Item 1A. Risk Factors
ITEM 1A – RISK FACTORS
Other than the risk factors set forth below, there have been no material changes in the risk factors faced by the Company from those disclosed in our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K .
An investment in the Company’s securities involves risks. In addition to the other information set forth in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including the information addressed in this Item 1A and under “Forward Looking Statements” in Part I, Item 2 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, investors in the Company’s securities should carefully consider the factors discussed in our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
Risks Related to Market Conditions, Interest Rates and Investments
Inflation could negatively impact our business, our profitability, and our stock price.
Volatility and uncertainty related to inflation and the effects of inflation, may lead to increased costs for businesses and consumers and potentially contribute to poor business and economic conditions. For example, higher inflation, or volatility and uncertainty related to inflation, could reduce demand for the Company’s products, which could affect the creditworthiness of the Company’s borrowers, result in lower values for the Company’s investment securities and other interest-earning assets and increase expense related to talent acquisition and retention. If significant inflation continues the Company could result in missed earnings and budgetary projections causing our stock price to suffer.
Risks Related to Liquidity
Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, such as actual events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults, or non-performance by financial institutions or transactional counterparties, may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Actual events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect financial institutions, transactional counterparties or other companies in the financial services industry or the financial services industry generally, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds or other similar risks, which may be compounded by the reach and depth of media attention, including social media, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems. Liquidity is essential to the Company’s banking business, and the Company’s business strategies are largely based on access to funding from customer deposits and supplemental funding provided by secondary liquidity sources, including wholesale funding facilities.
Deposit levels may be impacted by industry factors, market interest rates, rates paid for deposits by other financial institutions and market interest rates generally, inflationary conditions, general economic conditions than can impact savings rates, and banking industry conditions that can impact customers perceptions of the safety and soundness of the banking industry generally or of specific financial institutions. The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank, and the resulting industry turmoil, have underscored the importance of maintaining diversified funding sources to ensure
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the safety and soundness of a financial institution. In response to these failures, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) and the FDIC approved actions enabling the FDIC to complete its resolution of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank in a manner that fully protected depositors by utilizing the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund, and the Federal Reserve took actions to make available additional term funding for eligible financial institutions to help ensure continued liquidity in the banking industry. It is uncertain whether these additional steps will be sufficient to address the turmoil in the banking industry, ensure continued funding and liquidity, reduce the risk of deposit outflows, and particularly sudden outflows, from banks. Should any of these conditions materialize, our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely impacted.
The Company’s liquidity could be impaired by an inability to access short-term funding or the inability to monetize liquid assets.
If significant volatility or disruptions occur in the wholesale funding or investment securities markets, the Company’s ability to access short-term liquidity could be materially impaired. In addition, other factors outside of the Company’s control could limit the Company’s ability to access short-term funding or to monetize liquid assets, including by selling investment securities at an attractive price or at all, operational issues that impact third parties in the funding or securities markets or unforeseen significant deposit outflows. The Company’s inability to access short-term funding or inability to monetize liquid assets could impair the Company’s ability to make new loans or meet existing lending commitments, and could adversely impact the Company’s overall financial condition, liquidity and regulatory capital.
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