible book value(1) | | | $7.90 | | | $4.73 | | | $5.30 | | | $3.80 | | | $2.74 |
| | | September 30, | | | December 31, | ||||||||||
Selected Performance Metrics | | | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | 2018 |
Return on average assets(4)(7) | | | 8.7% | | | 3.5% | | | 4.5% | | | 6.6% | | | 4.5% |
Return on average equity(4)(7) | | | 49.8% | | | 23.7% | | | 28.4% | | | 36.9% | | | 26.6% |
Average yield on loans(5) | | | 18.0% | | | 14.8% | | | 14.1% | | | 19.3% | | | 10.9% |
Average cost of deposits(5) | | | 1.2% | | | 2.0% | | | 1.9% | | | 2.0% | | | 1.6% |
Net interest margin(5) | | | 14.5% | | | 11.2% | | | 11.0% | | | 14.1% | | | 8.1% |
Efficiency ratio(1) | | | 38.1% | | | 52.7% | | | 51.6% | | | 46.4% | | | 60.1% |
Noninterest income to total revenue(6) | | | 41.0% | | | 35.8% | | | 34.1% | | | 41.0% | | | 54.5% |
Noninterest income to average assets(7) | | | 9.2% | | | 5.9% | | | 5.8% | | | 9.5% | | | 9.6% |
Average equity to average assets(7) | | | 17.5% | | | 14.9% | | | 16.0% | | | 17.8% | | | 16.7% |
Total shareholders’ equity to total assets | | | 20.4% | | | 12.9% | | | 14.4% | | | 18.7% | | | 16.6% |
Tangible shareholders’ equity to tangible assets(1) | | | 20.4% | | | 12.9% | | | 14.4% | | | 18.7% | | | 16.6% |
Employees at period end | | | 113 | | | 89 | | | 95 | | | 86 | | | 54 |
| | | As of and For the Nine Months Ended September 30, | | | As of and For the Years Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
($ in thousands) | | | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | 2018 |
Selected Loan Metrics | | | | | | | | | | | |||||
Number of loans originated | | | 877,328 | | | 410,318 | | | 749,746 | | | 522,981 | | | 145,839 |
Amount of loans originated | | | $4,260,611 | | | $1,745,882 | | | $2,596,809 | | | $1,724,523 | | | $762,716 |
Number of loans serviced | | | 1,422 | | | 2,158 | | | 2,045 | | | 1,482 | | | 1,252 |
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Asset Quality Ratios | | | | | | | | | | | |||||
Nonperforming loans | | | $757 | | | $940 | | | $831 | | | $1,108 | | | $87 |
Nonperforming loans to total assets | | | 0.2% | | | 0.3% | | | 0.3% | | | 0.6% | | | 0.1% |
Net charge offs to average loans | | | 1.1% | | | 2.0% | | | 1.7% | | | 2.3% | | | 0.2% |
Allowance for loan losses to loans held for investment | | | 5.2% | | | 3.0% | | | 2.6% | | | 4.1% | | | 2.1% |
Allowance for loan losses to total loans | | | 3.9% | | | 2.5% | | | 2.4% | | | 3.3% | | | 2.0% |
Allowance for loan losses to total loans (less PPP loans)(1) | | | 3.9% | | | 4.5% | | | 4.0% | | | 3.3% | | | 2.0% |
Net charge-offs | | | $2,095 | | | $2,737 | | | $3,559 | | | $2,492 | | | $163 |
| | | September 30, | | | December 31, | ||||||||||
Capital Ratios8 | | | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | 2018 |
Leverage ratio (under CBLR) | | | 19.5% | | | 16.3% | | | 16.6% | | | — | | | — |
Tier 1 leverage ratio (Bank) | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | 16.2% | | | 15.7% |
Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio (Bank) | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | 19.3% | | | 19.4% |
Total risk-based capital ratio (Bank) | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | 20.5% | | | 20.6% |
Common equity Tier 1 (Bank) | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | 19.3% | | | 19.4% |
| (1) | These measures are not measures recognized under United States generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, and are therefore considered to be non-GAAP financial measures. See “GAAP Reconciliation and Management Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of these measures to their most comparable GAAP measures. Tangible shareholders’ equity is defined as total shareholders’ equity less goodwill and other intangible assets. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is total shareholder’s equity. We had no goodwill or other intangible assets as of any of the dates indicated. We have not considered loan servicing rights as an intangible asset for purposes of this calculation. As a result, tangible shareholders’ equity is the same as total shareholders’ equity as of each of the dates indicated. The efficiency ratio is defined as total noninterest expense divided by the sum of net interest income and noninterest |
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income. We believe this measure is important as an indicator of productivity because it shows the amount of revenue generated for each dollar spent. Tangible book value per share is defined as book value per share less goodwill and other intangible assets, divided by the outstanding number of common shares at the end of each period. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is book value per share. We had no goodwill or other intangible assets as of any of the dates indicated. We have not considered loan servicing rights as an intangible asset for purposes of this calculation. As a result, tangible book value per share is the same as book value per share as of each of the dates indicated. Tangible shareholders’ equity to tangible assets is defined as total shareholders’ equity less goodwill and other intangible assets, divided by total assets less goodwill and other intangible assets. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is total shareholders’ equity to total assets. We had no goodwill or other intangible assets as of any of the dates indicated. We have not considered loan servicing rights as an intangible asset for purposes of this calculation. As a result, tangible shareholders’ equity to tangible assets is the same as total shareholders’ equity to total assets as of each of the dates indicated. Allowance for loan losses to total loans (less PPP loans) is defined as the allowance for loan losses divided by total loans minus PPP loans. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is allowance for loan losses to total loans.
| (2) | We calculated our diluted earnings per share for each year shown as our net income divided by the weighted average number of shares of our common stock outstanding during the relevant period adjusted for the dilutive effect of outstanding options to purchase shares of our common stock. See Note 16 to our audited consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this prospectus for more information regarding the dilutive effect. We calculated earnings per share on a basic and diluted basis using the following outstanding share amounts: |
| | | For the Nine Months Ended September 30, | | | For the Years Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
Share data | | | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | 2018 |
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic | | | 8,177,575 | | | 8,021,902 | | | 8,025,390 | | | 7,038,896 | | | 6,208,840 |
Weighted average shares outstanding, diluted | | | 8,630,356 | | | 8,038,545 | | | 8,069,634 | | | 7,053,354 | | | 6,208,842 |
Shares outstanding at end of period | | | 8,746,110 | | | 8,660,334 | | | 8,660,334 | | | 8,709,756 | | | 7,013,202 |
| (3) | Book value per share equals our total shareholders’ equity as of the date presented divided by the number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of the date presented. The number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 has been presented in note (2) above. |
| (4) | We have calculated our return on average assets and return on average equity for a year by dividing our net income for that year by our average assets and average equity, as the case may be, for that year. |
| (5) | We calculate average yield on loans by dividing loan interest income by average loans. We calculate average cost of deposits by dividing deposit expense by average interest-earning deposits. We calculate our average loans and average interest-earning deposits for a year by dividing the sum of our total loans balance or interest-earning deposit balance, as the case may be, as of the close of business on each day in the relevant year and dividing by the number of days in the year. Net interest margin represents net interest income divided by average interest-earning assets. Loan fees are included in interest income on loans and represent approximately $3.2 million (including approximately $1.8 million in fees related to PPP loans) and $1.1 million (including approximately $0.5 million in fees related to PPP loans) for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, and $1.4 million (including approximately $1.2 million in fees related to PPP loans), $0.9 million, and $0.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, December 31, 2019, and December 31, 2018, respectively. |
| (6) | We calculate the ratio of noninterest income to total revenue as noninterest income (excluding securities gains or losses) divided by the sum of net interest income plus noninterest income (excluding securities gains or losses). |
| (7) | We calculate our average assets and average equity for a year by dividing the sum of our total asset balance or total shareholder’s equity balance, as the case may be, as of the beginning of the relevant year and at the end of the relevant year, and dividing by two. We calculate our average assets and average equity for a given reporting period representing a less than annual period by dividing (a) the sum of our total asset balance or total shareholder’s equity balance, as the case may be, as of the close of business (i) at the beginning of the relevant reporting period and (ii) at the ending of the relevant reporting period, by (b) two. |
| (8) | Under the prompt corrective action rules, an institution is deemed “well capitalized” if its leverage ratio, Common Equity Tier 1 ratio, Tier 1 Capital ratio, and Total Capital ratio meet or exceed 5%, 6.5%, 8%, and 10%, respectively. On September 17, 2019, the federal banking agencies jointly finalized a rule intending to simplify the regulatory capital requirements described above for qualifying community banking organizations that opt into the Community Bank Leverage Ratio (“CBLR”) framework, as required by Section 201 of Economic Growth, the Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (the “Regulatory Relief Act”). The Bank has elected to opt into the Community Bank Leverage Ratio framework starting in 2020. Under these new capital requirements, as temporarily amended by the CARES Act, the Bank must maintain a leverage ratio greater than 8% for 2020 and 8.5% for 2021. See these changes more fully discussed under “Supervision and Regulation—The Regulatory Relief Act.” |
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OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
Some of the financial measures included in our selected historical consolidated financial and other data and elsewhere in this prospectus are not measures of financial performance recognized by GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures are “tangible shareholders’ equity,” “tangible book value,” “efficiency ratio,” “tangible shareholders’ equity to tangible assets,” “allowance for loan losses to total loans (less PPP loans),” and “total nonperforming assets and troubled debt restructurings to total assets (less PPP loans).” Our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in its analysis of our performance.
| • | “Tangible shareholders’ equity” is defined as total shareholders’ equity less goodwill and other intangible assets. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is total shareholder’s equity. We had no goodwill or other intangible assets as of any of the dates indicated. We have not considered loan servicing rights as an intangible asset for purposes of this calculation. As a result, tangible shareholders’ equity is the same as total shareholders’ equity as of each of the dates indicated. |
| • | “Tangible book value per share” is defined as book value per share less goodwill and other intangible assets, divided by the outstanding number of common shares at the end of each period. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is book value per share. We had no goodwill or other intangible assets as of any of the dates indicated. We have not considered loan servicing rights as an intangible asset for purposes of this calculation. As a result, tangible book value per share is the same as book value per share as of each of the dates indicated. |
| • | “Efficiency ratio” is defined as total noninterest expense divided by the sum of net interest income and noninterest income. We believe this measure is important as an indicator of productivity because it shows the amount of revenue generated for each dollar spent. |
| • | “Tangible shareholders’ equity to tangible assets” is defined as total shareholders’ equity less goodwill and other intangible assets, divided by total assets less goodwill and other intangible assets. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is total shareholders’ equity to total assets. We had no goodwill or other intangible assets as of any of the dates indicated. We have not considered loan servicing rights as an intangible asset for purposes of this calculation. As a result, tangible shareholders’ equity to tangible assets is the same as total shareholders’ equity to total assets as of each of the dates indicated. |
| • | “Allowance for loan losses to total loans (less PPP loans)” is defined as the allowance for loan losses divided by total loans minus PPP loans. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is allowance for loan losses to total loans. We believe this measure is important because the allowance for loan losses will not be utilized for PPP loans since they are 100% guaranteed by the SBA. We believe that the non-GAAP measure more accurately discloses the proportion of loans that might utilize the allowance for loan losses consistently with periods prior to the presence of PPP loans. |
| • | “Total nonperforming assets and troubled debt restructurings to total assets (less PPP loans)” is defined as the sum of nonperforming assets and troubled debt restructurings divided by total assets minus PPP loans. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is the sum of nonperforming assets and troubled debt restructurings to total assets. We believe this measure is important because we believe that PPP loans will not be included in nonperforming assets or troubled debt restructurings since PPP loans are 100% guaranteed by the SBA. We believe that the non-GAAP measure more accurately discloses the proportion of nonperforming assets and troubled debt restructurings to total assets consistently with periods prior to the presence of PPP loans. |
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We believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to management and investors that is supplementary to our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows computed in accordance with GAAP; however, we acknowledge that our non-GAAP financial measures have a number of limitations. As such, you should not view these measures as a substitute for results determined in accordance with GAAP, and they are not necessarily comparable to non-GAAP financial measures that other companies use. The following table provides a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most closely related GAAP measure.
Efficiency Ratio
| | | Nine Months Ended September 30, | | | Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
($ in thousands) | | | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | 2018 |
Noninterest expense | | | $21,140 | | | $16,092 | | | $21,749 | | | $15,685 | | | $9,538 |
Net interest income | | | $32,706 | | | $19,589 | | | $27,750 | | | $19,946 | | | $7,227 |
Total noninterest income | | | $22,715 | | | $10,941 | | | $14,373 | | | $13,863 | | | $8,656 |
Adjusted operating revenue | | | $55,421 | | | $30,530 | | | $42,123 | | | $33,809 | | | $15,883 |
Efficiency ratio | | | 38.1% | | | 52.7% | | | 51.6% | | | 46.4% | | | 60.1% |
Allowance for loan losses to total loans (less PPP loans)
| | | As of September 30, | | | Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
($ in thousands) | | | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | 2018 |
Allowance for loan losses | | | $9,640 | | | $7,028 | | | $6,199 | | | $4,531 | | | $1,735 |
Total loans | | | $249,214 | | | $281,989 | | | $261,777 | | | $136,662 | | | $87,816 |
PPP loans | | | $2,303 | | | $126,625 | | | $107,145 | | | $0 | | | $0 |
Total loans less PPP loans | | | $246,911 | | | $155,364 | | | $154,632 | | | $136,662 | | | $87,816 |
Allowance for loan losses to total loans (less PPP loans) | | | 3.9% | | | 4.5% | | | 4.0% | | | 3.3% | | | 2.0% |
Total nonperforming assets and troubled debt restructurings to total assets (less PPP loans)
| | | As of September 30, | | | Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
($ in thousands) | | | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | 2018 |
Total nonperforming assets and troubled debt restructuring | | | $864 | | | $1,119 | | | $1,701 | | | $1,108 | | | $87 |
Total assets | | | $338,316 | | | $318,340 | | | $317,515 | | | $177,062 | | | $116,085 |
PPP loans | | | $2,303 | | | $126,625 | | | $107,145 | | | $0 | | | $0 |
Total assets less PPP loans | | | $336,013 | | | $191,715 | | | $210,370 | | | $177,062 | | | $116,085 |
Total nonperforming assets and troubled debt restructurings to total assets (less PPP loans) | | | 0.3% | | | 0.6% | | | 0.8% | | | 0.6% | | | 0.1% |
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Investing in our common stock involves a significant degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors, in addition to the other information contained elsewhere in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes, before deciding to invest in our common stock. Any of the following risks, as well as risks that we do not know of or that we currently deem immaterial, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and future prospects. As a result, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Covid-19 Pandemic and Associated Economic Slowdown
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of a strain of novel coronavirus disease, Covid-19, a global pandemic. This subsection summarizes a number of risks to our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows relating to the economic recession caused primarily by governmental and private sector actions to reduce the spread of Covid-19 (or any new variants thereof). In this prospectus, we sometimes refer to this recession as the “Covid-19 recession.”
Many of the risks related to the Covid-19 recession may have implications for FinWise Bancorp that are similar to those presented by risks described in further detail below in this subsection that are not specific to Covid-19, including “Our business may be adversely affected by conditions in the financial markets and by economic conditions generally,” “our commercial and consumer banking clients who participate in our local lending program and SBA 7(a) lending program are concentrated in certain geographic areas,” “negative changes in the economy affecting real estate values and liquidity could impair the value of collateral securing our real estate loans and result in loan and other losses,” “Changes in management’s estimates and assumptions may have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and our financial condition or operating results,” “Climate change, natural disasters, public health crises, geopolitical developments, acts of terrorism and other external events could harm our business,” “The financial weakness of other financial institutions could adversely affect us,” and “Our business strategy includes projected growth in our core businesses, and our financial condition and results of operations could be negatively affected if we fail to grow or fail to manage our growth effectively.”
The Covid-19 pandemic and governmental and private sector action in response to the Covid-19 pandemic are having a material adverse effect on the global, national and local economies, and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, and it is premature to predict if or when economic activity will revert to the level that existed before the spread of Covid-19 .
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant economic dislocation in the United States as many state and local governments ordered non-essential businesses to close and residents to shelter in place at home, including the State of Utah. During the fourth fiscal quarter of 2020, some of these restrictions were removed and some non-essential businesses were allowed to re-open in a limited capacity, adhering to social distancing and disinfection guidelines. It is not clear when the pandemic will abate. This crisis has resulted in an unprecedented slow-down in economic activity and a related increase in unemployment as the U.S. economy entered a recession. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, millions of people have filed claims for unemployment, and stock markets have experienced extreme volatility with bank stocks significantly declining in value. In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Federal Reserve Board reduced the benchmark federal funds rate to a target range of 0% to 0.25%, and the yields on 10 and 30-year treasury notes have declined to historic lows. Certain Federal and state agencies are requiring lenders to provide forbearance and other relief to borrowers (e.g., waiving late payment and other fees). The federal banking agencies have encouraged financial institutions to prudently work with affected borrowers and recently passed legislation has provided relief from reporting loan classifications due to modifications related to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Finally, the spread of the coronavirus has caused us to modify our business practices, including employee travel, employee work locations, and cancellation of physical participation in meetings, events and conferences. We have many employees working remotely and we may take further actions as may be required by government authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers and business partners.
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Given the ongoing and dynamic nature of the circumstances, we cannot predict the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic (or any new variants thereof) on our business and on our prospects. For example, our net interest income and net interest margin may be adversely affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The likelihood and extent of such impact will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain, including when the pandemic can be controlled and abated and when and how the economy may be fully reopened. As the result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related adverse economic consequences, we could be subject to any of the following risks, any of which could have a material, adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, prospects and results of operations:
| • | demand for our products and services may decline, making it difficult to grow assets and income; |
| • | if the economy is unable to fully reopen, and high levels of unemployment continue for an extended period of time, loan delinquencies, requests for deferrals and modifications, problem assets, and foreclosures may increase, resulting in increased charges and reduced income; |
| • | collateral for loans, especially real estate, may decline in value, which could cause loan losses to increase; |
| • | our allowance for loan losses may have to be increased if borrowers experience financial difficulties beyond forbearance periods or if the federal government fails to guarantee or forgive our customers’ PPP loans, which will adversely affect our net income; |
| • | the net worth and liquidity of loan guarantors may decline, impairing their ability to honor commitments to us; |
| • | as the result of the decline in the Federal Reserve Board’s target federal funds rate to near 0%, the yield on our assets may continue to decline to a greater extent than the decline in our cost of interest-bearing liabilities, reducing our net interest margin and spread and reducing net income; |
| • | it may be challenging to grow our core business if the recovery from the economic impact caused by Covid-19 is slow or unpredictable; |
| • | our PPP loan customers may fail to qualify for PPP loan forgiveness, or we may experience other uncertainties or losses related to our PPP loans; |
| • | our cybersecurity risks are increased as the result of an increase in the number of employees working remotely; |
| • | we rely on third party vendors for certain services and the unavailability of a critical service due to the Covid-19 outbreak could have an adverse effect on us; and |
| • | FDIC premiums may increase if the agency experiences additional resolution costs. |
Moreover, our future success and profitability substantially depends on the management skills of our executive officers and directors, many of whom have held officer and director positions with us for many years. The unanticipated loss or unavailability of key employees due to the outbreak could harm our ability to operate our business or execute our business strategy. We may not be successful in finding and integrating suitable successors in the event of key employee loss or unavailability. Any one or a combination of the factors identified above could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations and prospects.
Customary means to collect nonperforming assets may be prohibited or impractical during the Covid-19 pandemic, and there is a risk that collateral securing a nonperforming asset may deteriorate if we choose not to, or are unable to, foreclose on collateral on a timely basis.
Governments have adopted, or may adopt in the future, regulations or promulgate executive orders that restrict or limit our ability to take certain actions with respect to delinquent borrowers that we would otherwise take in the ordinary course, such as providing additional foreclosure protections to debtors and eviction protections to tenants. These laws may prohibit landlords and lenders from initiating or completing evictions and foreclosures during the current state of emergency. The laws also may require lenders to provide forbearance to borrowers who submit a request affirming that they have experienced a financial impact from Covid-19. There is a risk that the collateral securing a nonaccrual loan may deteriorate if we choose not to, or are unable to, foreclose on the collateral on a timely basis during restrictions in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While the Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly slowed some foreclosure efforts by the Bank, the overall effect of the Covid-19 recession on our loan portfolio as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 has been nominal, as evidenced by our limited balance of non-performing assets and troubled debt restructurings of $0.9 million as of September 30, 2021 and $1.7 million as
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of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020. Nevertheless, extended foreclosure processes can result in an increase in our carrying costs such as property taxes, insurance premiums, utilities, and maintenance costs that may further erode net recoveries from collateral. Additionally, federal regulators have prosecuted or pursued enforcement actions against a number of mortgage servicing companies for alleged consumer law violations. If new state or federal laws or regulations are ultimately enacted that significantly raise the cost of foreclosure or raise outright barriers to foreclosure, such laws or regulations could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Even when foreclosures, evictions, and money judgment actions are permitted to resume, we expect that the courts and other authorities (e.g., foreclosure trustees in non-judicial foreclosure states) will have a large docket of cases that may take months or years to resolve. There is no reason to expect that judges, legislators, or governors will have any interest in prioritizing creditors’ collection actions against delinquent debtors. Certain borrowers may be inclined to use these extended timelines to their advantage, preferring to remain in properties rent free rather than making any efforts to satisfy creditor debt, in whole or in part.
As a result of the dramatic decline in cash flow that some of our commercial borrowers have experienced as a result of the Covid-19 recession, some of those borrowers have sought and may continue to seek payment deferments on their indebtedness.
Consistent with the public encouragement provided generally by federal and state financial institution regulators after the spread of Covid-19 in the United States, the Bank has attempted to work constructively with borrowers to negotiate loan modifications or forbearance arrangements that reduce or defer the monthly payments due to the Bank. Generally, these modifications are for three months and allow customers to temporarily cease making either principal payments or both interest and principal payments. As of December 31, 2020, the dollar amount of short-term modifications of loans held-for-investment not classified as troubled debt restructurings was $1.2 million, all of which were for full interest and principal payment deferrals. As of September 30, 2021, the dollar amount of short-term modifications of loans held-for-investment not classified as troubled debt restructurings was $0.2 million, all of which were for full interest and principal payment deferrals. Upon the expiration of the deferral period, such borrowers will be required to resume making previously scheduled principal and interest (“P&I”) loan payments. Although we expect most of our customers will resume making timely P&I loan payments after their deferral period ends, we anticipate that a limited number may require additional payment relief. We will consider further deferrals or modified terms on a case-by-case basis as circumstances warrant. As of the date of this prospectus, we are unable to reasonably estimate the aggregate amount of loans that will likely become delinquent after the respective deferral period. We anticipate that we will extend or adjust loan modifications on a case by case basis as circumstances warrant.
We may experience an increase in credit costs in 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 recession.
Our loan loss provision for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was $5.5 million, and for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $5.2 million, as compared to our loan loss provision of $5.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and $5.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The loan loss allowance balance as of September 30, 2021 was $9.6 million, as compared to our loan loss allowance balance as of September 30, 2020 of $7.0 million. The loan loss allowance balance as of December 31, 2020 was $6.2 million, as compared to our loan loss allowance balance as of December 31, 2019 of $4.5 million.
Beginning in late March 2020, when it became apparent that the Covid-19 pandemic and related economic shut down may have an immediate adverse impact on certain groups of our customers, we identified the various categories of borrowers likely to experience the most adverse effects of the Covid-19 recession. Any credit risk downgrades or loan losses for these and other of our borrowers could increase our loan loss provision and adversely affect our results of operations.
Our loan loss allowance may be difficult to evaluate in comparison to our peers. As we are permitted to do as an emerging growth company, we have elected not to adopt Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Update No. 2016–13 (“Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments”), commonly referred to as the “CECL model.” The new standard will be effective for us for reporting beginning as of December 31, 2022. We are adopting this standard later than some of our peers, and therefore, our loan loss allowance may be difficult to evaluate in comparison to many of our peers that are publicly traded.
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The Federal Reserve’s monetary policies, including Federal Open Market Committee’s reduction in the target range for the federal funds rate to between 0.0% and 0.25% in March 2020 to help mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 recession will likely have an adverse effect on our 2021 operating results.
In addition to being affected by general economic conditions, our earnings and growth are affected by the policies of the Federal Reserve. An important function of the Federal Reserve is to influence the U.S. money supply and credit conditions. Among the traditional methods that have been used to achieve this objective are open market operations in U.S. government securities, changes in the discount rate for bank borrowings, expanded access to funds for non-banks and changes in reserve requirements against bank deposits. More recently, the Federal Reserve has, as a response to the financial crisis, significantly increased the size of its balance sheet by buying securities and has paid interest on excess reserves held by banks at the Federal Reserve. Both the traditional and more recent methods are used in varying combinations to influence overall growth and distribution of bank loans, investments and deposits, interest rates on loans and securities, and rates paid for deposits.
The monetary policies and regulations of the Federal Reserve have had a significant effect on the operating results of commercial banks in the past and are expected to continue to do so in the future. The monetary policies of the Federal Reserve are influenced by various factors, including inflation, unemployment, and short-term and long-term changes in the international trade balance and in the fiscal policies of the U.S. government. Future monetary policies, including whether the Federal Reserve will increase the federal funds rate and whether or at what pace it will decide to reduce the size of its balance sheet, cannot be predicted, and although we cannot determine the effects of such policies on us now, such policies could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in interest rates can have a material effect on many areas of our business, including our net interest and net interest margin. When interest rates on our interest-earning assets decline at a faster pace than interest rates on our interest-bearing liabilities, our net interest income is adversely affected. Our planning for 2021 assumes that the current interest rate environment will remain in effect through December 31, 2021; interest rates on our interest-earning assets declined in 2020 at a faster pace than interest rates on our interest-bearing liabilities; and our net interest income for 2021, after considering changes due to the amount of loans outstanding, will likely be less than our net interest income for comparable periods in prior years.
We anticipate the Covid-19 recession will have other adverse effects on our operating results for the year ending December 31, 2021 and possibly beyond.
Other factors likely to have an adverse effect on our operating results include:
| • | possible constraints on liquidity and capital, due to supporting client activities or regulatory actions, |
| • | higher operating costs, increased cybersecurity risks and a potential loss of productivity while we work remotely, and |
| • | higher level of loan modifications and distressed credit management. |
In addition, because both the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated recession are unprecedented, it may be challenging for management to make certain judgments and estimates that are material to our consolidated financial statements while the Covid-19 pandemic continues, given the inherently uncertain operating environment.
We may experience additional expense and reputational risk arising out of our origination, servicing and forgiveness of PPP loans if one or more companies, individuals or public officials allege that we acted unfairly in connection with PPP lending, including by choosing not to process certain PPP applications or in favoring our customers over other eligible PPP borrowers.
As described above, we were able to provide PPP loans to 700 businesses totaling approximately $126.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. No new PPP loans were originated during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. If a PPP loan is forgiven or paid off before maturity, the remaining unearned fee is recognized into income at that time. For the year ended December 31, 2020 and the nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company recognized approximately $0.4 million and $1.8 million in PPP-related SBA accreted deferred loan fees through interest income as a result of PPP loan forgiveness. The PPP opened to borrower applications shortly after the enactment of its authorizing legislation, and, as a result, there is some ambiguity in the laws, rules and guidance regarding the program’s operation. Subsequent rounds of legislation and associated agency guidance have not provided needed clarity and in certain instances have potentially created additional inconsistencies and ambiguities. Accordingly, we are exposed to risks relating to compliance with PPP requirements, including the risk of becoming the subject of governmental investigations, enforcement actions, private litigation and negative publicity.
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We have additional credit risk with respect to PPP loans if a determination is made by the SBA that there is a deficiency in the manner in which the loan was originated, funded or serviced. In the event of a loss resulting from a default on a PPP loan and a determination by the SBA that there was a deficiency in the manner in which the PPP loan was originated, funded, or serviced by us, the SBA may deny its liability under the guaranty, reduce the amount of the guarantee or, if it has already paid under the guarantee, seek recovery of any loss related to the deficiency from the Bank.
Also, PPP loans are fixed, 1% notional interest rate loans that are guaranteed by the SBA and subject to numerous other regulatory requirements, and a borrower may apply to have all or a portion of the loan forgiven. If PPP borrowers fail to qualify for loan forgiveness, we face a heightened risk of holding these loans at unfavorable interest rates for an extended period of time.
As of the date of this prospectus, federal and state officials are investigating how participating PPP lenders process applications and whether certain PPP lenders may have inappropriately or unfairly prioritized certain customers to the detriment of other eligible borrowers. Similarly, there are pending lawsuits against other banks brought by eligible PPP borrowers alleging that various PPP lenders improperly prioritized existing customers when those lenders approved PPP loans. In addition, there are pending lawsuits against other banks alleging that various PPP lenders failed to pay required agency fees to third parties who allegedly assisted businesses with PPP loan applications. We are proud of our efforts to provide PPP funding to small businesses and non-profits, but there can be no assurance that we will not be the target of government scrutiny or that private parties will not bring claims similar to those brought against other banks.
An important element of our business strategy is to pursue growth in our core businesses, and it may be challenging for us to grow our core business while the Covid-19 pandemic and associated recession continue or if the recovery from the Covid-19 recession is slow or unpredictable. If we fail to implement our business strategy, our financial performance and our growth could be materially and adversely affected.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the associated recession are unprecedented. Although we have seen a resurgence of loan demand across many of our product lines, we are unable to predict if or when economic activity will revert to, remain at, or exceed the level that existed before the spread of Covid-19. We also are unable to predict whether our existing and prospective customers will have confidence in assessing when the Covid-19 pandemic will likely abate and the likely pace of any economic recovery. It may be challenging for us to grow our core business while the Covid-19 pandemic continues or if the recovery from the Covid-19 recession is slow or unpredictable.
Our future financial performance and success are dependent in large part upon our ability to implement our business plan successfully. If we are unable to do so, or if the continuing effects of the Covid-19 recession impede our ability to grow our core business, our long-term growth and profitability may be adversely affected. Even if we are able to implement some or all of the initiatives of our business plan successfully, our operating results may not improve to the extent we anticipate, or at all. Implementation of our strategic plan could also be affected by a number of factors beyond our control, such as increased competition, legal developments, government regulation, legislative activity, general economic conditions or increased operating costs or expenses. In addition, to the extent we have misjudged the nature and extent of industry trends or our competition, we may have difficulty in achieving our strategic objectives. Any failure to implement our business strategy successfully may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may decide to alter or discontinue certain aspects of our business strategy at any time.
Risks Related to Cybersecurity and Technology
System failure or cybersecurity breaches of our network security could subject us to increased operating costs as well as litigation and other potential losses.
Our computer systems and network infrastructure could be vulnerable to hardware and cybersecurity issues. Our operations are dependent upon our ability to protect our computer equipment against damage from fire, power loss, telecommunications failure or a similar catastrophic event. We could also experience a breach by intentional or negligent conduct on the part of employees or other internal sources. Any damage or failure that causes an interruption in our operations could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Further, the technology created by and relied upon by us, including FinView™, may not function properly, or at all, which may have a material impact on our operations and financial conditions. There may be no alternatives available if such technology does not work as anticipated. The importance of our on-line banking systems to the Company’s
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operations means that any problems in its functionality would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s operations. Any such technological problems would have a material adverse impact on the Company’s business model and growth strategy.
Our operations are also dependent upon our ability to protect our computer systems and network infrastructure against damage from physical break-ins, cybersecurity breaches and other disruptive problems caused by the internet or other users. Such computer break-ins and other disruptions would jeopardize the security of information stored in and transmitted through our computer systems and network infrastructure, which may result in significant liability, damage our reputation and inhibit the use of our internet banking services by current and potential customers. We could also become the target of various cyberattacks. We regularly add additional security measures to our computer systems and network infrastructure to mitigate the possibility of cybersecurity breaches, including firewalls and penetration testing. However, it is difficult or impossible to defend against every risk being posed by changing technologies as well as acts of cyber-crime. Increasing sophistication of cyber criminals and terrorists make keeping up with new threats difficult and could result in a system breach. Controls employed by our information technology department and cloud vendors could prove inadequate. A breach of our security that results in unauthorized access to our data could expose us to a disruption or challenges relating to our daily operations, as well as to data loss, litigation, damages, fines and penalties, significant increases in compliance costs and reputational damage, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have implemented remote working and workplace protocols for our employees in accordance with government requirements. Working outside of our network protection may increase our risk exposure to cybersecurity breaches. An increase in the number of employees working offsite may correspond to an increase in the size of our risk exposure to cyber disruptions. The extent of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our business and financial performance, including our ability to execute our near-term and long-term business strategies and initiatives in the expected time frame, will depend on future developments, including the duration and severity of the pandemic and the impacts of reopening, including possible additional waves, which are uncertain and cannot be predicted.
We are dependent on the use of data and modeling in our management’s decision-making, and faulty data or modeling approaches could negatively impact our decision-making ability or possibly subject us to regulatory scrutiny in the future.
The use of statistical and quantitative models and other quantitative analyses is necessary for bank decision-making, and the employment of such analyses is becoming increasingly widespread in our operations.
Liquidity stress testing, interest rate sensitivity analysis and the identification of possible violations of anti-money laundering regulations are all examples of areas in which we are dependent on models and the data that underlies them. The use of statistical and quantitative models is also becoming more prevalent in regulatory compliance. While we are not currently subject to annual Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act, stress testing and the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review submissions, we believe that model-derived testing may become more extensively implemented by regulators in the future.
We anticipate data-based modeling will penetrate further into bank decision-making, particularly risk management efforts, as the capacities developed to meet rigorous stress testing requirements are able to be employed more widely and in differing applications. While we believe these quantitative techniques and approaches improve our decision-making, they also create the possibility that faulty data or flawed quantitative approaches could negatively impact our decision-making ability or, if we become subject to regulatory stress-testing in the future, adverse regulatory scrutiny. Secondarily, because of the complexity inherent in these approaches, misunderstanding or misuse of their outputs or reliance on invalid models could similarly result in suboptimal decision-making by either ourselves, our Strategic Program service providers, investors or other parties and this could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not have the resources to keep pace with rapid technological changes in the industry or implement new technology effectively.
The financial services industry is undergoing rapid technological changes with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. In addition to serving customers better, the effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables financial institutions to reduce costs. As a result, to stay current with the industry, our business model may need to evolve as well. Our future success will depend, at least in part, upon our ability to
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address the needs of our customers by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy customer demands for convenience as well as to create additional efficiencies in our operations as we continue to grow and expand our products and service offerings. We may experience operational challenges as we implement these new technology enhancements or products, which could impair our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from such new technology or require us to incur significant costs to remedy any such challenges in a timely manner.
Many of our larger competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements. Third parties upon which we rely for our technology needs may not be able to develop, on a cost-effective basis, systems that will enable us to keep pace with such developments. As a result, our larger competitors may be able to offer additional or superior products compared to those that we will be able to provide, which would put us at a competitive disadvantage. We may lose customers seeking new technology-driven products and services to the extent we are unable to provide such products and services. The ability to keep pace with technological change is important and the failure to do so could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our operations could be interrupted if our third-party service providers or Strategic Program service providers experience operational or other systems difficulties or terminate their services.
We outsource some of our operational activities and accordingly depend on relationships with many third-party service providers and counterparties, including those who participate in our Strategic Programs. Specifically, we rely on such third parties and counterparties for certain services, including, but not limited to, loan marketing and origination, core systems support, informational website hosting, internet services, online account opening and other processing services. Our business depends on the successful and uninterrupted functioning of our information technology and telecommunications systems and third-party service providers. We also leverage the financial technology capabilities of our Strategic Program service providers to meet our enterprise risk framework and enable us to realize operating efficiencies. The failure of these systems and capabilities, a cybersecurity breach involving any of our third-party service providers or Strategic Program service providers or the termination or change in terms of a third-party software license or service agreement on which any of these systems is based could interrupt our operations. Because the information technology and telecommunications systems we use and used by our Strategic Program service providers interface with and depend on third-party systems, we could directly or indirectly experience service denials if demand for such services exceeds capacity or such third-party systems fail or experience interruptions. Replacing vendors or addressing other issues with our third-party service providers or partners could entail significant delay, expense and disruption of service.
As a result, if these third-party service providers or our Strategic Program service providers experience difficulties, are subject to cybersecurity breaches, or terminate their services, and we are unable to replace them with other service providers or alternative counterparties, particularly on a timely basis, our operations could be interrupted. If an interruption were to continue for a significant period, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Even if we can replace third-party service providers or Strategic Program service providers, it may be at a higher cost to us, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our internal computer systems, or those used by our third-party service providers and collaborators, or other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches.
In the ordinary course of business, we have outsourced elements of our operations to third parties, and as a result we manage a number of third-party contractors who have access to our confidential information, including third party vendors of IT and data security systems and services. While we generally require such vendors to use industry standard practices for data security, we have no operational control over them.
Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems and those of our Strategic Program platforms, and other contractors and consultants as well as third party vendors of IT and data security systems and services, are vulnerable to damage and interruptions from security breaches, computer viruses, fraud and similar incidents involving the loss or unauthorized access of confidential information. One such third party vendor is SolarWinds Corporation (SolarWinds), a provider of IT monitoring and management products and services, including its Orion Platform products, which are used by over 30,000 businesses including our Strategic Program platforms. SolarWinds experienced a cyberattack that was identified in December 2020 and that appears likely to be the result of a supply chain attack by an outside nation state. SolarWinds has stated that, as a result of the attack, software updates related to its Orion Platform products delivered between March and June 2020 included vulnerabilities, and
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that its investigation is ongoing. Since being notified of the attack, our Strategic Program service providers have taken steps to mitigate the vulnerabilities identified within the Orion Platform products.
While we have not to our knowledge experienced any material system failure, accident or security breach to date, because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems are constantly evolving, change frequently, and generally are not recognized until they are launched against a target, we cannot be sure that our continued data protection efforts and investment in information technology will prevent future significant breakdowns, data leakages, breaches in our systems or the systems of our third party contractors and collaborators, or other cyber incidents that could have a material adverse effect upon our reputation, business, operations or financial condition. If such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our programs and the development of our product candidates could be delayed. For example, significant disruptions or security breaches of our internal information technology systems or our third party contractors and collaborators’ information technology systems could result in the loss, misappropriation, and/or unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of, or the prevention of access to, our confidential information (including trade secrets or other intellectual property, proprietary business information, and personal information), which could also result in financial, legal, business, and reputational harm to us.
Risks Related to Our Banking Business
As a business operating in the financial services industry, our business and operations may be adversely affected in numerous and complex ways by weak economic conditions.
Our business and operations, which primarily consist of lending money to clients in the form of loans, borrowing money from clients in the form of deposits and investing in interest earning deposits in other banks and securities, are sensitive to general business and economic conditions in the United States. We solicit deposits and originate loans throughout the United States. If the U.S. economy weakens, our growth and profitability from our lending, deposit and investment operations could be constrained. Uncertainty about the federal fiscal policymaking process, the medium- and long-term fiscal outlook of the federal government and future tax rates is a concern for businesses, consumers and investors in the United States. Uncertainties also have arisen regarding the potential for a reversal or renegotiation of international trade agreements, the effects of the legislation commonly known as Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or the Tax Act, the effects of the CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the impact such actions, other policies and the current administration may have on economic and market conditions.
Weak economic conditions are characterized by numerous factors, including deflation, fluctuations in debt and equity capital markets, a lack of liquidity and depressed prices in the secondary market for mortgage loans, increased delinquencies on mortgage, consumer and commercial loans, residential and commercial real estate price declines and lower levels of home sales and commercial activity. The current economic environment is characterized by lower interest rates than historically have been the case, which impacts our ability to generate attractive earnings through our loan and investment portfolios.
In addition, concerns about the performance of international economies, especially in Europe and emerging markets, and economic conditions in Asia, particularly the economies of China, South Korea and Japan, can impact the economy and financial markets here in the United States. If the national, regional and local economies experience worsening economic conditions, including high levels of unemployment, our growth and profitability could be constrained. Our business is significantly affected by monetary and other regulatory policies of the U.S. federal government, its agencies and government-sponsored entities. Changes in any of these policies are influenced by macroeconomic conditions and other factors that are beyond our control, are difficult to predict and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations and growth prospects. In addition, decreases in real estate values within our service areas caused by economic conditions, recent changes in tax laws or other events could adversely affect the value of the property used as collateral for our loans, which could cause us to realize a loss in the event of a foreclosure. Further, deterioration in economic conditions could drive the level of loan losses beyond the level we have provided for in our allowance for loan losses, which in turn could necessitate an increase in our provision for loan losses and a resulting reduction to our earnings and capital. These factors can individually or in the aggregate be detrimental to our business, and the interplay between these factors can be complex and unpredictable. Adverse economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Our commercial and consumer banking clients who participate in our real estate lending program and SBA 7(a) lending program are concentrated in certain geographic areas and we are sensitive to adverse changes in those regional economies.
The success of our real estate lending programs depends substantially upon the general economic conditions in Utah, which we cannot predict with certainty. Adverse conditions in the local Utah economy such as unemployment, recession, a catastrophic event or other factors beyond our control could impact the ability of borrowers participating in our real estate lending program to repay their loans, which could impact our net interest income. In addition, our borrowers who participate in our SBA 7(a) lending program span across multiple states, with a focus in New York and New Jersey. As in the case with Utah, we similarly cannot foresee or control the economic conditions in such states. As a result, our operations and profitability related to our real estate lending programs and SBA 7(a) programs may be adversely affected by a regional economic downturn. A downturn in these regional economies generally could make it more difficult for our borrowers to repay their loans and may lead to loan losses. For these reasons, any national, regional or local economic downturn that affects our service regions, or existing or prospective borrowers in such regions, could have a material adverse effect on our real estate and SBA 7(a) lending and the business, financial condition and results of operations.
We face strong competition from financial services companies and other companies that offer banking services.
We operate in the highly competitive financial services industry and face significant competition for customers from financial institutions located both within and beyond our principal markets and product lines. We compete with commercial banks, savings banks, credit unions, nonbank financial services companies and other financial institutions operating both within our market areas and nationally, and in respect of our financial technology initiative we also compete with other entities in the financial technology industry, including a limited number of other banks that have developed strategic programs similar to our Strategic Programs. Customer loyalty can be influenced by a competitor’s new products, especially offerings that could provide cost savings or a higher return to the customer or provide a better banking experience. Increased lending activity of competing banks following the 2008–2009 economic downturn has also led to increased competitive pressures on loan rates and terms for high quality credits. We may not be able to compete successfully with other financial institutions in our markets, and we may have to pay higher interest rates to attract deposits, accept lower yields to attract loans and pay higher wages for new employees, resulting in lower net interest margins and reduced profitability.
Many of our non-bank competitors are not subject to the same extensive regulations that govern our activities and may have greater flexibility in competing for business. The financial services industry could become even more competitive because of legislative, regulatory and technological changes and continued consolidation. In addition, some of our current commercial banking customers may seek alternative banking sources as they develop needs for credit facilities larger than we may be able to accommodate. Similarly, our Strategic Program service providers may also seek alternative banking relationships, which could restrict our ability to grow that core business line. Our inability to compete successfully in the markets in which we operate could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We may not be able to measure and limit our credit risk adequately, which could lead to unexpected losses.
Our business depends on our ability to successfully measure and manage credit risk. As a lender, we are exposed to the risk that the principal of, or interest on, a loan will not be paid timely or at all or that the value of any collateral supporting a loan will be insufficient to cover our outstanding exposure. In addition, we are exposed to risks with respect to the period of time over which the loan may be repaid, risks relating to proper loan underwriting, closing, servicing and liquidation, risks resulting from changes in economic and industry conditions, and risks inherent in dealing with individual loans and borrowers. The creditworthiness of a borrower is affected by many factors, including local market and industry conditions and general economic conditions. Many of our loans are made to small- to medium-sized businesses that are less able to withstand competitive, economic and financial pressures than larger enterprises. If the overall economic climate in the United States generally, or in any of our markets specifically, experiences material disruption, our borrowers may experience difficulties in repaying their loans, the collateral we hold may decrease in value or become illiquid, and the level of delinquencies, nonperforming loans, and charge-offs could rise and require significant additional provisions for loan losses.
Our risk management practices, such as monitoring the concentration of our loans within specific markets and our credit approval, review and administrative practices, may not adequately reduce credit risk, and our credit
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administration personnel, policies and procedures may not adequately adapt to changes in economic or any other conditions affecting customers and the quality of the loan portfolio. A failure to effectively measure and limit the credit risk associated with our loan portfolio may result in loan defaults, foreclosures and additional charge-offs, and may necessitate that we significantly increase our allowance for loan losses, each of which could adversely affect our net income. As a result, our inability to successfully manage credit risk could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our allowance for loan losses may prove to be insufficient to absorb potential losses in our loan portfolio.
We maintain an allowance for loan losses that represents management’s judgment of probable losses and risks inherent in our loan portfolio. As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, our allowance for loan losses totaled $9.6 million and $6.2 million, which represents approximately 5.2% and 2.6% of our total gross loans held-for-investment, respectively. The level of the allowance reflects management’s continuing evaluation of general economic conditions, diversification and seasoning of the loan portfolio, historic loss experience, identified credit problems, delinquency levels and adequacy of collateral. The determination of the appropriate level of our allowance for loan losses is inherently highly subjective and requires management to make significant estimates of and assumptions regarding current credit risks, all of which may undergo material changes. Inaccurate management assumptions, deterioration of economic conditions affecting borrowers, new information regarding existing loans, identification or deterioration of additional problem loans, acquisition of problem loans and other factors (including third-party review and analysis), both within and outside of our control, may require us to increase our allowance for loan losses. In addition, our regulators, as an integral part of their periodic examination, review our methodology for calculating, and the adequacy of, our allowance for loan losses and may direct us to make additions to the allowance based on their judgments about information available to them at the time of their examination. Further, if actual charge-offs in future periods exceed the amounts allocated to our allowance for loan losses, we may need additional provisions for loan losses to restore the adequacy of our allowance for loan losses which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Finally, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, has issued a new accounting standard that will replace the current approach under GAAP, for establishing allowances for loan and lease losses, which generally considers only past events and current conditions, with a forward-looking methodology that reflects the expected credit losses over the lives of financial assets, starting when such assets are first originated or acquired. As an emerging growth company relying on the extended transition period for new accounting standards, this standard, referred to as Current Expected Credit Loss, or CECL, will be effective for us in 2023. The CECL standard will require us to record, at the time of origination, credit losses expected throughout the life of the asset portfolio on loans and held-to-maturity securities, as opposed to the current practice of recording losses when it is probable that a loss event has occurred. We are currently evaluating the impact the CECL standard will have on our accounting and regulatory capital position. The adoption of the CECL standard will materially affect how we determine allowance for loan losses and could require us to significantly increase the allowance. Moreover, the CECL standard may create more volatility in the level of allowance for loan losses. If we are required to materially increase the level of our allowance for loan losses for any reason, such increase could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are exposed to a various types of credit risk due to interconnectivity in the financial services industry and could be adversely affected by the insolvency of other financial institutions.
Financial services institutions are interrelated based on trading, clearing, counterparty or other relationships. We have exposure to many different industries and counterparties, and routinely execute transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry, including commercial banks, brokers and dealers, investment banks and other institutional clients. Many of these transactions expose us to credit risk in the event of a default by a counterparty or client. In addition, our credit risk may be exacerbated when our collateral cannot be foreclosed upon or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount of the credit or derivative exposure due. Any such losses could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
New lines of business or new products and services may subject us to additional risks.
From time to time, we may implement or may acquire new lines of business or pilot programs or offer new products and services within existing lines of business. There are substantial risks and uncertainties associated with these efforts, particularly in instances where the markets are not fully developed. In developing and marketing new lines
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of business and new products and services, we may invest significant time and resources. We may not achieve target timetables for the introduction and development of new lines of business and new products or services and price and profitability targets may not prove feasible. External factors, such as regulatory compliance obligations, competitive alternatives and shifting market preferences, may also impact the successful implementation of a new line of business or a new product or service. Furthermore, any new line of business or new product or service could have a significant impact on the effectiveness of our system of internal controls. Failure to successfully manage these risks in the development and implementation of new lines of business or new products or services could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We may be subject to certain risks in connection with growing through mergers and acquisitions.
It is possible that we could acquire other banking institutions, other financial services companies, banking and servicing platforms, or branches of banks in the future. Acquisitions typically involve the payment of a premium over book and trading values and, therefore, may result in the dilution of our tangible book value per share and/or our earnings per share. Our ability to engage in future mergers and acquisitions depends on various factors, including: (1) our ability to identify suitable merger partners and acquisition opportunities; (2) our ability to finance and complete transactions on acceptable terms and at acceptable prices; and (3) our ability to receive the necessary regulatory and, when required, shareholder approvals. Furthermore, mergers and acquisitions involve a number of risks and challenges, including our ability to achieve planned synergies and to integrate the branches and operations we acquire, and the internal controls and regulatory functions into our current operations, as well as the diversion of management’s attention from existing operations, which may adversely affect our ability to successfully conduct our business and negatively impact our financial results. Our inability to engage in an acquisition or merger for any of these reasons could have an adverse impact on the implementation of our business strategies.
Our SBA lending program is dependent upon the U.S. federal government, and we face specific risks associated with originating SBA loans.
Our SBA lending program is dependent upon the U.S. federal government. Any changes to the SBA program, including but not limited to changes to the level of guarantee provided by the federal government on SBA loans, changes to program specific rules impacting volume eligibility under the guaranty program, as well as changes to the program amounts authorized by Congress or exhaustion of the available funding for SBA programs, may also have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, any default by the U.S. government on its obligations or any prolonged government shutdown could, among other things, impede our ability to originate SBA loans or sell such loans in the secondary market, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and earnings.
The SBA’s 7(a) Loan Program is the SBA’s primary program for helping start-up and existing small businesses, with financing guaranteed for a variety of general business purposes. Generally, we sell the guaranteed portion of our SBA 7(a) loans in the secondary market. These sales result in premium income for us at the time of sale and create a stream of future servicing income, as we retain the servicing rights to these loans. For the reasons described above, we may not be able to continue originating these loans or sell them in the secondary market. As the funding and sale of the guaranteed portion of SBA 7(a) loans is a major portion of our business and a significant portion of our noninterest income, any significant changes to the SBA 7(a) program, such as its funding or eligibility requirements, may have an adverse effect on our prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Even if we are able to continue to originate and sell SBA 7(a) loans in the secondary market, we might not continue to realize premiums upon the sale of the guaranteed portion of these loans or the premiums may decline due to economic and competitive factors. Furthermore, when we sell the guaranteed portion of SBA loans in the ordinary course of business, we are required to make certain representations and warranties to the purchaser about the SBA loan and the manner in which they were originated. Under these agreements, we may be required to repurchase the guaranteed portion of the SBA loan if we have breached any of these representations or warranties, in which case we may record a loss. In addition, if repurchase and indemnity demands increase on loans that we sell from our portfolios, our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.
When we originate SBA loans, we incur credit risk on the non-guaranteed portion of the loans, and if a customer defaults on a loan, we share any loss and recovery related to the loan pro-rata with the SBA. If the SBA establishes that a loss on an SBA guaranteed loan is attributable to significant technical deficiencies in the manner in which the loan was originated, funded or serviced by us, the SBA may seek recovery of the principal loss related to the deficiency from us. Generally, we do not maintain reserves or loss allowances for such potential claims and any such claims could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and earnings.
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The laws, regulations and standard operating procedures that are applicable to SBA loan products may change in the future. We cannot predict the effects of these changes on our business and profitability. Because government regulation greatly affects the business and financial results of all commercial banks and bank holding companies and especially our organization, changes in the laws, regulations and procedures applicable to SBA loans could adversely affect our ability to operate profitably.
Our SBA lending program may be adversely impacted if we lose our SBA Preferred Lender designation.
We are an approved participant in the SBA Preferred Lenders Program (“PLP”). As an SBA Preferred Lender, we are able to offer SBA loans to our clients without being subject to the potentially lengthy SBA approval process for application, servicing or liquidation actions necessary for lenders that are not SBA Preferred Lenders. Through the PLP, the SBA delegates the final credit extension decision to certain lending institutions, as well as most servicing and liquidation authority. The SBA periodically reviews the lending operations of participating lenders to assess, among other things, whether the lender exhibits prudent risk management. When weaknesses are identified, the SBA may request corrective actions or impose enforcement actions, including revocation of the lender’s SBA Preferred Lender status. If we lose our status as an SBA Preferred Lender, we may lose some or all of our customers to lenders who are SBA Preferred Lenders, and as a result we could experience a material adverse effect on our financial results.
We rely on BFG for loan referrals associated with our SBA 7(a) lending program, any disruption of that relationship may adversely impact our SBA lending business.
BFG is a nationally significant referral source of small business loans. BFG has been the primary source of SBA loan referrals for the Bank since the Bank began its SBA lending program in 2014. Specifically, BFG referred 97.3% and 87.5% of the Bank’s SBA 7(a) loan originations for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. BFG referred 95.7% of the Bank’s SBA 7(a) loan originations for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. This relationship has permitted the Bank to focus on the development of underwriting, processing and servicing expertise for SBA 7(a) loans. Any disruption of our relationship with BFG or reduction in SBA 7(a) loan referrals could materially adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operation and growth plans.
Because a significant portion of our loan portfolio held-for-investment within our local lending program and SBA 7(a) lending program is secured by real estate, negative changes in the economy affecting real estate values and liquidity could impair the value of collateral securing our real estate loans and result in loan and other losses.
As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, approximately $27.5 million and $20.6 million, or 14.7% and 8.6%, respectively, of our total gross loans held-for-investment were loans with real estate as a primary or secondary component of collateral. We also have approximately $116.1 million and $91.0 million, or 62.3% and 37.8% of our total gross loans held-for-investment in SBA loans that are secured with real estate as a component of collateral as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively. The market value of real estate can fluctuate significantly in a short period of time. As a result, adverse developments affecting real estate values and the liquidity of real estate in our primary markets could increase the credit risk associated with our loan portfolio, and could result in losses that adversely affect our credit quality, financial condition and results of operations. Negative changes in the economy affecting real estate values and liquidity in our market areas could significantly impair the value of property pledged as collateral on loans and affect our ability to sell the collateral upon foreclosure without a loss or additional losses. Collateral may have to be sold for less than the outstanding balance of the loan, which could result in losses on such loans. Such declines and losses would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If real estate values decline, it is also more likely that we would be required to increase our allowance for loan losses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Appraisals and other valuation techniques we use in evaluating and monitoring loans secured by real property, other real estate owned and repossessed business and personal property may not accurately describe the net value of the asset.
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
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foreclose on and sell the relevant property. In addition, we rely on appraisals and other valuation techniques to establish the value of our other real estate owned, or OREO, and business and personal property that we acquire through foreclosure proceedings and to determine certain loan impairments. If any of these valuations are inaccurate, our combined and consolidated financial statements may not reflect the correct value of our OREO, and our allowance for loan losses may not reflect accurate loan impairments. This could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
In the case of defaults on loans secured by real estate, we may be forced to foreclose on the collateral, subjecting us to the costs and potential risks associated with the ownership of the real property, or consumer protection initiatives or changes in state or federal law that may substantially raise the cost of foreclosure or prevent us from foreclosing at all.
Since we originate loans secured by real estate, we may have to foreclose on the collateral property to protect our investment and may thereafter own and operate such property for some period, in which case we would be exposed to the risks inherent in the ownership of real estate. We held no OREO as of December 31, 2020 or September 30, 2021. The amount that we, as a mortgagee, may realize after a default depends on factors outside of our control, including, but not limited to, general or local economic conditions, environmental cleanup liabilities, assessments, interest rates, real estate tax rates, operating expenses of the mortgaged properties, our ability to obtain and maintain adequate occupancy of the properties, zoning laws, governmental and regulatory rules, and natural disasters. Our inability to manage the amount of costs or size of the risks associated with the ownership of real estate, or write-downs in the value of other real estate owned, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Additionally, consumer protection initiatives, including those related to Covid-19, or changes in state or federal law may substantially increase the time and expense associated with the foreclosure process or prevent us from foreclosing at all. Some states in recent years have either considered or adopted foreclosure reform laws that make it substantially more difficult and expensive for lenders to foreclose on properties in default. If new state or federal laws or regulations are ultimately enacted that significantly raise the cost of foreclosure or raise outright barriers, such laws could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation. Additionally, courts may be closed due to Covid-19 and once opened, may experience a backlog of activity that delays our foreclosure efforts.
We are subject to claims and litigation pertaining to intellectual property.
Banking and other financial services companies rely on technology companies and strategic relationships to provide information technology products and services necessary to support their day-to-day operations. Technology companies frequently pursue litigation based on allegations of patent infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. In addition, patent holding companies seek to monetize patents they have purchased or otherwise obtained. Competitors of our vendors and Strategic Program service providers, or other individuals or companies, may from time to time claim to hold intellectual property sold to us by our vendors and Strategic Program service providers. Such claims may increase in the future as the financial services sector becomes more reliant on information technology vendors and strategic relationships. The plaintiffs in these actions frequently seek injunctions and substantial damages.
Regardless of the scope or validity of such patents or other intellectual property rights, or the merits of any claims by potential or actual litigants, we may have to engage in protracted litigation. Such litigation is often expensive, time-consuming, disruptive to our operations and distracting to management. If we are found to infringe one or more patents or other intellectual property rights, we may be required to pay substantial damages or royalties to a third party. In certain cases, we may consider entering into licensing agreements for disputed intellectual property, although no assurance can be given that such licenses can be obtained on acceptable terms or that litigation will not occur. These licenses may also significantly increase our operating expenses. If legal matters related to intellectual property claims were resolved against us or settled, we could be required to make payments in amounts that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights, and may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our intellectual property, which could be expensive, time consuming and unsuccessful.
We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark, trade secret laws and confidentiality provisions to establish and protect our proprietary rights. If we fail to successfully maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights, our competitive position could suffer. Similarly, if we were to infringe on the intellectual property rights of others,
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our competitive position could suffer. Third parties may challenge, invalidate, circumvent, infringe or misappropriate our intellectual property, or such intellectual property may not be sufficient to permit us to take advantage of current market trends or otherwise to provide competitive advantages, which could result in costly redesign efforts, discontinuance of certain product or service offerings or other competitive harm. We may also be required to spend significant resources to monitor and police our intellectual property rights. Others, including our competitors, may independently develop similar technology, duplicate our products or services or design around our intellectual property, and in such cases we may not be able to assert our intellectual property rights against such parties. Further, our contractual arrangements may not effectively prevent disclosure of our confidential information or provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of our confidential or proprietary information. We may have to litigate to enforce or determine the scope and enforceability of our intellectual property rights, trade secrets and know-how, which could be time-consuming and expensive, could cause a diversion of resources and may not prove successful. The loss of intellectual property protection or the inability to obtain rights with respect to third party intellectual property could harm our business and ability to compete. In addition, because of the rapid pace of technological change in our industry, aspects of our business and our products and services rely on technologies developed or licensed by third parties, and we may not be able to obtain or continue to obtain licenses and technologies from these third parties on reasonable terms or at all.
We may be subject to environmental liabilities relating to the real properties we own and the foreclosure on real estate assets securing loans in our loan portfolio.
In conducting our business, we may foreclose on and take title to real estate or otherwise be deemed to be in control of property that serves as collateral on loans we make. As a result, we could be subject to environmental liabilities with respect to those properties. We may be held liable to a governmental entity or to third parties for property damage, personal injury, investigation and clean-up costs incurred by these parties relating to environmental contamination, or we may be required to investigate or clean up hazardous or toxic substances or chemical releases at a property. The costs associated with investigation or remediation activities could be substantial. In addition, if we are the owner or former owner of a contaminated site, we may be subject to common law claims by third parties based on damages and costs resulting from environmental contamination emanating from the property.
The cost of removal or abatement may substantially exceed the value of the affected properties or the loans secured by those properties, we may not have adequate remedies against the prior owners or other responsible parties and we may not be able to resell the affected properties either before or after completion of any such removal or abatement procedures. If material environmental problems are discovered before foreclosure, we generally will not foreclose on the related collateral. Furthermore, despite these actions on our part, the value of the property as collateral will generally be substantially reduced or we may elect not to foreclose on the property and, as a result, we may suffer a loss upon collection of the loan. Any significant environmental liabilities could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our origination of construction loans exposes us to increased lending risks.
We originate commercial construction loans primarily to professional builders for the construction of one-to-four family residences, apartment buildings, and commercial real estate properties. As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we had approximately $20.8 million and $12.2 million of construction loans, respectively, which represents approximately 11.2% and 5.1%, respectively, of our total gross loan portfolio held-for-investment. To a lesser degree, we also originate land acquisition loans for the purpose of facilitating the ultimate construction of a home or commercial building. Our construction loans present a greater level of risk than loans secured by improved, occupied real estate due to: (1) the increased difficulty at the time the loan is made of estimating the building costs and the selling price of the property to be built; (2) the increased difficulty and costs of monitoring the loan; (3) the higher degree of sensitivity to increases in market rates of interest; and (4) the increased difficulty of working out loan problems. In addition, construction costs may exceed original estimates as a result of increased materials, labor or other costs. Construction loans also often involve the disbursement of funds with repayment dependent, in part, on the success of the project and the ability of the borrower to sell or lease the property or refinance the indebtedness.
The small- to medium-sized businesses that we lend to may have fewer resources to weather adverse business developments, which may impair our borrowers’ ability to repay loans.
As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we had approximately $4.0 million and $4.0 million of commercial and industrial loans to businesses, respectively, which represents approximately 2.1% and 1.7%, respectively, of our total gross loan portfolio held-for-investment. We also have approximately $6.8 million and
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$5.2 million, or 3.6% and 2.1% of our total gross loans held-for-investment, in SBA loans that are commercial and industrial loans to businesses as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively. Small- to medium-sized businesses frequently have smaller market shares than their competition, may be more vulnerable to economic downturns, often need substantial additional capital to expand or compete and may experience substantial volatility in operating results, any of which may impair a borrower’s ability to repay a loan. In addition, the success of a small- and medium-sized business often depends on the management skills, talents and efforts of a small group of people, and the death, disability or resignation of one or more of these people could have a material adverse effect on the business and its ability to repay its loan. If our borrowers are unable to repay their loans, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our concentration of large loans to a limited number of borrowers may increase our credit risk.
As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, our 10 largest borrowing relationships accounted for approximately 19.6% and 16.0%, respectively, of our total gross loans held-for-investment. Along with other risks inherent in these loans, such as the deterioration of the underlying businesses or property securing these loans, this high concentration of borrowers presents a risk to our lending operations. If any one of these borrowers becomes unable to repay its loan obligations because of economic or market conditions, or personal circumstances, such as divorce or death, our nonaccrual loans and our allowance for loan losses could increase significantly, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have loan concentrations in our SBA 7(a) loan portfolio related to the financing of professional, scientific and technical services (including law firms) non-store retailers (e-commerce), merchant wholesalers of durable goods, and ambulatory healthcare services
Loan concentrations are considered to exist when there are amounts loaned to a multiple number of borrowers engaged in similar activities that would cause them to be similarly impacted by economic or other conditions. As of December 31, 2020, our loan portfolio included approximately $9.4 million of loans, or approximately 3.6% of our total loans outstanding, to professional, scientific and technical services (including law firms), $7.2 million of loans, or approximately 2.8% of our total loans outstanding, to non-store retailers (including e-commerce), $4.2 million of loans, or approximately 1.6% of our total loans outstanding, to ambulatory healthcare service businesses, and $3.6 million of loans, or approximately 1.4% of our total loans outstanding, to merchant wholesalers of durable goods. As of September 30, 2021, our loan portfolio included approximately $10.0 million of loans, or approximately 4.0% of our total loans outstanding, to professional, scientific and technical services (including law firms), $9.8 million of loans, or approximately 4.0% of our total loans outstanding, to non-store retailers (including e-commerce), $5.4 million of loans, or approximately 2.1% of our total loans outstanding, to merchant wholesalers of durable goods, and $4.0 million of loans, or approximately 1.6% of our total loans outstanding, to ambulatory healthcare service businesses. We had $17 thousand in charge-offs for the year ended December 31, 2020 and $31 thousand in charge-offs for the nine month period ended September 30, 2021, respectively, in our professional, scientific and technical services (including law firms) non-store retailers (e-commerce), merchant wholesalers of durable goods, and ambulatory healthcare services portfolio assets. We believe that these loans are conservatively underwritten to credit worthy borrowers and are diversified geographically. However, to the extent that there is a decline in professional, scientific and technical services (including law firms), non-store retailers (e-commerce), and ambulatory healthcare services industries in general, we may incur significant losses in our loan portfolio as a result of these concentrations.
A lack of liquidity could impair our ability to fund operations and adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Liquidity is essential to our business. We rely on our ability to generate deposits and effectively manage the repayment and maturity schedules of our loans and investment securities, respectively, to ensure that we have adequate liquidity to fund our operations.
Our most important source of funds is deposits. As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, approximately $109.5 million and $88.1 million, or 43.3% and 53.5%, respectively, of our total deposits were noninterest bearing demand accounts. These deposits are subject to potentially dramatic fluctuations due to certain factors that may be outside of our control, such as a loss of confidence by customers in us or the banking sector generally, customer perceptions of our financial health and general reputation, any of which could result in significant outflows of deposits within short periods of time increasing our funding costs and reducing our net interest income and net
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income. If the balance of the Company’s deposits decreases relative to the Company’s overall banking operations, the Company may have to rely more heavily on wholesale or other sources of external funding, or may have to increase deposit rates to maintain deposit levels in the future. Any such increased reliance on wholesale funding, or increases in funding rates in general, could have a negative impact on the Company’s net interest income and, consequently, on its results of operations and financial condition.
Our Strategic Programs generally require each Strategic Program platform to establish a reserve deposit account with the Bank, intended to protect us in the event a purchaser of loan receivables originated through our Strategic Programs cannot meet its contractual obligation to purchase. The reserve deposit account balance is typically required to at least equal the total outstanding balance of loans held-for-sale by the Bank related to the Strategic Program. In the event that a loan purchaser defaults on its obligation under the Strategic Program agreements and the reserve deposit account balance is lower than the loans held-for-sale, the Bank may not be able to withdraw sufficient amount from the reserve deposit account to fulfill loan purchaser obligations and our liquidity may be adversely impacted.
We also may borrow funds from third-party lenders, such as other financial institutions. We currently utilize three secured lines of credit provided by the FHLB, PPPLF and the Federal Reserve and two unsecured lines of credit provided by Bankers Bank of the West and Zions Bank. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our activities, or on terms that are acceptable to us, could be impaired by factors that affect us directly or the financial services industry or economy in general, such as disruptions in the financial markets or negative views and expectations about the prospects for the financial services industry. Our access to funding sources could also be affected by one or more adverse regulatory actions against us.
Any decline in available funding could adversely impact our ability to originate loans, invest in securities, meet our expenses or fulfill obligations such as repaying our borrowings or meeting deposit withdrawal demands, any of which could, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have a concentration of deposit accounts with our Strategic Program service providers that is a material source of our funding, and the loss of these deposits or default on letters of credit by these Strategic Program service providers could force us to fund our business through more expensive and less stable sources.
As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, approximately $97.3 million and $70.1 million, or approximately 38.5% and 42.6%, respectively, of our total deposits consisted of deposit accounts of our Strategic Program service providers. Generally, the terms of our Strategic Programs require each Strategic Program service provider or purchasing entity to establish a reserve deposit account with the Bank in an amount at least equal to the total outstanding balance of loans held-for-sale by the Bank related to the Strategic Program. This requirement is intended to protect the Bank in the event a purchaser of loan receivables originated through our Strategic Programs cannot meet its contractual obligation to purchase. Depending on the strength of the relationship between the Bank and our Strategic Program service providers, we may reduce the required amount of reserve deposits held and/or allow a portion of the requirement to be fulfilled by a letter of credit. In addition to the reserve deposit account, certain Strategic Program service providers have opened operating deposit accounts at the Bank. If a Strategic Program service provider defaults on its letter of credit or we experience additional unanticipated fluctuations in our Strategic Program deposit levels, we may be forced to rely more heavily on other, potentially more expensive and less stable funding sources, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The past financial performance of the Bank is not a complete indicator upon which to base an estimate of the Bank’s future financial performance.
Although the Bank has a moderately long operational history, we have expanded the size and scope of the Bank in recent years, which resulted in increased overhead in current periods with the expectation of increased revenues in future periods. Although our revenue has increased in recent periods, there can be no assurances that revenue will continue to grow, we do not believe that the past financial performance of the Bank is a complete indicator of the future financial performance of the Bank and there can be no assurance that we will maintain our growth rate in future periods. Many factors may contribute to declines in our growth rates, including increased competition, slowing demand for our products from existing and new consumers, transaction volume and mix (particularly with our Strategic Program service providers and merchant relationships), general economic conditions, a failure by us to continue capitalizing on growth opportunities, changes in the regulatory environment and the maturation of our business, among others. If our growth rate declines, our business, financial condition, and results of operations would be adversely affected.
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If we are unable to maintain or increase the volume of loan transactions or if we are unable to retain existing customers or attract new customers, including through our Strategic Programs, our business and results of operations will be adversely affected.
To continue to grow our business, we must continue to increase the volume of loan transactions by retaining existing customers and attracting a large number of new customers, including through Strategic Programs, who meet the requisite qualifications. The overall volume of loan transactions and the number of customers we have may be affected by various factors. If we are unable to maintain or increase the volume of loan transactions or if we are unable to provide a quality customer experience, attract new customers, retain existing customers, or increase customer activity, including through Strategic Programs, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future prospects may be adversely affected. In addition, bank regulators supervising the Company or the Bank may impose limitations on our growth that will impede our ability to grow our business.
If we are unable to attract additional merchants and retain and grow our existing merchant relationships, our business, results of operations, financial condition, and future prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
Our continued success is dependent, in part, on our ability to expand our merchant base and to grow our POS lending revenue. If we are not able to attract additional merchants and to expand revenue and volume of transactions from existing merchants, we will not be able to continue to grow our POS line of business. The termination of one or more of our merchant agreements would result in a reduction in transaction volume and related revenue. In addition, having a diversified mix of merchant relationships is important to mitigate risk associated with changing consumer spending behavior, economic conditions and other factors that may affect a particular type of merchant or industry. If we fail to retain any of our merchant relationships, if we do not acquire new merchant relationships, if we do not continually expand revenue and volume from the merchant relationships, or if we do not attract and retain a diverse mix of merchant relationships, our business, results of operations, financial condition, and future prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
We are subject to interest rate risk as fluctuations in interest rates may adversely affect our earnings.
Most of our banking assets and liabilities are monetary in nature and subject to risk from changes in interest rates. Like most financial institutions, our earnings are significantly dependent on our net interest income, the principal component of our earnings, which is the difference between interest earned by us from our interest earning assets, such as loans and investment securities, and interest paid by us on our interest bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings. We expect that we will periodically experience “gaps” in the interest rate sensitivities of our assets and liabilities, meaning that either our interest bearing liabilities will be more sensitive to changes in market interest rates than our interest earning assets, or vice versa. In either case, if market interest rates should move contrary to our position, this gap will negatively impact our earnings. The impact on earnings is more adverse when the slope of the yield curve flattens; that is, when short-term interest rates increase more than long-term interest rates or when long-term interest rates decrease more than short-term interest rates. Many factors impact interest rates, including governmental monetary policies, inflation, recession, changes in unemployment, the money supply, international economic weakness and disorder and instability in domestic and foreign financial markets. In addition, the Federal Reserve has stated its intention to end its quantitative easing program and has begun to reduce the size of its balance sheet by selling securities, which might also affect interest rates. As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, approximately 73.1% and 52.2%, respectively, of our interest earning assets and approximately 26.9% and 17.5%, respectively, of our interest bearing liabilities had a variable interest rate.
Interest rate increases often result in larger payment requirements for our borrowers, which increases the potential for default and could result in a decrease in the demand for loans. At the same time, the marketability of the property securing a loan may be adversely affected by any reduced demand resulting from higher interest rates. In a declining interest rate environment, there may be an increase in prepayments on loans as borrowers refinance their loans at lower rates. In addition, in a low interest rate environment, loan customers often pursue long-term fixed rate borrowings, which could adversely affect our earnings and net interest margin if rates later increase. Changes in interest rates also can affect the value of loans, securities and other assets. An increase in interest rates that adversely affects the ability of borrowers to pay the principal or interest on loans may lead to an increase in nonperforming assets and a reduction of income recognized, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows. Further, when we place a loan on nonaccrual status, we reverse any accrued but unpaid interest receivable, which decreases interest income. At the same time, we continue to incur costs to fund the loan, which is
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reflected as interest expense, without any interest income to offset the associated funding expense. Thus, an increase in the amount of nonperforming assets could have a material adverse impact on net interest income. If short-term interest rates remain at their historically low levels for a prolonged period and assuming longer-term interest rates fall further, we could experience net interest margin compression as our interest earning assets would continue to reprice downward while our interest bearing liability rates could fail to decline in tandem. Such an occurrence would reduce our net interest income and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Any future failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could impair the reliability of our financial statements, which in turn could harm our business, impair investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and our access to the capital markets and cause the price of our common stock to decline and subject us to regulatory penalties.
If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately and in a timely manner, in which case our business may be harmed, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, we could be subject to regulatory penalties and the price of our common stock may decline.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting and for evaluating and reporting on that system of internal control. Our internal control over financial reporting consists of a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. As a public company, we will be required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other rules that govern public companies. We will be required to certify our compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act beginning with our second annual report on Form 10-K, which will require us to furnish annually a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, when we cease to be an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
The accuracy of our financial statements and related disclosures could be affected if the judgments, assumptions or estimates used in our critical accounting policies are inaccurate.
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with GAAP requires us to make judgments, assumptions and estimates that affect the amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Our critical accounting policies, which are included in the section captioned “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this prospectus, describe those significant accounting policies and methods used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements that we consider critical because they require judgments, assumptions and estimates that materially affect our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. As a result, if future events or regulatory views concerning such analysis differ significantly from the judgments, assumptions and estimates in our critical accounting policies, those events or assumptions could have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures, in each case resulting in our need to revise or restate prior period financial statements, cause damage to our reputation and the price of our common stock and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
There could be material changes to our financial statements and disclosures if there are changes in accounting standards or regulatory interpretations of existing standards.
From time to time the FASB or the SEC may change the financial accounting and reporting standards that govern the preparation of our financial statements. Such changes may result in us being subject to new or changing accounting and reporting standards. In addition, the bodies that interpret the accounting standards (such as banking regulators or outside auditors) may change their interpretations or positions on how new or existing standards should be applied. These changes may be beyond our control, can be hard to predict and can materially impact how we record and report our financial condition and results of operations. In some cases, we could be required to apply a new or revised standard retrospectively, or apply an existing standard differently and retrospectively, in each case resulting in our needing to revise or restate prior period financial statements, which could materially change our financial statements and related disclosures, cause damage to our reputation and the price of our common stock, and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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We could recognize losses on investment securities held in our securities portfolio, particularly if interest rates increase or economic and market conditions deteriorate.
We invest a percentage of our total assets (1.3% as of September 30, 2021) in investment securities with the primary objectives of providing a source of liquidity, providing an appropriate return on funds invested, managing interest rate risk and meeting pledging requirements. As of September 30, 2021, all securities were classified as held-for-investment. Factors beyond our control can significantly and adversely influence the fair value of securities in our portfolio. For example, fixed-rate securities are generally subject to decreases in market value when interest rates rise. Additional factors include, but are not limited to, rating agency downgrades of the securities, defaults by the issuer or individual borrowers with respect to the underlying securities and instability in the credit markets. Any of the foregoing factors could cause other-than-temporary impairment in future periods and result in realized losses. The process for determining whether impairment is other-than-temporary usually requires difficult, subjective judgments about the future financial performance of the issuer and any collateral underlying the security to assess the probability of receiving all contractual principal and interest payments on the security. Because of changing economic and market conditions affecting interest rates, the financial condition of issuers of the securities and the performance of the underlying collateral, we may recognize realized and/or unrealized losses in future periods, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to certain operational risks, including, but not limited to, customer, employee or third-party fraud and data processing system failures and errors.
Employee errors and employee or customer misconduct could subject us to financial losses or regulatory sanctions and seriously harm our reputation. Misconduct by our employees could include hiding unauthorized activities from us, improper or unauthorized activities on behalf of our customers or improper use of confidential information. It is not always possible to prevent employee errors and misconduct, and the precautions we take to prevent and detect this activity may not be effective in all cases. Employee errors could also subject us to financial claims for negligence.
We maintain a system of internal controls to mitigate operational risks, including data processing system failures and errors and customer or employee fraud, as well as insurance coverage designed to protect us from material losses associated with these risks, including losses resulting from any associated business interruption. If our internal controls fail to prevent or detect an occurrence, or if any resulting loss is not insured or exceeds applicable insurance limits, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, we rely heavily upon information supplied by third parties, including the information contained in credit applications, property appraisals, title information and employment and income documentation, in deciding which loans we will originate, as well as the terms of those loans. If any of the information upon which we rely is misrepresented, either fraudulently or inadvertently, and the misrepresentation is not detected prior to loan funding, the value of the loan may be significantly lower than expected, or we may fund a loan that we would not have funded or on terms that do not comply with our general underwriting standards. Whether a misrepresentation is made by the applicant or another third party, we generally bear the risk of loss associated with the misrepresentation. A loan subject to a material misrepresentation is typically unsellable or subject to repurchase if it is sold prior to detection of the misrepresentation. The sources of the misrepresentations are often difficult to locate, and it is often difficult to recover any of the resulting monetary losses we may suffer, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely heavily on our executive management team and other key employees, and we could be adversely affected by the unexpected loss of their services.
We are led by an experienced core management team with substantial experience in the markets that we serve, and our operating strategy focuses on providing products and services through long-term relationship managers and ensuring that our largest clients have relationships with our senior management team. Accordingly, our success depends in large part on the performance of these key personnel, as well as on our ability to attract, motivate and retain highly qualified senior and middle management. Competition for employees is intense and the process of locating key personnel with the combination of skills and attributes required to execute our business plan may be lengthy. If any of our executive officers, other key personnel or directors leaves us or our Bank, our financial condition and results of operations may suffer because of his or her skills, knowledge of our market, years of industry experience and the difficulty of promptly finding qualified personnel to replace him or her.
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Negative public opinion regarding the Company or failure to maintain our reputation within the industries we serve and across our product lines could adversely affect our business and prevent us from growing our business.
Our Bank’s reputation within the industries we serve and across our product lines is critical to our success. We strive to enhance our reputation by recruiting, hiring and retaining employees who share our core values of being an integral part of the communities we serve and delivering superior service to our customers. If our reputation is negatively affected by the actions of our employees or otherwise, including because of a successful cyberattack against us or other unauthorized release or loss of customer information, we may be less successful in attracting new talent and customers or may lose existing customers, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Further, negative public opinion can expose us to litigation and regulatory action and delay and impede our efforts to implement our expansion strategy, which could further adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, negative publicity about us or our industry, including the transparency, fairness, user experience, quality, and reliability of our lending products or channels, including auto loans, construction loans, SBA loans, point-of-sale financing, or our Strategic Programs in general, effectiveness of our risk model, our ability to effectively manage and resolve complaints, our privacy and security practices, litigation, regulatory activity, funding sources, originating bank partners, service providers, or others in our industry, the experience of consumers and investors with our lending products, channels or services or point-of-sale lending platforms in general, or use of loan proceeds by consumers that have obtained loans facilitated through us or other point-of-sale lending platforms for illegal purposes, even if inaccurate, could adversely affect our reputation and the confidence in, and the use of, our services, which could harm our reputation and cause disruptions to our business. Any such reputational harm could further affect the behavior of consumers, including their willingness to obtain loans facilitated through us or to make payments on their loans. As a result, our business, results of operations, financial condition, and future prospects would be materially and adversely affected.
We may not be able to raise the additional capital needed, in absolute terms or on terms acceptable to us, to fund our growth in the future if we continue to grow at our current pace.
After giving effect to this offering, we believe that we will have sufficient capital to meet our capital needs for our immediate growth plans. However, we will continue to need capital to support our longer-term growth plans. If capital is not available on favorable terms when we need it, we will have to either issue common stock or other securities on less than desirable terms or reduce our rate of growth until market conditions become more favorable. Either of such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Regulation
We are subject to regulation, which increases the cost and expense of regulatory compliance and therefore reduces our net income and may restrict our growth and ability to acquire other financial institutions.
As a bank holding company under federal law, we are subject to regulation under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, or the BHC Act, and the examination and reporting requirements of the Federal Reserve. In addition to supervising and examining us, the Federal Reserve, through its adoption of regulations implementing the BHC Act, places certain restrictions on the activities that are deemed permissible for bank holding companies to engage in. Changes in the number or scope of permissible activities could have an adverse effect on our ability to realize our strategic goals.
As a Utah state-chartered bank that is not a member of the Federal Reserve System, the Bank is separately subject to regulation by both the FDIC and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions, or UDFI. The FDIC and UDFI regulate numerous aspects of the Bank’s operations, including adequate capital and financial condition, permissible types and amounts of extensions of credit and investments, permissible non-banking activities and restrictions on dividend payments. The Bank undergoes periodic examinations by the FDIC and UDFI. Following such examinations, the Bank may be required, among other things, to change its asset valuations or the amounts of required loan loss allowances or to restrict its operations, as well as increase its capital levels, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
Supervision, regulation, and examination of the Company and the Bank by the bank regulatory agencies are intended primarily for the protection of consumers, bank depositors and the Deposit Insurance Fund of the FDIC, rather than holders of our common stock.
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Particularly as a result of any changes in the regulations and regulatory agencies under the Dodd-Frank Act, we may be required to invest significant management attention and resources to evaluate and make any changes necessary to comply with applicable laws and regulations. This allocation of resources, as well as any failure to comply with applicable requirements, may negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition.
Legislative and regulatory actions taken now or in the future may increase our costs and impact our business, governance structure, financial condition or results of operations.
Federal and state regulatory agencies frequently adopt changes to their regulations or change the way existing regulations are applied, including the Dodd-Frank Act and the Regulatory Relief Act. These and other changes are more fully discussed under “Supervision and Regulation.” Regulatory or legislative changes to laws applicable to the financial industry, if enacted or adopted, may impact the profitability of our business activities, require more oversight or change certain of our business practices, including the ability to offer new products, obtain financing, attract deposits, make loans and achieve satisfactory interest spreads and could expose us to additional costs, including increased compliance costs. These changes also may require us to invest significant management attention and resources to make any necessary changes to operations to comply and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in tax laws and regulations, or changes in the interpretation of existing tax laws and regulations, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
We operate in an environment that imposes income taxes on our operations at both the federal and state levels to varying degrees. The rules dealing with U.S. federal, state and local income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, and the U.S. Treasury Department. We engage in certain strategies to minimize the impact of these taxes. Consequently, any change in tax laws or regulations, or new interpretation of existing laws or regulations, could significantly alter the effectiveness of these strategies. In recent years, many changes have been made to applicable tax laws and changes are likely to continue to occur in the future.
The net deferred tax asset reported on our statement of financial condition generally represents the tax benefit of future deductions from taxable income for items that have already been recognized for financial reporting purposes. The bulk of these deferred tax assets consists of deferred loan loss deductions. The net deferred tax asset is measured by applying currently-enacted income tax rates to the accounting period during which the tax benefit is expected to be realized. As of September 30, 2021, our net deferred tax asset was $1.6 million.
In December 2017, the Tax Act was signed into law. The CARES Act, which was signed into law in March 2020, modified the Tax Act. These acts include numerous changes to existing U.S. federal income tax law, including a reduction in the federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, which took effect January 1, 2018. The reduction in the federal corporate income tax rate resulted in an impairment of our net deferred tax asset based on our reevaluation of the future tax benefit of these deferrals using the lower tax rate.
The Tax Act also made significant changes to corporate taxation, including the limitation of the tax deduction for net interest expense to 30% of adjusted taxable income (except for certain small businesses), the limitation of the deduction for net operating losses from taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 to 80% of current year taxable income and the elimination of net operating loss carrybacks generated in taxable years ending after December 31, 2017 (though any such net operating losses may be carried forward indefinitely) and the modification or repeal of many business deductions and credits. The CARES Act modified some of the changes under the Tax Act, including delaying the change to the net interest expense deduction, the limitation on the net operating loss deduction, and the elimination of net operating loss carrybacks.
It cannot be predicted whether, when, in what form or with what effective dates new tax laws may be enacted, or regulations and rulings may be enacted, promulgated or issued under existing or new tax laws, which could result in an increase in the corporate tax rate, our or our shareholders’ tax liability or require changes in the manner in which we operate in order to minimize or mitigate any adverse effects of changes in tax law or in the interpretation thereof.
Due to Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”), we may not be able to deduct all of the compensation of some executives, including executives of companies we may acquire in the future.
Section 162(m) of the Code generally limits to $1 million annual deductions for compensation paid to “covered employees” of any “publicly held corporation.” A “publicly held corporation” includes any company that issues securities required to be registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or companies required
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to file reports under Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act, determined as of the last day of the company’s taxable year. We expect that FinWise Bancorp will be deemed to be a publicly held corporation as of the last day of the taxable year in which this prospectus is filed and, as a consequence, Section 162(m) of the Code will limit the deductibility of compensation to our covered employees to $1 million beginning with the year ending December 31, 2021. Pursuant to Treasury regulations that were finalized on December 18, 2020, the definition of “covered employees” generally includes anyone who served as the chief executive officer or chief financial officer at any time during the taxable year; the three highest compensated executive officers (other than the chief executive officer or the chief financial officer), determined under SEC rules; and any individual who was a covered employee, including of a “predecessor company,” at any point during a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2017, even after the employee terminates employment. We expect that in most if not all cases a publicly traded company that we might acquire in the future will be a “predecessor company.” Accordingly, we expect that the number of our covered employees will increase if FinWise Bancorp acquires one or more publicly held corporations in the future.
Notably, under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, or the ARPA, which was signed into law on March 11, 2021, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2026, the definition of “covered employees” will be expanded to include FinWise Bancorp’s next five highest paid employees (in addition to those currently included in the definition as described above).
As a result of the foregoing, under present law, we may not be able to deduct all of the compensation paid in 2020 and future years where FinWise Bancorp qualifies as a “publicly held corporation.” Losing deductions under Section 162(m) of the Code could increase our income taxes and reduce our net income. A reduction in net income could negatively affect the price of our stock.
Because of the Dodd-Frank Act and related rulemaking, the Company is subject to more stringent capital requirements.
In July 2013, the U.S. federal banking authorities approved the implementation of regulatory capital reforms of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which is referred to as Basel III, and issued rules effecting certain changes required by the Dodd-Frank Act. Basel III is applicable to all U.S. banks that are subject to minimum capital requirements as well as to bank and saving and loan holding companies other than those subject to the Federal Reserve’s Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement. The Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement currently applies to certain holding companies with consolidated assets of less than $3.0 billion that, among other things, do not have a material amount of SEC-registered debt or equity securities outstanding. Historically, the Federal Reserve has not usually deemed a bank holding company ineligible for application of this policy statement solely because its common stock is registered under the Exchange Act. However, there can be no assurance that the Federal Reserve will continue this practice, and as a result the IPO may result in the loss of our status as a small bank holding company for these purposes.
Relative to the capital requirements that predated it, Basel III increased most of the required minimum regulatory capital ratios and introduced a new common equity Tier 1 capital ratio and the concept of a capital conservation buffer. Basel III also narrowed the definition of capital by establishing additional criteria that capital instruments must meet to be considered additional Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital. Certain ratios calculated under the Basel III rules are sensitive to changes in total deposits, including the minimum leverage ratio. The Basel III capital rules became fully phased in effective January 1, 2019.
As a result of the Regulatory Relief Act, the federal banking agencies were required to develop a Community Bank Leverage Ratio (the ratio of a bank’s tangible equity capital to average total consolidated assets) for banking organizations with assets of less than $10 billion, such as the Bank. On October 29, 2019, the federal banking agencies issued a final rule that implements the Community Bank Leverage Ratio framework, which became effective on January 1, 2020 and became available for banking organizations to use as of March 31, 2020. We elected into the Community Bank Leverage Ratio framework, beginning with our regulatory report filed for the first quarter of 2020. Even though the Bank meets the eligibility criteria, its federal banking regulators have reserved the authority to disallow the use of the Community Bank Leverage Ratio framework based on the risk profile of the banking organization.
The Bank’s failure to maintain the minimum leverage ratio under the Community Bank Leverage Ratio framework could result in one or more of our regulators placing limitations or conditions on our activities, including our growth
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initiatives, or restricting the commencement of new activities, and could affect customer and investor confidence, our costs of funds and FDIC insurance costs, our ability to pay dividends on our common stock, our ability to make acquisitions, and our business, results of operations and financial condition. See “Supervision and Regulation—Capital Adequacy Guidelines.”
Federal and state banking agencies periodically conduct examinations of our business, including our compliance with laws and regulations, and our failure to comply with any supervisory actions to which we are or become subject based on such examinations could adversely affect us.
As part of the bank regulatory process, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (the “UDFI”), periodically conduct examinations of our business, including compliance with laws and regulations. If, based on an examination, the UDFI or a federal banking agency were to determine that the financial condition, capital resources, asset quality, earnings prospects, management, liquidity, asset sensitivity, risk management or other aspects of any of our operations have become unsatisfactory, or that the Company or its management were in violation of any law or regulation, it may take such remedial actions as it deems appropriate. These actions include the power to enjoin unsafe or unsound practices, to require affirmative actions to correct any conditions resulting from any violation or practice, to issue an administrative order that can be judicially enforced, to direct an increase in our capital levels, to restrict our growth, to assess civil monetary penalties against us or our officers or directors, to remove officers and directors and, if it is concluded that such conditions cannot be corrected or there is an imminent risk of loss to depositors, to terminate the Bank’s deposit insurance. If we become subject to such regulatory actions, our business, financial condition, results of operations and reputation could be adversely affected.
Financial institutions, such as the Bank, face risks of noncompliance and enforcement actions related to the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering statutes and regulations.
The Bank Secrecy Act, the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, or the USA PATRIOT Act, and other laws and regulations require financial institutions, among other duties, to institute and maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and file suspicious activity and currency transaction reports as appropriate. To administer the Bank Secrecy Act, FinCEN is authorized to impose significant civil money penalties for violations of those requirements and has recently engaged in coordinated enforcement efforts with the individual federal banking regulators, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration and the IRS. There is also increased scrutiny of compliance with the sanctions programs and rules administered and enforced by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Our compliance with the anti-money laundering laws is in part dependent on our ability to adequately screen and monitor our customers for their compliance with these laws. We have developed certain procedures to screen and monitor these customers. To comply with regulations, guidelines and examination procedures in this area, we have dedicated significant resources to our anti-money laundering program. If our policies, procedures and systems are deemed deficient, we could be subject to liability, including fines and regulatory actions such as restrictions on our ability to pay dividends and the inability to obtain regulatory approvals to proceed with certain aspects of our business plans, including acquisitions and de novo branching.
We are subject to anticorruption laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and we may be subject to other anti-corruption laws, as well as anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and other laws governing our operations, to the extent our business expands to non-U.S. jurisdictions. If we fail to comply with these laws, we could be subject to civil or criminal penalties, other remedial measures, and legal expenses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We continue to pursue deposit sourcing opportunities outside of the United States. We are currently subject to anti-corruption laws, including the FCPA. The FCPA and other applicable anti-corruption laws generally prohibit us, our employees and intermediaries from bribing, being bribed or making other prohibited payments to government officials or other persons to obtain or retain business or gain other business advantages. We may also participate in collaborations and relationships with third parties whose actions could potentially subject us to liability under the FCPA or other jurisdictions’ anti-corruption laws. There is no assurance that we will be completely effective in ensuring our compliance with all applicable anti-corruption laws, including the FCPA. If we are not in compliance with the FCPA or other anti-corruption laws, we may be subject to criminal and civil penalties, disgorgement and
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other sanctions and remedial measures, and legal expenses, which could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Similarly, any investigation of any potential violations of the FCPA or other anti-corruption laws by authorities in the United States or other jurisdictions where we conduct business could also have an adverse impact on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Regulations relating to privacy, information security and data protection could increase our costs, affect or limit how we collect and use personal information and adversely affect our business opportunities.
We are subject to various privacy, information security and data protection laws, including requirements concerning security breach notification, and we could be negatively impacted by these laws. Various state and federal banking regulators and states have also enacted data security breach notification requirements with varying levels of individual, consumer, regulatory or law enforcement notification in certain circumstances in the event of a security breach. Moreover, legislators and regulators in the U.S. are increasingly adopting or revising privacy, information security and data protection laws that potentially could have a significant impact on our current and planned privacy, data protection and information security-related practices, our collection, use, sharing, retention and safeguarding of consumer or employee information, and some of our current or planned business activities. This could also increase our costs of compliance and business operations and could reduce income from certain business initiatives. This includes increased privacy-related enforcement activity at the federal level by the Federal Trade Commission, as well as at the state level. Compliance with current or future privacy, data protection and information security laws (including those regarding security breach notification) affecting customer or employee data to which we are subject could result in higher compliance and technology costs and could restrict our ability to provide certain products and services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions or results of operations. Our failure to comply with privacy, data protection and information security laws could result in potentially significant regulatory or governmental investigations or actions, litigation, fines, sanctions and damage to our reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We are subject to numerous laws and regulations, designed to protect consumers, including the Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending laws, and failure to comply with these laws or regulations could lead to a wide variety of sanctions.
The Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA, directs all insured depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are located, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Each institution is examined periodically by its primary federal regulator, which assesses the institution’s performance. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act and other fair lending laws and regulations impose nondiscriminatory lending requirements on financial institutions. The CFPB, the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies are responsible for enforcing these laws and regulations. The CFPB was created under the Dodd-Frank Act to centralize responsibility for consumer financial protection with broad rulemaking authority to administer and carry out the purposes and objectives of federal consumer financial laws with respect to all financial institutions that offer financial products and services to consumers. The CFPB is also authorized to prescribe rules applicable to any covered person or service provider, identifying and prohibiting acts or practices that are “unfair, deceptive, or abusive” in any transaction with a consumer for a consumer financial product or service, or the offering of a consumer financial product, or service. The ongoing broad rulemaking powers of the CFPB have potential to have a significant impact on the operations of financial institutions offering consumer financial products or services. The CFPB has indicated that it may propose new rules on overdrafts and other consumer financial products or services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations if any such rules limit our ability to provide such financial products or services.
A successful regulatory challenge to an institution’s performance under the CRA, fair lending or consumer lending laws and regulations could result in a wide variety of sanctions, including damages and civil money penalties, injunctive relief, restrictions on mergers and acquisitions activity, restrictions on expansion, and restrictions on entering new business lines. Private parties may also challenge an institution’s performance under fair lending laws in private class action litigation. Such actions could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be subject to liability for potential violations of predatory lending laws, which could adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition and business.
Various U.S. federal, state and local laws have been enacted that are designed to discourage predatory lending practices. The U.S. Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994, or HOEPA, prohibits inclusion of certain provisions in mortgages that have interest rates or origination costs in excess of prescribed levels and requires that
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borrowers be given certain disclosures prior to origination. Some states have enacted, or may enact, similar laws or regulations, which in some cases impose restrictions and requirements greater than those in HOEPA. In addition, under the anti-predatory lending laws of some states, the origination of certain mortgages, including loans that are not classified as “high-cost” loans under applicable law, must satisfy a net tangible benefit test with respect to the related borrower. Such tests may be highly subjective and open to interpretation. As a result, a court may determine that a home mortgage, for example, does not meet the test even if the related originator reasonably believed that the test was satisfied. If any of our mortgages are found to have been originated in violation of predatory or abusive lending laws, we could incur losses, which could adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition and business.
Regulatory agencies and consumer advocacy groups have asserted claims that the practices of lenders and loan servicers result in a disparate impact on protected classes.
Antidiscrimination statutes, such as FHA and ECOA, prohibit creditors from discriminating against loan applicants and borrowers based on certain characteristics, such as race, religion and national origin. Various federal regulatory agencies and departments, including the DOJ and the CFPB, have taken the position that these laws apply not only to intentional discrimination, but also to neutral practices that have a disparate impact on a group that shares a characteristic that a creditor may not consider in making credit decisions protected classes (i.e., creditor or servicing practices that have a disproportionate negative affect on a protected class of individuals).
These regulatory agencies, as well as consumer advocacy groups and plaintiffs’ attorneys, have focused greater attention on “disparate impact” claims. The U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed that the “disparate impact” theory applies to cases brought under FHA, while emphasizing that a causal relationship must be shown between a specific policy of the defendant and a discriminatory result that is not justified by a legitimate objective of the defendant. Although it is still unclear whether the theory applies under ECOA, regulatory agencies and private plaintiffs may continue to apply it to both FHA and ECOA in the context of mortgage lending and servicing. To the extent that the “disparate impact” theory continues to apply, we are faced with significant administrative burdens in attempting to comply and potential liability for failures to comply.
In addition to reputational harm, violations of FHA and ECOA can result in actual damages, punitive damages, injunctive or equitable relief, attorneys’ fees and civil money penalties.
Increases in FDIC insurance premiums could adversely affect our earnings and results of operations.
The deposits of our Bank are insured by the FDIC up to legal limits and, accordingly, subject it to the payment of FDIC deposit insurance assessments as determined according to the calculation described in “Supervision and Regulation—Deposit Insurance.” To maintain a strong funding position and restore the reserve ratios of the DIF following the financial crisis, the FDIC increased deposit insurance assessment rates and charged special assessments to all FDIC-insured financial institutions. Further increases in assessment rates or special assessments may occur in the future, especially if there are significant additional financial institution failures. Any future special assessments, increases in assessment rates or required prepayments in FDIC insurance premiums could reduce our profitability or limit our ability to pursue certain business opportunities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The Federal Reserve may require us to commit capital resources to support the Bank at a time when our resources are limited, which may require us to borrow funds or raise capital on unfavorable terms.
Federal law and regulatory policy impose a number of obligations on bank holding companies that are designed to reduce potential loss exposure to the depositors of insured depository subsidiaries and to the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund. For example, the Federal Reserve requires a bank holding company to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to its subsidiary banks and to commit resources to support its subsidiary banks where it might not do so otherwise. Under the “source of strength” doctrine that was codified by the Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Reserve may require a bank holding company to make capital injections into a troubled subsidiary bank at times when the bank holding company may not be inclined to do so and may charge the bank holding company with engaging in unsafe and unsound practices for failure to commit resources to such a subsidiary bank. Accordingly, we could be required to provide financial assistance to the Bank if it experiences financial distress.
A capital injection may be required at a time when our resources are limited, and we may be required to borrow the funds or raise capital to make the required capital injection. In order to make a required capital injection, we may
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need to issue additional equity or debt securities to obtain the required capital. Issuing additional shares of common stock may dilute our current shareholders’ percentage of ownership and may cause the price of our common stock to decline. Any loan by a bank holding company to its subsidiary bank is subordinate in right of repayment to payments to depositors and certain other creditors of such subsidiary bank. In the event of a bank holding company’s bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee will assume any commitment by the holding company to a federal bank regulatory agency to maintain the capital of a subsidiary bank. Moreover, bankruptcy law provides that claims based on any such commitment will be entitled to a priority of payment over the claims of the holding company’s general unsecured creditors, including the holders of any note obligations. Thus, any borrowing by a bank holding company for making a capital injection to a subsidiary bank often becomes more difficult and expensive relative to other corporate borrowings. Borrowing funds or raising capital on unfavorable terms for such a capital injection may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Relating to Our Strategic Programs
The Bank and our Strategic Program service providers are subject to borrower protection laws and federal and state consumer protection laws.
The Bank and our Strategic Program service providers must comply with a variety of laws and regulations, including those applicable to consumer credit transactions, various aspects of which are untested as applied to a marketplace. Certain state laws generally regulate interest rates and other charges and require certain disclosures. In addition, other federal and state laws may apply to the origination and servicing of loans facilitated through our Strategic Programs. In particular, our Strategic Program service providers may be subject to laws, including but not limited to Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Truth-in-Lending Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act and other federal, state and municipal consumer protection laws and regulations that impose requirements related to, among other things, loan disclosures and terms, credit discrimination, credit reporting, debt servicing and collection, communications and unfair or deceptive business practices. Such laws related to credit reporting, debt servicing and collection, communications and unfair or deceptive business practices may be of particular relevance while the Bank is the holder of a consumer credit transaction; the time period of such status as the holder may vary.
Our Strategic Program service providers may not always have been, may not always be, and may be subject to legal proceedings alleging that they are not in full compliance with these laws. Compliance with these laws is costly, time-consuming and limits operational flexibility. Non-compliance or alleged non-compliance could subject a Strategic Program service provider, and/or the Bank, to damages, revocation of required licenses, arbitration, lawsuits (including class action lawsuits), enforcement actions, penalties, injunctions which require the cessation or curtailment of a Strategic Program or operation by the Bank, rescission rights held by investors in securities offerings and civil and criminal liability.
Any of these actions may harm the Bank and/or our Strategic Program service providers, and may result in, among other penalties, borrowers rescinding their loans, imposition of financial penalties against the Bank and/or our Strategic Program service providers, and/or injunctive relief against the Bank and/or our Strategic Program service providers requiring the Bank and/or our Strategic Program service providers to cease or curtail certain operations. If any of the Strategic Program service providers with which we do business suffers any of these consequences, we may be forced to create new relationships with Strategic Program service providers, which if not formed, could have an adverse effect on our growth strategy, business, results of operation and financial condition. Additionally, the Bank may suffer economic penalties and consequences as a result of a financial penalty or damages or injunctive relief. If the Bank and/or any of the Strategic Program service providers with which we do business suffers any of these consequences, the Bank may not be able to recover economic damages and/or costs the Bank incurs from the Strategic Program service provider, whether under an indemnification right or other action against the service provider. The foregoing could adversely affect our growth, business prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
The Bank and our Strategic Program service providers may be subject to consumer arbitration or litigation regardless of whether the claims have merit. Given the wide variety of state and federal consumer financial protection laws, consumer claims are a regular and ordinary component of any consumer lending and servicing business. The Bank and our Strategic Program service providers may face consumer claims (including class claims) under state or federal laws governing fair debt collection, fair credit reporting, electronic funds transfers, truth in lending, unfair or deceptive acts or practices, telecommunications, or other consumer protection laws. The Bank or our Strategic Program service providers may be required to defend against such consumer claims in court or through arbitration.
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The litigation risks attendant in defending against these claims, which we intend to do vigorously, may include increased legal fees, related costs and expenses, and reputational harm. Because litigation risk is generally unpredictable, we cannot estimate the amount of damages (if any) that might be awarded in any case, foresee other forms of relief a competent tribunal may impose, or otherwise predict the impact of consumer claims on the Bank’s or any Strategic Program service provider’s operations or revenue.
If we are unable to maintain our relationships with our Strategic Program service providers, our business will suffer.
A significant portion of our loan origination is conducted through our Strategic Programs. Approximately $36.3 million and $30.6 million, or 64.3% and 69.7% of our total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, were generated through our Strategic Programs. Our agreements with service providers to the Strategic Programs are non-exclusive and do not prohibit the service providers from working with our competitors upon payment of a fee or from offering competing services. In addition, the Strategic Program service providers may not perform as expected under our agreements including potentially being unable to accommodate our projected growth in loan volume and revenue. Although we have taken steps to secure relationships with our Strategic Program service providers and key third-party relationships, we could in the future have disagreements or disputes with our Strategic Program service providers, which could negatively impact or threaten our relationship.
Furthermore, our agreements with third-parties could come under scrutiny by our regulators, and our regulators could raise an issue with, or object to, any term or provision in such an agreement or any action taken by such third party vis-à-vis the Bank’s operations or customers, resulting in a material adverse effect to us including, but not limited to, the imposition of fines and/or penalties and the material restructuring or termination of such agreement.
Inadequate oversight of our relationships with our Strategic Program service providers and POS merchants could result in regulatory actions against the Bank, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and result of operations.
The FDIC has issued guidance outlining the expectations for third-party service provider oversight and monitoring by financial institutions. The federal banking agencies, including the FDIC, have also issued enforcement actions against financial institutions for failure in oversight of third-party providers and violations of federal banking law by such providers when performing services for financial institutions. Our failure to adequately oversee the actions of our third-party service providers could result in regulatory actions against the Bank. Furthermore, our regulators could require us to terminate certain relationships with our Strategic Program service providers or POS merchants or restrict our ability to form new relationships with other Strategic Program service providers or POS merchants, either of which could result in a decrease in our loan originations, which in turn could adversely affect our growth, business prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
The regulatory framework for Strategic Programs is evolving and uncertain as federal and state governments consider new laws to regulate online marketplaces such as ours. New laws and regulations, including taxes on services provided through Strategic Programs, as well as continued uncertainty regarding potential new laws or regulations, may negatively affect our business.
The regulatory framework for our Strategic Programs is evolving and uncertain. It is possible that new laws and regulations will be adopted in the United States and internationally, or existing laws and regulations may be amended, removed or interpreted in new ways, that would affect the operation of our Strategic Program service providers and the way in which they interact with borrowers and investors.
Recognizing the growth in online marketplaces, in July 2015 the Treasury issued a request for information to study the marketplace lending industry, which led to the release of a Treasury white paper on May 10, 2016, on the online marketplace lending industry. The white paper included several recommendations to the federal government and private sector participants in order to encourage safe growth and access to credit. In June 2016, the FDIC proposed guidance setting forth regulatory expectations for bank relationships with Strategic Program service providers. In this proposed guidance, the FDIC stated that such arrangements require, among other things, enhanced CMS, agreements specific to such relationships, significant investments of resources, and board approval of anticipated growth rates by Strategic Program service providers, including by types of credit and concentrations of credit levels. The proposed guidance was never adopted. However, we cannot predict whether any legislation or proposed rulemaking will actually be introduced or how any legislation or rulemaking will impact our business and results of operations of marketplace lenders going forward.
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If the loans originated through a marketplace were found to violate a state’s usury laws and/or the Strategic Program’s service providers were determined to be the “true lender” of loans originated on their marketplaces we and our Strategic Program service providers may have to alter our business models and, consequently, our reputation, financial condition and results of operation could be harmed.
The interest rates that are charged to borrowers and that form the basis of payments to investors through marketplaces are enabled by legal principles including (i) the application of federal law to enable an issuing bank that originates the loan to export the interest rates of the jurisdiction where it is located, (ii) the application of common law “choice of law” principles based upon factors such as the loan document’s terms and where the loan transaction is completed to provide uniform rates to borrowers, or (iii) the application of principles that allow the transferee of a loan to continue to collect interest as provided in the loan document. Certain states have no statutory interest rate limitations on personal loans, while other jurisdictions have a maximum rate. In some jurisdictions, the maximum rate is less than the current maximum rate offered by the Bank through certain Strategic Programs. If the laws of such jurisdictions were found to apply to the loans originated by the Bank through a marketplace, those loans could be in violation of such laws or it could impact the ability to sell such loans to investors. Approximately $19.7 million and $21.2 million, or 34.9% and 48.4% of our total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and year ended December 31, 2020, respectively, were generated from Strategic Programs with annual interest rates above 36%.
There has been (and may continue to be) litigation challenging lending arrangements where a bank or other third-party has made a loan and then sells and assigns it to an entity that is engaged in assisting with the origination and servicing of a loan. In January 2017, the Colorado Administrator of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code filed suit against Avant, Inc., an online consumer loan platform, and another similar platform. The Administrator asserted that loans to Colorado residents facilitated through the platform were required to comply with Colorado laws regarding interest rates and fees, and that those laws were not preempted by federal laws that apply to loans originated by WebBank, the federally regulated issuing bank who originated loans through Avant’s platform. The matter ultimately settled without a determination of which entity is the “true lender” but created certain safe-harbor transactional structures that the regulator would find indicative of the bank being the “true lender.”
If a borrower or regulator were to successfully bring claims against a Strategic Program service provider for violations of state consumer lending laws, including usury and licensing requirements, the Strategic Program service provider could be subject to fines and penalties, including the voiding of loans and repayment of principal and interest to borrowers and investors. Our Strategic Program service providers might decide to, among other actions, limit the maximum interest rate and terms on certain loans facilitated through the Strategic Program service provider’s platform, might decide to not offer certain products, might decide to not offer products in certain geographic locations, and might decide to originate loans under the provider’s own state-specific licenses, to obtain a bank charter, or originate loan products in partnership with another financial institution. These actions may substantially reduce a Strategic Program service provider’s operating efficiency and/or attractiveness to investors, possibly resulting in a decline in operating results for the service provider, which could in turn adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, if the Bank were not deemed to be the “true lender,” then the Bank and our Strategic Program service provider could be subject to claims by borrowers, as well as enforcement actions by regulators.
Furthermore, if a borrower or regulator were to successfully bring claims against a Strategic Program service provider and/or the Bank for violations of state consumer lending laws the Strategic Program service provider and/or the Bank could be subjected to damages, revocation of required licenses, individual and class action lawsuits, enforcement actions, penalties, injunctions which require the cessation or curtailment of a Strategic Program or operation by the Bank, rescission rights held by investors in securities offerings and civil and criminal liability. These actions could possibly result in a decline in operating results for the Strategic Partner and/or the Bank, which could in turn adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Additionally, in May 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its decision in Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC, where the court interpreted the scope of federal preemption under the National Bank Act (“NBA”) and held that a nonbank assignee of a loan originated by a national bank was not entitled to the benefits of federal preemption of claims of usury. The Second Circuit’s decision is binding on federal courts located in Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, but the decision could also be adopted by other courts. The Madden decision created some uncertainty as to whether non-bank entities purchasing loans originated by a bank may rely on federal preemption of state usury laws, which created an increased risk of litigation by plaintiffs challenging the interest rates charged
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in accordance with the terms of loans. The Madden decision, and any decisions with similar findings, may substantially reduce a Strategic Program service provider’s operating efficiency and/or attractiveness to investors, possibly resulting in a decline in operating results for the service provider, which could in turn adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
On May 25, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) issued a final rule reaffirming the enforceability of the interest rate terms of national banks’ loans following their sale, assignment, or transfer. The FDIC followed suit with a final rule on June 25, 2020, that similarly reaffirmed the enforceability of the interest rate terms of loans made by state-chartered banks and insured branches of foreign banks (collectively, state banks) following the sale, assignment, or transfer of a loan. The rules also provide that whether interest on a loan is permissible is determined at the time the loan is made, and is not affected by a change in state law, a change in the relevant commercial paper rate, or the sale, assignment, or other transfer of the loan. These rules have been challenged by state attorneys general. On May 11, 2021, the U.S. Senate voted 52-47 to repeal the “true lender” rule adopted by the OCC. On June 24, 2021, the U.S. Senate resolution was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 218 to 208. On June 30, 2021, President Biden signed a joint resolution to revoke the OCC’s true lender rule. Repeal of the OCC rule is expected to create uncertainty regarding whether state or federal laws apply to the Bank’s loans originated in the marketplace with the assistance of our Strategic Program service providers.
On or about June 5, 2020, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia filed suit against Elevate Credit Inc. (“Elevate”). In addition, on or about April 5, 2021, the same Attorney General filed suit against Opportunity Financial, LLC (“OppFi”). Elevate and OppFi are Strategic Program service providers of the Bank. Both complaints allege that these service providers provide a marketplace platform pursuant to which consumers can obtain loans originated by the Bank. The complaints further allege, based on a number of transactional terms between the service providers and the Bank, that the service providers are the “true lender” and originated the loans in question. The matters are pending. The Bank has not been named in the complaints, nor does the Bank currently lend in the District of Columbia.
Several states have also adopted legislation that impacts our Strategic Programs. In 2021, Illinois and Maine have enacted laws that regulate any person who holds, acquires, or maintains, directly or indirectly, the predominant economic interest in a loan originated by an otherwise-exempt entity like a bank. These laws also apply to any person or entity who markets, brokers, arranges, or facilitates a loan and holds the right, requirement, or first right of refusal to purchase loans, receivables, or interests in the loans. These licensing schemes, which may apply to our Strategic Programs, also impose interest-rate caps that are lower than the interest rates permitted under Utah law. These and other matters could potentially impact a Strategic Program’s business, including the maximum interest rates and fees that can be charged and application of certain consumer protection statutes. In addition, these matters could subject us to increased litigation risk, which could have a material and adverse impact on our reputation and business. We continue to assess the impact of these final rules on our business and our Strategic Programs.
Many of our Strategic Program service providers are rapidly growing companies that face increased risks, uncertainties, expenses and difficulties.
Many of our Strategic Program service providers have encountered and will continue to encounter risks, uncertainties, expenses and difficulties, which may include:
| • | navigating complex and evolving regulatory and competitive environments; |
| • | increasing the number of borrowers and investors utilizing a marketplace; |
| • | verifying borrowers’ creditworthiness and ensuring accurately and appropriately priced loans; |
| • | the use of alternative credit models that pose regulatory uncertainties, or otherwise increase regulatory risk; |
| • | increasing the volume of loans facilitated through a marketplace and transaction fees received for matching borrowers and investors through a marketplace; |
| • | entering into new markets and introducing new loan products; |
| • | monitoring business activities to avoid being deemed an investment company or being required to register as a broker-dealer and the increased cost and regulation associated therewith; |
| • | continuing to revise proprietary credit decision-making and scoring models, particularly in the face of changing macro and economic conditions; |
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| • | continuing to develop, maintain and scale a platform; |
| • | conduct debt collection and servicing activities in compliance with federal, state and municipal laws; |
| • | effectively training internal employees, third-party vendors and service providers in requirements imposed by federal, state and municipal laws and ensuring said employees, vendors and service providers comply with said laws; |
| • | effectively using limited personnel and technology resources; |
| • | effectively maintaining and scaling financial and risk management controls and procedures; |
| • | maintaining the security of the platform and the confidentiality of the information provided and utilized across the platform; and |
| • | attracting, integrating and retaining an appropriate number of qualified employees. |
The long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including governmental responses such as changes to interest rates, legislation, borrower assistance programs and monetary policies, on our Strategic Programs and the loan volume that the Bank acquires through the platforms of our Strategic Program service providers, is unknown. The lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic as borrowers and would-be borrowers suffer financial impacts from unemployment and reduced hours and wages could have a negative impact on our Strategic Programs for a significant period of time following the Covid-19 crisis. At this time, the Bank cannot quantify the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on its Strategic Programs or line of business.
Fraudulent activity associated with a Strategic Program service provider could negatively impact operating results, brand and reputation and cause the use of a Strategic Program’s loan products and services to decrease and its fraud losses to increase.
Our Strategic Program service providers are subject to the risk of fraudulent activity associated with the handling or borrower and investor information by its marketplace, issuing banks, borrowers, investors and third parties. A company’s resources, technologies and fraud prevention tools may be insufficient to accurately detect and prevent fraud. High profile fraudulent activity or significant increases in fraudulent activity could lead to regulatory intervention, negatively impact a company’s operating results, brand and reputation and lead it to take steps to reduce fraud risk, which could increase its costs and, consequently, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Recent legislative and regulatory initiatives have imposed restrictions and requirements on financial institutions that could have an adverse effect on our Strategic Program service providers.
The SEC has proposed significant changes to the rules applicable to issuers and sponsors of asset-backed securities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. With the proposed changes, marketplace lenders’ access to the asset-backed securities capital markets could be affected and their financing programs could be less effective. In addition, the SEC has announced that it is considering sales of loans by marketplace lenders as sales of securities. Compliance with such legislation or regulation may significantly increase our Strategic Program service providers’ costs, limit product offerings and operating flexibility, require significant adjustments in internal business processes and potentially require our Strategic Program service provider to maintain regulatory capital at levels above historical practices.
Risks Related to Potential Strategic Transactions
We may pursue strategic acquisitions in the future, and we may not be able to overcome risks associated with such transactions.
Although we plan to continue to grow our business organically, we may explore opportunities to invest in, or to acquire, other financial institutions, financial service companies and businesses with consideration consisting of cash, debt, and/or equity securities, that we believe would complement our existing business. We may seek acquisition partners that offer us either significant market presence or the potential to expand our market footprint and improve profitability through economies of scale or expanded services. Our investment or acquisition activities could be material to our business and involve a number of risks including the following:
| • | difficulty in estimating the value of any target company; |
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| • | investing time and incurring expense associated with identifying and evaluating potential investments or acquisitions and negotiating potential transactions, resulting in our attention being diverted from the operation of our existing business; |
| • | the lack of history among our management team in working together on acquisitions and related integration activities; |
| • | obtaining necessary regulatory approvals, which we may have difficulty obtaining or be unable to obtain; |
| • | the time, expense and difficulty of integrating the operations and personnel of any combined businesses; |
| • | unexpected asset quality problems with acquired companies; |
| • | inaccurate estimates and judgments used to evaluate credit, operations, management and market risks with respect to any target institution or assets; |
| • | risks of impairment to goodwill or other-than-temporary impairment of investment securities; |
| • | potential exposure to unknown or contingent liabilities of banks and businesses we acquire; |
| • | an inability to realize expected synergies or returns on investment; |
| • | potential disruption of our ongoing banking business; |
| • | maintaining adequate regulatory capital; and |
| • | loss of key employees, key customers or key business counterparties following our investment or acquisition. |
We may not be successful in overcoming these risks or other problems encountered in connection with potential investments or acquisitions. Our inability to overcome these risks could have an adverse effect on our ability to implement our business strategy and enhance shareholder value, which, in turn, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if we record goodwill in connection with any acquisition, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected if that goodwill is determined to be impaired, which would require us to take an impairment charge.
We have entered into, and expect to continue to enter into, joint venture, strategic collaboration, teaming and other business arrangements, and these activities involve risks and uncertainties. A failure of any such relationship could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
We have entered into, and expect to continue to enter into, significant joint venture, strategic collaboration, teaming and other arrangements, including our Strategic Programs we have established with various third-party consumer and commercial loan origination platforms. These activities involve risks and uncertainties, including the risk of the joint venture or applicable Strategic Program platform failing to satisfy its obligations, which may result in certain liabilities to us for any related commitments, the uncertainty created by challenges in achieving strategic objectives and expected benefits of the business arrangement, the risk of conflicts arising between us and our business collaborations and the difficulty of managing and resolving such conflicts, and the difficulty of managing or otherwise monitoring such business arrangements. In addition, in these joint ventures, strategic collaborations and alliances, we may have certain overlapping control over the operation of the assets and businesses. As a result, such joint ventures, strategic collaborations and alliances may involve risks such as the possibility that a counterparty in a business arrangement might become bankrupt, be unable to meet its contractual obligations, have economic or business interests or goals that are inconsistent with our business interests or goals, or take actions that are contrary to our instructions or to applicable laws and regulations. In addition, we may be unable to take action without the approval of our business partners, or our partners could take binding actions without our consent. Consequently, actions by a partner or other third party could expose us to claims for damages, financial penalties, and reputational harm, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. A failure of our business relationships could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Acquisitions and strategic collaborations may never materialize.
We intend to explore a variety of acquisitions and strategic collaborations with our existing Strategic Program service providers or other third parties, and related businesses in various states. We are likely to face significant competition in seeking appropriate acquisitions or strategic collaborators, and these acquisitions and strategic collaborations can
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be complicated and time consuming to negotiate and document. We may not be able to negotiate acquisitions and strategic collaborations on acceptable terms, or at all, and we are unable to predict when, if ever, we will enter into any such acquisitions or strategic collaborations due to the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with them.
Risks Related to this Offering and an Investment in Our Common Stock
There is currently no established public market for our common stock. An active, liquid market for our common stock may not develop or be sustained upon completion of this offering, which may impair your ability to sell your shares.
Our common stock is not currently traded on an established public trading market. We have been approved to list our common stock on NASDAQ, but an active, liquid trading market for our common stock may not develop or be sustained following this offering. A public trading market having the desired characteristics of depth, liquidity and orderliness depends upon the presence in the marketplace and independent decisions of willing buyers and sellers of our common stock, over which we have no control. Without an active, liquid trading market for our common stock, shareholders may not be able to sell their shares at the volume, prices and times desired. Moreover, the lack of an established market could materially and adversely affect the value of our common stock. The market price of our common stock could decline significantly due to actual or anticipated issuances or sales of our common stock in the future.
The market price of our common stock may be subject to substantial fluctuations, which may make it difficult for you to sell your shares at the volume, prices and times desired.
The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile, which may make it difficult for you to resell your shares at the volume, prices and times desired. There are many factors that may affect the market price and trading volume of our common stock, including, without limitation, the risks discussed elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section and:
| • | actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results, financial condition or asset quality; |
| • | changes in general economic or business conditions; |
| • | the effects of, and changes in, trade, monetary and fiscal policies, including the interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve; |
| • | publication of research reports about us, our competitors or the financial services industry generally, or changes in, or failure to meet, securities analysts’ estimates of our financial and operating performance, or lack of research reports by industry analysts or ceasing of coverage; |
| • | operating and stock price performance of companies that investors deem comparable to us; |
| • | additional or anticipated sales of our common stock or other securities by us or our existing shareholders; |
| • | additions or departures of key personnel; |
| • | perceptions in the marketplace regarding our competitors or us; |
| • | significant acquisitions or business combinations, strategic relationships, joint ventures or capital commitments by or involving our competitors or us; |
| • | other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory or technological factors affecting our operations, pricing, products and services; and |
| • | other news, announcements or disclosures (whether by us or others) related to us, our competitors, our core markets or the financial services industry. |
The stock market and the market for financial institution stocks has experienced substantial fluctuations in recent years, which in many cases have been unrelated to the operating performance and prospects of particular companies. In addition, significant fluctuations in the trading volume in our common stock may cause significant price variations to occur. Increased market volatility may materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock, which could make it difficult to sell your shares at the volume, prices and times desired.
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The obligations associated with being a public company will require significant resources and management attention, which will increase our costs of operations and may divert focus from our business operations.
As a public company, we will face increased legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses that we have not incurred as a private company, particularly after we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company. After the completion of this offering, we will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which requires that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition and proxy and other information statements, and the rules and regulations implemented by the SEC, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, and NASDAQ, each of which imposes additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. As a public company, compliance with these reporting requirements and other SEC and the NASDAQ rules will make certain operating activities more time-consuming, and we will also incur significant new legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses. Furthermore, the need to establish the corporate infrastructure demanded of a public company may divert management’s attention from implementing our operating strategy, which could prevent us from successfully implementing our strategic initiatives and improving our results of operations. We have made, and will continue to make, changes to our internal control over, and procedures relating to, financial reporting and accounting systems to meet our reporting obligations as a public company. However, we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur in order to comply with these requirements. We anticipate that these costs will materially increase our general and administrative expenses and such increases will reduce our profitability.
Investors in this offering will experience immediate dilution.
The initial public offering price is expected to be higher than the tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately following this offering. Therefore, if you purchase shares in this offering, you will experience immediate dilution in tangible book value per share in relation to the price that you paid for your shares. We expect the dilution because of this offering to be $ per share, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $ per share (the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus) and our as adjusted tangible book value of $ per share as of September 30, 2021. Accordingly, if we were liquidated at our as adjusted tangible book value, you would not receive the full amount of your investment. See “Dilution.”
Securities analysts may not initiate or continue coverage on us.
The trading market for our common stock will depend, in part, on the research and reports that securities analysts publish about us, our business and our industry. We do not have any control over these securities analysts, and they may choose not to cover us. If one or more of these securities analysts cease to cover us or fail to publish regular reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause the price or trading volume of our common stock to decline. If we are covered by securities analysts and are the subject of an unfavorable report, the price of our common stock may decline.
Our executive management, board of directors, and BFG owners have significant control over our business.
As of October 29, 2021, our directors and executive officers beneficially owned an aggregate of 3,055,182 shares, or approximately 33.1% of our issued and outstanding common stock. As of October 29, 2021, BFG owners, including one person who is also one of our directors, beneficially owned an aggregate of 3,357,168 shares, or approximately 37.1% of our issued and outstanding common stock. As of October 29, 2021, our one director who is also a BFG owner beneficially owned an aggregate of 409,620 shares, or approximately 4.7% of our issued and outstanding common stock. As of October 29, 2021, this director owned in the aggregate 4.0% of the issued and outstanding membership interest of BFG. As of October 29, 2021, BFG owners excluding our director, beneficially owned an aggregate of 2,947,548 shares or 32.7% of our issued and outstanding common stock. Following the completion of this offering, our directors and executive officers will beneficially own approximately % of our outstanding common stock (or % if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares). Following the completion of this offering, BFG owners, including one person who is also one of our directors, will beneficially own approximately % of our outstanding common stock (or % if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares). Following the completion of this offering, our one director who is also a BFG owner will beneficially own approximately % of our outstanding common stock (or % if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares). Following the completion of this offering, BFG owners excluding our director will beneficially own approximately % of our
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outstanding common stock (or % if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares). Consequently, our executive management, board of directors, and BFG owners may be able to significantly affect the outcome of the election of directors and the potential outcome of other matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders, such as mergers, the sale of substantially all our assets and other extraordinary corporate matters. The interests of these insiders could conflict with the interests of our other shareholders, including you.
We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds to us from this offering, and our use of these proceeds may not yield a favorable return on your investment.
We intend to use the net proceeds to us from this offering to fund organic growth, continue the buildout of our operating infrastructure, and for general corporate purposes, which could include future acquisitions, maintenance of our required regulatory capital levels and other growth initiatives. We have not specifically allocated the amount of net proceeds to us that will be used for these purposes and our management will have broad discretion over how these proceeds are used and could spend these proceeds in ways with which you may not agree. In addition, we may not use the net proceeds to us from this offering effectively or in a manner that increases our market value or enhances our profitability. We have not established a timetable for the effective deployment of the net proceeds to us, and we cannot predict how long it will take to deploy these proceeds. Investing the net proceeds to us in securities until we can deploy these proceeds will provide lower yields than we generally earn on loans, which may have a material adverse effect on our profitability. Although we may, from time to time in the ordinary course of business, evaluate potential acquisition opportunities that we believe provide attractive risk-adjusted returns, we do not have any immediate plans, arrangements or understandings relating to any acquisitions, nor are we engaged in negotiations with any potential acquisition targets.
We may issue shares of preferred stock in the future, which could make it difficult for another company to acquire us or could otherwise adversely affect holders of our common stock, which could depress the price of our common stock.
Our Fourth Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (the “Articles”) authorize us to issue up to 4,000,000 shares of one or more series of preferred stock. Our board of directors will have the authority to determine the preferences, limitations and relative rights of shares of preferred stock and to fix the number of shares constituting any series and the designation of such series, without any further vote or action by our shareholders. Our preferred stock could be issued with voting, liquidation, dividend and other rights superior to the rights of our common stock. The potential issuance of preferred stock may delay or prevent a change in control of us, discouraging bids for our common stock at a premium over the market price, and materially adversely affect the market price and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock.
We are an emerging growth company and smaller reporting company, and the reduced regulatory and reporting requirements applicable to emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company we may take advantage of reduced regulatory and reporting requirements that are otherwise generally applicable to public companies. These include, without limitation, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced financial reporting requirements, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation and exemptions from the requirements of holding non-binding shareholder advisory votes on executive compensation or golden parachute payments. The JOBS Act also permits an emerging growth company such as us to take advantage of an extended transition period to comply with new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies. We have elected to, and expect to continue to, take advantage of certain of these and other exemptions until we are no longer an emerging growth company. Further, the JOBS Act allows us to present only two years of audited financial statements and only two years of related management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations and provide less than five years of selected financial data in this prospectus.
We may take advantage of some or all of these provisions for up to five years or such earlier time as we cease to qualify as an emerging growth company, which will occur if we have more than $1.07 billion in total annual gross revenue, if we issue more than $1.0 billion of non-convertible debt in a three-year period, or if we become a “large accelerated filer,” in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31.
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Even after we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, we may still qualify as a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in Rule 12b-2 in the Exchange Act, which would allow us to take advantage of many of the same exemptions from disclosure requirements, including not being required to provide an auditor attestation of our internal control over financial reporting and reduced disclosure regarding our executive compensation arrangements in our periodic reports and proxy statements. Investors may find our common stock less attractive because we intend to rely on certain of these exemptions, which may result in a less active trading market and increased volatility in our stock price.
We are dependent upon the Bank for cash flow, and the Bank’s ability to make cash distributions is restricted.
Our primary asset is FinWise Bank. We depend upon the Bank for cash distributions (through dividends on the Bank’s common stock) that we use to pay our operating expenses and satisfy our obligations. Federal and state statutes, regulations and policies restrict the Bank’s ability to make cash distributions to us. Further, the FDIC and UDFI can restrict the Bank’s payment of dividends by supervisory action. If the Bank is unable to pay dividends to us, we may not be able to satisfy our obligations or, if applicable, pay dividends on our common stock. See “Supervision and Regulation— Regulatory Restrictions on Dividends.”
Our future ability to pay dividends is subject to restrictions.
Holders of our common stock are only entitled to receive dividends when, as and if declared by our board of directors out of funds legally available for dividends. We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock since inception and we currently have no plans to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any declaration and payment of dividends on our common stock in the future will depend on regulatory restrictions, our earnings and financial condition, our liquidity and capital requirements, the general economic climate, contractual restrictions, our ability to service any equity or debt obligations senior to our common stock and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Furthermore, consistent with our strategic plans, growth initiatives, capital availability, projected liquidity needs and other factors, we have made, and will continue to make, capital management decisions and policies that could adversely affect the amount of dividends, if any, paid to our common shareholders. See “Dividend Policy.”
The Federal Reserve has indicated that bank holding companies should carefully review their dividend policy in relation to the organization’s overall asset quality, current and prospective earnings and level, composition and quality of capital. The guidance provides that we inform and consult with the Federal Reserve prior to declaring and paying a dividend that exceeds earnings for the period for which the dividend is being paid or that could result in an adverse change to our capital structure, including interest on the senior promissory note, the subordinated debt obligations, the subordinated debentures underlying our trust preferred securities and our other debt obligations. If required payments on our debt obligations are not made, or dividends on any preferred stock we may issue are not paid, we will be prohibited from paying dividends on our common stock.
Among other considerations, our ability to pay dividends further depends on the following factors:
| • | because the Company is a legal entity separate and distinct from the Bank and does not have any stand-alone operations, our ability to pay dividends depends on the ability of the Bank to pay dividends to us, and the FDIC, the UDFI and Utah state law may, under certain circumstances, restrict the payment of dividends to us from the Bank; |
| • | Federal Reserve policy requires bank holding companies to pay cash dividends on common shares only out of net income available over the past year and only if prospective earnings retention is consistent with the organization’s expected future needs and financial condition; and |
| • | our board of directors may determine that, even though funds are available for dividend payments, retaining the funds for internal uses, such as expansion of our operations, is necessary or appropriate in light of our business plan and objectives. |
Provisions in our governing documents and Utah law may have an anti-takeover effect, and there are substitutional regulatory limitations on changes of control of bank holding companies.
Our corporate organizational documents and provisions of federal and state law to which we are subject contain certain provisions that could have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, make more difficult or prevent an attempted acquisition that you may favor or an attempted replacement of our board of directors or management.
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Our Articles and our Amended and Restated Bylaws (the “Bylaws”) may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, discourage or prevent an attempted acquisition or change of control or a replacement of our board of directors or management. Our governing documents and Utah law include provisions that provide for, among other things, a staggered board, and limitations on the ability of shareholders to call a special meeting of shareholders, which can make minority shareholder representation on our board of directors more difficult to establish. In addition, Utah corporate statutes contain provisions designed to protect Utah corporations and employees from the adverse effects of hostile corporate takeovers. These statutory provisions reduce the possibility that a third party could effect a change in control without the support of our incumbent directors and may also strengthen the position of current management by restricting the ability of shareholders to change the composition of the board of directors, to affect its policies generally and to benefit from actions that are opposed by the current board.
Furthermore, banking laws impose notice, approval, and ongoing regulatory requirements on any shareholder or other party that seeks to acquire direct or indirect “control” of an FDIC-insured depository institution or its holding company. These laws include the BHC Act and the Change in Bank Control Act, as amended (the “Change in Bank Control Act”). These laws could delay or prevent an acquisition. Because the Bank is an “insured depository institution” within the meaning of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Change in Bank Control Act and we are a “financial institution holding company” within the meaning of the Utah Financial Institutions Act, federal and Utah law and regulations generally prohibit any person or company from acquiring control of the Company or, indirectly, the Bank, without prior written approval of the FDIC or the commissioner of the UDFI, as applicable. Under the Change in Bank Control Act, control is conclusively presumed if, among other things, a person or company acquires 25% or more of any class of our voting stock. A rebuttable presumption of control arises if a person or company acquires 10% or more of any class of our voting stock and is subject to a number of specified “control factors” as set forth in the applicable regulations. Although the Bank is an “insured depository institution” within the meaning of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Change in Bank Control Act, an investment in the Company is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC, or any other agency, and is subject to loss. Under the Utah Financial Institutions Act, control is defined as the power to vote 20% or more of any class of our voting securities by an individual or to vote more than 10% of any class of our voting securities by a person other than an individual. Investors are responsible for ensuring that they do not, directly or indirectly, acquire shares of our common stock in excess of the amount which can be acquired without regulatory approval.
Our Articles and Bylaws contain an exclusive forum provision that limits the judicial forums where our shareholders may initiate derivative actions and certain other legal proceedings against us and our directors and officers.
Our Articles and Bylaws provide that the United States District Court for the District of Utah and any Utah state court sitting in Salt Lake County, Utah will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (b) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to the Company or the Company’s shareholders, (c) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors or officers arising pursuant to the Utah Revised Business Corporation Act, our Articles, or our Bylaws, or (d) any other action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors or officers that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The choice of forum provision in our Articles and Bylaws may limit our shareholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our Articles and Bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results, and financial condition.
An investment in our common stock is not an insured deposit and is subject to risk of loss.
Any shares of our common stock you purchase in this offering will not be savings accounts, deposits or other obligations of any of the Bank or any of our other subsidiaries and will not be insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency. Your investment will be subject to investment risk, and you must be able to afford the loss of your entire investment.
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This prospectus contains forward-looking statements, including in the sections entitled “Prospectus Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business.” These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events and our financial performance. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “may,” “might,” “should,” “could,” “predict,” “potential,” “believe,” “will likely result,” “expect,” “continue,” “will,” “anticipate,” “seek,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “projection,” “forecast,” “goal,” “target,” “would,” “aim” and “outlook,” or the negative version of those words or other comparable words or phrases of a future or forward-looking nature. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry and management’s beliefs and certain assumptions made by management, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control. The inclusion of these forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by us, the underwriters or any other person that such expectations, estimates and projections will be achieved. Accordingly, we caution you that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, actual results may prove to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
There are or will be important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following:
| • | conditions relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the severity and duration of the associated economic slowdown either nationally or in our market areas, and the response of governmental authorities to the Covid-19 pandemic and our participation in Covid-19-related government programs such as the PPP; |
| • | system failure or cybersecurity breaches of our network security; |
| • | the success of the financial technology industry, the development and acceptance of which is subject to a high degree of uncertainty, as well as the continued evolution of the regulation of this industry; |
| • | our ability to keep pace with rapid technological changes in the industry or implement new technology effectively; |
| • | our reliance on third-party service providers for core systems support, informational website hosting, internet services, online account opening and other processing services; |
| • | general economic conditions, either nationally or in our market areas (including interest rate environment, government economic and monetary policies, the strength of global financial markets and inflation and deflation), that impact the financial services industry and/or our business; |
| • | increased competition in the financial services industry, particularly from regional and national institutions and other companies that offer banking services; |
| • | our ability to measure and manage our credit risk effectively and the potential deterioration of the business and economic conditions in our primary market areas; |
| • | the adequacy of our risk management framework; |
| • | the adequacy of our allowance for loan losses; |
| • | the financial soundness of other financial institutions; |
| • | new lines of business or new products and services; |
| • | changes in SBA rules, regulations and loan products, including specifically the Section 7(a) program, changes in SBA standard operating procedures or changes to the status of the Bank as an SBA Preferred Lender; |
| • | changes in the value of collateral securing our loans; |
| • | possible increases in our levels of nonperforming assets; |
| • | potential losses from loan defaults and nonperformance on loans; |
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| • | our ability to protect our intellectual property and the risks we face with respect to claims and litigation initiated against us; |
| • | the inability of small- and medium-sized businesses to whom we lend to weather adverse business conditions and repay loans; |
| • | our ability to implement aspects of our growth strategy and to sustain our historic rate of growth; |
| • | our ability to continue to originate, sell and retain loans, including through our Strategic Programs; |
| • | the concentration of our lending and depositor relationships through Strategic Programs in the financial technology industry generally; |
| • | our ability to attract additional merchants and retain and grow our existing merchant relationships; |
| • | interest rate risk associated with our business, including sensitivity of our interest earning assets and interest bearing liabilities to interest rates, and the impact to our earnings from changes in interest rates; |
| • | the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and our ability to remediate any future material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting; |
| • | potential exposure to fraud, negligence, computer theft and cyber-crime and other disruptions in our computer systems relating to our development and use of new technology platforms; |
| • | our dependence on our management team and changes in management composition; |
| • | the sufficiency of our capital, including sources of capital and the extent to which we may be required to raise additional capital to meet our goals; |
| • | compliance with laws and regulations, supervisory actions, the Dodd-Frank Act, the Regulatory Relief Act, capital requirements, the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering laws, predatory lending laws, and other statutes and regulations; |
| • | changes in the laws, rules, regulations, interpretations or policies relating to financial institutions, accounting, tax, trade, monetary and fiscal matters; |
| • | our ability to maintain a strong core deposit base or other low-cost funding sources; |
| • | 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; |
| • | our involvement from time to time in legal proceedings, examinations and remedial actions by regulators; |
| • | further government intervention in the U.S. financial system; |
| • | the ability of our Strategic Program service providers to comply with regulatory regimes, including laws and regulations applicable to consumer credit transactions, and our ability to adequately oversee and monitor our Strategic Program service providers; |
| • | our ability to maintain and grow our relationships with our Strategic Program service providers; |
| • | natural disasters and adverse weather, acts of terrorism, pandemics, an outbreak of hostilities or other international or domestic calamities, and other matters beyond our control; |
| • | compliance with requirements associated with being a public company; |
| • | level of coverage of our business by securities analysts; |
| • | the effective use of proceeds from this offering; |
| • | future equity and debt issuances; and |
| • | other factors that are discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors,” beginning on page 26. |
The foregoing factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read together with the other cautionary statements included in this prospectus, including those discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors.” If one or more events related to these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may differ materially from our forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not
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place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this prospectus, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether because of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law. New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict their occurrence. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each risk and uncertainty on our business or the extent to which any risk or uncertainty, or combination of risks and uncertainties, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.
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Assuming an initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, we estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of our common stock in this offering, after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us, will be $ million (or $ million if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares). Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price would increase or decrease (as applicable) the net proceeds to us from this offering by approximately $ million (or approximately $ million if the underwriters elect to exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares), in each case, assuming the number of shares we sell, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us.
The principal purposes of this offering are to support organic growth by increasing our regulatory capital ratio, continue the buildout of our operating infrastructure, and for general corporate purposes, which could include future acquisitions and other growth initiatives. Other important purposes of this offering are to create a public market for our common stock for the benefit of our existing shareholders and to better position us to use our common stock as consideration for potential future acquisitions, facilitate access to the public capital markets, as well as to increase our visibility in the marketplace. Except as described herein, we do not currently have any specific plans for the application of the net proceeds to us and do not have any arrangements or understandings to make any acquisitions. Our management will retain broad discretion to allocate the net proceeds of this offering and we expect to contribute a majority of the net proceeds to the Bank as regulatory capital. The precise amounts and timing of our use of the proceeds will depend upon market conditions, among other factors, including our future retained earnings and assets generated by operations and the other factors described in “Risk Factors.” Accordingly, we will have broad discretion in deploying the net proceeds of this offering and investors will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the proceeds. Proceeds held by us will be held in cash or invested in short-term investments until needed for the uses described above.
We have not declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock since inception, and we currently have no plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Instead, we anticipate that all of our earnings in the foreseeable future will be retained to support our operations and finance the growth and development of our business.
Holders of our common stock are only entitled to receive dividends when, as and if declared by our board of directors out of funds legally available for dividends. Our ability and determination to pay dividends to our shareholders in the future will depend on regulatory restrictions, our liquidity and capital requirements, our earnings and financial condition, the general economic climate, contractual restrictions, our ability to service any equity or debt obligations senior to our common stock and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors.
As a Utah corporation, we are only permitted to pay dividends out of funds legally available for distributions to shareholders.
As a bank holding company, our ability to pay dividends is affected by the policies and regulations of the Federal Reserve. See “Supervision and Regulation— Regulatory Restrictions on Dividends.” Because we are a bank holding company and do not engage directly in business activities of a material nature, our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders depends, in large part, upon our receipt of dividends from FinWise Bank, which is also subject to numerous limitations on the payment of dividends under federal and Utah banking laws, regulations and policies. For example, the FDIC or the UDFI may, under certain circumstances, impose restrictions on our or the Bank’s ability to pay dividends. The Bank is not obligated to pay dividends to us, and such dividends will be subject to the discretion of the board of directors of the Bank. See “Supervision and Regulation— Regulatory Restrictions on Dividends.”
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The following table sets forth our consolidated capitalization and regulatory capital ratios as of September 30, 2021:
| • | on an actual basis; and |
| • | on an as adjusted basis to give effect to the issuance and sale by us of shares of common stock in this offering and our receipt of the net proceeds therefrom (assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional shares) at an assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us. |
You should read the following table in conjunction with the sections titled “Selected Historical Consolidated Financial and Other Data” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. The outstanding share and per share data in the following table have been adjusted to give effect to a six-for-one stock split of our common stock completed effective July 26, 2021.
| | | September 30, 2021 | ||||
($ in thousands, except per share data) | | | Actual | | | As Adjusted(1) |
Cash and cash equivalents | | | $68,106 | | | $ |
PPP Liquidity Facility | | | 2,259 | | | |
| | | | | |||
Shareholders’ equity | | | | | ||
Preferred stock, $.001 par value, 4,000,000 authorized; no shares issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2021, actual and adjusted | | | — | | | — |
Common stock, $.001 par value, 40,000,000 shares authorized; 8,746,110 shares issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2021, actual and adjusted, respectively | | | 9 | | | |
Additional paid-in-capital | | | 18,647 | | | |
Retained earnings | | | 50,482 | | | |
Total shareholders’ equity | | | $69,138 | | | $ |
Total capitalization | | | $71,397 | | | $ |
| | | | | |||
Company capital ratios: | | | | | ||
Leverage ratio(2) | | | 19.5% | | | % |
Total equity to total assets | | | 20.4% | | | % |
Tangible shareholders’ equity to tangible assets(3) | | | 20.4% | | | % |
| | | | | |||
Per Share: | | | | | ||
Book value per share | | | $7.90 | | | $ |
Tangible book value per share(3) | | | $7.90 | | | $ |
| (1) | Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share (the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus) would increase (decrease) our as adjusted total shareholders’ equity and total capitalization by approximately $ million, assuming no change to the number of shares of common stock being offered hereby as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us. The As Adjusted leverage ratio assumes all net proceeds from this offering will be contributed to the Bank as regulatory capital. Although we intend to contribute substantially all net proceeds from this offering to the Bank as regulatory capital, our management will retain broad discretion to allocate the net proceeds of this offering and may not in fact contribute substantially all net proceeds from this offering to the Bank as regulatory capital. |
| (2) | See discussion under “Supervision and Regulation—The Regulatory Relief Act” describing the regulatory capital framework applicable to the Bank. |
| (3) | These measures are not measures recognized under GAAP and are therefore considered to be non-GAAP financial measures. See “GAAP Reconciliation and Management Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of these measures to their most comparable GAAP measures. |
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If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your ownership interest will be diluted to the extent the initial public offering price per share of our common stock exceeds the as adjusted tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately following this offering. As of September 30, 2021, the tangible book value of our common stock was approximately $69.1 million, or $7.90 per share of common stock based on shares of our common stock issued and outstanding. Tangible book value per share is defined as book value per share less goodwill and other intangible assets, divided by the outstanding number of common shares at the end of each period. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is book value per share. We had no goodwill or other intangible assets as of September 30, 2021. We have not considered loan servicing rights as an intangible asset for purposes of this calculation. As a result, tangible book value per share is the same as book value per share at September 30, 2021. The share and per share data set forth in this paragraph and below have been adjusted to give effect to a six-for-one stock split of our common stock effective July 26, 2021.
After giving effect to the sale of shares of our common stock in this offering (assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional shares) at an assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us, the as adjusted tangible book value of our common stock at September 30, 2021 would have been approximately $ million, or $ per share. Therefore, under those assumptions, this offering will result in an immediate increase of $ in the tangible book value per share of our common stock of existing shareholders and an immediate dilution of $ in the tangible book value per share of our common stock to investors purchasing shares of common stock in this offering, or approximately % of the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share.
The following table illustrates the calculation of the amount of dilution per share that a new investor in our common stock in this offering will incur given the assumptions above:
Assumed initial public offering price per share | | | $ |
Tangible book value per share of common stock at September 30, 2021 | | | $7.90 |
Increase in tangible book value per share of common stock attributable to this offering | | | $ |
As adjusted tangible book value per share of common stock after this offering | | | $ |
Dilution per share of common stock to new investors in this offering | | | $ |
If the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares, our as adjusted tangible book value per share of common stock after giving effect to this offering would be approximately $ . This represents an increase in tangible book value of $ per share to existing shareholders and dilution of $ per share to new investors.
A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) our tangible book value by $ million, or $ per share, and the dilution to new investors would increase (decrease) by $ per share, assuming no change to the number of share