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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023
OR
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from__________ to __________
Commission File Number 001-38534
Amerant Bancorp Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
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Florida | 65-0032379 |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
220 Alhambra Circle, Coral Gables, Florida | 33134 |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (305) 460-8728 |
_________________________ |
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: |
Title of each class | Trading Symbol (s) | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Class A Common Stock, par value $0.10 per share | AMTB | New York Stock Exchange |
| | |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: NONE |
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a 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.
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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 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the Class A common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing price of a share of the registrant’s common stock on June 30, 2023 as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market on such date, was approximately $503 million.
The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s classes of common stock as of February 15, 2024: Common Stock Class A, par value $0.10 per share, 33,596,687 shares
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, to be filed within 120 days of the registrant’s fiscal year end, are incorporated by reference into Part III hereof.
AMERANT BANCORP INC.
FORM 10-K
December 31, 2023
PART I
In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or Form 10-K, unless otherwise required by the context, the terms “we,” “our,” “us,”, “Amerant”, and the “Company,” refer to Amerant Bancorp Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries including its wholly-owned main operating subsidiary, Amerant Bank, N.A., which we individually refer to as “the Bank”.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Various of the statements made in this Form 10-K, including information incorporated herein by reference to other documents, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of, and subject to, the protections of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).
Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, anticipations, assumptions, estimates, intentions and future performance and condition, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control, and which may cause the actual results, performance, achievements, or financial condition of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance, achievements, or financial condition expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. You should not expect us to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should be read together with the “Risk Factors” included in this Form 10-K and our other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements through our use of words such as “may,” “will,” “anticipate,” “assume,” “seek,” “should,” “indicate,” “would,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “consider”, “expect,” “estimate,” “continue,” “plan,” “point to,” “project,” “could,” “intend,” “target”, “goals”, “outlooks”, “modeled”, “dedicated”, “create” and other similar words and expressions of the future. These forward-looking statements may not be realized due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation:
•Liquidity risks could affect our operations and jeopardize our financial condition and certain funding sources could increase our interest rate expense;
•We may not be able to develop and maintain a strong core deposit base or other low-cost funding sources;
•We may elect or be compelled to seek additional capital in the future, but that capital may not be available when it is needed or on acceptable terms;
•Our ability to receive dividends from our subsidiaries could affect our liquidity and our ability to pay dividends;
•Our profitability is subject to interest rate risk;
•Our allowance for credit losses may prove inadequate;
•Our concentration of CRE loans could result in increased loan losses;
•Many of our loans are to commercial borrowers, which have unique risks compared to other types of loans;
•Our valuation of securities and the determination of a credit loss allowance in our investment securities portfolio are subjective and, if changed, could materially adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition;
•Nonperforming and similar assets take significant time to resolve and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows;
•We are subject to environmental liability risk associated with lending activities;
•Deterioration in the real estate markets, including the secondary market for residential mortgage loans, can adversely affect us;
•Many of our major systems depend on and are operated by third-party vendors, and any systems failures or interruptions could adversely affect our operations and the services we provide to our customers;
•Our information systems are exposed to cybersecurity threats and may experience interruptions and security breaches that could adversely affect our business and reputation;
•Our strategic plan and growth strategy may not be achieved as quickly or as fully as we seek;
•Defaults by or deteriorating asset quality of other financial institutions could adversely affect us;
•New lines of business, new products and services, or strategic project initiatives may subject us to additional risks;
•We face significant operational risks;
•We may not have the ability or resources to keep pace with rapid technological changes in the financial services industry or implement new technology effectively;
•Conditions in Venezuela could adversely affect our operations;
•Our ability to achieve our environmental, social and governance goals are subject to risks, many of which are outside of our control, and our reputation could be harmed if we fail to meet such goals;
•We may be unable to attract and retain key people to support our business;
•Severe weather, natural disasters, global pandemics, acts of war or terrorism, theft, civil unrest, government expropriation or other external events could have significant effects on our business;
•Any failure to protect the confidentiality of customer information could adversely affect our reputation and subject us to financial sanctions and other costs that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows;
•We could be required to write down our goodwill or other intangible assets;
•We have a net deferred tax asset that may or may not be fully realized;
•We may incur losses due to minority investments in fintech and specialty finance companies;
•We are subject to risks associated with sub-leasing portions of our corporate headquarters building;
•Our success depends on our ability to compete effectively in highly competitive markets;
•Potential gaps in our risk management policies and internal audit procedures may leave us exposed to unidentified or unanticipated risk, which could negatively affect our business;
•Any 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;
•Changes in accounting standards could materially impact our financial statements;
•Material and negative developments adversely impacting the financial services industry at large and causing volatility in financial markets and the economy may have materially adverse effects on our liquidity, business, financial condition and results of operations;
•Our business may be adversely affected by economic conditions in general and by conditions in the financial markets;
•We are subject to extensive regulation that could limit or restrict our activities and adversely affect our earnings;
•Changes in federal, state or local tax laws, or audits from tax authorities, could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows;
•Litigation and regulatory investigations are increasingly common in our businesses and may result in significant financial losses and/or harm to our reputation;
•We are subject to capital adequacy and liquidity standards, and if we fail to meet these standards, whether due to losses, growth opportunities or an inability to raise additional capital or otherwise, our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows would be adversely affected;
•Increases in FDIC deposit insurance premiums and assessments could adversely affect our financial condition;
•Federal banking agencies periodically conduct examinations of our business, including our compliance with laws and regulations, and our failure to comply with any regulatory actions, if any, could adversely impact us;
•The Federal Reserve may require us to commit capital resources to support the Bank;
•We may face higher risks of noncompliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering statutes and regulations than other financial institutions;
•Failures to comply with the fair lending laws, CFPB regulations or the Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA, could adversely affect us;
•Our principal shareholders and management own a significant percentage of our shares of voting common stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to shareholder approval;
•The rights of our common shareholders are subordinate to the holders of any debt securities that we have issued or may issue from time to time;
•The stock price of financial institutions, like Amerant, may fluctuate significantly;
•We can issue additional equity securities, which would lead to dilution of our issued and outstanding Class A common stock;
•Certain provisions of our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, Florida law, and U.S. banking laws could have anti-takeover effects;
•We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our debt, including the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures;
•We are a holding company with limited operations and depend on our subsidiaries for the funds required to make payments of principal and interest on the Senior Notes, Subordinated Notes and the Debentures;
•We may incur a substantial level of debt that could materially adversely affect our ability to generate sufficient cash to fulfill our obligations under the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures; and
•The other factors and information in this Form 10-K and other filings that we make with the SEC under the Exchange Act and Securities Act. See “Risk Factors” in this Form 10-K.
The foregoing factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read together with the other cautionary statements included in this Form 10-K. Because of these risks and other uncertainties, our actual future financial condition, results, performance or achievements, or industry results, may be materially different from the results indicated by the forward-looking statements in this Form 10-K. In addition, our past results of operations are not necessarily indicative of our future results of operations. You should not rely on any forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.
All written or oral forward-looking statements that are made by us or are attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary note. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update, revise or correct any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.
Item 1. BUSINESS
Our Company
We are a bank holding company headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, with $9.7 billion in assets, $6.9 billion in loans held for investment, $7.9 billion in deposits, $736.1 million of shareholders’ equity, and $2.3 billion in assets under management and custody (“AUM”) as of December 31, 2023. We provide individuals and businesses with a comprehensive array of deposit, credit, investment, wealth management, retail banking, mortgage services and fiduciary services. We serve customers in our United States markets and select international customers. These services are offered through Amerant Bank, N.A., or the Bank, which is also headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, and its subsidiaries. Fiduciary, investment, wealth management and mortgage services are provided by the Bank, the Bank’s securities broker-dealer subsidiary, Amerant Investments, Inc., or Amerant Investments, the Bank’s Grand Cayman based trust company subsidiary, Elant Bank & Trust Ltd., or the Cayman Bank, and Amerant Mortgage, LLC, or Amerant Mortgage.
The Bank was founded in 1979 and is the largest community bank headquartered in Florida. We currently operate 23 banking centers where we offer personal and commercial banking services. The Bank’s primary markets are South Florida, where we are headquartered and operate 16 banking centers in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, and in Houston, Texas, where we have six banking centers that serve the nearby areas of Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend and Waller counties. We recently opened a new banking center in Tampa, FL, where we also expect to open a regional headquarter office in 2024. The Bank intends to open several additional banking centers in 2024 and has obtained Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, approval to proceed with each location. The Bank intends to open new locations in downtown Miami, FL and in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 2024. The Bank also expects to open a new regional headquarter office in Plantation, FL in 2024 as previously announced in the third quarter of 2023.
Amerant Investments is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) and a registered investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Amerant Investments provides introductory brokerage, investment and transactions services primarily for customers of the Bank. Amerant Mortgage offers a full complement of residential lending solutions including conventional, government, construction, jumbo loans, and other residential lending product offerings.
The Cayman Bank is a bank and trust company domiciled in George Town, Grand Cayman. The Cayman Bank operates under a Cayman Offshore Bank license, or B license, and a Trust license and is supervised by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, or CIMA. The Cayman Bank has no staff and its fiduciary services and general administration are provided by the staff of the Bank. Approximately 50% of our trust relationships, including those of many of our important foreign customers, employ Cayman Islands trusts and are domiciled in the Cayman Bank. The OCC periodically examines the Bank and reviews the fiduciary relationships and transactions that the Bank manages for the Cayman Bank. In 2023, the Company approved a plan for the dissolution of the Cayman Bank, which is currently expected to be completed in 2024. We expect to retain certain trust relationships by migrating them to Florida foreign trust structures.
We have no foreign offices. The Cayman Bank does not maintain any physical offices in the Cayman Islands and has a registered agent in Grand Cayman as required by applicable regulations.
Through the Bank’s subsidiary, CB Reit Holding Corporation, or REIT Hold Co., we maintain a real estate investment trust, CB Real Estate Investments, or REIT, which is taxed as a real estate investment trust. The REIT holds various of the Bank’s real estate loans, and allows the Bank to better manage the Bank’s real estate portfolio.
Our History
From 1987 through December 31, 2017, we were a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mercantil Servicios Financieros, C.A., which we refer to as the “Former Parent”. On August 10, 2018, we completed our spin-off from the Former Parent, or the Spin-off. Our shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on August 13, 2018.
On December 21, 2018, we completed an initial public offering, the IPO, of 6,300,000 shares of Class A common stock. In January 2019, we sold additional shares of our Class A common stock when the underwriters in the IPO completed the partial exercise of their over-allotment option which was granted in connection with the IPO.
In November 18, 2021, we completed a clean-up merger resulting in the simplification of our capital structure by automatically converting shares of the Company’s Class B common stock into shares of the Company’s Class A common stock. November 17, 2021 was the last day of trading of the Company’s shares of Class B common stock on “The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (“NASDAQ”) after which only the Company’s shares of Class A common stock traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol “AMTB”.
On August 3, 2023, the Company provided written notice to NASDAQ of its determination to voluntarily withdraw the principal listing of the Company’s Class A common stock, $0.10 par value per share (the “Class A common stock”), from NASDAQ and transfer the listing of the Common Stock to the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). The Company’s Common Stock listing and trading on NASDAQ ended at market close on August 28, 2023, and trading commenced on the NYSE at market open on August 29, 2023 where it continues to trade under the stock symbol “AMTB”.
Our Markets
Our primary market areas are South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties), Tampa, FL and Houston, Texas. We serve our market areas from our headquarters in Coral Gables, FL and through a network of 16 banking locations in South Florida, 6 banking locations in Houston, Texas and 1 in Tampa, FL. Our subsidiary, Amerant Mortgage, operates its business nationally and has direct access to federal housing agencies.
Business Developments
Share Repurchase Program
On December 19, 2022, the Company announced that the Board of Directors authorized a new repurchase program pursuant to which the Company may purchase, from time to time, up to an aggregate amount of $25 million of its shares of Class A common stock (the “2023 Class A Common Stock Repurchase Program”). The 2023 Class A Common Stock Repurchase Program was set to expire on December 31, 2023 and on December 15, 2023, the Company announced that the Board approved to extend the expiration date to December 31, 2024. In 2023, we repurchased an aggregate of 259,853 shares of Class A common stock at a weighted average price of $18.98 per share, under the 2023 Class A Common Stock Repurchase Program. The aggregate purchase price for these transactions was approximately$4.9 million, including transaction costs. At December 2023, the Company had $20 million available for repurchase under this repurchase program.
Amerant Mortgage
As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company had an 100% and 80% ownership interest in Amerant Mortgage, respectively. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company increased its ownership interest in Amerant Mortgage to 100% from 80%. This transaction had no material impact to the Company’s results of operations in 2023. In connection with the change in ownership interest, which brought the minority interest share to zero, the Company derecognized the equity attributable to noncontrolling interest of $3.8 million at December 31, 2023, with a corresponding reduction to additional paid-in capital. On March 31, 2022, the Company contributed $1.5 million in cash to Amerant Mortgage, increasing its ownership interest to 57.4% as of March 31, 2022 from 51% as of December 31, 2021. In addition, in the three months ended June 30, 2022, the Company increased its ownership interest in Amerant Mortgage to 80% from 57.4% at March 31, 2022. This change was the result of: (i) two former principals of Amerant Mortgage surrendering their interest in Amerant Mortgage to the Company, when they became full time employees of the Bank (the “Transfer of Subsidiary Shares From Noncontrolling Interest”), and (ii) an additional contribution made by the Company of $1 million, in cash, to Amerant Mortgage in the three months ended June 30, 2022. As a result of the Transfer of Subsidiary Shares From Noncontrolling Interest, the Company reduced its additional paid-in capital for a total of $1.9 million with a corresponding increase to the equity attributable to Noncontrolling interests.
Total mortgage loans held for sale were $26.2 million as of December 31, 2023, compared to $62.4 million at December 31, 2022. In 2023, we acquired the remaining ownership interest in Amerant Mortgage as previously mentioned and rightsized staffing given the current rate environment.
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
In 2023, the Company continued to offer its Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) which was approved by shareholders in 2022. The number of shares of Class A common stock issued under the ESPP was 56,927 in 2023 compared to 35,337 in 2022.
The purpose of the ESPP is to provide eligible employees of the Company and its designated subsidiaries with the opportunity to acquire a stock ownership interest in the Company on favorable terms. The ESPP provides for six month offering periods commencing each December 1st and ending on May 31st of the following year and beginning on each June 1st and ending on the following November 30th. Our ESPP permits participating employees to purchase shares of our Class A common stock through payroll deductions of no less than 1% and up to 15% of their eligible compensation. Each participating employee is able to purchase a maximum of 5,000 shares of our Class A common stock during an offering period (subject to a limit of $25,000 in fair value of shares of our Class A common stock for each calendar year). The price per share is equal to the lower of 85% of the fair market price on the first trading day of the offering period or 85% of the fair market price on the last trading day of the offering period.
Amerant SPV, LLC
In May 2021, we incorporated Amerant SPV. As we seek to innovate, address customer needs and compete in a fast changing and competitive environment, our Company is looking to partner with fintech and specialty finance companies that are developing cutting edge solutions and products and have the potential to improve our products and services to help our clients achieve their goals in a fast changing world. From time to time, the Company may evaluate select opportunities to invest and acquire non-controlling interests, through Amerant SPV, in companies it partners with, or may acquire non-controlling interests of fintech and specialty finance companies that the Company believes will be strategic or accretive. In addition, through Amerant SPV, we may also invest in companies and funds that invest in technology companies that are developing solutions aimed at allowing financial institutions and community banks to more effectively compete and serve their customers. At December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company’s equity and non-equity investments through Amerant SPV totaled $7.3 million and $7.6 million, respectively. In 2023, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $2.0 million related to an equity investment carried at cost which are included in other assets in the consolidated balance sheets.
Our Business Strategy
Amerant’s Strategy is designed to improve value for its three most important stakeholders: shareholders, clients, and employees.
Improve shareholder value by achieving top-quartile performance vs. peers
•Bring the entire workforce aligned with a culture of attaining client primacy and driving organic growth
•Measure everything against profitability to ensure prioritization of highest value opportunities.
•Align enterprise-wide focus on executing defined strategic initiatives.
Be the “Bank of Choice” in the markets we serve by earning the Trusted Advisor role to the client
•Deliver a relationship-first, solution-oriented approach.
•Provide consistent, personalized client experiences driven by the proactive delivery of tailored
solutions, relationship-based pricing, and service excellence.
•Create a simple, seamless, and streamlined onboarding and servicing experience.
Be the “Employer of Choice” in the markets we serve by attracting, retaining, developing, recognizing, and
rewarding our team members
•Implement talent development programs that enable our people to pursue career aspirations,
expand their depth of knowledge, and improve their skill set.
•Align incentives to strategic priorities and reward our team members for improving value to our
stakeholders.
Our goals and objectives can be realized through the successful execution of a focused set of high-value Strategic Initiatives. Our Strategic Initiatives include:
•Further Strengthen the Foundation to extract maximum value from our modern technology ecosystem and continuously strengthen our operational and technology infrastructure to keep pace with competitors and enable scalability and organizational agility.
•Our Relationship-first Focus centered on acquiring client relationships with high long-term value potential by creating a culture of sales excellence and analytically empowering our people to deliver personalized experiences, tailored holistic solutions, and earn the role of trusted advisor.
•Drive Superior Experience and Operational Excellence through enhanced client onboarding, origination, and servicing to deliver streamlined, simple, and satisfying client experiences, reduce expenses, and fortify operational efficiency.
•Attract, Retain, & Reward the Right People: Our people are the cornerstone of our success and have propelled the Bank forward amid numerous challenges. To sustain this momentum, we are committed to developing both internal and external pipelines and aligning incentives to strategic goals to acquire, retain, and reward the right people.
•Profitably Grow the Bank by driving organic growth in priority markets, expanding international banking, developing a proven blueprint for new domestic market entry, and preparing the bank to cross $10 billion in total assets.
Progress on Strategic Initiatives
Further strengthen the foundation. The Company believes that having both the right foundation and the right technology is key to achieve this objective. In 2023, the Company launched a new Amerant website which provides improved user experienced with enhanced navigation and ease of access to information across all device types. Additionally, the Company completed the transition to Fidelity National Information Services’ (“FIS”) core data processing platform which improves our operations as well as upgrades the digital experience for our customers.
Relationship-first focus. We are focused on seizing opportunities in the markets we serve to increase our share of consumer, small business, and commercial core deposits while reducing our reliance on brokered funds. Our growth in 2023 was reflective of our deposits-first, organic, relationship-based approach. We generally use the following key metrics to track our progress on our relationship-first strategy: i) loan to deposits ratio, and ii) the ratio of non-interest bearing deposits to total deposits. The loan to deposit ratio at December 31, 2023 was 92.0%, compared to 98.2% at December 31, 2022. The ratio of non-interest bearing deposits to total deposits ratio was 18.1% at December 31, 2023 compared to 19.4% at December 31, 2022, which reflects growing consumer and business awareness of the rising interest rates and seeking better returns.
Drive superior experience and operational efficiency. The Company continues to work on optimizing its operating structure to support its business activities. In 2023, staff reduction costs include severance expenses, primarily related to severance expenses in connection with employment terminations and changes in certain positions. In addition, the completion of our core system transition to FIS is expected to yield significant annual savings, while allowing us to efficiently scale our business as we grow, achieve greater operational efficiencies and deliver advanced solutions and a superior experience to our customers. The Company is committed to continuous evaluation of staffing levels in all areas on an annual basis based on performance and business need.
Attract, retain & reward the right people. In 2023, we remained committed to developing both internal and external pipelines and aligning incentives to strategic goals to acquire, retain, and reward the right people. We recruited two executives for the previously open positions for a new Head of Commercial Banking and a new Houston market president. We also announced the appointment of our new Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), which completed all expected executive-level changes in management, as our former CFO has now assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer. In addition, we have partnerships in place with universities in our local communities to promote social mobilities in communities we serve and diversify our workforce. We develop our talent through a growth mindset by building on existing skills and providing the right resources and opportunities to ensure early career talent can thrive at Amerant.
Profitably grow the Bank. In 2023, we continued to drive organic growth in priority markets. We optimized our international banking structure with the intent to grow international deposits as a source of funds given favorable pricing while also continuing to add diversification to our funding base. As previously mentioned, we recently opened a new banking center in Tampa, FL as part of our ongoing efforts in capturing domestic market share,
Credit Policies and Procedures
General. We adhere to what we believe are disciplined underwriting standards. We maintain asset quality through an emphasis on local market knowledge, long-term customer relationships, consistent and thorough underwriting for all loans and a conservative credit culture. We also seek to maintain a broadly diversified loan portfolio across geographies, customers, products and industries. Our lending policies do not provide for any loans that are highly speculative, subprime, or that have high loan-to-value ratios. These components, together with active credit management, are the foundation of our credit culture, which we believe is critical to enhancing the long-term value of our organization to our customers, employees, shareholders and communities.
Credit Concentrations. In connection with the management of our credit portfolio, we actively manage the composition of our loan portfolio, including credit concentrations. Our loan approval policies establish concentration limits with respect to industry and loan product type to ensure portfolio diversification, which are reviewed at least annually. The CRE concentration limits include sub-limits by type of property and geographic market, which are reviewed semi-annually. Country limits for loans to foreign borrowers are also assessed annually. In general, all concentration levels are monitored on a monthly basis.
Loan Approval Process. We seek to achieve an appropriate balance between prudent and disciplined underwriting and flexibility in our decision-making and responsiveness to our customers. As of December 31, 2023, the Bank had a legal lending limit of approximately $144.7 million for unsecured loans, and its “in-house” single obligor lending limit was $35.0 million for CRE loans, representing 24.2% of our legal lending limit and $30.0 million for all other loans, representing 20.7% of our legal lending limit as of such date. Our credit approval policies provide the highest lending authority to our credit committee, as well as various levels of officer and senior management lending authority for new credits and renewals, which are based on position, capability and experience. These limits are reviewed periodically by the Bank’s Board of Directors. We believe that our credit approval process provides for thorough underwriting and sound and efficient decision making.
Credit Risk Management. We use what we believe is a comprehensive methodology to monitor credit quality and prudently manage credit concentrations within our loan portfolio. Our underwriting policies and practices govern the risk profile and credit and geographic concentration of our loan portfolio. We also have what we believe to be a comprehensive methodology to monitor these credit quality standards, including a risk classification system that identifies possible problem loans based on risk characteristics by loan type as well as the early identification of deterioration at the individual loan level.
Credit risk management involves a collective effort among our relationship managers and credit underwriting, credit administration, credit risk and collections personnel. We generally conduct weekly credit committee meetings to approve loans at or above $20 million (loans for customers with an aggregate exposure equal to or above $20 million are also considered by the credit committee) and review any other credit related matter. In addition, starting in the third quarter of 2021, the credit committee also began weekly reviews of the non-performing loan portfolio, with a goal of prudently reducing the levels of these non-earning assets. Asset quality trends and delinquencies are also reviewed by the credit committee and reports are elevated to senior management and the Board of Directors. Our policies require rapid notification of delinquency and prompt initiation of collection actions. Relationship managers, credit administration personnel and senior management proactively support collection activities. The variable incentive compensation of our relationship managers is subject to downward adjustment based on the asset quality of each relationship manager’s portfolio. We believe that having the ability to adjust their incentive compensation based on asset quality motivates the relationship managers to focus on the origination and maintenance of high-quality credits consistent with our strategic focus on asset quality.
Deposits
Our deposits serve as the primary funding source for lending, investing and other general banking purposes. We provide a full range of deposit products and services, including a variety of checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, debit cards, remote deposit capture, online banking, mobile banking, and direct deposit services. We also offer business accounts and cash management services, including business checking and savings accounts and treasury management services for our commercial clients. We solicit deposits through our relationship-driven team of dedicated and accessible bankers, through community-focused marketing and, increasingly, through our dedicated national online channel. We also seek to cross-sell deposit and wealth management products and services at loan origination, and loans to our depository and other customers. Our deposits are fully-insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), subject to applicable limits. See “-Supervision and Regulation.”
As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, core deposits were $5.6 billion, and $5.3 billion, 70.9% and 75.5% of our total deposits at those dates, respectively. Our core deposits consist of total deposits excluding all time deposits.
As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, we had brokered deposits of $736.9 million and $629.3 million, 9.3% and 8.9% of our total deposits at those dates, respectively.
Investment, Advisory and Trust Services
We offer a wide variety of trust and estate planning products and services catering to high net worth customers, our trust and estate planning products include simple and complex trusts, private foundations, personal investment companies and escrow accounts.
The Cayman Bank serves a number of our trust and wealth management customers, and developed high net worth international customer relationships with offshore trust and estate planning services. In 2023, the Company approved a plan for the dissolution of the Cayman Bank, which is expected to be completed in 2024. We expect to retain certain trust relationships by migrating them to Florida foreign trust structures.
We also offer brokerage and investment advisory services in global capital markets through Amerant Investments. Amerant Investments acts as an introducing broker-dealer through Pershing (a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon) to obtain clearing, custody and other ancillary services. Amerant Investments offers a wide range of products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, equity securities, fixed income securities, structured products, discretionary portfolio management, margin lending and online equities trading. Amerant Investments has distribution agreements with many major U.S. and international asset managers, as well as with some focused boutique providers. Amerant Investments provides its services to the Bank’s U.S. domestic and international customers. The Bank’s retail customers are offered non-FDIC insured investment products and services exclusively through Amerant Investments.
Other Products and Services
We offer banking products and services that we believe are attractively priced with a focus on customer convenience and accessibility. We offer a full suite of online banking services including online account opening for domestic and international customers, access to account balances, statements and other documents, Zelle for consumer and businesses, online transfers, online bill payment and electronic delivery of customer statements, as well as automated teller machines (“ATMs”), and banking by mobile devices, telephone and mail. We continuously look for ways for improving our products, services and delivery channels. For example, we currently offer Amerant CoverMe, launched in February 2022, which is a program that eliminates overdraft fees for up to $100 and helps customers avoid declined transactions, returned checks and overdrafts. Amerant also currently provides its customers with an Overdraft Protection program, which allows customers to link eligible checking accounts to automatically transfer available funds from backup account(s) to cover transactions that exceed their available balance.
Many of the services provided through our online platform are also available via our mobile application for smart devices. We also offer debit cards, night depositories, direct deposit, cashier’s checks, safe deposit boxes in various locations and letters of credit, as well as treasury management services, including wire transfer services, remote deposit capture and automated clearinghouse services. In addition, we offer other more complex financial products such as derivative instruments, including interest rate swap and cap contracts, to more sophisticated lending customers.
Investments
Our investment policy, set by our Board of Directors, requires that investment decisions be made based on, but not limited to, the following four principles: investment quality, liquidity requirements, interest-rate risk sensitivity and estimated return on investment. These characteristics are pillars of our investment decision-making process, which seeks to minimize exposure to risks while providing a reasonable yield and liquidity. Under the direction of the Asset-liability Management Committee (“ALCO”) and senior management, investment in securities are made following specified policy and program guidelines.
Information Technology Systems
As part of our continued efforts to improve our information technology platforms and drive operating efficiency, in the fourth quarter of 2021 the Company entered into a new multi-year outsourcing agreement with financial technology leader FIS to assume full responsibility over a significant number of the Bank’s support functions and staff, including certain back-office operations. The Company completed the transition of its core data processing platform and other applications in the fourth quarter of 2023. We believe these platform and applications have essential functionalities and scalability to support our continued growth and expansion strategy. Under this outsourcing relationship, the Bank expects to achieve greater operational efficiencies and to deliver advanced solutions and services to its customers.
The Bank is actively engaged in identifying and managing cybersecurity risks. Protecting company data, non-public customer and employee data, and the systems that collect, process, and maintain this information is deemed critical. The Bank has an enterprise-wide Information Security Program, or Security Program, which is designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of customer non-public information and bank data. The Security Program was also designed to protect our operations and assets through a continuous and comprehensive cybersecurity detection, protection and prevention program. This program includes an information security governance structure and related policies and procedures, security controls, protocols governing data and systems, monitoring processes, and processes to ensure that the information security programs of third-party service providers are adequate. Our Security Program also continuously promotes cybersecurity awareness and culture across the organization. See Section 1C. Cybersecurity for additional information on how we address and manage cybersecurity risks.
The Bank also has a business continuity/disaster recovery plan, or BCP, which it actively manages to prepare for any business continuity challenges it may face. Our BCP provides for the resiliency and recovery of our operations and services to our customers. The plan is supported and complemented by a robust business continuity governance framework, a life safety program as well as an enterprise-wide annual exercise and training to keep the program and strategies effective, scalable and understood by all employees. We believe both the Information Security Program and BCP adhere to industry best practices and comply with the guidelines of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, or FFIEC, and are subject to periodic testing and independent audits.
Competition
The banking and financial services industry in our footprint is highly competitive, and we compete with a wide range of lenders and other financial institutions within our markets, including local, regional, national and international commercial banks and credit unions. We also compete with mortgage companies, brokerage firms, trust service providers, consumer finance companies, mutual funds, securities firms, insurance companies, third-party payment processors, financial technology companies, or fintechs, and other financial intermediaries on various of our products and services. Some of our competitors are not subject to the regulatory restrictions and the level of regulatory supervision applicable to us. Interest rates on loans and deposits, as well as prices on fee-based services, are typically significant competitive factors within the banking and financial services industry. Many of our competitors are much larger financial institutions that have greater financial resources than we do and compete aggressively for market share. These competitors attempt to gain market share through their financial product mix, pricing strategies and larger banking center networks. Other important competitive factors in our industry and markets include office locations and hours, quality of customer service, community reputation, continuity of personnel and services, capacity and willingness to extend credit, electronic delivery systems and ability to offer sophisticated banking products and services. While we seek to remain competitive with respect to fees charged, interest rates and pricing, we believe that our broad and sophisticated banking and financial products suite, our high-quality customer service culture, our positive reputation, brand recognition, and long-standing community relationships enable us to compete successfully within our markets and enhance our ability to attract and retain customers and employees.
Human Capital Management
The Company’s key human capital management objectives are to attract, retain and develop the highest quality talent. To support these objectives, the Company’s human resources programs are designed to continuously develop talent; reward and support our team members through competitive pay and benefits; enhance the Company’s culture through efforts aimed at making the workplace more engaging and inclusive; and engage team members as brand ambassadors of our products and experiences.
Guided by our core values, the people at Amerant are committed to providing our customers with the right products, services and advisory services; treating everyone as we expect to be treated; being leaders in innovation, quality, efficiency, and customer satisfaction; consistently exceeding expectations; promoting a diverse and inclusive work environment; holding ourselves and each other accountable; and being the bank of choice in the markets we serve. We believe we have a strong workforce, with a good mix of professional credentials, experience, tenure and diversity, which coupled with their commitment to uncompromising values, provide the foundation for our Company’s success.
The Company’s Human Capital Management includes the following areas of focus:
Talent. Attracting, developing, and retaining the best talent with the right skills and values, in accordance with our precepts, is central to our long-term strategy to drive our success.
Our workforce composition is aligned with our business needs. Management trusts it has adequate human capital to operate its business successfully. The Company and its subsidiaries had 682 full-time equivalent employees, or FTEs, at the end of 2023. Approximately 85% of our workforce is in Florida, 7% in Texas and 8% in other states to support the growth and expansion of Amerant Mortgage, and Amerant’s remote work program.
Talent acquisition efforts remained focused on sales, business development and revenue generating roles, accounting for 49% of all hires. In addition, temporary resources were contracted to support our customers through the Company’s transition to FIS’ core data processing platform. In 2023, we acquired the talent to support the expansion of our Domestic Retail Banking Division, opening new banking centers in Downtown Miami, Key Biscayne and Tampa. Our talent acquisition team uses internal and external resources to recruit highly skilled and talented workers, and we encourage and reward employee referrals for open positions. We hire the best person for the job without regard to gender, ethnicity or other protected traits and it is our policy to comply fully with all federal and state laws relating to discrimination in the workplace.
Learning and Development. Our team members are inspired to achieve their full potential through learning and development opportunities, recognition, and motivation. We invest in creating opportunities to help them grow and build their careers through a multitude of learning and development programs. These include online instructor-led and on-the-job learning assignments. Our learning and development strategy is aligned with the global Association for Talent Development and our business strategy. Understanding that everyone learns differently, we offer various learning options, including traditional classroom, virtual, any-time, mobile, and social collaboration.
In 2023, we continued to empower our team members to reach their full potential by providing diverse learning programs, opportunities, and resources. We used an online talent development tool to provide team members with various learning options, including instructor-led classroom and virtual courses, on-demand recorded sessions and self-paced web-based courses. We also promoted our partnership with Cornerstone Content Anytime to support our team members' ongoing, ever-changing needs on topics such as leading effectively, overall mental health and well-being, and organizational time management.
The primary focus for learning in 2023 included supporting the organization in the transformation to FIS and supporting leaders in upskilling their ability to lead teams effectively, manage performance and drive change to reach organizational business goals. Additionally, we focused on Digital Sales Enablement by supporting the Digital Transformation team in relaunching our Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, tool, known internally as Harmony.
We delivered approximately 23,000 learning hours and invested an average of over $1,050 per team member in all our learning programs. To support consistency with maintaining learning hours in alignment with industry standards, we launched a partnership with LinkedIn Learning. This partnership will allow team members to complete learning courses on demand based on individualized development needs.
We also continue offering higher-education tuition cost reimbursement programs, which are aimed at helping our team members put their career goals within reach and provide them with access to a wide variety of degrees and certificates. In 2023 we established a partnership with Westfield Business School, which provides our team members an opportunity to complete an Executive MBA at a low cost.
In addition to the efforts for learning and development, the executive leadership team has worked to create management succession plans and individual development plans for the officers within the organization. This focus on Talent Management ensures we strengthen the organization’s overall capability by identifying critical roles and high-potential team members. The development plans are heavily focused on meeting the organization’s future needs.
As we continue in our efforts to develop and promote women, we launched our Grit and Grace Women’s Development program at the end of 2023. The program aims to elevate and develop high performing, high potential women, as we continue to prepare talent for the senior leadership bench.
Employee engagement. To assess and improve retention and engagement, the Company regularly conducts anonymous surveys to seek feedback from our team members on a variety of topics, including but not limited to confidence in company leadership, the competitiveness of our compensation and benefits package, career growth opportunities, and improvements on how we could make our company an employer of choice.
In 2023 we continued to capture team member sentiments at all stages of the team member’s life cycle, from onboarding to offboarding. We also launched our annual Engagement Survey. We achieved a 76% Engagement score (As per the Engagement Survey vendor’s thresholds, any score that is above 60% represents extremely high engagement).
In addition to surveying, we spent time on a team member listening tour to capture team members’ thoughts on life at Amerant, including Amerant Culture, Benefits, Learning and Development opportunities, and recognition. These sentiments were shared with the senior management team, and we created an action plan to address the feedback received, which we expect to implement in 2024.
As we approached the transition date of our core data processing platform and other applications in the fourth quarter of 2023, we wanted to ensure our team members were ready for the transition. To help team members embrace change and overcome adversity, we partnered with Alec Ingold, Full Back for the Miami Dolphins to lead our team members through four months of “change talks”. This program helped our team members to develop strategies to adapt to change in new ways while also sparking motivation and innovation across our team.
Health and Safety. Consistent with our operating principles, the health and safety of our team members is of top priority. Hazards in the workplace are actively identified and management tracks incidents so remedial actions can be taken to improve workplace safety.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”). In 2023, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program, also known as the I Belong program, continued launching activities within its strategic roadmap, pillars, and goals. Our four pillars focus on Talent, Workplace, Communication, and Community.
Our diversity and inclusion goals are to build teams that reflect the communities we serve while hiring and supporting diverse talent. The ethnicity of our workforce was 76% Hispanic, 17% White, 4% Black, 2% Asian, and 5% other. Our workforce was 47% male and 53% female at the close of 2023, and women represented 51% of Amerant’s middle management leadership (as classified by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Category “Middle, First Management Officials”). Over 50% of our workforce is female, and most of our workforce self-identifies as Hispanic or Latino. Also, the Bank has a 41% representation of females in senior leadership roles. In addition, the Company’s Board of Directors, which consists of 11 members, currently has 4 female independent directors.
In alignment with our Talent pillar, the I Belong program focused on attracting early career talent through partnerships with local schools, including the Florida International University, Barry University, and Miami Dade College. In 2023 we hosted 9 interns from Florida International University, Barry University and Miami Dade College. The program resulted in five of the six interns being offered continued employment.
As part of our Workplace pillar, educating our team members, increasing the I Belong brand presence, and driving an inclusive environment through our Business Resources Groups and Executive DEI Council were a focus for 2023. We launched our first Resource Group, “We Are Multicultural” which aims to promote ethnic inclusion across all levels of the organization.
As we continue building a DEI awareness culture, our team member learning programs also reflect our diversity and inclusion pillars. In 2023 we continued our partnership with a learning provider to provide our Executive Leadership team with education on DEI Conscious Inclusion. In addition, team members were assigned a customized Unconscious Bias course to ensure team members have the skills to recognize and counter biases.
For over 20 years, we have championed targeted development programs for underrepresented talent in partnership with the Center for Financial Training, a local chapter of the American Bankers Association.
Total Rewards (compensation and benefits). We believe in a competitive, total rewards program aligned with our business objectives and the interests of our stakeholders. We remain committed to delivering a compensation program with the fundamental principles of fairness, transparency, efficiency, and compliance with laws and regulations. Based on specific job position and market conditions, our total rewards program combines fixed and variable compensation: base salary, short-term incentive, equity-based long-term incentive, and a broad range of benefits. This compensation approach plays a significant role in our ability to attract, retain and motivate the quality of talent necessary to achieve our strategic business goals and drive sustained performance. Our ESPP, was the latest benefit rolled out to our team members, which enables them to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at a 15% discount with a look-back feature.
Our compensation model encourages team members to contribute towards the achievement of shared corporate objectives, while differentiating pay on performance based on individual contributions. In 2023, the Amerant internal Deposit Referral Fee Program was designed to incentivize our team members for the referral of new deposit business.
Based on our commitment to and knowledge that maintaining fair and transparent compensation principles and a diverse and inclusive culture for our teams has a direct impact on engagement, drive and performance, in 2023, we conducted a high level pay equity analysis to estimate the adjusted gender pay gap. According to the outcome of this analysis Amerant Bank pay gap falls in the low range for a typical U.S. organization and U.S. based commercial bank.
Wellness: The Company takes pride in providing excellent health and wellness benefits to our team members and their families. The benefits package offered includes comprehensive medical, dental, vision, as well as supplemental short and long-term life and out of pocket costs insurance. Along with these benefits we also offer Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA).
Medical Plans: Our nationwide healthcare plans allow full-time and part-time team members to select from multiple health plan options. The company provides competitive medical premiums, including a wellness premium discount when team members complete preventive requirements and completion of a health risk assessment. The Company contributes up to 92% towards the medical premium depending on the tier chosen and whether wellness requirements have been completed. The Company also contributes $500 towards the HSA accounts at the beginning of each year when the team member has the high deductible medical plan for the team member only coverage and $1,000 for all other tiers on the high deductible plans.
Dental, Vision and Legal Plans: Full-time and part-time team members are eligible to participate in our dental, vision, and legal plan offerings. The Company contributes up to 100% depending on the plan and chosen tier and provides access to numerous providers across the country. Team members can also choose to purchase out of pocket insurance policies providing income protection and cash for services with five different plans from accident, short term disability, cancer, hospital indemnity, and critical care. The Legal Plan is an attorney owned and operated legal plan offering comprehensive legal assistance, advice, and discounted representation on all types of legal services.
Life, AD&D and Disability: Group Basic Life and AD&D Insurance is offered to all full-time and part-time team members, at two times their annual salary with a maximum coverage of $300,000. Team members may choose to purchase additional life insurance up to 5 times their annual salary to a max of $750,000. Full time and part-time team members also benefit from free Short & Long-Term Disability insurance.
Retirement Plans: In addition to health insurance benefits, the Company also offers to all team members a tax-qualified retirement contribution plan with the Company’s 100% matching contribution up to 5% of a participant’s eligible compensation, and a non-tax qualified retirement contribution plan to certain eligible highly compensated team members. Our total benefits package supports our team member’s well-being to achieve a healthy and financial lifestyle goal.
Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”)
During 2023 we evolved our ESG program to Sustainability Program and named it “Impact” to reflect the scope of our ultimate goal, and in accordance with industry trends. We completed a series of activities within the scope of the program. In the environmental front, some of those activities included: i) base-lining scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions, defining long-term carbon emission targets and purchasing green-house gas emission offsets to reach carbon neutrality in 2022 and pre-purchasing carbon emission offsets to cover our calculated baseline scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions for 2023 through 2025; ii) implementing data management tools in our loan and core systems to code and monitor for Environmentally Conscious Financing (“ECF”); iii) establishing a partnership with the Everglades Foundation in South Florida; and (iv) transitioning to the use of ocean bound plastic for all Amerant plastic cards. In the social front, some of those activities included: i) hosting our various Internship Programs in partnership with local colleges and universities in South Florida, which serve as a diverse source of talent; ii) launching Amerant’s Down-payment Assistance Program (“ADAP”) for first-time home buyers through our subsidiary Amerant Mortgage; (iii) performing team member engagement survey and internal fair pay gap assessment based on gender; and (iv) launching “Top Women Performers" Program and mandatory online education course on unconscious bias for all team members. In the governance front, some of those activities included: (i) increasing women and minority representation in our Board of Directors and (ii) integrating sustainability factors into our procurement and third party, strategic and reputational risk frameworks.
In 2023, we continued to advance our Impact Program initiatives and completed a series of activities within the scope of the program. Those activities included: i) pre-purchasing carbon emission offsets to cover our calculated baseline scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions for 2023 through 2025; ii) launching and offering team members an online course on the “Return On Investment (ROI) of Going Green,” as part of our efforts to sponsor environmentally conscious activities; iii) sponsoring the “Dream in Green” program - the Green Schools Challenge, which engages students in hands-on activities to save energy and water at school and teaches them about the links between natural resources, climate change and community sustainability; and iv) sponsoring the “Freebee” transportation service in Key Biscayne, FL, which reduces carbon emissions in that geography.
SUPERVISION AND REGULATION
We and the Bank are extensively regulated under U.S. Federal and state laws applicable to financial institutions. Our and the Bank’s supervision, regulation and examination are primarily intended to protect depositors and customers, the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”) of the FDIC, and the stability of the U.S. financial system and are not intended to protect our shareholders or debt holders. Any change in applicable law or regulation may have a material effect on our business. The following is a brief summary that does not intend to be a complete description of all regulations that affect the Company and the Bank and this summary is qualified in its entirety by reference to the particular statutory and regulatory provisions referred to below.
Bank Holding Company and Bank Regulation
The Company is a bank holding company, subject to supervision, regulation and examination by the Federal Reserve under the Bank Holding Company Act (“BHC Act”). Bank holding companies generally are limited to the business of banking, managing or controlling banks, and certain related activities. We are required to file periodic reports and other information with the Federal Reserve, which examines us and our non-bank subsidiaries.
Bank holding companies that meet certain criteria may elect to become “Financial Holding Companies.” Financial Holding Companies and their subsidiaries are permitted to acquire or engage in activities such as insurance underwriting, securities underwriting, travel agency activities, broad insurance agency activities, merchant banking and other activities that the Federal Reserve determines to be financial in nature or complementary thereto. Financial holding companies continue to be subject to Federal Reserve supervision, regulation and examination. The Company has not elected to become a financial holding company, but it may elect to do so in the future. Bank holding companies that have not elected such treatment generally must limit their activities to banking activities and activities that are closely related to banking.
The Bank is a national bank subject to regulation and regular examinations by the OCC and is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. OCC regulations govern permissible activities, capital requirements, branching, dividend limitations, investments, loans and other matters.
The Bank is a member of the FDIC’s DIF, and its deposits are insured by the FDIC up to the applicable limits, and, as a result, it is subject to regulation and deposit insurance assessments by the FDIC. See “FDIC Insurance Assessments”. The FDIC also has backup examination authority and certain enforcement powers over the Bank.
Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), the Bank also is subject to regulations issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), with respect to consumer financial services and products, but is not subject to direct CFPB supervision or examination because the Bank has less than $10 billion in assets. If the Bank reports assets over $10 billion for four consecutive quarters, it would meet the FDIC’s definition of a “large financial institution” and would be subject to direct supervision by the CFPB for compliance with a variety of consumer compliance laws, and for assessment of the effectiveness of the Bank’s compliance management system. As we are approaching the $10 billion in assets threshold, in the fourth quarter of 2023 we engaged a consulting firm to perform an assessment of our compliance management system and our risk management program to gauge our preparedness to meet the additional regulatory requirements and CFBP supervision that would be applicable to us after surpassing the threshold. The assessment yielded several observations with recommended actions that have been classified and prioritized based on ratings and will be implemented through action plans beginning in 2024.
Source of Strength
Federal Reserve policy and federal law, require a bank holding company, such as the Company, to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to its FDIC-insured Bank subsidiary, and to commit resources to support its subsidiary, particularly when such subsidiary is in financial distress. In furtherance of this policy, the Federal Reserve may require a bank holding company to terminate any activity or relinquish control of a non-bank subsidiary (other than a non-bank subsidiary of a bank) upon the Federal Reserve’s determination that such activity or control constitutes a serious risk to the financial soundness or stability of any subsidiary depository institution. Further, federal bank regulatory authorities have additional discretion to require a financial holding company to divest itself of any bank or non-bank subsidiary if the agency determines that divestiture may aid the depository institution’s financial condition.
Change in Control
Federal law limits the amount of voting stock of a bank holding company or a bank that a person may acquire without the prior approval of banking regulators. Under the Change in Bank Control Act (“CBC Act”), and the regulations thereunder, before acquiring control of any bank holding company or any national bank a person or group must give advance notice to the Federal Reserve and the OCC. Upon receipt of such notice, the regulatory agencies may or may not approve the acquisition. The CBC Act creates a rebuttable presumption of control if a person or group acquires the power to vote 10% or more of our outstanding voting common stock. These federal laws and regulations generally make it more difficult to acquire a bank holding company or a bank by tender offer or similar means than it might be to acquire control of another type of corporation. As a result, our shareholders may be less likely to benefit from the rapid increases in stock prices that may result from tender offers or similar efforts to acquire control of other companies. Investors should be aware of these requirements when acquiring our shares of common stock.
Acquisitions
The BHC Act requires prior Federal Reserve approval for, among other things, the acquisition by a bank holding company of direct or indirect ownership or “control” of more than 5% of the voting shares or substantially all the assets of any bank, or for a merger or consolidation of a bank holding company with another bank holding company. The BHC Act permits acquisitions of banks by bank holding companies, subject to various restrictions, including that the acquirer is “well capitalized” and “well managed”. With certain exceptions, the BHC Act prohibits a bank holding company from acquiring direct or indirect ownership or “control” of voting shares of any company that is not a bank or bank holding company and from engaging directly or indirectly in any activity other than banking or managing or controlling banks or performing services for its authorized subsidiaries. However, a bank holding company may engage in or acquire an interest in a company that engages in activities that the Federal Reserve has determined to be so closely related to banking, or managing or controlling banks.
A national bank located in Florida, with the prior approval of the OCC, may acquire and operate one or more banks in other states. In addition, national banks located in Florida may enter into a merger transaction with one or more out-of-state banks, and an out-of-state bank resulting from such transaction may continue to operate the acquired branches in Florida. Under the Bank Merger Act, prior OCC approval is required for a national bank to merge or consolidate with, or purchase the assets or assume the deposits of, another bank. In reviewing applications to approve mergers and other acquisition transactions, the OCC is required to consider factors similar to the Federal Reserve under the BHC Act, including the applicant’s financial and managerial resources, competitive effects and public benefits of the transaction, the applicant’s performance in meeting community needs, and the effectiveness of the entities in combating money laundering activities. The Dodd-Frank Act permits banks, including national banks, to branch anywhere in the United States.
Governance and Financial Reporting Obligations
We are required to comply with various corporate governance and financial reporting requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX Act”), as well as rules and regulations adopted by the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), and the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”). In particular, in order to comply with Section 404 of the SOX Act, we are required to include management’s report on internal controls as part of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as our independent registered public accounting firm’s report on internal controls. The assessments of the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 are included in this report under “Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.”
Shareholder Say-On-Pay Votes
Under the Dodd-Frank Act public companies are required to provide shareholders with an advisory vote on executive compensation (known as say-on-pay votes), the frequency of a say-on-pay vote, and the golden parachutes available to executives in connection with change-in-control transactions. Public companies must give shareholders the opportunity to vote on say-on-pay proposals at least every three years and the opportunity to vote on the frequency of say-on-pay votes at least every six years, indicating whether the say-on-pay vote should be held annually, biennially, or triennially. Prior to 2022 as an EGC, the Company was not required to comply with these provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. Beginning in 2022, after the Company exited its EGC status, the Company began complying with these provisions.
Volcker Rule
The “Volcker Rule” issued under the Dodd-Frank Act, which became effective in July 2015, generally prohibits banking organizations with over $10 billion in assets from (i) engaging in certain types of proprietary trading, and (ii) acquiring or retaining an ownership interest in or sponsoring a “covered fund,” all subject to certain exceptions. The Volcker Rule also details certain limited activities in which bank holding companies and their subsidiaries may continue to engage and requires banking organizations to implement compliance programs. In 2020, amendments to the proprietary trading and covered funds regulations took effect, simplifying compliance and providing additional exclusions and exemptions. We and the Bank were not subject to the Volcker Rule in 2023, but may become so in the future.
Transactions with Affiliates and Insiders
Pursuant to Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act, and Federal Reserve Regulation W thereunder, the Bank is subject to restrictions that limit certain types of transactions between the Bank and its non-bank affiliates. In general, U.S. banks are subject to quantitative and qualitative limits on extensions of credit, purchases of assets and certain other transactions involving its non-bank affiliates. Additionally, transactions between U.S. banks and their non-bank affiliates are required to be on arm’s length terms and must be consistent with standards of safety and soundness.
Reserves
The Federal Reserve requires all depository institutions, such as the Bank, to maintain reserves against transaction accounts (primarily noninterest-bearing and Negotiable Orders of Withdrawal, or NOW, checking accounts). Effective March 26, 2020, the Federal Reserve reduced reserve requirement ratios to zero percent, effectively eliminating reserve requirements for all depository institutions. These reserve requirements are subject to annual adjustment by the Federal Reserve.
Privacy and Data Security
A variety of federal and state privacy laws govern the collection, safeguarding, sharing and use of customer information, and require that financial institutions have policies regarding information privacy and security. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLB Act”), and related regulations require banks and their affiliated companies to adopt and disclose privacy policies, including policies regarding the sharing of personal information with third-parties. Some state laws also protect the privacy of information of state residents and require adequate security of such data, and certain state laws may, in some circumstances, require us to notify affected individuals of security breaches of computer databases that contain their personal information. These laws may also require us to notify law enforcement, regulators or consumer reporting agencies in the event of a data breach, as well as businesses and governmental agencies that own data. See Section 1C. Cybersecurity for information on how we address and manage cybersecurity risks.
Community Reinvestment Act and Consumer Laws
The Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) and its corresponding regulations are intended to encourage banks to help meet the credit needs of the communities they serve, including low and moderate income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound banking practices. These regulations provide for regulatory assessment of a bank’s record in meeting the credit needs of its market area. Federal banking agencies are required to publicly disclose each bank’s rating under the CRA. The OCC considers a bank’s CRA rating when the bank submits an application to establish bank branches, merge with another bank, or acquire the assets and assume the liabilities of another bank. In the case of a bank holding company or financial holding company, the Federal Reserve reviews the CRA performance record in connection with the application to acquire ownership or control of shares of a bank holding company. An unsatisfactory record can substantially delay or block the transaction. The Bank has received an “outstanding” rating since 2000, including its most recent CRA evaluation completed in 2022.
On October 24, 2023, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the OCC issued a final rule amending the agencies’ CRA regulations. In developing the final rule, the agencies’ objectives included updating the CRA regulations to strengthen the achievement of the core purpose of the statute, and adapting to changes in the banking industry, including the expanded role of mobile and online banking. Most of the final rule’s new requirements are applicable beginning January 1, 2026. The remaining new requirements, including data reporting requirements, are applicable on January 1, 2027. We continue to evaluate the impact of any CRA changes and their impact to our financial condition, results of operations, and liquidity, which cannot be predicted at this time.
The Bank is also subject to, among other things, other federal and state consumer laws and regulations that are designed to protect consumers in transactions with banks. While the list set forth below is not exhaustive, these laws and regulations include the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Expedited Funds Availability Act, the Truth in Savings Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, and, as applicable, their implementing regulations (i.e., Regulations B, C, E, V, X, Z, CC, and DD among others. These laws and regulations mandate certain disclosure requirements and regulate the manner in which financial institutions must deal with clients when taking deposits, making loans processing checks or certain electronic payments, and collecting consumer debts. The Bank must comply with the applicable provisions of these consumer protection laws and regulations as part of its ongoing client relations.
The CFPB has the authority over many consumer financial protection laws, and is authorized to adopt regulations with respect to the same. Although the CFPB does not examine or supervise banks with less than $10 billion in assets, it exercises broad authority in making rules and providing guidance that affects bank regulation in these areas and the scope of bank regulators’ consumer regulation, examination and enforcement. Banks of all sizes are affected by the CFPB’s regulations, and the precedents set by CFPB enforcement actions and interpretations. The CFPB has focused on various practices to date, including revising mortgage lending rules, overdrafts, credit card add-on products, indirect automobile lending, student lending, and payday and similar short-term lending, and has a broad mandate to regulate consumer financial products and services, whether or not offered by banks or their affiliates.
Standards for Safety and Soundness
The Federal Deposit Insurance Act requires the federal bank regulatory agencies to prescribe, by regulation or guideline, operational and managerial standards for all insured depository institutions relating to: (1) internal controls; (2) information systems and audit systems; (3) loan documentation; (4) credit underwriting; (5) interest rate risk exposure; and (6) asset quality. The federal banking agencies have adopted regulations and Interagency Guidelines Establishing Standards for Safety and Soundness to implement these required standards. These guidelines set forth the safety and soundness standards used to identify and address problems at insured depository institutions before capital becomes impaired. Under the regulations, if a regulator determines that a bank fails to meet any standards prescribed by the guidelines, the regulator may require the bank to submit an acceptable plan to achieve compliance, consistent with deadlines for the submission and review of such safety and soundness compliance plans.
Anti-money Laundering
The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (the “USA Patriot Act”), provides the federal government with additional powers to address terrorist threats through enhanced domestic security measures, expanded surveillance powers, increased information sharing and broadened anti-money laundering requirements. By way of amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”), the USA Patriot Act puts in place measures intended to encourage information sharing among bank regulatory and law enforcement agencies. In addition, certain provisions of the USA Patriot Act impose affirmative obligations on a broad range of financial institutions.
The USA Patriot Act, the BSA and related federal regulations require banks to establish anti-money laundering programs that include policies, procedures and controls to detect, prevent and report money laundering and terrorist financing and to verify the identity of their customers and of beneficial owners of their legal entity customers.
The Anti-Money Laundering Act ("AMLA"), which amends the BSA, was enacted in early 2021. The AMLA is intended to be a comprehensive reform and modernization of U.S. bank secrecy and anti-money laundering laws. In particular, it codifies a risk-based approach to anti-money laundering compliance for financial institutions, requires the U.S. Department of the Treasury to promulgate priorities for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism policy, requires the development of standards for testing technology and internal processes for BSA compliance, expands enforcement- and investigation-related authority (including increasing available sanctions for certain BSA violations), and expands BSA whistleblower incentives and protections.
Many AMLA provisions will require additional rulemakings, reports and other measures, and the impact of the AMLA will depend on, among other things, rulemaking and implementation guidance. In June 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, issued the priorities for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism policy required under the AMLA. The priorities include corruption, cybercrime, terrorist financing, fraud, transnational crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking and proliferation financing.
In addition, South Florida has been designated as a High Intensity Financial Crime Area (“HIFCA”), by FinCEN and a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (“HIDTA”), by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The HIFCA program is intended to concentrate law enforcement efforts to combat money laundering efforts in higher-risk areas. The HIDTA designation makes it possible for local agencies to benefit from ongoing HIDTA-coordinated program initiatives that are working to reduce drug use.
There is also increased scrutiny of compliance with the sanctions programs and rules administered and enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) of the U.S. Department of Treasury. OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States, based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals. OFAC issues regulations that restrict transactions by U.S. persons or entities (including banks), located in the U.S. or abroad, with certain foreign countries, their nationals or “specially designated nationals.” OFAC regularly publishes listings of foreign countries and designated nationals that are prohibited from conducting business with any U.S. entity or individual. While OFAC is responsible for promulgating, developing and administering these controls and sanctions, all of the bank regulatory agencies are responsible for ensuring that financial institutions comply with these regulations.
Lending Practices
Federal bank regulatory guidance titled “Concentrations in Commercial Real Estate Lending, Sound Risk Management Practices” (the “CRE Guidance”) requires that appropriate processes be in place to identify, monitor and control risks associated with real estate lending concentrations. This could include enhanced strategic planning, CRE underwriting policies, risk management, internal controls, portfolio stress testing and risk exposure limits as well as appropriately designed compensation and incentive programs. Higher allowances for loan losses and capital levels may also be required. The CRE Guidance provides the following criteria regulatory agencies will use as indicators to identify institutions that may be exposed to CRE concentration risk: (i) experienced rapid growth in CRE lending; (ii) notable exposure to a specific type of CRE; (iii) Total reported loans for construction, land development, and other land of 100% or more of a bank’s total risk-based capital; or (iv) Total commercial real estate, which includes loans secured by multifamily and nonfarm nonresidential properties and loans for construction, land development, and other land are 300% or more of a bank’s total risk-based capital and the outstanding balance of the institutions CRE portfolio has increased by 50% or more during the prior 36 months. We have always had significant exposures to loans secured by CRE due to the nature of our markets. We believe our long term experience in CRE lending, underwriting policies, internal controls, and other policies currently in place, as well as our loan and credit monitoring and administration procedures, are generally appropriate to manage our concentrations as required under the guidance.
Federal law limits a bank's authority to extend credit to directors and executive officers of the bank or its affiliates and persons or companies that own, control or have power to vote more than 10% of any class of securities of a bank or an affiliate of a bank, as well as to entities controlled by such persons. Among other things, extensions of credit to insiders are required to be made on terms that are substantially the same as, and follow credit underwriting procedures that are not less stringent than, those prevailing for comparable transactions with unaffiliated persons. Also, the terms of such extensions of credit may not involve more than the normal risk of repayment or present other unfavorable features and may not exceed certain limitations on the amount of credit extended to such persons, individually and in the aggregate, which limits are based, in part, on the amount of the bank's capital.
Debit Interchange Fees
Interchange fees are fees that merchants pay to card companies and card-issuing banks such as the Bank for processing electronic payment transactions on their behalf. The “Durbin Amendment” in the Dodd-Frank Act provides limits on the amount of debit card interchange that may be received or charged by the debit card issuer, for insured depository institutions with $10 billion or more in assets (inclusive of affiliates) as of the end of the calendar year. Subject to certain exemptions and potential adjustments, the Durbin Amendment limits debit card interchange received or charged by the issuer to $0.21 plus 5 basis points multiplied by the value of the transaction. Upon crossing the $10 billion asset threshold in a calendar year, the rules require compliance with these limits by no later than July 1 of the following year. The Bank did not exceed the $10 billion asset threshold in 2023, but may exceed this threshold in 2024. If so, the Company's compliance with the provisions of the Durbin amendment would be required no later than July 1, 2025, and we do not expect the limits to debit card interchange to materially reduce the Company's revenue.
Payment of Dividends and Repurchases
We and the Bank are subject to various general regulatory policies and requirements relating to the payment of dividends, including requirements to maintain capital above regulatory minimums. The Federal Reserve and the OCC are authorized to determine when the payment of dividends by the Company and the Bank, respectively, would be an unsafe or unsound practice, and may prohibit such dividends. The Federal Reserve and the OCC have indicated that paying dividends that deplete a bank’s capital base to an inadequate level would be an unsafe and unsound banking practice. The Federal Reserve and the OCC have each indicated that depository institutions and their holding companies should generally pay dividends only out of current year’s operating earnings.
A bank holding company must give the Federal Reserve prior notice of any purchase or redemption of its equity securities if the consideration for the purchase or redemption, when combined with the consideration for all such purchases or redemptions in the preceding 12 months, is equal to 10% or more of its consolidated net worth. The Federal Reserve may disapprove such a purchase or redemption if it determines that the proposal would be an unsafe or unsound practice or would violate any law, regulation, Federal Reserve order, or condition imposed in writing by the Federal Reserve. This notification requirement does not apply to a bank holding company that qualifies as well-capitalized, received a composite rating and a rating for management of “1” or “2” in its last examination and is not subject to any unresolved supervisory issue.
The Basel III Capital Rules, which we discuss below, further limit our permissible dividends, stock repurchases and discretionary bonuses, including those of the Bank, unless we and the Bank continue to meet the fully phased-in capital conservation buffer requirement. The Company and the Bank exceeded the capital conservation requirement at year end 2023. See “Capital Requirements”.
Under Florida law, the Company may only pay dividends if, after giving effect to each dividend, the Company would be able to pay its debts as they become due and the Company’s total assets would exceed the sum of its total liabilities plus the amount that would be needed, if the Company were to be dissolved at the time of each dividend, to satisfy the preferential rights upon dissolution of shareholders whose preferential rights are superior to those entitled to receive the dividend.
Capital Requirements
We and the Bank are required under federal law to maintain certain minimum capital levels based on ratios of capital to assets and capital to risk-weighted assets. The required capital ratios are minimums, and the Federal Reserve and OCC may determine that a banking organization, based on its size, complexity or risk profile, must maintain a higher level of capital in order to operate in a safe and sound manner. Risks such as concentration of credit risks and the risk arising from non-traditional activities, as well as the institution’s exposure to a decline in the economic value of its capital due to changes in interest rates, and an institution’s ability to manage those risks are important factors that are to be taken into account by the federal banking agencies in assessing an institution’s overall capital adequacy. The following is a brief description of the relevant provisions of these capital rules and their potential impact on our and the Bank's capital levels. The relevant capital measures are the total risk-based capital ratio, Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio, common equity Tier 1 or “CET1” capital ratio, as well as, the leverage capital ratio.
The Federal Reserve has risk-based capital rules for bank holding companies and the OCC has similar rules for national banks. These rules require a minimum ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets (including certain off-balance sheet activities, such as standby letters of credit) and capital conservation buffer of 10.50%. Tier 1 capital includes common equity and related retained earnings and a limited amount of qualifying preferred stock, less goodwill and certain core deposit intangibles. Voting common equity must be the predominant form of capital. Tier 2 capital consists of non-qualifying preferred stock, qualifying subordinated, perpetual, and/or mandatory convertible debt, term subordinated debt and intermediate term preferred stock, up to 45% of pre-tax unrealized holding gains on available for sale equity securities with readily determinable market values that are prudently valued, and a loan loss allowance up to 1.25% of its standardized total risk-weighted assets, excluding the allowance. The capital rules also define the risk-weights assigned to assets and off-balance sheet items to determine the risk-weighted asset components of the risk-based capital rules, including, for example, “high volatility” commercial real estate, past due assets, structured securities and equity holdings. We collectively refer to Tier 1 risk based capital and Tier 2 capital as Total risk-based capital.
In addition, the Federal Reserve has established minimum leverage ratio guidelines for bank holding companies, which provide for a minimum leverage ratio of Tier 1 capital to adjusted average quarterly assets (“leverage ratio”) equal to 4%. However, regulators expect bank holding companies and banks to operate with leverage ratios above the minimum. The guidelines also provide that institutions experiencing internal growth or making acquisitions will be expected to maintain strong capital positions substantially above the minimum supervisory levels without significant reliance on intangible assets. The Federal Reserve has indicated that it will continue to consider a “tangible Tier 1 leverage ratio” (deducting all intangibles) in evaluating proposals for expansion or new activity. Higher capital may be required in individual cases and depending upon a bank holding company’s risk profile. All bank holding companies and banks are expected to hold capital commensurate with the level and nature of their risks, including the volume and severity of their problem loans. The level of Tier 1 capital to risk-adjusted assets is becoming more widely used by the bank regulators to measure capital adequacy. Neither the Federal Reserve nor the OCC has advised us of any specific minimum leverage ratio or tangible Tier 1 leverage ratio applicable to the Company or the Bank, respectively. Under Federal Reserve policies, bank holding companies are generally expected to operate with capital positions well above the minimum ratios. The Federal Reserve believes the risk-based ratios do not fully take into account the quality of capital and interest rate, liquidity, market and operational risks. Accordingly, supervisory assessments of capital adequacy may differ significantly from conclusions based solely on the level of an organization’s risk-based capital ratio.
In order to avoid certain restrictions on permissible dividends, stock repurchases and discretionary bonuses, a minimum “capital conservation buffer” of CET1 capital of at least 2.5% of total risk-weighted assets, is required. The capital conservation buffer is calculated as the lowest of: (i) the banking organization’s CET1 capital ratio minus 4.5%; (ii) the banking organization’s Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio minus 6.0%; or (iii) the banking organization’s total risk-based capital ratio minus 8.0%.
The capital elements and total capital under the Basel III Capital Rules are as follows:
| | | | | | | |
Minimum CET1 | | | 4.50% |
Capital Conservation Buffer | | | 2.50% |
Total CET1 | | | 7.00% |
Deductions from CET1 | | | 100.00% |
Minimum Tier 1 Capital | | | 6.00% |
Minimum Tier 1 Capital plus conservation buffer | | | 8.50% |
Minimum Total Capital | | | 8.00% |
Minimum Total Capital plus conservation buffer | | | 10.50% |
The Federal Reserve, the OCC, and the FDIC, published a final rule on July 22, 2019 (“the Capital Simplifications Final Rule”) that simplifies existing regulatory capital rules for non-advanced approaches institutions, such as the Company. Non-advanced approaches institutions were permitted to implement the Capital Simplifications Final Rule as of its revised effective date in the quarter beginning January 1, 2020, or wait until the quarter beginning April 1, 2020. As of the date of implementation, the required deductions from regulatory capital CET1 elements for mortgage servicing assets (“MSAs”) and temporary difference deferred tax assets (“DTAs”) are only required to the extent these assets exceed 25% of CET1 capital elements, less any adjustments and deductions (the “CET1 Deduction Threshold”). MSAs and temporary difference DTAs that are not deducted from capital are assigned a 250% risk weight. Investments in the capital instruments of unconsolidated financial institutions are deducted from capital when these exceed the 25% CET1 Deduction Threshold. Minority interests in up to 10% of the parent banking organization’s CET1, Tier capital and total capital, after deductions and adjustments are permitted to be included in capital effective October 1, 2019. Also, effective October 1, 2019, the final rule made various technical amendments, including reconciling a difference in the capital rules and the bank holding company rules that permits the redemption of bank holding company common stock without prior Federal Reserve approval under the capital rules. Such redemptions remain subject to other requirements, including the BHC Act and Federal Reserve Regulation Y. The Company adopted these simplified capital rules in the first quarter of 2020 and they had no material effect on the Company’s regulatory capital and ratios.
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published the last version of the Basel III accord in 2017, generally referred to as “Basel IV.” The Basel Committee stated that a key objective of the revisions incorporated into the framework is to reduce excessive variability of risk-weighted assets, which will be accomplished by enhancing the robustness and risk sensitivity of the standardized approaches for credit risk and operational risk. This will facilitate the comparability of banks’ capital ratios, constraining the use of internally modeled approaches, and complementing the risk-weighted capital ratio with a finalized leverage ratio and a revised and robust capital floor. Leadership of the Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC, who are tasked with implementing Basel IV, supported the revisions. Under the current U.S. capital rules, operational risk capital requirements and a capital floor apply only to advanced approaches institutions, and not to us. The impact of Basel IV on us will depend on the manner in which it is implemented by the federal bank regulators.
As of December 31, 2023, the Company’s and the Bank's CET1 ratio were 9.79% and 10.73%, respectively. In addition, the Company’s and the Bank’s total risk-based capital ratio as of December 31, 2023 were 12.12% and 11.95%, respectively. As a result, both the Company and the Bank are currently classified as "well-capitalized" for purposes of the OCC's prompt corrective action regulations.
Prompt Corrective Action Rules
The federal banking agencies are required to take "prompt corrective action" with respect to financial institutions that do not meet minimum capital requirements. The law establishes five categories for this purpose: "well-capitalized," "adequately capitalized," "undercapitalized," "significantly undercapitalized" and "critically undercapitalized." To be considered "well-capitalized," an insured depository institution must maintain minimum capital ratios and must not be subject to any order or written directive to meet and maintain a specific capital level for any capital measure. To be well-capitalized, the Bank must maintain at least the following capital ratios:
•10.0% Total capital to risk-weighted assets
•8.0% Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted asset
•6.5% CET1 to risk-weighted assets; and
•5.0% leverage ratio.
An institution that fails to remain well-capitalized becomes subject to a series of restrictions that increase in severity as its capital condition weakens. Such restrictions may include a prohibition on capital distributions, restrictions on asset growth or restrictions on the ability to receive regulatory approval of applications. The regulations apply only to banks and not to BHCs. However, the Federal Reserve is authorized to take appropriate action at the holding company level, based on the undercapitalized status of the holding company's subsidiary banking institutions. In certain instances relating to an undercapitalized banking institution, the BHC would be required to guarantee the performance of the undercapitalized subsidiary's capital restoration plan and could be liable for civil money damages for failure to fulfill those guarantee commitments.
In addition, failure to meet capital requirements may cause an institution to be directed to raise additional capital. Federal law further mandates that the agencies adopt safety and soundness standards generally relating to operations and management, asset quality and executive compensation, and authorizes administrative action against an institution that fails to meet such standards. Failure to meet capital guidelines may subject a banking organization to a variety of other enforcement remedies, including additional substantial restrictions on its operations and activities, termination of deposit insurance by the FDIC and, under certain conditions, the appointment of a conservator or receiver.
Enforcement Policies and Actions
The Federal Reserve and the OCC monitor compliance with laws and regulations. The CFPB monitors compliance with laws and regulations applicable to consumer financial products and services. Violations of laws and regulations, or other unsafe and unsound practices, may result in these agencies imposing fines, penalties and/or restitution, cease and desist orders, or taking other formal or informal enforcement actions. Under certain circumstances, these agencies may enforce similar remedies directly against officers, directors, employees and others participating in the affairs of a bank or bank holding company, including fines, penalties and the recovery, or claw-back, of compensation.
FDIC Insurance Assessments
Deposits at U.S. domiciled banks are insured by the FDIC, subject to limits and conditions of applicable laws and regulations. Our deposit accounts are insured by the DIF generally up to a maximum of $250,000 per separately insured depositor and for each account ownership category. In order to fund the DIF, all insured depository institutions are required to pay quarterly assessments to the FDIC that are based on an institutions assignment to 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.
London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) Cessation and Replacement Rates
The Company owns all of the common capital securities issued by five statutory trust subsidiaries (“the Trust Subsidiaries”), respectively. These Trust Subsidiaries were first formed by the Company for the purpose of issuing trust preferred securities (“the Trust Preferred Securities”) and investing the proceeds in junior subordinated debentures issued by the Company (the “Debentures”). The Debentures are guaranteed by the Company. The Trust Preferred Securities and the Debentures issued by the Company include calculations that are based on 3-month LIBOR. Under the LIBOR Act, on the first London banking day after June 30, 2023 (the “LIBOR Replacement Date”), a benchmark replacement recommend by the Federal Reserve will replace LIBOR in certain contracts, including those that contain no fallback provisions and other related aspects. Based on a review of the Trust Preferred Securities and the Debentures documents, these document do not provide a replacement rate for 3-month LIBOR or include other fallback provisions which would apply on the LIBOR Replacement Date. Based on the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s current statements, it does not appear that a synthetic LIBOR benchmark will be applicable to the Trust Preferred Securities and Debentures. The Company did not seek to amend the Trust Preferred Securities and Debentures documents to reflect any other LIBOR benchmark replacement. Accordingly, after the LIBOR Replacement Date, the 3-month CME term SOFR as adjusted by the relevant spread adjustment of 0.26161%, became the benchmark replacement for 3-month LIBOR in the Trust Preferred Securities and Debentures documents, and all applicable benchmark replacement conforming changes as specified in the regulations became an integral part of the Trust Preferred Securities and Debenture documents.
Lender Net Worth Adjusted Requirements
Amerant Mortgage is currently an approved seller and servicer with Fannie Mae for the purpose of selling Fannie Mae eligible loan production and retaining the Mortgage Servicing Rights, or MSRs, of those same loans. As an approved Fannie Mae seller and servicer, Amerant Mortgage must meet certain net worth covenants outlined in Maintaining Seller/Servicer Eligibility section of the Fannie Mae Selling Guide, the “Selling Guide”.
Under the Selling Guide, Amerant Mortgage must meet a minimum net worth requirement of $2.5 million plus 0.25% of the outstanding unpaid principal balance of the portfolio of loans Amerant Mortgage is contractually obligated to service for Fannie Mae (the “Lender Adjusted Net Worth”). Failure to meet the minimum net worth or net worth decline tolerance outlined above, may prompt the suspension of Amerant Mortgage as an approved seller and/or servicer, which would prevent Amerant Mortgage from taking down new commitments to deliver loans to Fannie Mae and adding loans to any portfolio that Amerant Mortgage services for Fannie Mae.
Cybersecurity Regulations and Guidelines
The federal banking regulators regularly issue new guidance and standards, and update existing guidance and standards, regarding cybersecurity, which are intended to enhance cyber risk management by financial institutions. Financial institutions are expected to comply with such guidance and standards and to accordingly develop appropriate security controls and risk management processes. If we fail to observe this regulatory guidance or standards, we could be subject to various regulatory sanctions, including financial penalties.
Since May 2022, a rule adopted by the federal banking agencies requires banking organizations to notify their primary banking regulator within 36 hours of determining that a "computer-security incident" has materially disrupted or degraded, or is reasonably likely to materially disrupt or degrade, the banking organization's ability to carry out banking operations or deliver banking products and services to a material portion of its customer base, its businesses and operations that would result in material loss, or its operations that would impact the stability of the United States.
In December 2023, new SEC rules became effective that require public companies, among other things, to report material cybersecurity incidents in current reports on Form 8-K. The new rules also require reporting about a public company’s policies and procedures to identify and manage cybersecurity risks; as well as disclosure about the Board of Directors' oversight of cybersecurity risk; and management’s role and expertise in assessing and managing cybersecurity risk and implementing cybersecurity policies and procedures.
State regulators have also been increasingly active in implementing privacy and cybersecurity standards and regulations. Recently, several states have adopted regulations requiring certain financial institutions to implement cybersecurity programs and providing detailed requirements with respect to these programs, including data encryption requirements. Many states have also recently implemented or modified their data breach notification, information security and data privacy requirements. We expect this trend of state-level activity in those areas to continue and are continually monitoring developments where our customers are located.
Risks and exposures related to cybersecurity attacks, including litigation and enforcement risks, are expected to be elevated for the foreseeable future due to the rapidly evolving nature and sophistication of these threats, as well as due to the expanding use of Internet banking, mobile banking and other technology-based products and services by us and our customers. See Item 1A. Risk Factors for a further discussion of risks related to cybersecurity and Item 1c. Cybersecurity for further information on how we address and manage cybersecurity risks .
Future Legislative Developments
Congress may enact legislation from time to time that affects the regulation of the financial services industry, and state legislatures may enact legislation from time to time affecting the regulation of financial institutions chartered by or operating in their states. Federal and state regulatory agencies also periodically propose and adopt changes to their regulations or change the manner in which existing regulations are applied. The substance or impact of pending or future legislation or regulation, or the application thereof, cannot be predicted, although any change could impact the regulatory structure under which we or our competitors operate and may significantly increase costs, impede the efficiency of internal business processes, require an increase in regulatory capital, require modifications to our business strategy, and limit our ability to pursue business opportunities in an efficient manner. It could also affect our competitors differently than us, including in a manner that would make them more or less competitive. A change in statutes, regulations or regulatory policies applicable to us or any of our affiliates could have a material, adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Available Information
We maintain a website at the address www.amerantbank.com. On our website, you can access, free of charge, our reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, as well as proxy statements on Schedule 14A and amendments to these reports and materials. Materials are available online as soon as practicable after we file them with the SEC. Additionally, the SEC maintains a website at the address www.sec.gov that contains the information we file or furnish electronically with the SEC. The information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference in, or considered part of, this Form 10-K.
Supplementary Item, Information about our Executive Officers
The Executive Officers of the Company as of March 7, 2024, are as follows:
Gerald P. Plush. Mr. Plush (“Jerry”), age 65, serves as the Company’s Chairman, President, and CEO since June 8, 2022, having served previously as Vice-Chairman, President & CEO since July 1st, 2021, and previously as Vice-Chairman & CEO since March 20, 2021. Mr. Plush has been a director of the Company’s and the Bank’s Board of Directors since July and October 2019, respectively, and served as Executive Vice-Chairman from February 2021 until his appointment as Vice-Chairman & CEO in March 2021. Mr. Plush is a highly respected financial services industry professional with over 35 years of senior executive leadership experience. From 2019 to February 2021, he was a partner at Patriot Financial Partners (“Patriot”), a private equity firm where he sourced new investment opportunities and represented Patriot on the Board of Directors for multiple portfolio banks, specialty finance and fintech companies. In 2018, he served as CEO for Verdigris Holdings, Inc., leading this start up through the regulatory application, organization and initial funding processes. Mr. Plush’s other prominent leadership roles include his tenure with Santander US from 2014 to 2017, initially as CFO and Executive Committee member, and subsequently as Chief Administrative Officer. He served on the board of Santander Consumer from 2014 to 2016, and as a director for the FHLB of Pittsburgh from 2016 to 2017. Mr. Plush previously served as President, COO and Board Member for Webster Bank beginning in 2006 as EVP and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Webster, he spent 11 years with MBNA America, most recently as Senior Executive Vice President & Managing Director for corporate development and prior to that as CFO - North America.
Mr. Plush holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a CPA and CMA (inactive), and currently serves on several local boards, including the board of directors of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the Orange Bowl Committee, and the University of Miami Citizen’s Board.
Sharymar Calderón Yépez. Mrs. Calderón, age 36, was appointed Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in June 2023. Calderón is responsible for Amerant’s financial management, including treasury, financial reporting and accounting, financial analysis, investor relations & sustainability, internal controls and corporate tax. She also chairs the Asset-Liability Committee. Prior to her appointment as CFO, Mrs. Calderón served as Senior Vice President, Head of Internal Audit at Amerant since June 2021, where she led the implementation and monitoring of the Company’s audit plan and risk assessments, including coordination with external auditors and the integration of SOX audits. She is a licensed CPA in both Florida and Puerto Rico. Prior to Amerant, Mrs. Calderón worked at Ocean Bank as SVP, Head of Payment Operations. Before that, she worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers for nine years, where she began her career as an Associate and rose to Senior Manager over the course of her tenure, gaining extensive experience in financial services, including banking, broker dealers and asset management.
Mrs. Calderón received a double Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Marketing from the University of Puerto Rico. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Florida and Puerto Rico, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), a member of the Puerto Rico State Society of CPAs and its Florida Chapter, and the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA). Mrs. Calderón currently serves on the board of directors of the Miami Zoo.
Alberto Capriles. Mr. Capriles, age 56, serves as Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer since January 2023, having previously served as Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer since February 2018 and previously as the Company’s Chief Risk Officer since 2016. Mr. Capriles is responsible for all enterprise risk management oversight, including credit, market, operational and information security risk, BSA/AML and consumer compliance, as well as information technology. Mr. Capriles served in various roles with the former parent of the Bank, Mercantil Servicios Financieros, or MSF since 1995, including as Corporate Treasurer from 2008 to 2015, head of Corporate Market Risk Management from 1999 to 2008, and as Corporate Risk Specialist from 1995 to 1999, where he led the project to implement MSF’s enterprise risk management model. Prior to joining MSF, Mr. Capriles served as a foreign exchange trader with the Banco Central de Venezuela (Venezuelan Central Bank) from 1989 to 1991. Mr. Capriles also served as a Professor in the Economics Department at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela from 1996 to 2008.
Mr. Capriles graduated with a degree in Economics from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela and earned a master’s degree in International Development Economics from Yale University, and a MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Juan Esterripa. Mr. Esterripa, age 50, serves as Senior Executive Vice-President and Head of Commercial Banking since April 2023. He is a seasoned banking professional with significant experience in corporate and commercial banking. In his role, Esterripa oversees multiple business sectors, including commercial banking, commercial real estate, syndication, specialty finance, and treasury management. Before joining the Company, Mr. Esterripa served as EVP, Wholesale Banking Executive at City National Bank - Florida since 2016. From 2013 to 2017, he was SVP, Corporate & Commercial Banking Manager at BankUnited, NA. He served as Executive Vice President at Stonegate Bank from 2012 to 2013 and as Senior Vice President at Capital Bank since 2010 prior to that. From 2009 to 2010, Esterripa was SVP, Chief Lending Officer at Pacific National Bank, and from 2006 to 2009, he served as SVP, Head of Middle Market Division at Mercantil Commercebank, NA. Mr. Esterripa is a graduate of the Harvard Business School executive management program.
Carlos Iafigliola. Mr. Iafigliola, age 47, was appointed Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer (COO) in June 2023. He is responsible for Amerant’s loan and deposit operations, project management, technology services, procurement, facilities, strategy and digital. Mr. Iafigliola chairs the Board of Amerant Investments and is member of the Board of Amerant Mortgage. He serves as Board member for Habitat for Humanity Broward and is a member of the Investment Committee of United Way Miami. Prior to his appointment as COO, Mr. Iafigliola served as EVP, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since May 2020 spearheading Amerant’s financial management, including treasury, financial reporting and accounting, financial analysis, investor relations & sustainability, internal controls and corporate tax. Mr. Iafigliola also served as SVP, Treasury Manager from 2015 to May 2020 and held various management positions in the Treasury area from 2004 to 2015. Prior to joining Amerant, he served in senior roles in Market Risk at Banco Mercantil, also known as Mercantil Servicios Financieros (MSF), from 2000 to 2004. He joined MSF in April 1998.
Mr. Iafigliola earned a degree in Economics from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela in 1998 and a Masters in Finance from Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (IESA) in 2003. He was also part of Miami Leadership Program cohort 2011.
Howard Levine. Mr. Levine, age 52, serves as Senior Executive Vice-President and Head of Consumer Banking since January 2023. He has served as Executive Vice-President and Head of Consumer Banking since joining the Bank in June 2022. Mr. Levine oversees the Private Client Group, Wealth Management, Small Business Banking, Retail Banking, and Amerant Mortgage. Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Levine served as EVP and Chief Revenue Officer at Amerant Mortgage, of which he is a founding partner. He founded and joined Amerant Mortgage in November 2020 from City National Bank of Florida, or CNB, where he served as EVP and Executive Vice President for Private Banking, Private Wealth, and Residential Mortgage. Prior to joining CNB in 2017, Mr. Levine was EVP, Consumer & Residential Lending & Treasury Management at Sabadell United Bank, N.A.
Mr. Levine has more than 25 years of experience in real estate finance and has experience running mortgage businesses through independent mortgage companies as well as in community banks. Mr. Levine has a bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University in Long Island, NY.
Mariola Sanchez. Mrs. Sanchez, age 51, serves as Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief People Officer since June 2022 and leads the Company’s approach to people and organizational culture. Previously, Mrs. Sanchez served as the Company and the Bank’s General Counsel since 2010. With an educational background in human behavior and law, in addition to 15 years working at the Bank, she brings a wealth of organizational knowledge and an informed perspective to her role. She and her leadership team are focused on learning and development, management practices, and diversity and inclusion. As General Counsel, Mrs. Sanchez advised the Company on a range of legal matters, including labor and employment. She has practiced law for over 25 years, primarily as in-house counsel for financial institutions. Prior to joining Amerant in 2007 as Associate General Counsel, she served as Associate General Counsel at Regions Bank (formerly Union Planters Bank).
Mrs. Sanchez earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Miami and a Juris Doctorate from St. Thomas University. In April 2021, she also graduated from the Yale School of Management’s ExecOnline’s Fostering Inclusion and Diversity Program . Active in the community, Mrs. Sanchez serves as a Director of the Board of Voices for Children Foundation, Inc.
Armando Fleitas, age 47, serves as Executive Vice-President, Chief Accounting Officer (“CAO”) since March 2023 overseeing general accounting and accounts payable; investment accounting and operations; mortgage banking finance and accounting; and financial reporting to the Federal Reserve Bank and other federal and state banking supervisory authorities, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency. Prior to being named CAO, Mr. Fleitas served as Senior Vice-President and Controller of the Company from January 1, 2021 until March 2023. Mr. Fleitas joined Amerant in 2010, serving in various management positions in the financial reporting area, including most recently, prior to his current role, as Senior Vice-President and Financial Reporting Manager. In his prior and current role, he has been responsible for overseeing the preparation of consolidated and stand-alone statutory financial statements, the quarterly and annual reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K of the Company filed with the SEC. Previously, he was also responsible for overseeing the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting and vendor management functions. Mr. Fleitas began his career in 1996 at PwC Venezuela, transitioning in 2003 to PwC in the US. At PwC, he held various roles in the areas of audit and accounting consulting services primarily serving customers in the financial services industry.
Mr. Fleitas earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1998 and a master’s degree in accounting from the Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, USA, in 2011. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the United States (NH-2005-active, NY-2010-inactive), and in Venezuela (2006). He holds a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation and is a member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS
Our business is subject to a number of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements made in this Form 10-K or presented elsewhere from time to time. These risks are discussed more fully under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and include, but are not limited to the following:
Risk related to Funding and Liquidity
•Liquidity risks could affect our operations and jeopardize our financial condition and certain funding sources could increase our interest rate expense.
•We may not be able to develop and maintain a strong core deposit base or other low-cost funding sources.
•We may elect or be compelled to seek additional capital in the future, but that capital may not be available when it is needed or on acceptable terms.
•Our ability to receive dividends from our subsidiaries could affect our liquidity and our ability to pay dividends.
Risk related to Credit and Interest Rate
•Our profitability is subject to interest rate risk.
•Our allowance for credit losses may prove inadequate.
•Our concentration of CRE loans could result in increased loan losses.
•Many of our loans are to commercial borrowers, which have unique risks compared to other types of loans.
•Our valuation of securities and the determination of a credit loss allowance in our investment securities portfolio are subjective and, if changed, could materially adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition.
•Nonperforming and similar assets take significant time to resolve and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
•We are subject to environmental liability risk associated with lending activities.
•Deterioration in the real estate markets, including the secondary market for residential mortgage loans, can adversely affect us.
Risks Related to Our Business and Operations
•Many of our major systems depend on and are operated by third-party vendors, and any systems failures or interruptions could adversely affect our operations and the services we provide to our customers.
•Our information systems are exposed to cybersecurity threats and may experience interruptions and security breaches that could adversely affect our business and reputation.
•Our strategic plan and growth strategy may not be achieved as quickly or as fully as we seek.
•Defaults by or deteriorating asset quality of other financial institutions could adversely affect us.
•New lines of business, new products and services, or strategic project initiatives may subject us to additional risks.
•We face significant operational risks.
•We may not have the ability or resources to keep pace with rapid technological changes in the financial services industry or implement new technology effectively.
•Conditions in Venezuela could adversely affect our operations.
•Our ability to achieve our environmental, social and governance goals are subject to risks, many of which are outside of our control, and our reputation could be harmed if we fail to meet such goals.
•We may be unable to attract and retain key people to support our business.
•Severe weather, natural disasters, global pandemics, acts of war or terrorism, theft, civil unrest, government expropriation or other external events could have significant effects on our business.
•Any failure to protect the confidentiality of customer information could adversely affect our reputation and subject us to financial sanctions and other costs that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
•We could be required to write down our goodwill or other intangible assets.
•We have a net deferred tax asset that may or may not be fully realized.
•We may incur losses due to minority investments in fintech and specialty finance companies.
•We are subject to risks associated with sub-leasing portions of our corporate headquarters building.
•Our success depends on our ability to compete effectively in highly competitive markets.
Risks Related to Risk Management, Internal Audit, Internal and Disclosure Controls
•Potential gaps in our risk management policies and internal audit procedures may leave us exposed to unidentified or unanticipated risk, which could negatively affect our business.
•Any 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.
•Changes in accounting standards could materially impact our financial statements.
Risks Related to External and Market Factors
•Material and negative developments adversely impacting the financial services industry at large and causing volatility in financial markets and the economy may have materially adverse effects on our liquidity, business, financial condition and results of operations.
•Our business may be adversely affected by economic conditions in general and by conditions in the financial markets.
Risks Related to Regulatory and Legal Matters
•We are subject to extensive regulation that could limit or restrict our activities and adversely affect our earnings.
•Changes in federal, state or local tax laws, or audits from tax authorities, could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
•Litigation and regulatory investigations are increasingly common in our businesses and may result in significant financial losses and/or harm to our reputation.
•We are subject to capital adequacy and liquidity standards, and if we fail to meet these standards, whether due to losses, growth opportunities or an inability to raise additional capital or otherwise, our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows would be adversely affected.
•Increases in FDIC deposit insurance premiums and assessments could adversely affect our financial condition.
•Federal banking agencies periodically conduct examinations of our business, including our compliance with laws and regulations, and our failure to comply with any regulatory actions, if any, could adversely impact us.
•The Federal Reserve may require us to commit capital resources to support the Bank.
•We may face higher risks of noncompliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering statutes and regulations than other financial institutions.
•Failures to comply with the fair lending laws, CFPB regulations or the Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA, could adversely affect us.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
•Our principal shareholders and management own a significant percentage of our shares of voting common stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to shareholder approval.
•The rights of our common shareholders are subordinate to the holders of any debt securities that we have issued or may issue from time to time.
•The stock price of financial institutions, like Amerant, may fluctuate significantly.
•We can issue additional equity securities, which would lead to dilution of our issued and outstanding Class A common stock.
•Certain provisions of our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, Florida law, and U.S. banking laws could have anti-takeover effects.
Risks Related to our Indebtedness
•We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our debt, including the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures.
•We are a holding company with limited operations and depend on our subsidiaries for the funds required to make payments of principal and interest on the Senior Notes, Subordinated Notes and the Debentures.
•We may incur a substantial level of debt that could materially adversely affect our ability to generate sufficient cash to fulfill our obligations under the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures.
Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
We are subject to risks and uncertainties that could potentially negatively impact our business, financial conditions, results of operations and cash flows. In evaluating us and our business and making or continuing an investment in our securities, you should carefully consider the risks described below as well as other information contained in this Form 10-K and any risk factors and uncertainties discussed in our other public filings with the SEC under the caption “Risk Factors”. We may face other risks that are not contained in this Form 10-K, including additional risks that are not presently known, or that we presently deem immaterial. This Form 10-K and the risks discussed below also include forward-looking statements, and our actual results may differ substantially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements. Please refer to the section in this Form 10-K titled “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for additional information regarding forward-looking statements.
Risks related to Funding and Liquidity
Liquidity risks could affect our operations and jeopardize our financial condition and certain funding sources could increase our interest rate expense.
Liquidity is essential to our business. An inability to raise funds through deposits, borrowings, proceeds from loan repayments or sales, and other sources could have a substantial negative effect on our liquidity. Our funding sources include deposits (core and non-core), federal funds purchased, securities sold under repurchase agreements, short-and long-term debt, the Federal Reserve Discount Window (Discount Window) and Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, or FHLB, advances. We also maintain a portfolio of securities that can be used as a source of liquidity.
A substantial portion of our liabilities consist of deposit accounts that are payable on demand or upon several days' notice, including deposit accounts from Large Fund Providers (third-party customer relationships with balances of over $20 million). We also use brokered deposits and wholesale funding, which not only increases our liquidity risk but could also increase our interest rate expense and potentially increase our deposit insurance costs. Institutions that are less than well-capitalized may be unable to raise or renew brokered deposits under the prompt corrective action rules. See “Supervision and Regulation—Capital Requirements” in the Form 10-K.
Any significant restriction or disruption of our ability to obtain funding from these or other sources could have a negative effect on our ability to satisfy our current and future financial obligations, which could materially affect our financial condition or results of operations. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our activities on terms which are acceptable to us could be impaired by factors that affect us specifically or the financial services industry or the economy in general, including but not limited to: a downturn in economic conditions in the geographic markets in which we operate or in the financial or credit markets in general; increases in interest rates; the liquidity needs of our depositors as well as competition for deposits; the availability of sufficient collateral that is acceptable to the FHLB and the Federal Reserve Bank, fiscal and monetary policy; and regulatory changes. In addition, our ability to otherwise borrow money or issue and sell debt will depend on a variety of factors such as market conditions, the general availability of credit, our credit ratings, and our credit capacity.
Alternative funding to deposits may carry higher costs. If we are required to rely more heavily on more expensive and potentially less stable funding sources or if additional financing sources are unavailable or are not available on acceptable terms, our profitability, liquidity, and prospects could be adversely affected.
We may not be able to develop and maintain a strong core deposit base or other low-cost funding sources.
Our deposits (including checking, savings, money market and other deposits) are the primary funding source for our lending activities. Our future growth will largely depend on our ability to expand core deposits, which provide a less costly and stable funding source. The deposit markets are competitive; therefore growing our core deposit base could be difficult. In a competitive market, depositors have many choices for where to place their deposits. As we continue to grow our core deposit base and seek to reduce our exposure to high rate/high volatility accounts, we may experience a net deposit outflow, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
We may elect or be compelled to seek additional capital in the future, but that capital may not be available when it is needed or on acceptable terms.
We and the Bank are required by federal regulatory authorities to maintain adequate levels of capital to support our operations. While we believe that our existing capital (which currently exceeds the capital requirements) will be sufficient to support our current operations and expected growth. However, factors such as faster-than-anticipated growth, reduced earnings levels, operating losses, changes in economic conditions, revisions in regulatory requirements, or acquisition opportunities may lead us to seek additional capital. Our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, will depend on our financial performance and the conditions in the capital markets, economic conditions, and other factors, many of which are outside our control. Accordingly, we may be unable to raise additional capital if needed or on acceptable terms. If we cannot raise additional capital when needed, our ability to further expand our operations, business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be adversely affected, and the price of our securities may decline.
Our ability to receive dividends from our subsidiaries could affect our liquidity and our ability to pay dividends.
We are a legal entity separate and distinct from the Bank and our other subsidiaries. The Federal Reserve Act, Section 23A, limits our ability to borrow from the Bank and our principal source of cash, other than securities offerings, is dividends from the Bank. These dividends are the principal source of funds to pay dividends on our common stock, as well as interest on our junior subordinated debentures and interest and principal on our Senior Notes and our Subordinated Notes. Several laws and regulations limit the amount of dividends that the Bank may pay us as well as the dividends that we may pay on our common stock, see “Supervision and Regulation - Payment of Dividends.” Limitations on our ability to receive dividends from our subsidiaries could adversely affect our liquidity and on our ability to service our debt and pay dividends.
We cannot assure that we will continue to pay dividends on our common stock in the future. Future dividends will be declared and paid at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on a number of factors including, our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, capital adequacy, cash requirements, prospects, regulatory capital and limitations, among others. Our inability to service our debt, pay our other obligations or pay dividends to our shareholders could adversely impact our financial condition and the value our securities.
Risks related to Credit and Interest Rate
Our profitability is subject to interest rate risk.
Our profitability depends largely upon net interest income, which is the difference between interest earned on assets, such as loans and investments, and interest expense on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings. Interest rate changes may impact our profits and the values of several of our assets and liabilities. We expect to periodically experience “gaps” in the interest rate sensitivities of the Company’s 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.
If interest rates rise, our net interest income and the value of our assets could be reduced if interest paid on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings, increases more quickly than interest received on interest-earning assets, such as loans and investment securities. In addition, rising interest rates may reduce the demand for loans and the volume of mortgage originations and re-financings, adversely affecting the profitability of our business. Increases in market interest rates may also impact our customers’ ability to repay their loans, which could increase the potential for default and our level of nonperforming assets and adversely affect our operating results. Further, when loans are placed on nonaccrual status any accrued but unpaid interest receivable is reversed, which decreases interest income; simultaneously, we will continue to have a cost to fund the loan, which is reflected as interest expense, without any interest income to offset the associated funding expense. Thus, an increase in the amount of nonperforming assets would have an adverse impact on net interest income. Also, in a rising interest rate environment, fixed-rate loans may adversely affect our margin and present asset/liability mismatches and risks since our liabilities are generally floating rate or have shorter maturities.
In declining rate environments, we may experience numerous loan prepayments and replacement loans may be priced at a lower rate, decreasing our net interest income. Further, should market interest rates fall below current levels, our net interest income could also be negatively affected if competitive pressures keep us from further reducing rates on our deposits, while the yields on our assets decrease through loan prepayments and interest rate adjustments. Since our balance sheet is asset sensitive, a decrease in interest rates or a flattening or inversion of the yield curve could adversely affect us.
Market interest rate changes are unpredictable and caused by many factors beyond our control, including general economic conditions (inflation, recession, and unemployment), fiscal and monetary policy, and changes in the United States and other financial markets. In a rapidly changing interest rate environment, we may be unable to manage our interest rate risk effectively, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Our allowance for credit losses may prove inadequate.
The determination of the appropriate level of the allowance for credit losses inherently involves a high degree of subjectivity and judgment and requires us to make various assumptions and estimates about the collectability of our loan portfolio, including the creditworthiness of our borrowers, the value of the collateral securing our loans, our delinquency experience, economic conditions and trends, reasonable and supportable forecasts, and credit quality indicators (including past charge-off experience and levels of past due loans and nonperforming assets).We cannot assure that these assumptions and estimates will be adequate over time to cover expected credit losses in our portfolio. These assumptions and estimates may be affected by changes in the economy, market conditions, or events negatively impacting specific customers, industries or markets, or borrowers repaying their loans. If our allowance for credit losses on loans is not adequate, our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows could be adversely affected. In addition, bank regulatory agencies periodically review our allowance for credit losses and may require an increase in the provision for credit losses or the recognition of further charge-offs. Any increases in the provision for credit losses will result in a decrease in net income and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
On December 31, 2022, we ceased to be an Emerging Growth Company, and we implemented FASB’s Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 326, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses, a new guidance on accounting for current expected credit losses on financial instruments (“CECL”). This guidance substantially changed the accounting for credit losses on loans and other financial assets held by banks, financial institutions, and other organizations. The standard changed the previous incurred loss impairment methodology in GAAP. Under the incurred loss model, we recognized losses when they were incurred. On the other hand, CECL requires loans held for investment and debt securities held to maturity to be presented at the net amount expected to be collected (net of the allowance for credit losses). CECL generally results in earlier recognition of expected credit losses and may result in higher provision for credit losses and higher volatility in the quarterly provision for credit losses. Future provisions under the CECL model could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Our concentration of CRE loans could result in increased loan losses.
CRE is cyclical and poses risks of possible loss due to concentration levels and risks of the assets being financed. Disruptions in markets, economic conditions, including those resulting from a pandemic, changes in laws or regulations or other events could have a significant impact on the ability of our customers to repay and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Our CRE loans included approximately $1.2 billion and $1.1 billion of fixed rate loans at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. In a rising interest rate environment, fixed rate loans may adversely affect our margin and present asset/liability mismatches and risks since our liabilities are generally floating rate or have shorter maturities.
As of December 31, 2023, the Bank’s portfolio of CRE loans was 274.3% of its risk-based capital, or 38.4% of its total loans, as of December 31, 2023 compared to 289.1% of its risk-based capital, or 45.3% of its total loans, as of December 31, 2022. We cannot assure that our CRE concentration risk management program will effectively manage our CRE concentration.
CRE loans as well as other loans in our portfolio are secured by real estate. We may experience a significant level of nonperforming real estate loans if the economic conditions of the markets where we operate deteriorate, or in areas where real estate market conditions become distressed. The value of the collateral securing those loans and the revenue stream from those loans could be negatively impacted, and additional provisions for the allowance for credit losses could be required. Our ability to dispose of Other Real Estate Owned (“OREO”) properties at prices at or above the respective carrying values could also be impaired, causing additional losses.
In addition, if the United States economy returns to a recessionary state, management believes that it could significantly affect the economic conditions of the market areas we serve and we could experience significantly higher delinquencies and loan losses, and therefore impact our earnings and financial condition, including our capital and liquidity.
Many of our loans are to commercial borrowers, which have unique risks compared to other types of loans.
As of December 31, 2023, approximately $2.3 billion, or 34%, and $1.5 billion, or 22%, of our loan portfolio was comprised of CRE loans and commercial loans, respectively. Since payments on these loans are often dependent on the successful operation or development of the property or business involved, their repayment is sensitive to adverse conditions in the real estate market and the general economy and the collateral securing these loans may not be sufficient to repay the loan in the event of default. Consequently, downturns in the real estate market and economy increase the risk related to commercial loans, including CRE loans. Unlike residential mortgage loans, which generally are made on the basis of the borrowers’ ability to make repayment from their employment and other income and which are secured by real property whose value tends to be more easily ascertainable, commercial loans typically are made on the basis of the borrowers’ ability to make repayment from the cash flow of the commercial venture. Our commercial loans are primarily made based on the identified cash flow of the borrower and secondarily on the collateral underlying the loans. Most often, this collateral consists of accounts receivable, inventory and equipment. Inventory and equipment may depreciate over time, may be difficult to appraise and may fluctuate in value based on the success of the business. In some cases, the repossession of collateral may not be possible or may be delayed which could negatively impact the value we may realize from that collateral to repay the loan. If the cash flow from business operations is reduced, the borrower’s ability to repay the loan may be impaired. We attempt to mitigate this risk through our underwriting standards, including evaluating the creditworthiness of the borrower, and regular monitoring. However, these procedures cannot entirely eliminate the risk of loss associated with commercial lending. Due to the larger average size of each commercial loan as compared with other loans such as residential loans, as well as collateral that is generally less readily-marketable, losses incurred on a small number of commercial loans could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
Also, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the markets where we operate, in particular, in the metropolitan New York area, where we no longer generate loans but still had loans held for investment as of December 31, 2023 totaling $217.0 million corresponding to commercial real estate properties, including retail and office properties. These properties have been, and may continue to be, negatively impacted by the consequences of the pandemic. If a decline in economic conditions, natural disasters affecting business development or other issues cause difficulties for our borrowers of these types of loans, if we fail to assess the credit of these loans accurately when underwriting them or if we fail to adequately continue to monitor the performance of these loans, our loan portfolio could experience delinquencies, defaults and credit losses that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Our valuation of securities and the determination of a credit loss allowance in our investment securities portfolio are subjective and, if changed, could materially adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition.
Fixed-maturity securities, as well as short-term investments which are reported at estimated fair value, represent the majority of our total investments. We generally define fair value as the price that would be received in the sale of an asset or paid to transfer a liability. Considerable judgment is often required in interpreting market data to develop estimates of fair value, and the use of different assumptions or valuation methodologies may have a material effect on the estimated fair value amounts. During periods of market disruption (including periods of significantly rising or high interest rates, or rapidly widening credit spreads) certain asset classes may become illiquid and it may be difficult to value certain of our securities if trading becomes less frequent or market data becomes less observable. In those cases, the valuation process includes inputs that are less observable and require more subjectivity and management judgment. Valuations may result in estimated fair values which vary significantly from the amount at which the investments may ultimately be sold. Further, rapidly changing and unprecedented credit and equity market conditions could materially affect the valuation of securities in our financial statements and the period-to-period changes in estimated fair value could vary significantly.
As of December 31, 2023, the fair value of the Company’s debt securities available for sale was approximately $1.2 billion, compared to $1.1 billion as of December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2023 debt securities available-for-sale had net unrealized holding losses of $100.3 million ($113.0 million in 2022) and net unrealized holding gains of $3.2 million ($1.0 million in 2022). In 2023, the Company recorded pre-tax net unrealized holding losses of $14.9 million ($127.7 million in 2022) which are included in accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income for the period. These unrealized losses were mainly attributable to increases in market interest rates during the periods which translated into a decline in the estimated fair value of debt securities markets.
Beginning January 1, 2022, debt securities available for sale are analyzed for credit losses under the new guidance on accounting for CECL, which requires the Company to determine whether the securities are considered impaired because their fair value is below their amortized cost basis as of the reporting date, and whether there is a need of a credit loss allowance. An allowance for credit losses is established for losses on debt securities available for sale due to credit losses and is reported as a component of provision for credit losses. Accrued interest is excluded from our expected credit loss estimates. In 2023, the Company did not record an allowance for estimated credit losses on any of its debt securities available for sale. For more information about CECL, see Note 1 of our audited consolidated financial statements in this Form-10-K. Prior to January 1, 2022, our debt securities classified as available for sale or held to maturity were generally evaluated for other than temporary impairment under the applicable accounting guidance.
The valuation of our investment portfolio is also influenced by external market and other factors, including implementation of SEC and FASB guidance on fair value accounting. Accordingly, if market conditions deteriorate further and/or accounting guidance is updated and we determine our holdings of investment securities have experienced credit losses, our future earnings, financial condition, regulatory capital and continuing operations could be materially adversely affected.
Nonperforming and similar assets take significant time to resolve and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows .
At December 31, 2023 and 2022, our nonperforming loans totaled $34.4 million and $37.6 million, respectively, or 0.47% and 0.54% of total loans, respectively. We had no OREO balances at December 31, 2023 and 2022. Our non-performing assets may adversely affect our net income in various ways. We do not record interest income on nonaccrual loans or OREO, and these assets require higher loan administration and other costs, thereby adversely affecting our income. Decreases in the value of these assets, or the underlying collateral, or in the related borrowers’ performance or financial condition, whether or not due to economic and market conditions beyond our control, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Any increase in our nonperforming assets and related increases in our provision for credit losses could negatively affect our business and could have a material adverse effect on our capital, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the resolution of nonperforming assets requires commitments of time from management, which can be detrimental to their other responsibilities. We cannot assure you we will not experience increases in nonperforming loans, OREO and similar nonperforming assets in the future.
We are subject to environmental liability risk associated with lending activities.
A significant portion of our loan portfolio is secured by real property. During our ordinary course of business, we may foreclose on and take title to properties securing certain loans. There is a risk that hazardous or toxic substances could be found on these properties. If hazardous or toxic substances are found, we may be liable for remediation costs, as well as for personal injury and property damage. Environmental laws may require the Company to incur substantial expenses and may materially reduce the affected property’s value or limit our ability to use or sell the affected property. In addition, future laws or more stringent interpretations or enforcement policies with respect to existing laws and regulations may increase our exposure to environmental liability. Environmental reviews of real property before initiating foreclosure may not be sufficient to detect all potential environmental hazards. The remediation costs and any other financial liabilities associated with an environmental hazard could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Deterioration in the real estate markets, including the secondary market for residential mortgage loans, can adversely affect us.
A decrease in residential real estate market prices or lower levels of home sales, could result in lower single family home values, adversely affecting the value of collateral securing residential mortgage loans and residential property collateral securing loans that we hold, mortgage loan originations and gains on the sale of mortgage loans. A decline in real estate prices increases delinquencies and losses on certain mortgage loans, generally, and particularly on second lien mortgages and home equity lines of credit. A substantial portion of our single family loans consist of jumbo loans, and the secondary market for jumbo mortgages has historically been less liquid compared to conforming loans. Significant ongoing disruptions in the secondary market for residential mortgage loans can limit the market for and liquidity of most residential mortgage loans other than conforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. Deteriorating trends could occur, including declines in real estate values, home sales volumes, financial stress on borrowers as a result of job losses, increase in interest rates or other factors. These could adversely impact borrowers and result in higher delinquencies and greater charge-offs in future periods, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. In the event our allowance for credit losses on these loans is insufficient to cover such losses, our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows could be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Our Business and Operations
Many of our major systems depend on and are operated by third-party vendors, and any systems failures or interruptions could adversely affect our operations and the services we provide to our customers.
We outsource many of our major systems and critical back-office operations, such as data processing, recording, and monitoring transactions, online banking interfaces and service, internet connections and network access. For example, we entered into a new multi-year outsourcing agreement with the world's largest provider of banking and payments technology, to assume full responsibility over a significant number of the Bank’s support functions and staff, including certain critical back-office operations. In November 2023 we transitioned our entire core banking system to the one this vendor offers and services. An interruption or failure of the services we receive through these outsourced systems could cause an interruption of our operations. The occurrence of any systems failure or interruption could damage our reputation and result in a loss of customers and business, could subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny, or could expose us to legal liability. Any of these occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Our information systems are exposed to cybersecurity threats and may experience interruptions and security breaches that could adversely affect our business and reputation.
We rely heavily on communications and information systems, including those provided by third-party service providers, to conduct our business. Any failure, interruption, or security breach of these systems could result in failures or disruptions which could impact our ability to serve our customers, operate our business and affect our customers’ privacy and could damage our reputation, result in a loss of business, subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny or enforcement or expose us to civil litigation and possible financial liability. Our systems and networks, as well as those of our third-party service providers, are subject to security risks and could be susceptible to cyberattacks by third parties, including through coordinated attacks sponsored by foreign nations and criminal organizations to disrupt business operations and other compromises to data and systems for political or criminal purposes. Cyber threats are rapidly evolving and we may not be able to anticipate or prevent all such attacks and could be held liable for any security breach or loss. These risks have increased with the implementation of remote and/or hybrid work protocols and may continue to increase in the future as the use of mobile banking and other internet-based products and services continues to grow.
For example, in August 2022 and November 2023, we were notified by different third-party vendors that they had experienced potential cybersecurity incidents. On both occasions, we activated our incident response plan and the vendors completed forensic analyses to determine whether information from the Bank's customers was accessed and exfiltrated in an unauthorized manner. Once the forensic analyses were completed, we worked with the vendors and outside advisors to determine the appropriate course of action, including having the vendors provide notice to our affected customers and offer free credit monitoring services when appropriate. Our business, financial condition, or results of operations were not materially adversely affected by these cybersecurity incidents. We are not aware of any continuing cybersecurity threats or breaches involving these vendors, however, we, as well as our customers, regulators, and service providers, have experienced and will likely continue to experience a significant increase in information security and cybersecurity threats and attacks, see Item 1C. Cybersecurity for an additional discussion on our information security program.
Despite our cybersecurity policies and procedures and our efforts to monitor and ensure the integrity of our and our service providers’ systems, we may not be able to anticipate all types of security threats, nor may we be able to implement preventive measures effective against all such security threats. In addition, the impact and severity of a particular cyberattack may not be immediately clear, and it may take a significant amount of time before such determination can be made. While the investigation of a cyberattack is ongoing, we may not be fully aware of the extent of the harm caused by the cyberattack and it may not be clear how to contain and remediate such harm and any damage may continue to spread.
Security breaches or failures may have serious adverse financial and other consequences, including significant legal and remediation costs, disruption of operations, misappropriation of confidential information, damage to systems operated by us or our third-party service providers, as well as damaging our customers and our counterparties. Such losses and claims may not be covered by our insurance. In addition to the immediate costs of any failure, interruption or security breach, including those at our third-party service providers, these events could damage our reputation, result in a loss of customer business, subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny, or expose us to civil litigation and possible financial liability, any of which could adversely affect on business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Our strategic plan and growth strategy may not be achieved as quickly or as fully as we seek.
The implementation of our strategic plan and growth strategy may take longer than we anticipate to implement, and the results we achieve may not be as successful as we seek, all of which could adversely affect our business, financial conditions, results of operations, or cash flows. Additionally, the results of our strategic plan and growth strategy are subject to the other risks described herein that affect our business, which include: lending, interest rate risk, seeking deposits and wealth management clients in highly competitive domestic markets; our ability to achieve our growth plans or to manage our growth effectively; the benefits from our technology investments, including the benefits and cost savings we expect to achieve from our outsourcing relationship with FIS, may take longer than expected to be realized and may not be as large as expected, or may require additional investments; and if we are unable to reduce our cost structure, we may not be able to meet our profitability objectives.
Defaults by or deteriorating asset quality of other financial institutions could adversely affect us.
Financial services institutions are interrelated as a result of 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 brokers and dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, and other institutional clients. Many of these transactions expose us to credit risk and losses in the event of a default by a counterparty. Any such losses could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. We also may have exposure to these financial institutions in the form of unsecured debt instruments, derivatives and other securities. Further, potential action by governments and regulatory bodies in response to financial crises affecting the global and U.S. banking systems and financial markets, such as nationalization, conservatorship, receivership and other intervention, or lack of action by governments and central banks, as well as deterioration in the banks’ creditworthiness, could adversely affect the value and/or liquidity of these instruments, securities, transactions and investments or limit our ability to trade with them. Any losses or impairments to the carrying value of these investments or other changes may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. The events in 2023 resulting in the failure of several banks in the U.S. may also result in potentially adverse changes to laws or regulations governing banks and bank holding companies or result in the imposition of restrictions through supervisory or enforcement activities, including higher capital requirements, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
New lines of business, new products and services, or strategic project initiatives may subject us to additional risks.
We periodically evaluate our service offerings and, occasionally, may seek to implement new lines of business or offer new products and services within existing lines of business. There are substantial risks and uncertainties associated with these efforts, including external factors, such as compliance with regulations, competitive alternatives, and shifting market preferences, that may impact the successful implementation of a new line of business and/or a new product or service. In developing and marketing new lines of business and/or new products and services, we may invest significant time and resources. Initial timetables for the introduction and development of new lines of business and/or new products or services may not be achieved, and price and profitability targets may not prove feasible, which could in turn have a material negative effect on our operating results. Additionally, any new line of business and/or new product or service could require the establishment of new key and other controls and have a significant impact on our existing system of internal controls. Failure to successfully manage these risks in the development and implementation of new lines of business and/or new products or services could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
We face significant operational risks.
We operate many different financial service functions and rely on the ability of our employees, third party vendors and systems to process a significant number of transactions. Operational risk is the risk of loss from operations, including fraud by employees or outside persons, employees’ execution of incorrect or unauthorized transactions, data processing and technology errors or hacking and breaches of internal control systems. These risks have increased in light of remote and hybrid work arrangements that were implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and currently remain in effect.
We may not have the ability or resources to keep pace with rapid technological changes in the financial services 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 allowing us to service our clients better, the effective use of technology may increase efficiency and may enable financial institutions to reduce costs and the risks associated with fraud and other operational risks. Our future success will partially depend upon our ability to use technology effectively. We may be unable to effectively implement new technology-driven enhancements of products and services as quickly or at the costs anticipated, 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 larger competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements and, increasingly, non-banking firms are using technology to compete with traditional lenders for loans and other banking services. Third parties and vendors 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, results of operations, or cash flows.
Conditions in Venezuela could adversely affect our operations.
At December 31, 2023, 24% of our deposits, or approximately $1.9 billion, were from Venezuelan residents. The Bank’s Venezuelan deposits have declined from December 31, 2019 to December 31, 2023 (see Deposits by Country of Domicile in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations). These declines were due in part to actions by the Company to reduce its compliance costs and to economic conditions in Venezuela that adversely impact our Venezuelan customers’ ability to generate and save U.S. dollars. All of the Bank’s deposits are denominated in U.S. Dollars. Adverse economic conditions in Venezuela may continue to negatively affect our Venezuelan deposit base, as customers residing in Venezuela rely on their U.S. Dollar deposits to fund living expenses and other necessities without being able to generate additional U.S. Dollars.
In addition, although we seek to increase our trust, brokerage and investment advisory business from our domestic markets, substantially all our revenue from these services currently is from Venezuelan customers. Economic and other conditions in Venezuela, or U.S. regulations or sanctions affecting the services we may provide to our Venezuelan customers may adversely affect the amounts of assets we manage or custody, and the trading volumes of our Venezuelan customers, reducing fees and commissions we earn from these businesses, and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Our ability to achieve our environmental, social and governance goals are subject to risks, many of which are outside of our control, and our reputation could be harmed if we fail to meet such goals.
Companies across all industries are facing scrutiny from stakeholders related to ESG matters, including practices and disclosures related to environmental stewardship; social responsibility; diversity, equity and inclusion; and workplace rights. Our ability to achieve our ESG targets, including our goal to have offered $500 million in sustainable financing by 2025, and our plan to lead us to carbon-neutral operations by 2030 along with our other ESG targets for 2024-2030, and to accurately and transparently report our progress presents numerous operational, financial, legal and other risks, may be dependent on the actions of third parties, all of which are outside of our control. If we are unable to meet our ESG targets or stakeholder expectations and industry standards, or if we are perceived to have not responded appropriately, our reputation could be negatively impacted. In addition, in recent years, investor advocacy groups and certain institutional investors have placed increasing importance on ESG matters. If, as a result of their assessment of our ESG practices, certain investors are unsatisfied with our actions or progress, they may reconsider their investment in our company. As the nature, scope and complexity of ESG reporting, diligence and disclosure requirements expand, including the SEC’s proposed disclosure requirements regarding, among other matters, Greenhouse gas emissions, we may have to undertake additional costs to control, assess and report on ESG metrics. Any failure or perceived failure, whether or not valid, to pursue or fulfill our ESG goals, targets and objectives or to satisfy various ESG reporting standards within the timelines we announce, or at all, could increase the risk of litigation.
We may be unable to attract and retain key people to support our business.
Our success depends, in large part, on our ability to attract and retain experienced personnel in key positions. Intense competition exists in the activities and markets that we serve for candidates with appropriate qualifications and demonstrated ability. If we are unable to hire and retain key individuals, we may be unable to implement our business strategy and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be negatively impacted. Our ability to attract and retain employees could also be impacted by changing workforce expectations, practices, and preferences, including remote work and hybrid work preferences, and increasing labor shortages and competition for labor, which could increase labor costs. Failure to attract well-qualified employees or to develop and retain our employees may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Severe weather, natural disasters, global pandemics, acts of war or terrorism, theft, civil unrest, government expropriation or other external events could have significant effects on our business.
Severe weather and natural disasters, (including hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, fires, droughts and floods), acts of war or terrorism (such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and hostilities in Israel and surrounding areas), epidemics and global pandemics (such as the recent COVID-19 outbreak), theft, civil unrest, government expropriation, condemnation or other external events in the markets where we operate or where our customers live (including Venezuela) could have a significant effect on our ability to conduct business. Such events could affect the stability of our deposit base, impair the ability of borrowers to repay outstanding loans, impair the value of collateral securing loans, cause significant property damage, impair employee productivity, result in loss of revenue and/or cause us to incur additional expenses. The occurrence of any such event could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Our business is mainly concentrated in two markets: South Florida, and the Houston, Texas area, which may increase our risks from extreme weather. These two market areas are susceptible to hurricanes, tropical storms and other similar severe weather events which could have the effects indicated above. Additionally, the potential for such weather events has and may continue to cause our customers to incur higher property and casualty insurance premiums which may adversely affect the value and sales of real estate in the markets we operate. Additionally, the impact of severe weather in the markets where we operate has and may continue to increase the cost and reduce the availability of insurance needed for our business operations.
Any failure to protect the confidentiality of customer information could adversely affect our reputation and subject us to financial sanctions and other costs that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Various federal, state and foreign laws enforced by the bank regulators and other agencies protect the privacy and security of customers’ non-public personal information. Many of our employees have access to, and routinely process, sensitive personal customer information, including through their access to information technology systems. An employee could, intentionally or unintentionally, disclose or misappropriate confidential client information or our data could be the subject of a cybersecurity attack (including intrusion by hackers, and phishing attacks). If we or any of our third party vendors are subject to a successful cyberattack or fail to maintain adequate internal controls, or if our employees fail to comply with our policies and procedures, misappropriation or intentional or unintentional inappropriate disclosure or misuse of client information could occur. Such cyberattacks, if they result from internal control inadequacies or non-compliance, could materially damage our reputation, lead to civil or criminal penalties, or both, which, in turn, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
We could be required to write down our goodwill and other intangible assets.
We had goodwill of $19.2 million and other intangible assets of $5.8 million at December 31, 2023. Our business acquisitions typically have resulted in goodwill and other intangible assets, which affect the amount of future amortization expense and potential impairment expense. We make estimates and assumptions in valuing such goodwill and intangible assets that affect our consolidated financial statements. In accordance with GAAP, our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets are not amortized, but are tested for impairment annually, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that an asset might be impaired. The estimated fair value is affected by the performance of the business, which may be especially diminished by prolonged market declines. If the goodwill has been impaired, we must write down the goodwill by the amount of the impairment, with a corresponding charge to net income. Based on the annual impairment analysis, as of December 31, 2023, we recorded a $1.7 million pre-tax write off in goodwill and other intangibles assets. If we record any future impairment loss related to our goodwill or other intangible assets, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the results of impairment testing on our goodwill or other intangible assets have no impact on our tangible book value or regulatory capital levels.
We have a net deferred tax asset that may or may not be fully realized.
Deferred income tax represents the tax effect of the timing differences between financial accounting and tax reporting. Deferred tax assets, or DTAs, are assessed periodically by management to determine whether they are realizable. Factors in management’s determination include the performance of the business, including the ability to generate future taxable income. Realizing a deferred tax asset requires us to apply significant judgment and such judgment is inherently speculative because it requires estimates that cannot be made with certainty. If, based on available information, it is more likely than not that the deferred income tax asset will not be realized, then a valuation allowance must be established with a corresponding charge to net income. Such charges could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. In addition, changes in the corporate tax rates could affect the value of our DTAs and may require a write-off of a portion of some of those assets. At December 31, 2023, we had net DTAs with a book value of $55.6 million, based on a U.S. corporate income tax rate of 21%. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates.”
We may incur losses due to minority investments in fintech and specialty finance companies.
From time to time, we may make or consider making minority investments in fintech and specialty finance companies. If we do so, we may not be able to influence the activities of companies in which we invest and may suffer losses due to these activities. For example, the companies we invest in may have economic or business interests, values, or goals that are inconsistent or conflict with ours, which could damage our reputation or business. Additionally, the companies we invest in may experience financial difficulties, default on their obligations, diminished liquidity or insolvency; or our management team’s distraction relative to the potential financial benefit may be disproportional. In addition, although we may seek board representation in connection with certain investments, we cannot assure you that such representation will be obtained or that such representation will result in Amerant having a meaningful say in the Board decisions of such company. If the companies we invest in seek additional financing in the future to fund their growth strategies, these financing transactions may result in dilution to our ownership stakes and these transactions may occur at lower valuations than the investment transaction through which we acquired such ownership interest, which could significantly decrease the fair value of our investment in those entities. We may also be unable to dispose of our minority investments within our contemplated time horizon or at all. Our inability to dispose of our minority investment in an entity or a downward adjustment to or impairment of an equity investment could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
We are subject to risks associated with sub-leasing portions of our corporate headquarters building.
In December 2021, we sold our approximately 177,000 square foot headquarters building (the “Property”) and entered into an 18-year triple net lease for the Property (the “Lease”) at an initial base rent of $7,500,000 per year (escalating 1.5% each year), under which we are also responsible for the Property’s insurance, real estate taxes, and maintenance and repair expenses. During the term of the Lease, we have the right to sublet the whole or any part of the Property.
While we occupy and we expect to continue to occupy a portion of the Property, we also currently sublease and intend to continue to sublease a significant portion of the Property to third parties. When we sublease spaces in the Property to third parties, we are not released from our underlying obligations under the Lease. We rely on the sublease income from subtenants to offset the expenses incurred related to our obligations under the Lease. Although we assess the financial condition of each subtenant to which we sublease space in the Property, the financial condition of each such subtenant or of a sublease guarantor(s), if any, may deteriorate over time. If a subtenant of the Property does not perform under the terms of a sublease agreement (due to its financial condition or other factors), we may not be able to recover amounts owed to us under the terms of each sublease agreement or the related guarantees, if any. If subtenants default or terminate their subleases with us, we may experience a loss of planned sublease rental income, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Additionally, if subtenants default on their sublease obligations with us or otherwise terminate their sublease agreement with us, we may be unable to secure a new subtenant on a timely basis, or at all, on the same or more favorable rent terms.
Our success depends on our ability to compete effectively in highly competitive markets.
The Florida and Houston, Texas banking markets in which we do business are highly competitive; therefore, our future growth and success will depend on our ability to compete effectively in these markets. We compete for deposits, loans, and other financial services in our markets with other local, regional and national commercial banks, thrifts, credit unions, mortgage lenders, trust services providers and securities advisory and brokerage firms. Marketplace lenders operating nationwide over the internet are also growing rapidly, other fintech developments, including blockchain and other technologies, may potentially disrupt the financial services industry and impact the way banks do business. Many of our competitors offer products and services different from us, and have substantially greater resources, name recognition and market presence than we do, which benefits them in attracting business. In addition, larger competitors may be able to price loans and deposits more aggressively than we are able to and have broader and more diverse customer and geographic bases to draw upon.
Risks Related to Risk Management, Internal Audit, Internal and Disclosure Controls
Potential gaps in our risk management policies and internal audit procedures may leave us exposed to unidentified or unanticipated risk, which could negatively affect our business.
Our enterprise risk management and internal audit programs are designed to mitigate material risks. There may be inherent limitations to our current and future risk management strategies, including risks that we have not appropriately anticipated or identified. Additionally, our internal audit process may fail to detect such weaknesses or deficiencies in our risk management framework. Many of our methods for managing risk and exposures are based on observed historical market behavior to model or project potential future exposure. Models used by our business are based on assumptions and projections. These models may not operate properly, or our inputs and assumptions may be inaccurate or not be adopted quickly enough to reflect changes in behavior, markets, or technology. As a result, these methods may not fully predict future exposures, which can be significantly different and greater than historical measures indicate. In addition, our business and the markets in which we operate are continuously evolving, and we may fail to fully understand the implications of changes in our business or the financial markets or fail to adequately or timely enhance our enterprise risk framework to address those changes. Furthermore, we cannot assure that we can effectively review and monitor all risks or that all of our employees will closely follow our risk management policies and procedures, or that our risk management policies and procedures will enable us to accurately identify all risks and limit timely our exposures based on our assessments. If our enterprise risk management framework proves ineffective, we could suffer unexpected losses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Any 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.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, or ICFR and for evaluating and reporting on that system of internal control. Our ICFR is 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. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires us to furnish annually a report by management on the effectiveness of our ICFR. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm is required to report on the effectiveness of our ICFR.
If we fail to implement and maintain effective ICFR, our ability to accurately and timely report our financial results could be impaired, which could result in late filings of our periodic reports under the Exchange Act, restatements of our consolidated financial statements, and suspension or delisting of our common stock from the New York Stock Exchange. Such events could harm our business, cause investors to lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our reported financial information, cause the trading price of our shares of common stock to decline, our access to the capital markets or other financing sources could be limited and subject us to investigations, enforcement actions or regulatory penalties.
Changes in accounting standards could materially impact our financial statements
From time to time, accounting standards setters change the financial accounting and reporting standards that govern the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. These changes can be difficult to predict and can materially impact how we record and report our consolidated financial condition and consolidated results of operations. In some cases, we could be required to apply a new or revised standard retroactively, resulting in changes to previously reported financial results or a cumulative charge to retained earnings. See Note 1 - Business, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in the notes to consolidated financial statements included in Item 15.1 Consolidated Financial Statements in this report for further information regarding accounting standards updates.
Risks Related to External and Market Factors
Material and negative developments adversely impacting the financial services industry at large and causing volatility in financial markets and the economy may have materially adverse effects on our liquidity, business, financial condition and results of operations.
The actual occurrence or widespread concerns regarding the potential occurrence of illiquidity, operational failures, defaults, non-performance or other material and adverse developments that impact financial institutions and transactional counterparties, or other entities within the financial services industry at large, have previously caused, and could continue to cause, market-wide liquidity issues, bank-runs and general contagion across the global and U.S. financial services industry. For example, in March and April 2023, bank runs precipitated the failure of four banks in the U.S. causing a state of volatility in the capital and credit markets and uncertainty regarding the health of the U.S. banking system, particularly around liquidity, uninsured deposits and customer concentrations. This volatility has particularly impacted the price of securities issued by financial institutions, including ours. While the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC acted promptly and collectively agreed to guarantee all deposits over the limit on insured deposits of $250,000 at three of these failed financial institutions, and the FDIC secured an agreement with a large financial institution for that institution to assume all of the deposits and substantially all of the assets of another failed institution, there can be no assurance that there will not be additional bank failures or issues in the broader financial system. Similarly, there can be no assurance that these U.S. government entities will act in a similar fashion in the event of the future closure or failure of any other banks or financial institutions. The cost of resolving the recent bank failures may prompt the FDIC to charge higher premiums above the current levels or to issue additional special assessments.
Adverse financial market and economic conditions may continue to exert downward pressure on the prices of stock and other securities and negatively impact credit availability for certain issuers, including us, without regard to their underlying financial strength. Additionally, these developments have negatively impacted customer confidence in the safety and soundness of banks. As a result, customers may choose to maintain deposits with large financial institutions or invest in higher yielding short-term fixed income securities, all of which could materially adversely impact the Company's liquidity, loan funding capacity, net interest margin, capital and results of operations. If the current levels of financial market and economic disruption, volatility and decreased levels of customer confidence continue or worsen, there can be no assurance that we will not experience adverse effects, which may materially impact our liquidity, business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our business may be adversely affected by economic conditions in general and by conditions in the financial markets.
We are exposed to downturns in the U.S. economy and market conditions generally. We cannot accurately predict the possibility of the national or local economy’s return to a period of economic weakness or to recessionary conditions. Our primary markets are concentrated the in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Hillsborough (Tampa) counties in Florida, and Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend and Waller counties in Texas. Adverse economic conditions in any of these areas and in the national economy may impact us significantly and unpredictably. We may face the following particular risks: the demand for loans and our other products and services could decline, market developments may negatively affect industries we extend credit to and may result in increased delinquencies and default rates, which, among other effects, could negatively impact our charge-offs and allowance for credit losses; market disruptions could make valuation of assets more difficult and subjective and may negatively affect our ability to measure the fair value of our assets; and, loan performance could deteriorate, loan default levels and foreclosure activity increase and or our assets could materially decline in value. Any of these risks individually or a combination could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Moreover, a potential U.S. federal government shutdown resulting from budgetary decisions, a prolonged continuing resolution, breach of the federal debt ceiling, or a potential U.S. sovereign default and the uncertainty surrounding the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election may increase uncertainty and volatility in the global economy and financial markets. In addition, international economic uncertainty could also impact the U.S. financial markets by potentially suppressing stock prices, including ours, and adding to overall market volatility, which could adversely affect our business. The effects of any economic downturn could continue for many years after the downturn is considered to have ended.
Weak economic conditions or significant uncertainty regarding the stability of financial markets related to stock market volatility, inflation, recession, or governmental fiscal, monetary and tax policies, among others, could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Risks Related to Regulatory and Legal Matters
We are subject to extensive regulation that could limit or restrict our activities and adversely affect our earnings.
Several regulators, including the Federal Reserve, the OCC, the FDIC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, regulate us and our subsidiaries. Our success is impacted by regulations affecting banks and bank holding companies, and the securities markets, and our costs of compliance could adversely affect our earnings. Banking regulations are primarily intended to protect depositors, consumers and the FDIC’s DIF, not shareholders. The financial services industry also is subject to frequent legislative and regulatory changes. The nature, effects and timing of legislative and regulatory changes, cannot be predicted. Changes, if adopted, could require us to maintain more capital, liquidity, or adopt changes to our operating policies and procedures and risk controls which could adversely affect our growth, profitability and financial condition. Compliance with applicable laws and regulations is time consuming and costly and may affect our profitability.
Additionally, banks with greater than $10 billion in total consolidated assets are subject to additional regulatory requirements. As of December 31, 2023, our total assets were $9.7 billion. Based on our current total assets and growth strategy, we anticipate our total assets may exceed $10 billion in 2024. In addition to our current regulatory requirements, banks with $10 billion or more in total assets are, among other things: examined directly by the CFPB with respect to various federal consumer financial laws; subject to reduced dividends on the Bank’s holdings of Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta common stock; subject to limits on interchange fees pursuant to the “Durbin Amendment” to the Dodd-Frank Act; subject to certain enhanced prudential standards; and no longer treated as a “small institution” for FDIC deposit insurance assessment purposes.
Compliance with these additional ongoing requirements may necessitate additional personnel, the design and implementation of additional internal controls, or may result in other significant expenses, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Changes in federal, state or local tax laws, or audits from tax authorities, could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
We are subject to changes in tax law that could increase our effective tax rates. These law changes may be retroactive to previous periods and as a result could negatively affect our current and future financial performance. In particular, the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law in the United States in August 2022, among other things, imposes a surcharge on stock repurchases. Changes to our tax liability could have a material effect on our results of operations. In addition, our customers are subject to a wide variety of federal, state and local taxes. Changes in taxes paid by our customers may affect their ability to purchase homes or consumer products and could also make some businesses and industries less inclined to borrow, potentially reducing demand for our loans and deposit products. In addition, such negative effects on our customers could result in defaults on the loans we have made which would reduce our profitability and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
We are also subject to potential tax audits in various jurisdictions and in such event, tax authorities may disagree with certain positions we have taken and assess penalties or additional taxes. While we assess regularly the likely outcomes of these potential audits, there can be no assurance that we will accurately predict the outcome of a potential audit, and an audit could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Litigation and regulatory investigations are increasingly common in our businesses and may result in significant financial losses and/or harm to our reputation.
We face risks of litigation and regulatory investigations and actions, including the risk of class action lawsuits. Plaintiffs in class action and other lawsuits against us may seek very large or indeterminate amounts, including punitive and treble damages. Due to the vagaries of litigation, the outcome of a litigation matter and the amount or range of potential loss at particular points in time may normally be difficult to ascertain.
A substantial legal liability or a significant federal, state or regulatory action, inquiry or investigation could harm our reputation, result in material fines, penalties, or legal costs, divert management resources away from our business, and otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Even if we ultimately prevail in a litigation, regulatory action or investigation, our ability to attract new customers, retain our current customers and recruit and retain employees could be adversely affected. Regulatory inquiries and litigation may also adversely affect the prices or volatility of our securities specifically, or the securities of our industry, generally.
We are subject to capital adequacy and liquidity standards, and if we fail to meet these standards, whether due to losses, growth opportunities or an inability to raise additional capital or otherwise, our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows would be adversely affected.
We, as a bank holding company, and the Bank are subject to capital rules of the Federal Reserve and the OCC, that implement a set of capital requirements issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision known as Basel III. See “Supervision and Regulation—Capital Requirements.” The regulatory capital rules applicable to us and the Bank may continue to change. We cannot predict the effect on us and the Bank of changes to the current capital requirements.
Our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, will depend, among other, on the capital market conditions and on our financial condition and performance. Any failure to remain “well capitalized” for bank regulatory purposes could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows, In addition, any failure to meet these capital and other regulatory requirements could affect our customers’ confidence, our cost of and availability of funds or FDIC deposit insurance premiums; and our ability to grow, raise, rollover or replace brokered deposits; make acquisitions, open new branches or engage in new activities; make payments of principal and interest on our debt instruments; and pay dividends on our capital stock.
Increases in FDIC deposit insurance premiums and assessments could adversely affect our financial condition.
FDIC insurance premiums we pay may change and be significantly higher in the future. The FDIC may be forced to charge higher premiums in the future if market developments significantly deplete the insurance fund of the FDIC and reduce the ratio of reserves to insured deposits. In addition, the method that the FDIC uses to determine the amount of our deposit insurance premium will change once our total consolidated assets exceed $10 billion, which we expect may happen in 2024. Any increases in our assessment rate, future special assessments, or required prepayments in FDIC insurance premiums could reduce our profitability or limit our ability to pursue certain business opportunities, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Federal banking agencies periodically conduct examinations of our business, including our compliance with laws and regulations, and our failure to comply with any regulatory actions, if any, could adversely impact us.
The Federal Reserve and the OCC periodically conduct examinations of our business and the Bank’s business, including compliance with laws and regulations. A federal banking agency may take such remedial actions as it deems appropriate, if, as a result of an examination, it were to determine that the financial condition, capital resources, asset quality, asset concentrations, earnings prospects, management, liquidity, asset sensitivity, risk management or other aspects of any of our operations have become unsatisfactory, or that we or our management were in violation of any law or regulation. If we become subject to such regulatory actions, our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows and reputation would likely be adversely affected.
The Federal Reserve may require us to commit capital resources to support the Bank.
As a matter of policy, the Federal Reserve, which examines us, expects a bank holding company to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to a subsidiary bank and to commit resources to support such subsidiary bank. The Federal Reserve may require a bank holding company to inject capital into a troubled subsidiary bank. In addition, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Act, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act, requires that all companies that control an FDIC-insured depository institution must serve as a source of financial strength to the depository institution. Under this requirement, we could be required to provide financial assistance to the Bank should it experience financial distress, even if further investments were not otherwise warranted. See “Source of Strength in Supervision and Regulation.”
We may face higher risks of noncompliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering statutes and regulations than other financial institutions.
The USA Patriot and BSA and the related federal regulations require banks to establish anti-money laundering programs that include, policies, procedures and controls to detect, prevent and report money laundering and terrorist financing and to verify the identity of their customers and of beneficial owners of their legal entity customers. In addition, FinCEN, which was established as part of the Treasury Department to combat money laundering, is authorized to impose significant civil money penalties for violations of anti-money laundering rules.
The Bank is also subject to regulatory scrutiny of compliance with the rules of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC which administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals, including sanctions against foreign countries, regimes and individuals, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, and those involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Executive Orders have sanctioned the Venezuelan government and entities it owns, and certain Venezuelan persons. In addition, the OCC has broad authority to bring enforcement actions and to impose monetary penalties if it finds deficiencies in the Bank’s compliance with anti-money laundering laws.
Monitoring compliance with anti-money laundering and OFAC rules is complex and expensive. The risk of noncompliance with such rules can be more acute for financial institutions like us that have numerous customers from Latin America or who do business there. As of December 31, 2023, $1.9 billion, or 23.7%, of our total deposits were from residents of Venezuela. Our total loan exposure to international markets, primarily individuals in Venezuela and corporations in other Latin American countries, was $87.6 million, or less than 1.5%, of our total loans, at December 31, 2023.
If our policies, procedures and systems are deemed deficient or fail to prevent violations of law or the policies, procedures and systems of the financial institutions that we may acquire in the future are deficient, we would be subject to liability (including fines); formal regulatory enforcement actions (including possible cease and desist orders, restrictions on our ability to pay dividends, regulatory limitations on implementing certain aspects of our business plan, including acquisitions or banking center relocation or expansion); and additional expenses to cure any deficiency, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Failures to comply with the fair lending laws, CFPB regulations or the Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA, could adversely affect us.
The Bank is subject to the provisions of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, or ECOA, and the Fair Housing Act, both of which prohibit discrimination based on race or color, religion, national origin, sex and familial status in any aspect of a consumer, commercial credit or residential real estate transaction. Failures to comply with ECOA, the Fair Housing Act and other fair lending laws and regulations, including CFPB regulations, could subject us to enforcement actions or litigation, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Our Bank is also subject to the CRA, and periodic CRA examinations by the OCC. The CRA requires us to serve our entire communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Our CRA ratings could be adversely affected by actual or alleged violations of the fair lending or consumer financial protection laws. Violations of fair lending laws or if our CRA rating falls to less than “satisfactory” could adversely affect our business, including expansion through branching or acquisitions.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Our principal shareholders and management own a significant percentage of our shares of voting common stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to shareholder approval.
As of December 31, 2023, our executive officers, directors and each of our greater than 5% holders of our voting Class A common stock beneficially owned outstanding shares representing, in the aggregate, approximately 33% of the outstanding shares of our voting Class A common stock (without giving effect to the broad family holdings of the Capriles, Marturet and Vollmer families which will bring the percentage to an aggregate of approximately 55%). As a result, these shareholders, if they act individually or together, may exert a significant degree of influence over our management and affairs and over matters requiring shareholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions, such as mergers, the sale of substantially all of our assets and other extraordinary corporate matters. Furthermore, the interests of these shareholders may not always coincide with the interests of other shareholders, including you and, accordingly, they could cause us to enter into transactions or agreements which we might not otherwise consider or prevent us from adopting actions that we might otherwise implement.
The rights of our common shareholders are subordinate to the holders of any debt securities that we have issued or may issue from time to time.
As of December 31, 2023, we had outstanding an aggregate principal amount of $60.0 million of senior notes with a coupon rate of 5.75% and a maturity date of June 30, 2025 (the “Senior Notes”); an aggregate principal amount of $30.0 million of 4.25% Fixed-to-Floating Rate Subordinated Notes due March 15, 2032 (the “Subordinated Notes”); and an aggregate principal amount of $64.2 million in junior subordinated debentures (the “Debentures”). Because these debt instruments rank senior to our common stock, if we fail to timely make principal and interest payments on the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures, we may not pay any dividends on our common stock. Further, if we declare bankruptcy, dissolve, or liquidate, the holders of the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures must be satisfied before any distributions can be made to the holders of our common stock.
The stock price of financial institutions, like Amerant, may fluctuate significantly.
We cannot predict the prices at which our shares of common stock will continue to trade. You should consider an investment in our common stock to be risky. The trading price 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 shares of common stock, including the factors described in this “Risk Factors” section, and other factors, most of which are outside of our control.
Stock markets in general have experienced volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of a particular company or industry. These broad market fluctuations, as well as general economic, systemic, political and market conditions, including recessions, loss of investor confidence, and interest rate changes, may negatively affect the market price of our common stock. 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.
If at a specific measurement time period, our public float calculation is below $700 million, we may not qualify as a well-known seasoned issuer and suffer negative consequences. If we do not qualify as a well-known seasoned issuer, we will not be able to file automatic shelf registration statements on Form S-3ASR and enjoy the benefits associated with such registration statements, such as automatic effectiveness immediately upon filing, permitting companies to omit more information from the base prospectus than permitted for other shelf registration statements, allowing companies to register unspecified amounts of securities and doing so without allocating among securities or between primary and secondary offerings, and permitting companies to pay filing fees on a “pay-as-you-go” basis at the time of each takedown from the shelf registration statement. Not qualifying as a well-known seasoned issuer may also impact the views or perceptions of investors and analysts and may influence investors’ willingness to purchase or hold our securities or analysts’ recommendations regarding our securities.
We can issue additional equity securities, which would lead to dilution of our issued and outstanding Class A common stock.
The issuance of additional equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities would result in dilution of our existing shareholders’ equity interests. We are authorized to issue up to 250 million shares of our Class A common stock. We are authorized to issue, without shareholder approval, up to 50 million shares of preferred stock in one or more series, which may give other shareholders dividend, conversion, voting, and liquidation rights, among other rights, which may be superior to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock. We are authorized to issue, without shareholder approval, except as required by law or the New York Stock Exchange, securities convertible into either common stock or preferred stock. Furthermore, we have adopted an equity compensation program for our employees and an employee stock purchase plan, which also could result in dilution of our existing shareholders’ equity interests.
Certain provisions of our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, Florida law, and U.S. banking laws could have anti-takeover effects.
Certain provisions of our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, as well as Florida law, and the BHC Act, and Change in Bank Control Act, could delay or prevent a change of control that you may favor. Our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include certain provisions that could delay a takeover or change in control of us, including: the exclusive right of our board to fill any director vacancy; advance notice requirements for shareholder proposals and director nominations; provisions limiting the shareholders’ ability to call special meetings of shareholders or to take action by written consent; and the ability of our board to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock without shareholder approval, which could be used, among other things, to institute a rights plan that would have the effect of significantly diluting the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer, likely preventing acquisitions that have not been approved by our board.
The Florida Business Corporation Act contains a control-share acquisition statute that provides that a person who acquires shares in an “issuing public corporation,” as defined in the statute, in excess of certain specified thresholds generally will not have any voting rights with respect to such shares, unless such voting rights are approved by the holders of a majority of the votes of each class of securities entitled to vote separately, excluding shares held or controlled by the acquiring person. Furthermore, the BHC Act and the Change in Bank Control Act impose notice, application and approvals and ongoing regulatory requirements on any shareholder or other party that seeks to acquire direct or indirect “control” of bank holding companies, such as ourselves.
Risks Related to our Indebtedness
We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our debt, including the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures.
Our ability to make scheduled payments of principal and interest or to satisfy our obligations in respect of our Senior Notes, Subordinated Notes and the Debentures or to refinance them will depend on our future operating performance. Prevailing economic conditions (including inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, and uncertainty surrounding global markets), regulatory constraints (including limitations on distributions to us from our subsidiaries and required capital levels with respect to our subsidiary bank and non-banking subsidiaries), and financial, business and other factors will also affect our ability to meet these needs. We may not be able to generate sufficient cash flows from operations, or obtain future borrowings in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our debt, or to fund our other liquidity needs. We may need to refinance all or a portion of our debt on or before maturity. We may be unable to refinance any of our debt when needed on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
We are a holding company with limited operations and depend on our subsidiaries for the funds required to make payments of principal and interest on the Senior Notes, Subordinated Notes and the Debentures.
We are a separate and distinct legal entity from the Bank and our other subsidiaries. Our primary source of funds to make payments of principal and interest on the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures, and to satisfy any other financial obligations are dividends from the Bank. Our ability to receive dividends from the Bank is contingent on a number of factors, including the Bank’s ability to meet applicable regulatory capital requirements, the Bank’s profitability and earnings, and the general strength of its balance sheet. Various federal and state regulatory provisions limit the amount of dividends bank subsidiaries are permitted to pay to their holding companies without regulatory approval. In general, the Bank may only pay dividends either out of its net income after any required transfers to surplus or reserves have been made or out of its retained earnings. In addition, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC have issued policy statements stating that insured banks and bank holding companies generally should pay dividends only out of current operating earnings.
Banks and their holding companies are required to maintain a capital conservation buffer of 2.5% and satisfy other applicable regulatory capital ratios. Banking institutions that do not maintain capital in excess of the capital conservation buffer may face constraints on dividends, equity repurchases and executive compensation . Accordingly, if the Bank fails to maintain the applicable minimum capital ratios and the capital conservation buffer, dividends to us from the Bank may be prohibited or limited, and there may be insufficient funds to make principal and interest payments on the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures.
In addition, state or federal banking regulators have broad authority to restrict the payment of dividends, including in circumstances where a bank under such regulator’s jurisdiction engages in (or is about to engage in) unsafe or unsound practices. Such regulators have the authority to require that a bank cease and desist from unsafe and unsound practices and to prevent a bank from paying a dividend if its financial condition is such that the regulator views the payment of a dividend to constitute an unsafe or unsound practice.
Accordingly, we can provide no assurance that we will receive dividends from the Bank in an amount sufficient to pay the principal of, or interest on, the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures. In addition, our right and the rights of our creditors, including holders of the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures to participate in the assets of any non-guarantor subsidiary upon its liquidation or reorganization would be subject to the prior claims of such non-guarantor subsidiary’s creditors, except to the extent that we may ourselves be a creditor with recognized claims against such non-guarantor subsidiary.
We may incur a substantial level of debt that could materially adversely affect our ability to generate sufficient cash to fulfill our obligations under the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures.
Neither we, nor any of our subsidiaries, are subject to any limitations under the terms of the indentures governing the terms of the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures from issuing, accepting or incurring any amount of additional debt, deposits or other liabilities, including senior indebtedness or other obligations ranking equally with the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures. We expect that we and our subsidiaries will incur additional debt and other liabilities from time to time, and our level of debt and the risks related thereto could increase.
A substantial level of debt could have important consequences to us, holders of our Senior Notes, of our Subordinated Notes, of our Debentures and our shareholders, including making it more difficult for us to satisfy our financial obligations (including the Senior Notes, the Subordinated Notes and the Debentures); requiring us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our debt, thereby reducing funds available for other purposes; increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions, which could place us at a disadvantage relative to our competitors that have less debt; limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industries in which we operate; and limiting our ability to borrow additional funds, or to dispose of assets to raise funds, if needed, for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other corporate purposes.
In addition, a breach of any of the restrictions or covenants in our existing debt agreements could cause a cross-default under other debt agreements. A significant portion of our debt then may become immediately due and payable. If this were to occur, we cannot assure you we would have or be able to obtain sufficient funds to make these accelerated payments. If any of our debt is accelerated, our assets may not be sufficient to repay such debt in full.
Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
Item 1C. CYBERSECURITY
We recognize the security of our banking operations is critical to protecting our customers, maintaining our reputation and preserving the value of the Company. We have an enterprise risk management framework that is designed to identify, measure, control, monitor and mitigate risks across various aspects of our business and operations, including, credit, interest rate, liquidity, operational, regulatory compliance, strategic, reputational, and legal risks. As we rely and continue to increase our reliance on technology and given the constant state of cyber threats, information security or cybersecurity is a significant component of our enterprise risk management framework. Our Chief Information Security Officer, a key member of our risk management organization, who has overall responsibility, accountability, and ownership for this cybersecurity component, reports directly to the Chief Risk Officer and periodically presents reports to the Risk Committee of our Board of Directors.
We are actively engaged in identifying, managing, and mitigating cybersecurity risks with the objective of avoiding or minimizing the impact of malicious and non-malicious actions and threats aimed at penetrating, disrupting or misusing our systems and information. Protecting company data, non-public customer and employee data, and the systems that collect, process, and maintain this information is deemed critical. We have developed and implemented an enterprise-wide information security program, which is designed to protect the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of customer non-public information and company data, including the protection of the hardware and infrastructure used to store and transmit such information. Our Information Security Program is structured and aligned with the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council (“FFIEC”) guidelines for information security, regulatory guidance, and other industry standards. To promote the continued effectiveness of our information security program, we periodically conduct risk assessments, complete audits and tests, participate in industry associations, and review information from threat intelligence feeds. In addition, our Chief Information Security Officer and members of his team and of our Information Technology team regularly collaborate with external parties, including regulatory agencies, other banks and industry groups to share cyberthreat information, trends and issues and identify best practices.
We leverage knowledge, people, processes, and technology to develop, implement, manage, and maintain cybersecurity controls. Our information security program employs several detective and defensive tools designed to monitor, alert, and block suspicious activity, as well as to identify, report and address any suspected threats. Our information security program is a continuous on-going periodically updated program that is supported by policies, procedures, standards and guidelines; an Enterprise-wide Vendor Management Program; a Technology Project Management Office (PMO) and an Enterprise-wide Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Program. This integration is aimed at ensuring that program is embedded into the organization’s lines of business, support functions and third-party vendor management program.
We have implemented controls that align information security standards with the nature of our operations and strategic direction. When possible, we implement layered control systems by deploying different controls at different points of business processes and throughout an IT system so that the strength of one control can compensate for weaknesses in or possible failure of another control. We have also developed an enterprise-wide vendor management and third-party risk management program designed to identify, assess, and manage information security, operational and technology risks associated with third-party vendors. Our Enterprise-wide Vendor Management Program is in alignment with the FFIEC Guidelines for Third Party Service Providers and is designed to identify, assess, and manage risks, including cybersecurity risks, associated with external service providers. Our Information Security Program also continuously promotes cybersecurity awareness and culture across the organization, including regular education and training, that requires team members to complete training and certification on an annual basis and phishing simulations (attempts of attacks) monthly. New hires are also provided with information security awareness training during the orientation process. A customer security awareness and communication program has also been developed and implemented to keep customers abreast of security and fraud risks.
While we believe that our business, financial condition, or results of operations have not been materially adversely affected by any cybersecurity incidents, cybersecurity threats are common and pervasive and, we, as well as our customers, regulators, and service providers, have experienced and will likely continue to experience a significant increase in information security and cybersecurity threats and attacks, see “Our information systems are exposed to cybersecurity threats and may experience interruptions and security breaches that could adversely affect our business and reputation” in Item 1A. Risk Factors. We continuously assess the risks and changes in the cyber environment and update our information security program to reflect the results of risk assessments and the key controls necessary to safeguard customer information and ensure the proper disposal of customer information. The program is updated considering changes in technology, the sensitivity of our customer information, internal or external threats to information, and our own changing business environment which can include mergers and/or acquisitions, outsourcing arrangements, and changes in customer information systems which may have material impact on the program. We also leverage control testing of key controls, systems, and procedures of our information security program performed by internal and external auditors and external partners, that is periodically completed to assess their design and operating effectiveness and make recommendations to strengthen our risk management program.
We have developed and maintain an incident response plan that provides a documented procedure to respond and address cybersecurity incidents, including timely notification to the Executive Management Committee and the Risk Committee of the Board of Directors. The incident response plan provides for the interaction and coordination of executive, strategic and tactical teams, depending on the severity level of the incident, aimed at facilitating coordination across multiple units and departments of the Company. Our incident response plan is tested at least annually.
Governance
The Information Security Department, under the leadership of the Chief Information Security Officer, has the responsibility for implementation and monitoring our information security program. The responsibilities of this department include cybersecurity risk assessments, vulnerability management, access reviews for systems and applications, incident response and management, gathering and sharing threat intelligence, monitoring of controls, and overall responsibility for the development of the information security program including relevant policies, procedures, standards and guidelines to enhance data security and mitigate risks. Members of this department include individuals with varying degrees of education and experience, in particular, our Chief Information Security Officer has over twenty years of experience in information technology and risk management, with emphasis on information security and cyber security risk management; throughout his career he has served in different positions including as Information Technology Auditor, Technology Risk Manager, Information Security Program Manager and, since September 2018 as our CISO. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer systems analysis and has obtain several relevant certifications, including having completed the EC-Council’s Certified Chief Information Security Officer Program and obtaining the Information Systems Auditor and Risk and Information Systems Control certifications from the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, ISACA. Several management committees, including our Executive Management Committee, manage our information security program and meet periodically to review and discuss information security matters. In general, summaries of key matters discussed are reported to the Risk Committee.
Our Board, through the Risk Committee, is actively engaged in the oversight of our information security program. The Risk Committee oversees our information security program, including management’s actions to identify and evaluate, material cyber vulnerabilities, threats, and risks as well as the development and implementation of mitigating and remediating actions. Our Chief Information Security Officer presents quarterly reports to the Risk Committee regarding our information security program, including relevant information on key risk and performance indicators related to cybersecurity matters as well as significant cybersecurity and privacy events. In addition, our information security risk profile is presented to the Risk Committee on a semi-annual basis.
Item 2. PROPERTIES
We conduct our business from our approximately 177,000 square foot headquarters building in Coral Gables, Florida (the “Headquarters Building”), located at 220 Alhambra Circle, Coral Gables, Florida 33134. In 2021, we sold the Headquarters Building, and leased-back the property for an eighteen-year term. As of December 31, 2023 we occupied approximately 60,000 square feet, or approximately 34%, of the Headquarters Building, with the remaining approximately 117,000 square feet, or approximately 66%, either leased to third-parties or available for lease. In January 2024, we leased to a third-party approximately 19,000 square feet which we previously occupied. As a result, we now occupy approximately 41,000 square feet, or approximately 23%, of the Headquarters Building.
Additionally, a significant portion of our support service units now operate out of our new operations center in the Miramar Park of Commerce (the “Miramar Operations Center”), located at 10500 Marks Way, Miramar, Florida 33025. In 2023, we completed the relocation to the new Miramar Operations Center from the previous operations center located in the Beacon Industrial Park area of Doral, Florida (the “Old Beacon Operations Center”). In 2020, the Company sold the Old Beacon Operations Center. Following the sale of the Beacon Operations Center, the Company leased-back the property for a two-year term ending on or before June 2023, including monthly rental periods. The Miramar Operations Center has a more efficient layout which allowed us to reduce our space to approximately 56,500 square feet from approximately 100,000 at the Old Beacon Operations Center.
As of December 31, 2023, we had 22 banking centers, including 16 in Florida and six in Texas. We occupy 15 banking centers under lease agreements, four banking centers with long term ground leases subject to long-term land leases of 20 to 30 years, each with an option, or options to renew. Our banking centers range from approximately 1,900 square feet to approximately 7,000 square feet, average approximately 3,750 square feet and total approximately 82,000 square feet. We opened a new Banking Center in Tampa, FL in 2024, which we also lease.
In addition to the banking centers, we lease approximately 14,000 square feet in Houston, Texas, which we use as our Texas regional office.
We lease approximately 6,000 square feet in New York City, which was used as a LPO for CRE loans. We closed our New York CRE LPO in 2021. We subleased this property in January 2022. We also lease one location in Tampa, Florida which is primarily used as an LPO for C&I and CRE banking activities. In February 2023, the Company executed a new lease for 14,416 square feet office space in Tampa, Florida, which now houses our recently opened banking center and where our new Tampa Regional Office will be.
Our various leases have periodic escalation clauses and may have options for extensions and other customary terms.
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are, from time to time, in the ordinary course, engaged in litigation, and we have a small number of unresolved claims pending. In addition, as part of the ordinary course of business, we are parties to litigation involving claims relating to the ownership of funds in particular accounts, the collection of delinquent accounts, credit relationships, challenges to security interests in collateral and foreclosure interests, which are incidental to our regular business activities. While the ultimate liability with respect to these other litigation matters and claims cannot be determined at this time, we believe that potential liabilities relating to pending matters are not likely to be material to our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Where appropriate, reserves for these various matters of litigation are established, under FASB ASC Topic 450, Contingencies, based in part upon management’s judgment and the advice of legal counsel.
At least quarterly, we assess our liabilities and contingencies in connection with outstanding legal proceedings utilizing the latest information available. For those matters where it is probable that we will incur a loss and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated, we record a liability in our consolidated financial statements. These legal reserves may be increased or decreased to reflect any relevant developments based on our quarterly reviews. For other matters, where a loss is not probable or the amount of the loss cannot be estimated, we have not accrued legal reserves, consistent with applicable accounting guidance. Based on information currently available to us, advice of counsel, and available insurance coverage, we believe that our established reserves are adequate and the liabilities arising from the legal proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition. We note, however, that in light of the inherent uncertainty in legal proceedings there can be no assurance that the ultimate resolution will not exceed established reserves. As a result, the outcome of a particular matter or a combination of matters, if unfavorable, may be material to our financial position, results of operations or cash flows for a particular period, depending upon the size of the loss or our income for that particular period.
Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II
Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market For Capital Stock
Our shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.10 per share, are listed and trade on the NYSE under the symbol “AMTB”. Previously and until August 28, 2023, the Company’s Class A common Stock were listed and traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, or NASDAQ. Until November 17, 2021 the Company’s shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.10 per share, were also listed and traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol “AMTBB”, on November 18, 2021 these shares were converted into shares of Class A common stock. See “Our History” under Item 1. Business.
Holders of record
As of February 15, 2024, there were 385 shareholders of record of the Company’s Class A common stock. The shareholders of record include Cede & Co., a nominee for The Depository Trust Company, or DTC, which holds shares of our Class A common stock on behalf of an indeterminate number of beneficial owners. All of the Company’s shares of Class A held by brokerage firms, banks and other financial institutions as nominees for beneficial owners are deposited into participant accounts at DTC, and are considered to be held of record by Cede & Co. as one shareholder. Because many of our Class A common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of shareholders represented by these holders.
Dividends
In January 2024 and each of the four quarters of 2023 and 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.09 per share of the Company’s Class A common stock. The Company declared cash dividends in an amount of $0.06 per share of common stock on December 8, 2021. Future dividends, if any, will be subject to our Board of Directors’ discretion and will depend on a number of factors including, among other things, upon our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, capital adequacy, cash requirements, prospects, regulatory capital and limitations, and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant as well as applicable federal and state regulations. Under Florida law, the Company may only pay dividends if after giving effect to each dividend the Company would be able to pay its debts as they become due and the Company’s total assets would exceed the sum of its total liabilities plus the amount that would be needed, if the Company were to be dissolved at the time of each dividend, to satisfy the preferential rights upon dissolution of shareholders whose preferential rights are superior to those entitled to receive the dividend. In addition, as a bank holding company, our ability to pay dividends is affected by the policies and enforcement powers of the Federal Reserve. Also, because we are a bank holding company, we are dependent upon the payment of dividends by the Bank to us as our principal source of funds to pay dividends in the future, if any, and to make other payments. The Bank is also subject to various legal, regulatory and other restrictions on its ability to pay dividends and make other distributions and payments to us. For further information, see “Supervision and Regulation—Payment of Dividends.”
Stock Performance Graph
The following stock performance graph and related disclosures do not constitute soliciting material and should not be deemed filed or incorporated by reference into any other filing by us under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, except to the extent we specifically incorporate them by reference therein.
The following graph compares the cumulative total return of the Class A common stock from August 29, 2018 to December 31, 2023, as compared to the cumulative total return on stocks included in the NYSE Composite Index, the NASDAQ Composite Index and the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index over such period. Our Class B common stock was converted into Class A common stock on November 18, 2021 pursuant to the Clean-Up Merger and is no longer outstanding. November 17, 2021 was the last day of trading of the Company's shares of Class B common stock. Cumulative total return expressed in Dollars assumes an investment of $100 on August 29, 2018 and reinvestment of dividends as paid.
In 2022, because our Class A common stock was traded on NASDAQ, we used the NASDAQ Composite Index as our broad equity market index. As previously discussed, we voluntarily transferred the listing of our Class A common stock to the NYSE on August 29, 2023. As a result, we have changed our broad equity market index for purposes of disclosure in the stock performance graph to the NYSE Composite Index and have included returns in the stock performance graph based on both of these indices. In future periods, we will no longer reference the NASDAQ Composite Index in comparing total shareholder returns on our Class A common stock. We did not change our line-of-business index, which is the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index, as a result of our transfer to the NYSE.
(1) Shares of Company Class A common stock were distributed in the Spin-off at the end of the day on Friday, August 10, 2018 and were listed for trading beginning on Monday, August 13, 2018. Pursuant to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, August 29, 2018 is the first date pricing information was available for our common stock and no trading occurred until August 29, 2018.
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Total Return Performance (in Dollars) | August 29, 2018 | December 31, 2018 | December 31, 2019 | December 31, 2020 | December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2022 | December 31, 2023 |
AMTB | $ | 100.00 | | $ | 72.28 | | $ | 121.05 | | $ | 84.44 | | $ | 191.94 | | $ | 149.11 | | $ | 136.50 | |
NYSE Composite Index | 100.00 | | 86.61 | | 105.95 | | 110.60 | | 130.70 | | 115.63 | | 128.33 | |
NASDAQ Composite Index | 100.00 | | 81.82 | | 110.64 | | 158.92 | | 192.92 | | 129.06 | | 185.10 | |
KBW Bank Index | 100.00 | | 77.27 | | 102.11 | | 88.19 | | 119.09 | | 90.84 | | 86.49 | |
The above graph and table illustrate the performance of Company Class A from August 29, 2018, the first day that pricing information was available, and reflect:
•the Spin-off;
•the IPO; and
•the Clean-up Merger, under which terms each outstanding share of Class B common stock was automatically converted to 0.95 of a share of Class A common stock.
Item 6. RESERVED
Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Form 10-K. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, including but not limited to those set forth under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K, may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements.
The emphasis of this discussion will be on changes in the year ended December 31, 2023 with respect to 2022. See our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 for additional details on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations in 2022 and changes in the Company’s financial condition and results of operations from 2021 to 2022.
Overview
Our Company
We are a bank holding company headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida. We provide individuals and businesses a comprehensive array of deposit, credit, investment, wealth management, retail banking, mortgage services, and fiduciary services. We serve customers in our United States markets and select international customers. These services are offered through the Bank, which is also headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, and its subsidiaries. Fiduciary, investment, wealth management and mortgage lending services are provided by the Bank’s securities broker-dealer, Amerant Investments, the Bank’s Grand-Cayman based trust company, the Cayman Bank, and the mortgage company, Amerant Mortgage. The Bank’s primary markets are South Florida, where we are headquartered and operate sixteen banking centers in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties; Houston, Texas, where we operate six banking centers that serve the nearby areas of Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend and Waller counties and; Tampa, Florida where we operate one banking center. See “Item1-Business” for recent developments.
Primary Factors Used to Evaluate Our Business
Results of Operations. In addition to net income or loss, the primary factors we use to evaluate and manage our results of operations include net interest income, noninterest income and expenses, and indicators of financial performance including return on assets (“ROA”) and return on equity (“ROE”). We also use certain non-GAAP financial measures in the internal evaluation and management of our businesses.
Net Interest Income. Net interest income represents interest income less interest expense. We generate interest income from interest, dividends and fees received on interest-earning assets, including loans and investment securities we own. We incur interest expense from interest paid on interest-bearing liabilities, including interest-bearing deposits, and borrowings such as FHLB advances and other borrowings such as repurchase agreements, notes, debentures and other funding sources we may have from time to time. Net interest income typically is the most significant contributor to our revenues and net income. To evaluate net interest income, we measure and monitor: (i) yields on our loans and other interest-earning assets; (ii) the costs of our deposits and other funding sources; (iii) our net interest spread; (iv) our net interest margin, or NIM; and (v) our provisions for credit losses. Net interest spread is the difference between rates earned on interest-earning assets and rates paid on interest-bearing liabilities. NIM is calculated by dividing net interest income for the period by average interest-earning assets during that same period. Because noninterest-bearing sources of funds, such as noninterest-bearing deposits and stockholders’ equity, also fund inter