Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Background
Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (“TCBI” or the “Company”) is a registered bank holding company and a full-service financial services firm that delivers customized solutions to businesses, entrepreneurs and individual customers. TCBI is headquartered in Dallas, with primary banking offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, and has built a network of clients across the country. Substantially all of the Company’s business activities are conducted through its wholly-owned subsidiary bank Texas Capital Bank (the “Bank”).
The Company was incorporated as a Delaware corporation in 1996 and commenced banking operations in 1998.
Business Strategy and Markets
The Company was founded with an entrepreneurial culture and a mission to build a commercial banking presence across Texas. Drawing on the banking experience and business and community ties of management, the Company’s strategy has evolved to become a Texas-based full-service financial services firm that can seamlessly serve the best clients in its markets through the entirety of their life cycles. A core tenant of this strategy is the maintenance of financial resiliency through market and rate cycles enabling the Company to serve its clients, access markets, and support its communities through changing market conditions. The Company is well positioned with a wide range of relevant products and services along with best-in-class levels of liquidity, credit reserves and capital.
Competition
The Company’s business is concentrated in Texas which is a highly competitive market for banking services. TCBI competes with national, regional, and local bank holding companies and commercial banks. The largest banking organizations operating in Texas are headquartered outside of the state and are controlled by out-of-state organizations. TCBI also competes with other providers of financial services, such as non-bank financial institutions, commercial finance and leasing companies, consumer finance companies, financial technology companies, securities firms, insurance companies, full-service brokerage firms and discount brokerage firms, credit unions and savings and loan associations. As a tenant of TCBI’s strategic plan, the Company believes that commercial businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals are interested in banking with a company both headquartered and with decision-making authority based in Texas.
The Company’s banking centers in its target markets are served by experienced bankers with expertise in the specific industries found in their market areas and established community ties. The Company believes it is positioned to offer clients more responsive and personalized service and advice than its competitors. By providing effective service to these customers, the Company believes it will be able to establish “first call” relationships, and provide all the banking needs of its customers, thereby enhancing its relevance and financial returns.
While the Texas market continues to be central to its growth and success, the Company has built several lines of business that offer specialized products and services to businesses and individuals regionally and nationwide, including mortgage finance, homebuilder finance, investment banking and Bask Bank. Bask Bank is an online division of the Bank that offers depositors American Airlines AAdvantage® miles in lieu of cash interest as well as traditional interest bearing deposit products such as savings accounts and certificates of deposit. The Company believes these business lines help to mitigate its geographic concentration risk in Texas.
Products and Services
The Company offers a variety of loan, deposit account and other financial products and services to its customers.
Business Customers. The Company offers a full range of products and services oriented to the needs of its business customers including commercial loans for general corporate purposes, including financing for working capital, organic growth, and acquisitions; real estate term and construction loans; mortgage warehouse lending and mortgage finance services; treasury management services, including online banking and debit and credit card services; investment banking and advisory services; and letters of credit.
Individual Customers. The Company also provides comprehensive banking services for its individual customers including personal wealth management and trust services; certificates of deposit; interest bearing and non-interest bearing checking accounts; traditional money market and savings accounts; loans, both secured and unsecured; online and mobile banking; investment banking and advisory services; and Bask Bank.
Lending Activities
The Company targets its lending to commercial businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals who meet certain desired client characteristics and credit standards. The credit standards are set by a standing Credit Policy Committee with the assistance of the Chief Credit Officer, who is charged with ensuring that all loans in the portfolio meet the credit standards. The Credit Policy
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Committee is comprised of senior Bank officers, including the Chief Risk Officer, the Chief Credit Officer and other Bank officers as deemed appropriate, and is subject to oversight by the Risk Committee of the Company's board of directors. The Company believes it maintains an appropriately diversified loan portfolio. Credit policies and underwriting guidelines are tailored to address the unique risks associated with each industry represented in the portfolio. Of note, the Company’s mortgage finance business encounters seasonal demands for credit, surges and declines in consumer demand driven by changes in interest rates and month-end upticks of residential mortgage closings.
The credit standards for commercial borrowers are based on numerous criteria with respect to the borrower, including historical and projected financial information, strength of management, acceptable collateral and associated advance rates, and market conditions and trends in the borrower’s industry. In addition, prospective loans are analyzed based on current industry concentrations in the loan portfolio to prevent an unacceptable concentration of loans in any particular industry. The Company believes its credit standards are consistent with achieving its business objectives in the markets it serves and are an important part of the Company’s risk mitigation strategy. The Company believes that it is differentiated from its competitors by its client selection, focus on and targeted marketing to its core customers and by its ability to tailor its products to the individual needs of its customers.
The Company generally extends variable rate loans in which the interest rate fluctuates with a specified reference rate and may provide for a minimum floor rate. The use of variable rate loans is designed to protect the Company from risks associated with interest rate fluctuations since the rates of interest earned will automatically reflect such fluctuations.
Treasury Solutions and Deposit Products
Texas Capital Bank offers treasury solutions and deposit products to meet its customers evolving needs. For commercial business customers, the Company offers a full suite of deposit solutions including checking, money market savings, and sweep accounts with competitive industry rates. Treasury products offered include state of the art payment and receivables solutions ranging from instant payments, wire, ACH, commercial card, merchant, and lockbox solutions underpinned by a commercial grade digital platform supporting a broad range of payment initiation, information reporting and liquidity management solutions.
Personal banking deposit products offered by the Bank include checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit. Personal banking deposit customers have online and mobile access to fully manage their accounts leveraging features that include funds transfers, peer-to-peer payments, bill pay, wire transfer requests, remote check deposit and more.
Wealth Management and Trust
Texas Capital Bank Private Wealth Advisors (“PWA”) services include investment management, lending, depository products, financial planning, trust and estate services, as well as insurance services. The PWA professionals work with clients to define objectives, goals, and strategies. Investment managers work alongside the client to choose an individually tailored program that matches their financial goals and aspirations while managing their risk tolerance. PWA also offers all clients a financial plan which is used to ensure that they are on track to achieve their long term objectives. Throughout the relationship PWA also offers insurance solutions as well as trust and estate planning services that work towards a tax efficient transition of assets to family or charitable types of organizations.
Investment Banking
Texas Capital Securities (“TCS”) offers a full suite of investment banking products and services to clients. TCS professionals leverage their knowledge of industry dynamics, transaction structure and market conditions complemented by a network of investors, buyers, lenders and other capital sources, to assist clients in completing underwritten and privately placed offerings of debt, convertible and equity securities, buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions and other transactions. Additionally, TCS offers services to manage interest rate, foreign exchange, and commodity risks, and enable market access by offering sales, trading and other institutional services.
Human Capital
The Company’s focus is to attract, develop, engage and retain the best talent, and to plan for succession of key talent and executives to achieve strategic objectives. The Company is continually investing in its workforce to further emphasize diversity and inclusion and to foster its employees' growth and career development. Further, the Company is regularly evaluating the resources available to employees to address professional, financial and health-related matters, as the health, safety and well-being of employees and customers is of paramount importance. The Compensation and Human Capital Committee of the Board of Directors provides input and oversight of human capital management, including talent management, executive succession planning, diversity and inclusion and company culture.
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At the Company, diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) is an integral part of the strategy to build a strong culture where employees can reach their full potential professionally and personally. In 2023, the Company continued its inclusion efforts through cultural celebrations and employee engagement activities across markets, and the Company broadened communications internally and externally as it highlighted the stories and experiences of diverse leaders. Listening tours were conducted with employees to get their perspective of what DEI means to them and where the Company has opportunity to improve.
In 2022, we launched Employee Resource Groups (“ERGs”). In 2023, the Company focused on ensuring charters were clear and leadership was in place. The Company also prioritized proactive planning, strong execution, and defined processes. With new leadership teams in place, there was an exponential growth in employee engagement and programming. Employee participation increased by 40% and programming tripled year over year. In addition to advancing educational awareness, the ERGs led the way in creating opportunities for our employees to give back to the communities the Company serves through volunteerism.
The Company offers a comprehensive benefits program to its employees and designs compensation programs to attract, retain and motivate employees that align with Company performance. The Company’s performance management process is designed for succession planning deeper into the organization. The Company utilizes feedback from exit interviews to drive improvements where possible and reduced attrition by 6% in 2023.
The Company also continued enhancements to its training and development program during 2023, which included the completion of job profiles for roles across the Company with skills, knowledge, and abilities to empower employees to focus on targeted skill development and career ownership. Further, the Company expanded its use of leadership models, which identify the critical skills and behaviors necessary to be successful at every level, and success profiles, that describe the critical knowledge, skills and abilities needed for every role.
To help employees be successful in their roles, the Company implemented a new Human Capital Management System, which among other things, resulted in more streamlined HR processes, and creating a more favorable employee experience and engagement in HR-related activities.
At December 31, 2023, the Company had 1,987 employees, nearly all of whom are full time and of which approximately 42% were female and 43% self-identify as ethnically diverse. Due to the Company’s significant Texas-based operations and branch-lite network, the majority of its employees are based in Texas.
None of the Company’s employees are represented by a collective bargaining agreement, and management considers relations with employees to be good.
Regulation and Supervision
General . The Company is subject to extensive federal and state laws and regulations that impose specific requirements and provide regulatory oversight of virtually all aspects of its operations. These laws and regulations generally are intended for the protection of depositors, the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and the stability of the U.S. banking system as a whole, rather than for the protection of stockholders and creditors. Complying with the regulations discussed below did not have and is not expected to have a material effect on capital expenditures, earnings and competitive position. The Company does not have any environmental control facilities and did not spend any capital expenditures on such facilities during 2023.
The following discussion summarizes certain laws, regulations and policies to which the Company is subject. It does not address all applicable laws, regulations and policies that affect the Company currently or might affect it in the future. This discussion is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full texts of the laws, regulations and policies described.
TCBI’s activities are governed by the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “BHCA”). It is subject to primary regulation, supervision and examination by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”) pursuant to the BHCA. The Company files quarterly reports and other information with the Federal Reserve. As a public company, the Company also files reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and is subject to its regulatory authority, including the disclosure and regulatory requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to the Company’s securities, financial reporting and certain governance matters. Because TCBI’s securities are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”), the Company is subject to Nasdaq's rules for listed companies, including rules relating to corporate governance.
The Bank is organized as a Texas state-chartered bank, and is subject to primary regulation, supervision and examination by the Texas Department of Banking and the FDIC. The Bank’s activities are also subject to regulation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) and by certain other federal and state agencies. The Bank files quarterly reports of condition and income with the FDIC, which provides insurance for certain of the Bank’s deposits.
The Bank has a wholly owned non-bank subsidiary, TCBI Securities, Inc. (“TCBI Securities”), doing business as Texas Capital Securities, that is a registered broker-dealer with the SEC and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
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(“FINRA”). TCBI Securities is subject to the jurisdiction of several regulatory bodies, including the SEC, FINRA, and state securities regulators.
Bank Holding Company Regulation . The BHCA limits the Company’s business to banking, managing or controlling banks and other activities that the Federal Reserve has determined to be closely related to banking. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, as amended (the “GLB Act”), allows bank holding companies meeting certain management, capital and Community Reinvestment Act standards to elect to be treated as a financial holding company that may offer customers a more comprehensive array of financial products and services. The Company has elected to register with the Federal Reserve as a financial holding company. This authorizes it to engage in any activity that is either (i) financial in nature or incidental to such financial activity, as determined by the Federal Reserve, or (ii) complementary to a financial activity, so long as the activity does not pose a substantial risk to the safety and soundness of the Bank or the financial system generally, as determined by the Federal Reserve. Examples of non-banking activities that are financial in nature include securities underwriting and dealing, insurance underwriting, providing investment and financial advice, leasing personal property and making merchant banking investments.
In order for the Company to undertake certain new activities permitted by the BHCA, the Company must be considered “well capitalized” (as defined below) and well managed, the Bank must have received a rating of at least “satisfactory” in its most recent examination under the Community Reinvestment Act, and must notify the Federal Reserve within 30 days of engaging in the new activity.
Under Federal Reserve regulations, which were codified by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), TCBI is expected to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to the Bank and commit resources to its support. Such support may be required even at times when a holding company may not be in a financial position, or otherwise inclined, to provide such resources. Additionally, TCBI could in certain circumstances be required to guarantee the capital restoration plan of the Bank if it became undercapitalized.
It is the policy of the Federal Reserve that bank holding companies may maintain their existing rate of cash dividends on common stock only out of net income available over the past year and only if the prospective rate of earnings retention is consistent with the organization’s expected future capital needs, asset quality and financial condition. As a general matter, the Federal Reserve expects a bank holding company’s board of directors to inform it and to eliminate, defer or significantly reduce the bank holding company’s dividends if (i) the bank holding company’s net income available to stockholders for the past four quarters, net of dividends previously paid during that period, is not sufficient to fully fund the dividends, (ii) the bank holding company’s prospective rate of earnings retention is not consistent with the company’s capital needs and overall current and prospective financial condition or (iii) the bank holding company will not meet, or is in danger of not meeting, its minimum regulatory capital adequacy ratios. The policy provides that bank holding companies may not pay cash dividends in an amount that would undermine the holding company’s ability to serve as a source of strength to its banking subsidiary.
With certain limited exceptions, the BHCA and the Change in Bank Control Act of 1978, as amended (the “CIBC Act”), together with regulations promulgated thereunder, prohibit a person or company or a group of persons deemed to be an association or “acting in concert” from, directly or indirectly, acquiring 10% or more (5% or more if the acquirer is a bank holding company) of any class of the Company’s voting stock or obtaining the ability to control in any manner the election of a majority of the Company’s directors or otherwise direct the management or policies of the Company without prior notice or application to and the approval of the Federal Reserve.
If, in the opinion of the applicable federal bank regulatory authorities, a depository institution or holding company is engaged in or is about to engage in an unsafe or unsound practice (which could include the payment of dividends or repurchase or redemptions of securities), such authority may require, generally after notice and hearing, that such institution or holding company cease and desist such practice. The federal banking agencies have indicated that paying dividends that deplete a depository institution’s or holding company’s capital base to an inadequate level would be such an unsafe or unsound banking practice. Declaring or paying dividends that exceed its earnings for the relevant period could result in supervisory findings by the Federal Reserve. Federal Reserve regulations require that the Company, under certain circumstances, provide prior notice to or obtain prior approval for redemptions or repurchases of its equity securities. Under such regulations, the Federal Reserve may disapprove such actions if the Federal Reserve finds that they would constitute an unsafe or unsound practice or violate any law or Federal Reserve order.
Regulation of the Bank by the Texas Department of Banking and the FDIC. Pursuant to applicable Texas and federal law, Texas state-chartered banks are permitted to engage in any activity permissible for national banks, including non-banking activities that are permissible for national banks. In addition, Texas state-chartered banks may engage in financial activities or activities incidental or complementary to a financial activity with prior approval.
The Bank is subject to continuous regulation, supervision and examination by the Texas Department of Banking and the FDIC. The regulators monitor all areas of the Bank’s operations, including security devices and procedures, adequacy of capitalization and loss reserves, accounting treatment and impact on capital determinations, loans, investments, borrowings, deposits,
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liquidity, mergers, issuances of securities, payment of dividends, interest rate risk management, establishment of branches, corporate reorganizations, maintenance of books and records, and adequacy of staff training to carry on safe and sound lending and deposit gathering practices. Among other things, the Bank is required by its regulators to maintain specified capital ratios, file quarterly reports of its financial condition and results of operations and to obtain an annual audit of its financial statements.
Regulation of the Bank by the CFPB . The CFPB has regulation, supervision and examination authority over the Bank with respect to substantially all federal statutes and regulations protecting the interests of consumers of financial services, including but not limited to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Truth in Savings Act, the Right to Financial Privacy Act and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and their respective related regulations. Penalties for violating these laws and regulations could subject the Bank to lawsuits and administrative penalties, including civil monetary penalties, payments to affected consumers and orders to halt or materially change the Bank’s consumer banking activities. The CFPB has broad authority to pursue enforcement actions, including investigations, civil actions and cease and desist proceedings, and can refer civil and criminal findings to the Department of Justice for prosecution. The Bank is also subject to other federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations that, among other things, prohibit unfair, deceptive and abusive, corrupt or fraudulent business practices, untrue or misleading advertising and unfair competition.
Capital Adequacy Requirements. Federal banking regulators adopted a system using certain risk-based capital guidelines to evaluate the capital adequacy of banks and bank holding companies that is based upon the 1988 capital accord of the Bank for International Settlements’ Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (the “Basel Committee”), a committee of central banks and bank regulators from the major industrialized countries that coordinates international standards for bank regulation. Under the guidelines, specific categories of assets and off-balance-sheet activities such as letters of credit are assigned risk weights, based generally on the perceived credit or other risks associated with the asset. Off-balance-sheet activities are assigned a credit conversion factor based on the perceived likelihood that they will become on-balance-sheet assets. These risk weights are multiplied by corresponding asset balances to determine a “risk weighted” asset base, which is then measured against various forms of capital to produce capital ratios.
In 2010, the Basel Committee released a set of international recommendations for strengthening the regulation, supervision and risk management of banking organizations, known as Basel III. In July 2013, the Federal Reserve published final rules for the adoption of the Basel III regulatory capital framework (the “Basel III Capital Rules”). The Basel III Capital Rules became effective for the Company on January 1, 2015, with certain transition provisions phasing in over a period that ended on January 1, 2019.
The Basel III Capital Rules, among other things, (i) establishes the capital measure called “Common Equity Tier 1” (“CET1”), (ii) specify that Tier 1 capital consists of CET1 and “Additional Tier 1 capital” instruments meeting stated requirements, (iii) requires that most deductions/adjustments to regulatory capital measures be made to CET1 and not to the other components of capital and (iv) defines the scope of the deductions/adjustments to the capital measures. The Basel III Capital Rules also specify a capital measure for Tier 2 capital, which includes subordinated debt and a portion of the allowance for credit losses, in each case, subject to certain regulatory requirements. The Company’s preferred stock constitutes Additional Tier 1 capital and subordinated notes constitute Tier 2 capital.
The Basel III Capital Rules set the CET1 risk-based capital requirement, the Tier 1 risk-based capital requirement and the total risk-based capital requirement to a minimum of 4.5%, 6.0% and 8.0%, respectively, each plus a 2.5% capital conservation buffer composed entirely of CET1, producing targeted ratios of 7.0%, 8.5% and 10.5%, respectively. A financial institution with a conservation buffer of less than the required amount is subject to limitations on capital distributions, including dividend payments and stock repurchases, and certain discretionary bonus payments to executive officers. The leverage ratio requirement under the Basel III Capital Rules, calculated as the ratio of Tier 1 capital to quarterly average assets (net of goodwill, certain other intangible assets and certain other deduction), is 4.0%. Under the Basel III Capital Rules, the Company and the Bank must maintain CET1, Tier 1 and total capital ratios that are equal to or greater than 7.0%, 8.5% and 10.5%, respectively, and a leverage ratio equal to or greater than 4.0%.
The Company has met the capital adequacy requirements under the Basel III Capital Rules on a fully phased-in basis since it commenced filing of the applicable reports with its federal banking regulators, and as of December 31, 2023 the Bank's CET1 risk-based capital ratio, Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio and total risk-based capital ratio were in excess of the amounts required for the Bank to be classified as “well capitalized” for purposes of the FDIC’s prompt corrective action regulations, which is discussed in more detail below.
Because the Company had less than $15 billion in total consolidated assets as of December 31, 2009, it is allowed to continue to classify its trust preferred securities, all of which were issued prior to May 19, 2010, as Tier 1 capital up to 25% of that measure. However, the treatment of existing trust preferred securities as capital may be subject to further regulatory change prior to their maturity, which could require the Company to seek additional capital. As a non-advanced approaches banking organization, the Company has elected to exclude the effects of certain accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”)
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items included in stockholders’ equity for the determination of regulatory capital and capital ratios under the Basel III Capital Rules.
In August 2020, the U.S. federal banking agencies adopted a final rule altering the definition of eligible retained income in their respective capital rules. Under the new rule, eligible retained income is the greater of a firm’s (i) net income for the four preceding calendar quarters, net of any distributions and associated tax effects not already reflected in net income, and (ii) average net income over the preceding four quarters. An institution’s eligible retained income, when considered in conjunction with capital ratios and the capital conservation buffer, provides limitations on capital distributions (including dividends and share repurchases) and certain executive compensation arrangements for the quarter following the calculation. As of December 31, 2023, the Company was permitted to use 100% of its eligible retained income for these purposes in the first quarter of 2024.
In February 2019, the federal bank regulatory agencies issued a final rule (the “2019 CECL Rule”) that revised certain capital regulations to account for changes to credit loss accounting under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). The 2019 CECL Rule included a transition option that allows banking organizations to phase in, over a three-year period, the day-one adverse effects of adopting the new accounting standard related to the measurement of current expected credit losses (“CECL”) on their regulatory capital ratios (three-year transition option). In March 2020, the federal bank regulatory agencies issued an interim final rule that maintains the three-year transition option of the 2019 CECL Rule and also provides banking organizations that were required under GAAP to implement CECL before the end of 2020 the option to delay for two years an estimate of the effect of CECL on regulatory capital, relative to the incurred loss methodology’s effect on regulatory capital, followed by a three-year transition period (five-year transition option). The Company adopted CECL on January 1, 2020 and elected to utilize the five-year transition option.
Regulators may change capital and liquidity requirements, including previous interpretations of practices related to risk weights, which could require an increase to the allocation of capital to assets held by the Bank. Regulators could also require the Company to make retroactive adjustments to financial statements to reflect such changes. A regulatory capital ratio or category may not constitute an accurate representation of a financial institution’s overall financial condition or prospects. The Company’s regulatory capital status is addressed in more detail under the heading “ Liquidity and Capital Resources ” within Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and in Note 10 - Regulatory Ratios and Capital in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (the “FDICIA”) established a system of prompt corrective action regulations and policies to resolve the problems of undercapitalized insured depository institutions. Under this system, insured depository institutions are ranked in one of five capital categories as described below. Regulators are required to take mandatory supervisory actions and are authorized to take other discretionary actions of increasing severity with respect to insured depository institutions in the three undercapitalized categories. The five capital categories for insured depository institutions under the prompt corrective action regulations consist of:
• Well capitalized - equals or exceeds a 10% total risk-based capital ratio, 8% Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio, 6.5% CET1 capital ratio and 5% leverage ratio and is not subject to any written agreement, order or directive requiring it to maintain a specific level for any capital measure;
• Adequately capitalized - equals or exceeds an 8% total risk-based capital ratio, 6% Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio, 4.5% CET1 capital ratio and 4% leverage ratio;
• Undercapitalized - total risk-based capital ratio of less than 8%, or a Tier 1 risk-based ratio of less than 6%, a CET1 capital ratio of less than 4.5% or a leverage ratio of less than 4%;
• Significantly undercapitalized - total risk-based capital ratio of less than 6%, or a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of less than 4%, a CET1 capital ratio of less than 3% or a leverage ratio of less than 3%; and
• Critically undercapitalized - a ratio of tangible equity to total assets equal to or less than 2%.
The prompt corrective action regulations provide that an institution may be downgraded to the next lower category if its regulator determines, after notice and opportunity for hearing or response, that the institution is in an unsafe or unsound condition or has received and not corrected a less-than-satisfactory rating for any of the categories of asset quality, management, earnings or liquidity in its most recent examination.
Federal bank regulatory agencies are required to implement arrangements for prompt corrective action for institutions failing to meet minimum requirements to be at least adequately capitalized. FDICIA imposes an increasingly stringent array of restrictions, requirements and prohibitions as an organization’s capital levels deteriorate. A bank rated “adequately capitalized” or below may not accept, renew or roll over brokered deposits unless it receives a waiver from the FDIC. A “significantly undercapitalized” institution is subject to mandated capital raising activities, restrictions on interest rates paid and transactions with affiliates, removal of management and other restrictions. The FDIC has only very limited discretion in dealing with a
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“critically undercapitalized” institution and generally must appoint a receiver or conservator if the capital deficiency is not corrected promptly.
Under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as amended (the “FDIA”), “critically undercapitalized” banks may not, beginning 60 days after becoming critically undercapitalized, make any payment of principal or interest on their subordinated debt (subject to certain limited exceptions). In addition, under Section 18(i) of the FDIA, banks are required to obtain the advance consent of the FDIC to retire any part of their subordinated notes. Under the FDIA, a bank may not pay interest on its subordinated notes if such interest is required to be paid only out of net profits, or distribute any of its capital assets, while it remains in default on any assessment due to the FDIC.
In December 2020, the FDIC issued a final rule that is designed to bring the brokered deposits regulations in line with modern deposit taking methods and generally reduces the scope of deposits that would be classified as brokered, which most directly affects banks rated as “adequately capitalized” or “undercapitalized”. The final rule became effective on April 1, 2021, with an extended compliance date of January 1, 2022. Compliance with the final rule did not have an impact to the Company’s classification of brokered deposits.
Federal bank regulators may set capital requirements for a particular banking organization that are higher than the minimum ratios when circumstances warrant. Federal banking guidelines provide that banking organizations experiencing significant growth or making acquisitions will be expected to maintain strong capital positions substantially above the minimum supervisory levels, without significant reliance on intangible assets. Concentration of credit risks, interest rate risk (imbalances in rates, maturities or sensitivities) and risks arising from non-traditional activities, as well as an institution’s ability to manage these risks, are important factors taken into account by regulatory agencies in assessing an organization’s overall capital adequacy.
The risk-based and leverage capital ratios established by federal banking regulators are minimum supervisory ratios generally applicable to banking organizations that meet specified criteria, assuming that they otherwise have received the highest regulatory ratings in their most recent examinations. Banking organizations not meeting these criteria are expected to operate with capital positions in excess of the minimum ratios. Regulators can, from time to time, change their policies or interpretations of banking practices to require changes in risk weights assigned to the Bank's assets or changes in the factors considered in order to evaluate capital adequacy, which may require the Bank to obtain additional capital to support existing asset levels or future growth or reduce asset balances in order to meet minimum acceptable capital ratios.
Liquidity Requirements . U.S. capital rules implementing the Basel III standards also include two quantitative liquidity tests for certain large banking organizations. One of the liquidity tests, referred to as the liquidity coverage ratio (“LCR”), is designed to ensure that a banking entity maintains an adequate level of unencumbered high-quality liquid assets equal to the entity’s expected net cash outflow for a 30-day time horizon (or, if greater, 25% of its expected total cash outflow) under an acute liquidity stress scenario.
The other test, referred to as the net stable funding ratio (“NSFR”), is designed to promote more medium- and long-term funding of the assets and activities of banking entities over a one-year time horizon. These requirements encourage the covered banking entities to increase their holdings of U.S. Treasury securities and other sovereign debt as a component of assets and to increase the use of long-term debt as a funding source.
While the LCR and NSFR tests are not currently applicable to the Company or the Bank, other relevant measures of liquidity are monitored by management and are reported to the board of directors. Regulators may change capital and liquidity requirements, including previous interpretations of practices related to risk weights, which could require an increase in liquid assets or in the necessary capital to support the assets held by the Bank. Regulators could also require the Company to make retroactive adjustments to financial statements and reported capital ratios to reflect such changes.
Stress Testing . Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act and regulations published by the federal bank regulatory agencies, the Company was required to conduct an annual “stress test” of capital and consolidated earnings and losses under a base case and two severely adverse stress scenarios provided by federal bank regulatory agencies from the years 2016 to 2018. In response to this requirement, the Company developed dedicated staffing, economic models, policies and procedures to implement stress testing on an annual basis, the results of which were furnished to regulators. However, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, enacted in 2018 (the “Regulatory Relief Act”) terminated TCBI’s stress testing requirements, however, the Company created its own stress testing framework and continues to perform certain stress tests as a matter of good governance and risk management and has incorporated the economic models and information developed through the stress testing program into the Company’s risk management and business, capital and liquidity planning activities, which are subject to continuing regulatory oversight.
Privacy and Data Security. The financial privacy provisions of the GLB Act generally prohibit financial institutions, including the Bank, from disclosing non-public personal financial information about customers to non-affiliated third parties unless customers have the opportunity to “opt out” of the disclosure and have not elected to do so. The Bank is required to comply with state laws regarding consumer privacy if they are more protective than the GLB Act.
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The federal banking agencies have adopted guidelines for safeguarding confidential, personal customer information. The guidelines require each financial institution, under the supervision and ongoing oversight of its board of directors or an appropriate committee thereof, to create, implement and maintain a comprehensive written information security program designed to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer information, protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such information and protect against unauthorized access to or use of such information that could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to any customer. In addition, various U.S. regulators have increased their focus on cyber security through guidance, examinations and regulations. Banking organizations are required to notify their primary federal regulator within 36 hours of becoming aware of a “computer-security incident” that rises to the level of a “notification incident.”
In February 2018, the SEC published interpretive guidance to assist public companies in preparing disclosures about cybersecurity risks and incidents. These SEC guidelines, and any other regulatory guidance, are in addition to notification and disclosure requirements under state and federal banking law and regulations.
In July 2023, the SEC issued a final rule to enhance and standardize disclosures regarding cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and incident reporting by public companies that are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Specifically, the final rule requires current reporting about material cybersecurity incidents, periodic disclosures about a registrant’s policies and procedures to identify and manage cybersecurity risk, management’s role in implementing cybersecurity policies and procedures, and the board of directors’ cybersecurity expertise, if any, and its oversight of cybersecurity risk. See Item 1C. Cybersecurity for a discussion of the Company’s cybersecurity risk management, strategy and governance.
Privacy and data security areas are expected to receive increased attention at the federal level. An increasing number of state laws and regulations have been enacted in recent years to implement privacy and cybersecurity standards and regulations, including data breach notification and data privacy requirements. Recently, several states have adopted regulations requiring certain financial institutions to implement cybersecurity programs that meet specified requirements. In addition, other jurisdictions in which customers do business, such as the European Union, have adopted similar requirements. This trend of activity is expected to continue to expand, requiring continual monitoring of developments in the states and nations in which the Company’s customers are located and ongoing investments in its information systems and compliance capabilities.
Community Reinvestment Act. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (the “CRA”) requires depository institutions to assist in meeting the credit needs of their market areas consistent with safe and sound banking practice. Under the CRA, each depository institution is required to help meet the credit needs of its market areas by, among other things, providing credit, making investments and providing community development services to low- and moderate-income individuals and communities. Depository institutions are periodically examined for compliance with the CRA and are assigned one of four ratings. The Bank is subject to examination by the FDIC. In order for a financial holding company to commence new activity permitted by the BHCA, each insured depository institution subsidiary of the financial holding company must have received a rating of at least “satisfactory” in its most recent examination under the CRA. The Bank's strategic focus on serving commercial customers in regional and national markets from a limited number of branches makes it more challenging for it to satisfy CRA requirements as compared to banks of comparable size that focus on providing retail banking services in markets where they maintain a network of full-service branches.
On October 24, 2023, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”), Federal Reserve, and FDIC issued a final rule to modernize their respective CRA regulations. The revised rules substantially alter the methodology for assessing compliance with the CRA, with material aspects taking effect January 1, 2026 and revised data reporting requirements taking effect January 1, 2027. Among other things, the revised rules evaluate lending outside traditional assessment areas generated by the growth of non-branch delivery systems, such as online and mobile banking, apply a metrics-based benchmarking approach to assessment, and clarify eligible CRA activities. The final rules are likely to make it more challenging and/or costly for the Bank to receive a rating of at least “satisfactory” on its CRA exam.
The USA Patriot Act, the International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act and the Bank Secrecy Act. A major focus of U.S. government policy regarding financial institutions in recent years has been combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other illegal payments. The USA Patriot Act of 2001 and the International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 substantially broadened the scope of U.S. anti-money laundering laws and penalties, specifically related to the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, and expanded the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. government in this area. Regulations issued under these laws impose obligations on financial institutions to maintain appropriate policies, procedures and controls to detect, prevent and report money laundering and terrorist financing and other suspicious activity and to verify the identity of their customers and apply additional scrutiny to customers considered to present greater than normal risk. Failure of a financial institution to maintain and implement adequate programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, or to comply with relevant laws or regulations, could have serious legal, reputational and financial consequences for the institution. Because of the significance of regulatory emphasis on these requirements, the Company has expended, and expects to continue to expend, significant staffing, technology and financial resources to maintain
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programs designed to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations and an effective audit function for testing compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act on an ongoing basis.
The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”), which amends the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (“BSA”), was enacted in January 2021. The AMLA is intended to be a comprehensive reform and modernization to U.S. bank secrecy and anti-money laundering laws. Among other things, it codifies a risk-based approach to anti-money laundering compliance for financial institutions; requires the development of standards for evaluating technology and internal processes for BSA compliance; and expands enforcement- and investigation-related authority, including increasing available sanctions for certain BSA violations and instituting BSA whistleblower incentives and protections.
Office of Foreign Assets Control . The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) is responsible for administering and enforcing economic and trade sanctions against specified foreign parties, including countries and regimes, foreign individuals and other foreign organizations and entities. OFAC publishes lists of prohibited parties that are regularly consulted by the Bank in the conduct of its business in order to ensure compliance. The Company is responsible for, among other things, blocking accounts of, and transactions with, prohibited parties identified by OFAC, avoiding unlicensed trade and financial transactions with such parties and reporting blocked transactions after their occurrence. Failure to comply with OFAC requirements could have serious legal, financial and reputational consequences for the Company.
Safe and Sound Banking Practices; Enforcement . Banks and bank holding companies are prohibited from engaging in unsafe and unsound banking practices. Bank regulators have broad authority to prohibit and penalize activities of bank holding companies and their subsidiaries which represent unsafe and unsound banking practices or which constitute violations of laws, regulations or written directives of or agreements with regulators. Regulators have considerable discretion in identifying what they deem to be unsafe and unsound practices and in pursuing enforcement actions in response to them.
The FDIA requires federal bank regulatory agencies to prescribe, by regulation or guideline, operational and managerial standards for all insured depository institutions that relate to, among other things: (i) internal controls, information systems and audit systems; (ii) loan documentation; (iii) credit underwriting; (iv) interest rate exposure; (v) asset growth and quality; and (vi) compensation and benefits. Federal banking agencies have adopted regulations and Interagency Guidelines Prescribing Standards for Safety and Soundness to implement these requirements, which regulators use to identify and address problems at insured depository institutions before capital becomes impaired. If a regulator determines that a bank fails to meet any standards prescribed by the guidelines, the bank may be required to submit an acceptable plan to achieve compliance and agree to specific deadlines for the submission to and review by the regulator of reports confirming progress in implementing the safety and soundness compliance plan. Failure to implement such a plan may result in an enforcement action against the bank.
Enforcement actions against the Company, the Bank and their respective officers and directors may include the issuance of a written directive, the issuance of a cease-and-desist order that can be judicially enforced, the imposition of civil money penalties, the issuance of directives to increase capital, the issuance of formal and informal agreements, the issuance of removal and prohibition orders against officers or other institution-affiliated parties, the imposition of restrictions and sanctions under prompt corrective action regulations, the termination of deposit insurance (in the case of the Bank) and the appointment of a conservator or receiver for the Bank. Civil money penalties can be over $2 million for each day a violation continues.
Transactions with Affiliates and Insiders. The Bank is subject to Section 23A of the Federal Reserve Act, as amended (the “FRA”) which places limits on, among other covered transactions, the amount of loans or extensions of credit to affiliates that may be made by the Bank. Extensions of credit to affiliates must be adequately collateralized by specified amounts and types of collateral. Section 23A also limits the amount of loans or advances made by the Bank to third party borrowers that are collateralized by securities or obligations of the Bank’s affiliates. The Bank is also subject to Section 23B of the FRA, which, among other things, prohibits an institution from engaging in transactions with affiliates unless the transactions are on terms substantially the same, or at least as favorable to such institution or its subsidiaries, as those prevailing at the time for comparable transactions with non-affiliates.
The Company is subject to restrictions on extensions of credit to insiders (namely executive officers, directors, and 10% stockholders) and their related interests. These restrictions are contained in the FRA and Federal Reserve Regulation O and apply to all insured depository institutions as well as their subsidiaries and holding companies. These restrictions include limits on loans to any individual insider and such insider's related interests and certain conditions that must be met before such loans can be made. There is also an aggregate limitation on all loans to insiders and their related interests, which cannot exceed the institution’s total unimpaired capital and surplus, unless the FDIC determines that a lesser amount is appropriate. Insiders are subject to enforcement actions for knowingly accepting loans in violation of applicable restrictions.
Restrictions on Payment of Dividends by the Bank. The sole source of funding of TCBI’s financial obligations has consisted of proceeds of capital markets transactions and cash payments from the Bank. The Bank is subject to federal banking law requirements concerning the payment of dividends, including, under the FDICIA, the Bank may not pay any dividend if it is undercapitalized or if payment would cause it to become undercapitalized.
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Limits on Compensation . The Federal Reserve, OCC and FDIC in 2010 issued comprehensive final guidance on incentive compensation policies for executive management of banks and bank holding companies. This guidance was intended to ensure that the incentive compensation policies of banking organizations do not undermine their safety and soundness by encouraging excessive risk-taking. The objective of the guidance is to ensure that incentive compensation arrangements (i) provide incentives that do not encourage excessive risk-taking, (ii) are compatible with effective internal controls and risk management and (iii) are supported by strong corporate governance, including oversight by the board of directors. In 2016, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC and the SEC proposed rules that would, depending upon the assets of the institution, directly regulate incentive compensation arrangements and would require enhanced oversight and recordkeeping. As of December 31, 2023, these rules have not been implemented.
Deposit Insurance. The Bank’s deposits are insured through the DIF, which is administered by the FDIC, up to limits established by applicable law, currently $250,000 per depositor, per account ownership category, per bank. The FDIC determines quarterly deposit insurance assessments consisting of a percentage of an assessment base equal to the Bank’s average consolidated total assets less average tangible equity capital and the assignment of one of four risk categories based on supervisory evaluations, regulatory capital levels and certain other factors. The FDIC has the discretion to adjust an institution’s risk rating and may terminate its insurance of deposits upon a finding that the institution engaged or is engaging in unsafe and unsound practices, is in an unsafe or unsound condition to continue operations, or violated any applicable law, regulation, rule, order or condition imposed by the FDIC or written agreement entered into with the FDIC. The FDIC may also prohibit any FDIC-insured institution from engaging in any activity it determines to pose a serious risk to the DIF.
For 2023, the FDIC assigned assessment rates based on a scorecard considering CAMELS component ratings, financial measures used to measure a bank's ability to withstand asset-related and funding-related stress, and a measure of loss severity that estimates the relative magnitude of potential losses to the FDIC in the event of the bank's failure, all subject to certain adjustments. As of June 30, 2020, the DIF reserve ratio fell to 1.30%, below the statutory minimum of 1.35%. The FDIC, as required under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, established a plan on September 15, 2020 to restore the DIF reserve ratio to meet or exceed the statutory minimum of 1.35% within eight years. On October 18, 2022, the FDIC adopted an amended restoration plan to increase the likelihood that the reserve ratio would be restored to at least 1.35% by September 30, 2028. The FDIC’s amended restoration plan increases the initial base deposit insurance assessment rate schedules uniformly by 2 basis points, which began the first quarterly assessment period of 2023. The FDIC could further increase the deposit insurance assessments for certain insured depository institutions, including the Bank, if the DIF reserve ratio is not restored as projected.
In November 2023, the FDIC approved a final rule to implement a special assessment to recover the loss to the DIF associated with several bank failures that occurred during early 2023. The assessment base for the special assessment is equal to estimated uninsured deposits reported as of December 31, 2022, adjusted to exclude the first $5 billion, to be collected at an annual rate of approximately 13.4 basis points for an anticipated total of eight quarterly assessment periods, beginning the first quarterly assessment period of 2024.
The Volcker Rule . The Dodd-Frank Act amended the BHCA to require the federal financial regulatory agencies to adopt rules that prohibit banks and their affiliates from engaging in proprietary trading in designated types of financial instruments and from investing in and sponsoring certain hedge funds and private equity funds. The Volcker Rule has not had a material effect on the Company’s operations. Unanticipated effects of the Volcker Rule’s provisions or future interpretations may have an adverse effect on business or services provided to the Bank by other financial institutions.
Debit Card Interchange Fees. Dodd-Frank includes a set of rules requiring that interchange transaction fees for electronic debit transactions be reasonable and proportional to certain costs associated with processing the transactions. Interchange fees for electronic debit transactions are limited to 21 cents plus 0.05% of the transaction, plus an additional one cent per transaction fraud adjustment. These rules impose requirements regarding routing and exclusivity of electronic debit transactions, and generally require that debit cards be usable in at least two unaffiliated networks. On October 25, 2023, the FRB proposed to lower the maximum interchange fee that a large debit card issuer can receive for a debit card transaction. The proposal would also establish a regular process for updating the maximum amount every other year going forward. We continue to monitor the development of these proposed rule revisions.
Future Legislation and Regulation . Laws, regulations and policies are continually under review by Congress and state legislatures and federal and state regulatory agencies. In addition to the specific legislation and regulations described above, future legislation and regulations or changes to existing statutes, regulations or regulatory policies applicable to the Company and its subsidiaries may affect the business, financial condition and results of operations in adverse and unpredictable ways and increase reporting requirements and compliance costs. The substance or impact of pending or future legislation or regulation, or the application thereof, cannot be predicted.
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Available Information
Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Company is required to file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information that we file electronically with the SEC.
The Company makes available, free of charge through its website, reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, and amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are filed with or furnished to the SEC. Additionally, the Company has adopted and posted on its website a code of business conduct that applies to the principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. The address for the website is www.texascapitalbank.com. Any amendments to, or waivers from, the code of business conduct applicable to the Company’s executive officers will be posted on the website within four days of such amendment or waiver. The Company will provide a printed copy of any of the aforementioned documents to any requesting stockholder of the Company.