An investment in our securities is subject to risks inherent in our business. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below together with all of the other information included in this report. In addition to the risks and uncertainties described below, other risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The value or market price of our securities could decline due to any of these identified or other risks, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Difficult economic and market conditions have adversely affected our industry.
Difficult conditions in the housing market over the past few years, with decreased home prices and increased delinquencies and foreclosures, have negatively impacted the credit performance of mortgage and commercial real estate loans and resulted in significant write-downs of assets by many financial institutions across the United States. Difficult economic conditions, reduced availability of commercial credit and heightened levels of unemployment have negatively impacted the credit performance of commercial and consumer credit, resulting in write-downs. Concerns over the economy, both by financial institutions and prospective borrowers, have resulted in decreased lending by many financial institutions to their customers and to each other. These economic conditions have led to heightened commercial and consumer delinquencies, lack of customer confidence, increased market volatility and inconsistent general business activity. Financial institutions have also generally experienced decreased access to certain liquidity sources. The resulting economic pressure on consumers and businesses has adversely affected our industry and may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. If these conditions worsen, or fail to improve significantly, they may exacerbate the adverse effects of these market conditions on us and others in the financial institutions industry. In particular, we may face the following risks in connection with these events:
| 24 |
Legislative and regulatory actions taken now or in the future may increase our costs and impact our business, governance structure, financial condition or results of operations.
The Company and the Bank are subject to extensive regulation by multiple regulatory bodies. These regulations may affect the manner and terms of delivery of our services. If we do not comply with governmental regulations, we may be subject to fines, penalties, lawsuits or material restrictions on our businesses in the jurisdiction where the violation occurred, which may adversely affect our business operations. Changes in these regulations can significantly affect the services that we provide, as well as our costs of compliance with such regulations. In addition, adverse publicity and damage to our reputation arising from the failure or perceived failure to comply with legal, regulatory or contractual requirements could affect our ability to attract and retain customers.
Recent economic conditions, particularly in the financial markets, have resulted in government regulatory agencies and political bodies placing increased focus and scrutiny on the financial services industry. In recent years the U.S. government has intervened on an unprecedented scale by temporarily enhancing the liquidity support available to financial institutions, establishing a commercial paper funding facility, temporarily guaranteeing money market funds and certain types of debt issuances and increasing insurance on bank deposits.
This environment has subjected financial institutions to additional restrictions, oversight and costs. In addition, new legislative and regulatory proposals continue to be introduced that could further substantially increase oversight of the financial services industry, impose restrictions on the operations and general ability of firms within the industry to conduct business consistent with historical practices, including in the areas of compensation, interest rates, financial product offerings and disclosures, and have an effect on bankruptcy proceedings with respect to consumer residential real estate mortgages, among other things. If these regulatory trends continue, they could adversely affect our business and, in turn, our consolidated results of operations.
Monetary policies and regulations of the Federal Reserve could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition to being affected by general economic conditions, our earnings and growth are affected by the policies of the Federal Reserve. An important function of the Federal Reserve is to regulate the money supply and credit conditions. Among the instruments used by the Federal Reserve to implement these objectives are open market operations in U.S. government securities, adjustments of the discount rate and changes in reserve requirements against bank deposits. These instruments are used in varying combinations to influence overall economic growth and the distribution of credit, bank loans, investments and deposits. Their use also affects interest rates charged on loans or paid on deposits.
The monetary policies and regulations of the Federal Reserve have had a significant effect on the operating results of commercial banks in the past and are expected to continue to do so in the future. The effects of such policies upon our business, financial condition and results of operations cannot be predicted.
Legislative and regulatory reforms applicable to the financial services industry may, if enacted or adopted, have a significant impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
On July 21, 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law, which requires significant changes to the regulation of financial institutions and the financial services industry. The Dodd-Frank Act, together with the regulations to be developed thereunder, includes provisions affecting large and small financial institutions alike, including several provisions that will affect how community banks, thrifts and small bank and thrift holding companies will be regulated in the future.
Ultimately, the Dodd-Frank Act will, among other things, impose new capital requirements on bank holding companies; change the base for FDIC insurance assessments to a bank’s average consolidated total assets minus average tangible equity, rather than upon its deposit base, and permanently raise the current standard deposit insurance limit to $250,000; and expand the FDIC’s authority to raise insurance premiums. The legislation also called for the FDIC to raise the ratio of reserves to deposits from 1.15% to 1.35% for deposit insurance purposes by September 30, 2020 and to “offset the effect” of increased assessments on insured depository institutions with assets of less than $10 billion. The Dodd-Frank Act also authorized the Federal Reserve to limit interchange fees payable on debit card transactions, established the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection as an independent entity within the Federal Reserve, which will have broad rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority over consumer financial products and services, including deposit products, residential mortgages, home-equity loans and credit cards, and contained provisions on mortgage-related matters, such as steering incentives, determinations as to a borrower’s ability to repay and prepayment penalties. The Dodd-Frank Act also included provisions that have affected, and will further affect in the future, corporate governance and executive compensation at all publicly-traded companies.
The Collins Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act, among other things, eliminates certain trust preferred securities from Tier 1 capital, but permits trust preferred securities issued prior to May 19, 2010 by bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $15 billion or less to continue to be includible in Tier 1 capital. This provision also requires the federal banking agencies to establish minimum leverage and risk-based capital requirements that will apply to both insured banks and their holding companies. Regulations implementing the Collins Amendment must be issued within 18 months of July 21, 2010.
These provisions, or any other aspects of current or proposed regulatory or legislative changes to laws applicable to the financial industry, if enacted or adopted, may impact the profitability of our business activities or change certain of our business practices, including the ability to offer new products, obtain financing, attract deposits, make loans, and achieve satisfactory interest spreads, and could expose us to additional costs, including increased compliance costs. These changes also may require us to invest significant management attention and resources to make any necessary changes to operations in order to comply, and could therefore also materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our management continues to stay abreast of developments with respect to the Dodd-Frank Act, many provisions of which will continue to be phased-in over the next several months and years, and continues to assess its impact on our operations. However, the ultimate effect of the Dodd-Frank Act on the financial services industry in general, and us in particular, cannot be quantified at this time.
The U.S. Congress has also recently adopted additional consumer protection laws such as the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, and the Federal Reserve has adopted numerous new regulations addressing banks’ credit card, overdraft and mortgage lending practices. Additional consumer protection legislation and regulatory activity is anticipated in the near future.
The Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision, the oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, adopted Basel III in September 2010, which is a strengthened set of capital requirements for banking organizations in the United States and around the world. Basel III is currently supported by the U.S. federal banking agencies. As agreed to, Basel III is intended to be fully-phased in on a global basis on January 1, 2019. However, the ultimate timing and scope of any U.S. implementation of Basel III remains uncertain. As agreed to, Basel III would require, among other things: (i) an increase in the minimum required common equity to 7% of total assets; (ii) an increase in the minimum required amount of Tier 1 capital from the current level of 4% of total assets to 8.5% of total assets; (iii) an increase in the minimum required amount of total capital, from the current level of 8% to 10.5%. Each of these increased requirements includes 2.5% attributable to a capital conservation buffer to position banking organizations to absorb losses during periods of financial and economic stress. Basel III also calls for certain items that are currently included in regulatory capital to be deducted from common equity and Tier 1 capital. The Basel III agreement calls for national jurisdictions to implement the new requirements beginning January 1, 2013. At that time, the U.S. federal banking agencies will be expected to have implemented appropriate changes to incorporate the Basel III concepts into U.S. capital adequacy standards. Basel III changes, as implemented in the United States, will likely result in generally higher regulatory capital standards for all banking organizations.
Such proposals and legislation, if finally adopted, would change banking laws and our operating environment and that of our subsidiaries in substantial and unpredictable ways. We cannot determine whether such proposals and legislation will be adopted, or the ultimate effect that such proposals and legislation, if enacted, or regulations issued to implement the same, would have upon our business, financial condition or results of operations.
| 26 |
The downgrade of the U.S. credit rating and Europe’s debt crisis could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and liquidity.
Standard & Poor’s lowered its long term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America from AAA to AA+ on August 5, 2011. A further downgrade or a downgrade by other rating agencies could have a material adverse impact on financial markets and economic conditions in the United States and worldwide. Any such adverse impact could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations. Many of our investment securities are issued by U.S. government sponsored entities.
In addition, the possibility that certain European Union (“EU”) member states will default on their debt obligations has negatively impacted economic conditions and global markets. The continued uncertainty over the outcome of international and the EU’s financial support programs and the possibility that other EU member states may experience similar financial troubles could further disrupt global markets. The negative impact on economic conditions and global markets could also have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.
The soundness of other financial institutions could negatively affect us.
Our ability to engage in routine funding and other transactions could be negatively affected by the actions and commercial soundness of other financial institutions. Financial services institutions are interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, counterparty or other relationships. Defaults by, or even rumors or questions about, one or more financial services institutions, or the financial services industry generally, have led to market-wide liquidity problems and losses of depositor, creditor and counterparty confidence and could lead to losses or defaults by us or by other institutions. We could experience increases in deposits and assets as a result of the difficulties or failures of other banks, which would increase the capital we need to support our growth.
Our allowance for loan losses may prove to be insufficient to absorb losses in our loan portfolio.
We established our allowance for loan losses and maintain it at a level considered appropriate by management to absorb loan losses that are inherent in the portfolio. Additionally, our Board of Directors regularly monitors the appropriateness of our allowance for loan loses. The amount of future loan losses is susceptible to changes in economic, operating and other conditions, including changes in interest rates and the value of the underlying collateral, which may be beyond our control, and such losses may exceed current estimates. At December 31, 2011 and 2010, our allowance for loan losses as a percentage of total loans was 1.50% and 1.60%, respectively, and as a percentage of total non-performing loans was 331.71% and 103.11%, respectively. Although management believes that the allowance for loan losses is appropriate to absorb losses on any existing loans that may become uncollectible, we cannot predict loan losses with certainty nor can we assure you that our allowance for loan losses will prove sufficient to cover actual loan losses in the future. Loan losses in excess of our reserves will adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The increased levels of provision for loan losses experienced during recent years, as compared to historical levels, may continue for some period of time.
Declines in value may adversely impact the carrying amount of our investment portfolio and result in other-than-temporary impairment charges.
As of December 31, 2011, we had two investments in pooled trust preferred securities with an aggregate par value of $2.0 million and a book value of $1.1 million after recording other-than-temporary impairment charges of $854,000 in 2009. The remaining unrealized non-credit related losses on these two securities totaled approximately $699,000 at December 31, 2011. We may be required to record additional impairment charges on our investment securities if they suffer further declines in value that are considered other-than-temporary. If the credit quality of the securities in our investment portfolio further deteriorates, we may also experience a loss in interest income from the suspension of either interest or dividend payments. Numerous factors, including lack of liquidity for resales of certain investment securities, absence of reliable pricing information for investment securities, adverse changes in business climate or adverse actions by regulators could have a negative effect on our investment portfolio in future periods.
| 27 |
Downgrades in the credit rating of one or more insurers that provide credit enhancement for our state and municipal securities portfolio may have an adverse impact on the market for and valuation of these types of securities.
We invest in tax-exempt state and local municipal investment securities, some of which are insured by monoline insurers. As of December 31, 2011, we had $88.8 million of municipal securities, which represented 44.8% of our total securities portfolio. Since the economic crisis unfolded in 2008, several of these insurers have come under scrutiny by rating agencies. Even though management generally purchases municipal securities on the overall credit strength of the issuer, the reduction in the credit rating of an insurer may negatively impact the market for and valuation of our investment securities. Such downgrade could adversely affect our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.
Our concentration of one-to-four family residential mortgage loans may result in lower yields and profitability.
One-to-four family residential mortgage loans comprised $79.1 million and $79.6 million, or 25.2% and 25.6%, of our loan portfolio at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively. These loans are secured primarily by properties located in the state of Kansas. Our concentration of these loans results in lower yields relative to other loan categories within our loan portfolio. While these loans generally possess higher yields than investment securities, their repayment characteristics are not as well defined and they generally possess a higher degree of interest rate risk versus other loans and investment securities within our portfolio. This increased interest rate risk is due to the repayment and prepayment options inherent in residential mortgage loans which are exercised by borrowers based upon the overall level of interest rates. These residential mortgage loans are generally made on the basis of the borrower’s ability to make repayments from his or her employment and the value of the property securing the loan. Thus, as a result, repayment of these loans is also subject to general economic and employment conditions within the communities and surrounding areas where the property is located.
The effects of the mortgage market challenges of recent years, combined with depressed residential real estate market prices and historically lower levels of home sales, has the potential to adversely affect our one-to-four family residential mortgage portfolio in several ways, each of which could adversely affect our operating results and/or financial condition.
The Bank may be required to repurchase mortgage loans in some circumstances, which could harm our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition.
When the Bank sells mortgage loans, we are required to make certain representations and warranties to the purchaser about the loans and the manner in which they were originated. Our sales agreements require us to repurchase mortgage loans in the event we breach any of these representations or warranties. In addition, we may be required to repurchase mortgage loans as a result of borrower fraud or in the event of early payment default of the borrower on a mortgage loan. If repurchase and indemnity demands increase, our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition will be adversely affected.