Note 13 – Shareholders’ Equity and Regulatory Matters

Preferred Stock

On May 1, 2009, as part of the Capital Purchase Program established by the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the Company sold (i) 14,738 shares of the Company’s Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A, par value $4.00 per share, having a liquidation preference of $1,000 per share (the “preferred stock”) and (ii) a warrant (the “Warrant”) to purchase 499,029 shares of the Company’s common stock at an initial exercise price of $4.43 per share, subject to certain anti-dilution and other adjustments, to the Treasury for an aggregate purchase price of $14,738,000 in cash. During the first quarter of 2018, the Company used the proceeds from a subordinated note issuance to redeem the remaining 5,027 outstanding shares  of preferred stock plus accrued dividends of $56,554. The Warrant expired on May 1, 2019.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

The following table presents the cumulative balances of the components of accumulated other comprehensive income, net of deferred taxes of $118,000 and $38,000 as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively (in thousands):

 

 

Regulatory Matters

The Company meets the eligibility criteria of a small bank holding company in accordance with the Federal Reserve’s Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement (the “SBHC Policy Statement”). On August 28, 2018, the Federal Reserve issued an interim final rule required by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2018, which was signed into law on May 24, 2018 (the “EGRRCPA”), that expands the applicability of the SBHC Policy Statement to bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of less than $3 billion (up from the prior $1 billion threshold).  Under the SBHC Policy Statement, qualifying bank holding companies, such as the Company, have additional flexibility in the amount of debt they can issue and are also exempt from the Basel III capital framework as outlined by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act (the "Basel III Capital Rules").  The SBHC Policy Statement does not apply to the Bank and the Bank must comply with the Basel III Capital Rules.

The Bank is required to comply with the capital adequacy standards established by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”), in the case of the Company, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), in the case of the Bank.  The Federal Reserve and the FDIC have adopted rules to implement the Basel III Capital Rules.  The Basel III Capital Rules implement minimum capital ratios and establish risk weightings that are applied to many classes of assets held by community banks, including applying higher risk weightings to certain commercial real estate loans.

The Basel III Capital Rules require banks to comply with the following minimum capital ratios: (1) a ratio of common equity Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 4.5%, plus a 2.5% “capital conservation buffer” (effectively resulting in a minimum ratio of common equity Tier 1 to risk-weighted assets of at least 7)%; (2) a ratio of Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 6.0%, plus the 2.5% capital conservation buffer (effectively resulting in a minimum Tier 1 capital ratio of 8.5)%; (3) a ratio of total capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 8.0%, plus the 2.5% capital conservation buffer (effectively resulting in a minimum total capital ratio of 10.5)%; and (4) a leverage ratio of 4%, calculated as the ratio of Tier 1 capital to balance sheet exposures plus certain off-balance sheet exposures (computed as the average for each quarter of the month-end ratios for the quarter).  The phase-in of the capital conservation buffer requirement began on January 1, 2016, at 0.625% of risk-weighted assets, increasing by the same amount each year until it was fully implemented at 2.5% on January 1, 2019. The capital conservation buffer is designed to absorb losses during periods of economic stress.  Banking organizations with a ratio of common equity Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets above the minimum but below the conservation buffer face constraints on dividends, equity repurchases, and compensation based on the amount of the shortfall.  As of September 30, 2020, the Bank exceeded the minimum ratios under the Basel III Capital Rules.

The Bank must also comply with the capital requirements set forth in the “prompt corrective action” regulations pursuant to Section 38 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act of 1950.  To be well capitalized under these regulations, a bank must have the following minimum capital ratios: (1) a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6.5%; (2) a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of at least 8.0%; (3) a total risk-based capital ratio of at least 10.0%; and (4) a leverage ratio of at least 5.0%.  As of September 30, 2020, the Bank exceeded the minimum ratios to be classified as well capitalized.

On September 17, 2019, the federal bank regulators issued a final rule required by the EGRRCPA that permits qualifying banks and bank holding companies that have less than $10 billion of assets, like the Company and the Bank, to elect to be subject to a 9% leverage ratio that would be applied using less complex leverage calculations (commonly referred to as the community bank leverage ratio or “CBLR”). Under the rule, which  became effective January 1, 2020, banks and bank holding companies that opt into the CBLR framework and maintain a CBLR of greater than 9% would not be subject to other risk-based and leverage capital requirements under the Basel III Capital Rules and would be deemed to have met the well capitalized ratio requirements under the “prompt corrective action” framework.

In April 2020, as required by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which was passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal bank regulators issued two interim final rules related to the CBLR framework. One interim final rule provides that, as of the second quarter of 2020, banking organizations with leverage ratios of 8% or greater (and that meet the other existing qualifying criteria) may elect to use the CBLR framework. It also establishes a two-quarter grace period for qualifying community banking organizations whose leverage ratios fall below the 8% CBLR requirement, so long as the banking organization maintains a leverage ratio of 7% or greater. The second interim final rule provides a transition from the temporary 8% CBLR requirement to a 9% CBLR requirement. It establishes a minimum CBLR of 8% for the second through fourth quarters of 2020, 8.5% for 2021, and 9% thereafter, and maintains a two-quarter grace period for qualifying community banking organizations whose leverage ratios fall no more than 100 basis points below the applicable CBLR requirement. The Bank elected not to opt into the CBLR framework as of September 30, 2020.

The capital amounts and ratios at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 for the Bank are presented in the table below (dollars in thousands):