stba-20211231
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 10-K
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021
or
For the transition period from to
Commission file number0-12508
S&T BANCORP, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(Address of principal executive offices) (zip code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (800) 325-2265
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading Symbol Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $2.50 per share STBA The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
(Title of class)
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.
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. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter. The aggregate estimated fair value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2021:
Common Stock, $2.50 par value – $1,148,828,816
The number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant's classes of common stock as of February 25, 2022:
Common Stock, $2.50 par value –36,703,796
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the definitive Proxy Statement of S&T Bancorp, Inc., to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A for the annual meeting of shareholders to be held May 16, 2022, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Table of Contents
Part I
Item 1. Business 3
Item 1A. Risk Factors 14
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 24
Item 2. Properties 24
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 24
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 24
Part II
Item 6. Reserved 25
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 56
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 58
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 127
Item 9B. Other Information 128
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 128
Part III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 129
Item 11. Executive Compensation 129
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 129
Part IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 130
PART I
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Item 1. BUSINESS
General
S&T Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated on March 17, 1983 under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a bank holding company and is registered with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or the Federal Reserve Board, under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, or the BHCA, as a bank holding company and a financial holding company. S&T Bancorp, Inc. has five active direct wholly-owned subsidiaries including S&T Bank, 9th Street Holdings, Inc., STBA Capital Trust I, DNB Capital Trust I and DNB Capital Trust II, and owns a 50 percent interest in Commonwealth Trust Credit Life Insurance Company, or CTCLIC. DNB Capital Trust I and DNB Capital Trust II were acquired with the DNB merger on November 30, 2019. When used in this Report, “S&T”, “we”, “us” or “our” may refer to S&T Bancorp, Inc. individually, S&T Bancorp, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries or certain of S&T Bancorp, Inc.’s subsidiaries or affiliates, depending on the context. As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $9.5 billion in assets, $7.0 billion in total loans, $8.0 billion in deposits and $1.2 billion in shareholders’ equity.
On November 30, 2019, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of June 5, 2019 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and between S&T Bancorp, Inc. (“S&T”) and DNB Financial Corporation (“DNB”), DNB merged with and into S&T (the “DNB Merger”), with S&T continuing as the surviving corporation. At the effective time of the DNB Merger, each share of the common stock of DNB issued and outstanding was converted into the right to receive 1.22 shares of S&T common stock. The transaction was valued at $201.0 million and added total assets of $1.1 billion, including $909.0 million in loans, as well as $967.3 million in deposits.
S&T Bank is a full-service bank that operates in five markets including Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio and Upstate New York. S&T Bank deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, to the maximum extent provided by law. S&T Bank has four active wholly-owned operating subsidiaries including S&T Insurance Group, LLC, S&T Bancholdings, Inc., Stewart Capital Advisors, LLC, and DN Acquisition Company, Inc.
Through S&T Bank and our non-bank subsidiaries, we offer consumer, commercial and small business banking services, which include accepting time and demand deposits and originating commercial and consumer loans, brokerage services and trust services including serving as executor and trustee under wills and deeds and as guardian and custodian of employee benefits. We also manage private investment accounts for individuals and institutions through our registered investment advisor. Total Wealth Management assets under administration, which are not accounted for as part of our assets, were
$2.3 billion at December 31, 2021.
The main office of both S&T Bancorp, Inc. and S&T Bank is located at 800 Philadelphia Street, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and our phone number is (800) 325-2265.
Human Capital Management
As part of our mission to become the financial services provider of choice within the markets that we serve, we strive to employ talented people who are based in these communities and are dedicated to providing the best financial products and services to our customers. Our commitment to every customer starts with a talented team. To attract and retain our talented team we strive to make S&T an inclusive, safe and healthy workplace that provides our employees with opportunities to grow and develop. We consider our employees to be the bedrock of the company and instrumental in assisting our customers address the challenges facing our markets, in particular, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately 1,160 full time equivalent employees.
Our Team and Culture
Our team strives to embody values to encourage a culture that has enabled us to be named a top workplace. The specific words or phrases that serve as the basis for our culture and values are as follows:
•Serve Our Customers
•Challenge the Status Quo
•Communicate
•Empower Employees
•Work as a Team
•Trust Each Other
•Develop People
•Reward Success
•Measure Results
•Support Our Communities
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Diversity and Inclusion
S&T Bank fosters a diverse work culture where employees work together to better our company, services and community.
We are committed to promoting a diverse workforce and developing all people through:
•Equal Opportunity Employment
•Educating our employees and board of directors
•Fostering a culture to address employees’ and customers’ needs
•Partnering with diverse vendors
Our Compensation and Benefits Committee of the Board of Directors oversees our diversity and inclusion strategy, and at least annually, measures the success of diversity and inclusion initiatives by reviewing S&T’s strategies and statistics from S&T’s Human Capital Management System.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, is a commitment that we are focused on through various avenues to create awareness, provide education, support our colleagues and communities, develop and improve products and services, partner with diverse vendors and drive results tied to our overall organizational strategy. As part of our DEI strategy, our DEI Advisory Committee is expected to launch during 2022. The DEI Advisory Committee will be co-chaired by our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer and be made up of colleagues from departments across our organization. Through a partnership with a vendor who specializes in diversity, the DEI Advisory Committee will work to develop objectives for the organization and metrics that will help us to understand our current state and what initiatives are needed to enhance our DEI strategy.
Talent Development and Training
Our Corporate Training Department maintains oversight of all training to ensure that it is implemented and monitored properly and encourages career development for our employees. Our training program offers a blended learning approach comprised of classroom and online course delivery. In 2020, many training sessions were converted to a virtual format through webinars and learning management system delivery for regulatory, compliance, skill-based, technology, leadership and career development. Certain trainings are conducted live based on the needs of the program. In 2021, our employees logged approximately 64,300 training hours, on average 56 hours per employee, which is an increase of approximately 15 percent compared to 2020.
Safety, Health and Wellness
The safety, health and well being of our employees is a top priority. We offer our employees and their families access to a variety of flexible and convenient health and welfare programs that provide resources to help them maintain and/or improve their physical and mental health. We also have a financial wellness program that assists our employees and their families with budgeting and various personal financial content consisting of an online personal financial program and internally produced webinars. We believe in the education and offering of programs and initiatives that make lasting positive impacts in the lives of our employees.
Continuing with the pandemic plan that was developed in March 2020, we enhanced several COVID-19 pandemic risk mitigation programs in 2021 to remain steadfast with the promotion of the health and safety of our employees and the customers and communities that we serve. Current measures include preventive healthcare and education measures for our employees through rigorous sanitation, social distancing, regular communication and signage refreshing, wearing masks and remote working where feasible. We amended training sessions, meetings and employee engagement events to virtual formats to continue business at the highest levels of engagement potential. We also amended our defined contribution plan to allow eligible COVID-19 pandemic related withdrawals under the CARES Act. In addition, we employ extensive safety measures at our branches and encourage our customers to use our online and mobile banking solutions. Our solution center hours have been extended to allow for customer consultation without entering a branch.
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Access to United States Securities and Exchange Commission Filings
All of our reports filed electronically with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, including this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, our prior annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and our annual proxy statements, as well as any amendments to those reports, are accessible at no cost on our website at www.stbancorp.com under Financial Information, SEC Filings. These filings are also accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The charters of the Audit Committee, the Compensation and Benefits Committee, the Credit Risk Committee, the Executive Committee, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the Revenue Oversight Committee and the Risk Committee as well as the Complaints Regarding Accounting, Internal Accounting Controls or Auditing Matters ("Whistleblower Policy"), the Code of Conduct for the CEO and CFO, the General Code of Conduct, the Shareholder Communications Policy, and the Corporate Governance Guidelines are also available at www.stbancorp.com under Corporate Governance.
Supervision and Regulation
General
S&T is extensively regulated under federal and state law. Regulation of bank holding companies and banks is intended primarily for the protection of consumers, depositors, borrowers, the Federal Deposit Insurance Fund, or DIF, and the banking system as a whole, and not for the protection of shareholders or creditors. The following describes certain aspects of that regulation and does not purport to be a complete description of all regulations that affect S&T, or all aspects of any regulation discussed here. To the extent statutory or regulatory provisions are described, the description is qualified in its entirety by reference to the particular statutory or regulatory provisions.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or Dodd-Frank Act, enacted in July 2010, has had and will continue to have a broad impact on the financial services industry, including significant regulatory and compliance changes addressing, among other things: (i) enhanced resolution authority of troubled and failing banks and their holding companies; (ii) increased capital and liquidity requirements; (iii) increased regulatory examination fees; (iv) changes to assessments to be paid to the FDIC for federal deposit insurance; (v) enhanced corporate governance and executive compensation requirements and disclosures; and (vi) numerous other provisions designed to improve supervision and oversight of, and strengthen safety and soundness for, the financial services sector. Additionally, the Dodd-Frank Act established a new framework for systemic risk oversight within the financial system to be distributed among new and existing federal regulatory agencies, including the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the FDIC. While many requirements called for in the Dodd-Frank Act have been implemented, these regulations are subject to continuing interpretation and potential amendment, and a variety of the requirements remain to be implemented. Given the continued uncertainty associated with the ongoing implementation of the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act by the various regulatory agencies, including the manner in which the remaining provisions will be implemented and the interpretation of and potential amendments to existing regulations, the full extent of the impact of such requirements on financial institutions’ operations remains unclear, but management expects will continue to affect us in some way. The continuing changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act may impact the profitability of our business activities, require changes to certain of our business practices, increase our operating and compliance costs, or otherwise adversely affect our business. These changes may also require us to invest significant management attention and resources to evaluate and make necessary changes in order to comply with new statutory and regulatory requirements.
In addition, proposals to change the laws and regulations governing the banking industry are frequently raised in Congress, in state legislatures and before the various bank regulatory agencies that may impact S&T. Such initiatives to change the laws and regulations may include proposals to expand or contract the powers of bank holding companies and depository institutions or proposals to substantially change the financial institution regulatory system. Any such legislation could change bank statutes and our operating environment in substantial and unpredictable ways. If enacted, such legislation could affect how S&T and S&T Bank operate and could significantly increase costs, impede the efficiency of internal business processes, limit our ability to pursue business opportunities in an efficient manner, or affect the competitive balance among banks, credit unions and other financial institutions, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The likelihood and timing of any changes and the impact such changes might have on S&T is impossible to determine with any certainty.
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S&T
We are a bank holding company subject to regulation under the BHCA and the examination and reporting requirements of the Federal Reserve Board. Under the BHCA, a bank holding company may not directly or indirectly acquire ownership or control of more than five percent of the voting shares or substantially all of the assets of any additional bank, or merge or consolidate with another bank holding company, without the prior approval of the Federal Reserve Board.
As a bank holding company, we are expected under statutory and regulatory provisions to serve as a source of financial and managerial strength to our subsidiary bank. A bank holding company is also expected to commit resources, including capital and other funds, to support its subsidiary bank.
We elected to become a financial holding company under the BHCA in 2001 and thereby may engage in a broader range of financial activities than are permissible for traditional bank holding companies. In order to maintain our status as a financial holding company, we must remain “well-capitalized” and “well-managed” and the depository institutions controlled by us must remain “well-capitalized,” “well-managed” (as defined in federal law) and have at least a “satisfactory” Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA, rating. Refer to Note 26 Regulatory Matters to the Consolidated Financial Statements contained in Part II, Item 8 of this Report for information concerning the current capital ratios of S&T and S&T Bank. No prior regulatory approval is required for a financial holding company with total consolidated assets less than $50 billion to acquire a company, other than a bank or savings association, engaged in activities that are financial in nature or incidental to activities that are financial in nature, as determined by the Federal Reserve Board, unless the total consolidated assets to be acquired exceed $10 billion. The BHCA identifies several activities as “financial in nature” including, among others, securities underwriting; dealing and market making; sponsoring mutual funds and investment companies; insurance underwriting and sales agency; investment advisory activities; merchant banking activities and activities that the Federal Reserve Board has determined to be closely related to banking. Banks may also engage in, subject to limitations on investment, activities that are financial in nature, other than insurance underwriting, insurance company portfolio investment, real estate development and real estate investment, through a financial subsidiary of the bank, if the bank is “well-capitalized,” “well-managed” and has at least a “satisfactory” CRA rating.
If S&T or S&T Bank ceases to be “well-capitalized” or “well-managed,” we will not be in compliance with the requirements of the BHCA regarding financial holding companies or requirements regarding the operation of financial subsidiaries by insured banks.
If a financial holding company is notified by the Federal Reserve Board of such a change in the ratings of any of its subsidiary banks, it must take certain corrective actions within specified time frames. Furthermore, if S&T Bank was to receive a CRA rating of less than “satisfactory,” then we would be prohibited from engaging in certain new activities or acquiring companies engaged in certain financial activities until the rating is raised to “satisfactory” or better.
We are presently engaged in non-banking activities through the following six entities:
•9th Street Holdings, Inc. was formed in June 1988 to hold and manage a group of investments previously owned by S&T Bank and to give us additional latitude to purchase other investments.
•S&T Bancholdings, Inc. was formed in August 2002 to hold and manage a group of investments previously owned by S&T Bank and to give us additional latitude to purchase other investments.
•CTCLIC is a joint venture with another financial institution, and acts as a reinsurer of credit life, accident and health insurance policies that were sold by S&T Bank and the other institution. S&T Bank and the other institution each have ownership interests of 50 percent in CTCLIC.
•S&T Insurance Group, LLC distributes life insurance and long-term disability income insurance products. During 2001, S&T Insurance Group, LLC and Attorneys Abstract Company, Inc. entered into an agreement to form S&T Settlement Services, LLC, or STSS, with respective ownership interests of 55 percent and 45 percent. STSS is a title insurance agency servicing commercial customers. We also have a 30 percent partnership interest in Evergreen Insurance, LLC.
•Stewart Capital Advisors, LLC was formed in August 2005 and is a registered investment advisor that manages private investment accounts for individuals and institutions.
•DN Acquisition Company, Inc. was acquired with the DNB First merger on November 30, 2019. DN Acquisition Company, Inc. was formed to acquire and hold Other Real Estate Owned acquired through foreclosure or deed in-lieu-of foreclosure, as well as Bank-occupied real estate.
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S&T Bank
As a Pennsylvania-chartered, FDIC-insured non-member commercial bank, S&T Bank is subject to the supervision and regulation of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, or PADBS, and the FDIC. We are also subject to various requirements and restrictions under federal and state law, including requirements to maintain reserves against deposits, restrictions on the types, amount and terms and conditions of loans that may be granted and limits on the types of other activities in which S&T Bank may engage and the investments it may make. In addition, pursuant to the federal Bank Merger Act, S&T Bank must obtain the prior approval of the FDIC before it can merge or consolidate with or acquire the assets or assume the deposit liabilities of another bank.
S&T Bank is subject to affiliate transaction rules in Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act as implemented by the Federal Reserve Board's Regulation W, that limit the amount of transactions between itself and S&T or any other company or entity that controls or is under common control with any company or entity that controls S&T Bank, including for most purposes any financial or depository institution subsidiary of S&T Bank. Under these provisions, “covered” transactions, including making loans, purchasing assets, issuing guarantees and other similar transactions, between a bank and its parent company or any other affiliate, generally are limited to 10 percent of the bank subsidiary’s capital and surplus, and with respect to all transactions with affiliates, are limited to 20 percent of the bank subsidiary’s capital and surplus. Loans and extensions of credit from a bank to an affiliate generally are required to be secured by eligible collateral in specified amounts, and in general all affiliated transactions must be on terms consistent with safe and sound banking practices. Furthermore, in general, transactions between a bank and its affiliates must be on terms and conditions that are at least as favorable to the bank as the terms that would apply in comparable transactions between the bank and a third party. The Dodd-Frank Act expanded the affiliate transaction rules to broaden the definition of affiliate to include as covered transactions securities borrowing or lending, repurchase or reverse repurchase agreements and derivative activities, and to strengthen collateral requirements and limit Federal Reserve exemptive authority.
Federal law also constrains the types and amounts of loans that S&T Bank may make to its executive officers, directors and principal shareholders. Among other things, these loans are limited in amount, must be approved by the bank’s board of directors in advance, and must be on terms and conditions as favorable to the bank as those available to an unrelated person. The Dodd-Frank Act strengthened restrictions on loans to insiders and expanded the types of transactions subject to the various limits to include credit exposure arising from a derivative transaction, a repurchase or reverse repurchase agreement and a securities lending or borrowing transaction. The Dodd-Frank Act also placed restrictions on certain asset sales to and from an insider to an institution, including requirements that such sales be on market terms and, in certain circumstances, approved by the institution’s board of directors.
Insurance of Accounts; Depositor Preference
The deposits of S&T Bank are insured up to applicable limits per insured depositor by the DIF, as administered by the FDIC. The Dodd-Frank Act codified FDIC deposit insurance coverage per separately insured depositor for all account types at $250,000.
As an FDIC-insured bank, S&T Bank is subject to FDIC insurance assessments, which are imposed based upon the calculated risk the institution poses to the DIF.
Under the current assessment system, for an institution with less than $10 billion in assets, assessment rates are determined based on a combination of financial ratios and CAMELS composite ratings. The assessment rate schedule can change from time to time, at the discretion of the FDIC, subject to certain limits. Under the current system, premiums are assessed quarterly. Assessments are calculated as a percentage of average consolidated total assets less average tangible equity during the assessment period. The current total base assessment rates on an annualized basis range from 1.5 basis points for certain “well-capitalized,” “well-managed” banks, with the highest ratings, to 40 basis points for complex institutions posing the most risk to the DIF. The FDIC may raise or lower these assessment rates on a quarterly basis based on various factors designed to achieve a minimum designated reserve ratio of the DIF, which the Dodd-Frank Act has mandated to be no less than 1.35 percent of estimated insured deposits, subsequently set at two percent by the FDIC.
The FDIC may terminate the deposit insurance of any insured depository institution if it determines after a hearing that the institution has engaged in unsafe or unsound practices, is in an unsafe or unsound condition to continue operations or has violated any applicable law, regulation, rule, order or condition imposed by the FDIC or the Federal Reserve Board. It also may suspend deposit insurance temporarily during the hearing process if the institution has no tangible capital. If insurance of accounts is terminated, the accounts at the institution at the time of termination, less subsequent withdrawals, will continue to be insured for a period of six months to two years, as determined by the FDIC.
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Under federal law, deposits and certain claims for administrative expenses and employee compensation against insured depository institutions are afforded a priority over other general unsecured claims against such an institution, including federal funds and letters of credit, in the liquidation or other resolution of such an institution by a receiver. Such priority creditors would include the FDIC.
Capital
The Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC have issued substantially similar minimum risk-based and leverage capital rules applicable to the banking organizations they supervise. At December 31, 2021, both S&T and S&T Bank met the applicable minimum regulatory capital requirements.
The following table summarizes the leverage and risk-based capital ratios for S&T and S&T Bank:
(dollars in thousands) Amount Ratio Amount Ratio Amount Ratio
Leverage Ratio
Common Equity Tier 1 (to Risk-Weighted Assets)
Tier 1 Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)
Total Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets)
In addition, the banking regulatory agencies may from time to time require that a banking organization maintain capital above the minimum prescribed levels, whether because of its financial condition or actual or anticipated growth.
The risk-based capital standards establish a systematic analytical framework that makes regulatory capital requirements more sensitive to differences in risk profiles among banking organizations, takes off-balance sheet exposures explicitly into account in assessing capital adequacy and minimizes disincentives to holding liquid, low-risk assets. For purposes of the risk-based ratios, assets and specified off-balance sheet instruments are assigned to broad risk categories, each with appropriate weights. The resulting capital ratios represent capital as a percentage of total risk-weighted assets and off-balance sheet items. The leverage ratio represents capital as a percentage of total average assets adjusted as specified in the guidelines.
In July 2013 the federal banking agencies issued final regulatory capital rules that replaced the then existing general risk-based capital and related rules, broadly revising the basic definitions and elements of regulatory capital and making substantial changes to the risk weightings for banking and trading book assets. These regulatory capital rules are designed to implement Basel III (which were agreements reached in July 2010 by the international oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to require more and higher-quality capital) as well as the minimum leverage and risk-based capital requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act. These capital standards apply to all banks, regardless of size, and to all bank holding companies with consolidated assets greater than $500 million and became effective on January 1, 2015. For smaller banking organizations such as S&T and S&T Bank, the rules were subject to a transition period providing for full implementation as of January 1, 2019.
The required regulatory capital minimum ratios applicable to S&T under the new capital standards as of December 31, 2021 (without consideration of the capital conservation buffer discussed below) are as follows:
•Common equity Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio (common equity Tier 1 capital to standardized total risk-weighted assets) of 4.50 percent;
•Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio (Tier 1 capital to standardized total risk-weighted assets) of 6.00 percent;
•Total risk-based capital ratio (total capital to standardized total risk-weighted assets) of 8.00 percent; and
•Leverage ratio (Tier 1 capital to average total consolidated assets less amounts deducted from Tier 1 capital) of 4.00 percent.
Generally, under the guidelines, common equity Tier 1 capital consists of common stock instruments that meet the eligibility criteria in the rule, retained earnings, accumulated other comprehensive income and common equity Tier 1 minority
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interest, less applicable regulatory adjustments and deductions including goodwill, intangible assets subject to limitation and certain deferred tax assets subject to limitation. Tier 1 capital is comprised of common equity Tier 1 capital plus generally non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock, Tier 1 minority interests and, for bank holding companies with less than $15 billion in consolidated assets at December 31, 2009, certain restricted capital instruments including qualifying cumulative perpetual preferred stock and grandfathered trust preferred securities, up to a limit of 25 percent of Tier 1 capital, less applicable regulatory adjustments and deductions. Tier 2, or supplementary, capital generally includes portions of trust preferred securities and cumulative perpetual preferred stock not otherwise counted in Tier 1 capital, as well as preferred stock, subordinated debt, total capital minority interests not included in Tier 1, and the allowance for credit losses, or ACL, in an amount not exceeding 1.25 percent of standardized risk-weighted assets, less applicable regulatory adjustments and deductions. Total capital is the sum of Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital.
After a phase in period beginning in 2016, these regulatory capital rules also require a banking organization to maintain a capital conservation buffer composed of common equity Tier 1 capital in an amount greater than 2.50 percent of total risk-weighted assets beginning in 2019. As a result, since 2019, a banking organization has been required to maintain a common equity Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio greater than 7.00 percent, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio greater than 8.50 percent and a Total risk-based capital ratio greater than 10.50 percent; otherwise, it will be subject to restrictions on capital distributions and discretionary bonus payments. Since 2019 the minimum capital requirements plus the capital conservation buffer exceed the regulatory capital ratios required for an insured depository institution to be well-capitalized under prompt corrective action law, described in "Other Safety and Soundness Regulations".
These regulatory capital rules also revise the calculation of risk-weighted assets, including a new framework under which the risk weight will increase for most credit exposures that are 90 days or more past due or on nonaccrual, high-volatility commercial real estate loans, mortgage servicing and deferred tax assets that are not deducted from capital and certain equity exposures. The rules include changes to the credit conversion factors of off-balance sheet items, such as the unused portion of a loan commitment.
Federal regulators periodically propose amendments to the regulatory capital rules and the related regulatory framework and consider changes to the capital standards that could significantly increase the amount of capital needed to meet applicable standards. The timing of adoption, ultimate form and effect of any such proposed amendments cannot be predicted.
Payment of Dividends
S&T is a legal entity separate and distinct from its banking and other subsidiaries. A substantial portion of our revenues consist of dividend payments we receive from S&T Bank. The payment of common dividends by S&T is subject to certain requirements and limitations of Pennsylvania law. S&T Bank, in turn, is subject to federal and state laws and regulations that limit the amount of dividends it can pay to S&T. In addition, both S&T and S&T Bank are subject to various general regulatory policies relating to the payment of dividends, including requirements to maintain adequate capital above regulatory minimums. The Federal Reserve Board has indicated that banking organizations should generally pay dividends only if (i) the organization’s net income available to common shareholders over the past year has been sufficient to fully fund the dividends and (ii) the prospective rate of earnings retention appears consistent with the organization’s capital needs, asset quality and overall financial condition. In connection with our reduced net income and our inability to fully fund the dividend from net income available to common shareholders over the past year, due in substantial part to the customer fraud that occurred in the second quarter of 2020, we received non-objection letters from the Federal Reserve to continue to pay our dividends declared in the third and fourth quarter of 2020 and first and second quarter of 2021. Beginning in the third quarter of 2021, we no longer needed to obtain a non-objection letter with respect to our dividend.Thus, under certain circumstances based upon our financial condition, our ability to declare and pay quarterly dividends may require consultation with the Federal Reserve Board and may be prohibited by applicable Federal Reserve Board guidance.
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Other Safety and Soundness Regulations
There are a number of obligations and restrictions imposed on bank holding companies such as us and our depository institution subsidiary by federal law and regulatory policy. These obligations and restrictions are designed to reduce potential loss exposure to the FDIC’s DIF in the event an insured depository institution becomes in danger of default or is in default. Under current federal law, for example, the federal banking agencies possess broad powers to take prompt corrective action to resolve problems of insured depository institutions. The extent of these powers depends upon whether the institution in question is “well-capitalized,” “adequately capitalized,” “undercapitalized,” “significantly undercapitalized” or “critically undercapitalized,” as defined by the law. As of December 31, 2021, S&T Bank was classified as “well-capitalized.” New definitions of these categories, as set forth in the federal banking agencies’ final rule to implement Basel III and the minimum leverage and risk-based capital requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act, became effective as of January 1, 2015. To be well-capitalized, an insured depository institution must have a common equity Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of at least 6.50 percent, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of at least 8.00 percent, a total risk-based capital ratio of at least 10.00 percent and a leverage ratio of at least 5.00 percent, and the institution must not be subject to any written agreement, order, capital directive or prompt corrective action directive by its primary federal regulator. To be adequately capitalized, an insured depository institution must have a common equity Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of at least 4.50 percent, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of at least 6.00 percent, a total risk-based capital ratio of at least 8.00 percent and a leverage ratio of at least 4.00 percent. The classification of depository institutions is primarily for the purpose of applying the federal banking agencies’ prompt corrective action provisions and is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as a representation of overall financial condition or prospects of any financial institution.
The federal banking agencies’ prompt corrective action powers, which increase depending upon the degree to which an institution is undercapitalized, can include, among other things, requiring an insured depository institution to adopt a capital restoration plan, which cannot be approved unless guaranteed by the institution’s parent company; placing limits on asset growth and restrictions on activities, including restrictions on transactions with affiliates; restricting the interest rates the institution may pay on deposits; restricting the institution from accepting brokered deposits; prohibiting the payment of principal or interest on subordinated debt; prohibiting the holding company from making capital distributions, including payment of dividends, without prior regulatory approval; and, ultimately, appointing a receiver for the institution.
The federal banking agencies have also adopted guidelines prescribing safety and soundness standards relating to internal controls and information systems, internal audit systems, loan documentation, credit underwriting, interest rate exposure, asset growth, fees and compensation and benefits. In general, the guidelines require appropriate systems and practices to identify and manage specified risks and exposures. The guidelines prohibit excessive compensation as an unsafe and unsound practice and characterize compensation as excessive when the amounts paid are unreasonable or disproportionate to the services performed by an executive officer, employee, director or principal shareholder. In addition, the agencies have adopted regulations that authorize, but do not require, an agency to order an institution that has been given notice by an agency that it is not in compliance with any of such safety and soundness standards to submit a compliance plan. If, after being so notified, an institution fails to submit an acceptable compliance plan, the agency must issue an order directing action to correct the deficiency and may issue an order directing other actions of the types to which an “undercapitalized” institution is subject under the prompt corrective action provisions described above.
Regulatory Enforcement Authority
The enforcement powers available to federal banking agencies are substantial and include, among other things and in addition to other powers described herein, the ability to assess civil money penalties and impose other civil and criminal penalties, to issue cease-and-desist or removal orders, to appoint a conservator to conserve the assets of an institution for the benefit of its depositors and creditors and to initiate injunctive actions against banks and bank holding companies and “institution affiliated parties,” as defined in the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. In general, these enforcement actions may be initiated for violations of laws and regulations, and engagement in unsafe or unsound practices. Other actions or inactions may provide the basis for enforcement action, including misleading or untimely reports filed with regulatory authorities.
At the state level, the PADBS also has broad enforcement powers over S&T Bank, including the power to impose fines and other penalties and to appoint a conservator or receiver.
Interstate Banking and Branching
The BHCA currently permits bank holding companies from any state to acquire banks and bank holding companies located in any other state, subject to certain conditions, including certain nationwide and state-imposed deposit concentration limits. In addition, because of changes to law made by the Dodd-Frank Act, S&T Bank may now establish de novo branches in any state to the same extent that a bank chartered in that state could establish a branch.
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Community Reinvestment, Fair Lending and Consumer Protection Laws
In connection with its lending activities, S&T Bank is subject to a number of state and federal laws designed to protect borrowers and promote lending to various sectors of the economy and population. The federal laws include, among others, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Truth-in-Lending Act, the Truth-in-Savings Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the CRA. In addition, federal rules require disclosure of privacy policies to consumers and, in some circumstances, allow consumers to prevent the disclosure of certain personal information to nonaffiliated third parties.
The CRA requires the appropriate federal banking agency, in connection with its examination of a bank, to assess the bank’s record in meeting the credit needs of the communities served by the bank, including low and moderate-income neighborhoods. Furthermore, such assessment is required of any bank that has applied, among other things, to merge or consolidate with or acquire the assets or assume the liabilities of an insured depository institution, or to open or relocate a branch office. In the case of a bank holding company, including a financial holding company, applying for approval to acquire a bank or bank holding company, the Federal Reserve Board will assess the record of each subsidiary bank of the applicant bank holding company in considering the application. Under the CRA, institutions are assigned a rating of “outstanding,” “satisfactory,” “needs to improve” or “unsatisfactory.” S&T Bank was rated “satisfactory” in its most recent CRA evaluation.
In December 2019, the OCC and FDIC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking related to the CRA. In 2020 the OCC issued its final revised CRA rule, but the FDIC did not finalize the revisions to its CRA rule. In September 2020, the Federal Reserve Board issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPR”) that invites public comment on an approach to modernize the regulations that implement the CRA by strengthening, clarifying, and tailoring them to reflect the current banking landscape and better meet the core purpose of the CRA. The ANPR seeks feedback on ways to evaluate how banks meet the needs of low- and moderate-income communities and address inequities in credit access. On December 14, 2021, the OCC issued a final rule to rescind its June 2020 CRA rule and replace it with a rule based on the rules adopted jointly by the federal banking agencies in 1995, as amended. The Company will continue to monitor any changes to the regulations implementing the CRA in light of increased focus on modernizing the rules.
With respect to consumer protection, the Dodd-Frank Act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or the CFPB, which took over rulemaking responsibility on July 21, 2011 for the principal federal consumer financial protection laws, such as those identified above. Institutions that have assets of $10 billion or less, such as S&T Bank, are subject to the rules established by the CFPB but will continue to be supervised in this area by their state and primary federal regulators, which in the case of S&T Bank is the FDIC. The Dodd-Frank Act also gives the CFPB expanded data collection powers for fair lending purposes for both small business and mortgage loans, as well as expanded authority to prevent unfair, deceptive and abusive practices. The consumer complaint function also has been consolidated into the CFPB with respect to the institutions it supervises. The CFPB established an Office of Community Banks and Credit Unions, with a mission to ensure that the CFPB incorporates the perspectives of small depository institutions into the policy-making process, communicates relevant policy initiatives to community banks and credit unions, and works with community banks and credit unions to identify potential areas for regulatory simplification.
Fair lending laws prohibit discrimination in the provision of banking services, and the enforcement of these laws has been a focus for bank regulators. Fair lending laws include the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act, which outlaw discrimination in credit transactions and residential real estate on the basis of prohibited factors including, among others, race, color, national origin, sex and religion. A lender may be liable for policies that result in a disparate treatment of or have a disparate impact on a protected class of applicants or borrowers. If a pattern or practice of lending discrimination is alleged by a regulator, then that agency may refer the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice, or DOJ, for investigation. In December of 2012, the DOJ and the CFPB entered into a Memorandum of Understanding under which the agencies have agreed to share information, coordinate investigations and have generally committed to strengthen their coordination efforts. S&T Bank is required to have a fair lending program that is of sufficient scope to monitor the inherent fair lending risk of the institution and that appropriately remediates issues which are identified.
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During 2013, the CFPB issued a series of final rules related to mortgage loan origination and mortgage loan servicing, which became effective in 2014. In particular, on January 10, 2013, the CFPB issued a final rule implementing the ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage (QM) provisions of the Truth-in-Lending Act, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act (“QM Rule”). The ability-to-repay provision requires creditors to make reasonable, good-faith determinations that borrowers are able to repay their mortgage loans before extending the credit, based on a number of factors and consideration of financial information about the borrower from reasonably reliable third-party documents. Under the Dodd-Frank Act and the QM Rule, loans meeting the definition of “qualified mortgage” are entitled to a presumption that the lender satisfied the ability-to-repay requirements. The presumption is a conclusive presumption/safe harbor for prime loans meeting the QM requirements, and a rebuttable presumption for higher-priced/subprime loans meeting the QM requirements. The QM Rule also adds an explicit maximum
43 percent debt-to-income ratio (DTI) for borrowers if the loan is to meet the QM definition, though some mortgages that meet government-sponsored enterprise, or GSE, Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, and Veterans Affairs, or VA, underwriting guidelines may, for a period not to exceed seven years, meet the QM definition without being subject to the
43 percent DTI limits (GSE Patch). These rules did not have a material impact on our mortgage business. In December 2020, the CFPB published a final rule that replaced the 43 percent DTI ratio limit in the general QM definition (the “General QM Rule”) and a final rule that created a new category of qualified mortgage, called a seasoned qualified mortgage, for first lien, fixed rate covered loans that meet certain performance requirements, are held in portfolio by the originating creditor or first purchaser for a 36-month period, comply with general restrictions on product features and points and fees, and meet certain underwriting requirements. The initial compliance date of the final rules was July 1, 2021. In April 2021, the CFPB published a final rule extending the mandatory compliance date of the General QM Rule to October 1, 2022 and thereby also extending the GSE Patch to October 1, 2022 or the date the applicable GSE exits conservatorship, whichever happens first.
Anti-Money Laundering Rules
S&T Bank is subject to the Bank Secrecy Act, its implementing regulations and other anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the USA Patriot Act of 2001. Among other things, these laws and regulations require S&T Bank to take steps to prevent the bank from being used to facilitate the flow of illegal or illicit money, to report large currency transactions and to file suspicious activity reports. S&T Bank is also required to develop and implement a comprehensive anti-money laundering compliance program. Banks must also have in place appropriate “know your customer” policies and procedures which includes requirements to (1) identify and verify, subject to certain exceptions, the identity of the beneficial owners of all legal entity customers at the time a new account is opened, and (2) include in its anti-money laundering program, risk-based procedures for conducting ongoing customer due diligence, which are to include procedures that (a) assist in understanding the nature and purpose of customer relationships for the purpose of developing a customer risk profile, and (b) require ongoing monitoring to identify and report suspicious transactions and, on a risk basis, to maintain and update customer information. Violations of these requirements can result in substantial civil and criminal sanctions. In addition, provisions of the USA Patriot Act of 2001 require the federal financial institution regulatory agencies to consider the effectiveness of a financial institution’s anti-money laundering activities when considering applications for bank mergers and bank holding company acquisitions.
Other Dodd-Frank Provisions
In December 2013, federal regulators adopted final regulations regarding the Volcker Rule established in the Dodd-Frank Act. The Volcker Rule generally prohibits banks and their affiliates from engaging in proprietary trading and investing in and sponsoring certain unregistered investment companies generally covering hedge funds and private equity funds, subject to certain exemptions. Banking entities had until July 21, 2017 to conform their activities to the requirements of the rule. Because S&T generally does not engage in the activities prohibited by the Volcker Rule, the effectiveness of the rule has not had a material effect on S&T Bank or its affiliates.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act provides that the amount of any interchange fee charged for electronic debit transactions by debit card issuers having assets over $10 billion must be reasonable and proportional to the actual cost of a transaction to the issuer. The Federal Reserve Board has adopted a rule which limits the maximum permissible interchange fees that such issuers can receive for an electronic debit transaction. This rule, Regulation II, which was effective October 1, 2011, does not apply to a bank that, together with its affiliates, has less than $10 billion in assets, which includes S&T.
Competition
S&T Bank competes with other local, regional and national financial services providers, such as other financial holding companies, commercial banks, credit unions, finance companies, brokerage and insurance firms and financial technology companies, including competitors that provide their products and services online and through mobile devices. Some of our competitors are not subject to the same level of regulation and oversight that is required of banks and bank holding companies and are thus able to operate under lower cost structures. Our wealth management business competes with trust companies, mutual fund companies, investment advisory firms, law firms, brokerage firms and other financial services companies.
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Changes in bank regulation, such as changes in the products and services banks can offer and permitted involvement in non-banking activities by bank holding companies, as well as bank mergers and acquisitions, can affect our ability to compete with other financial services providers. Our ability to do so will depend upon how successfully we can respond to the evolving competitive, regulatory, technological and demographic developments affecting our operations.
Our customers are primarily in Pennsylvania and the contiguous states of Ohio, West Virginia, New York, Maryland and Delaware. The majority of our commercial and consumer loans are made to businesses and individuals in these states resulting in a geographic concentration. Our market area has a high density of financial institutions, some of which are significantly larger institutions with greater financial resources than us, and many of which are our competitors to varying degrees. Our competition for loans comes principally from commercial banks, mortgage banking companies, credit unions, online lenders and other financial service companies. Our most direct competition for deposits has historically come from commercial banks and credit unions. We face additional competition for deposits from non-depository competitors such as the mutual fund industry, securities and brokerage firms, insurance companies and financial technology companies. Because larger competitors have advantages in attracting business from larger corporations, we do not generally attempt to compete for that business. Instead, we concentrate our efforts on attracting the business of individuals, and small and medium-size businesses. We consider our competitive advantages to be customer service and responsiveness to customer needs, the convenience of banking offices and hours, access to electronic banking services and the availability and pricing of our customized banking solutions. We emphasize personalized banking and the advantage of local decision-making in our banking business.
The financial services industry is likely to become more competitive as further technological advances enable more companies to provide financial services on a more efficient and convenient basis. Technological innovations have lowered traditional barriers to entry and enabled many companies to compete in financial services markets. Many customers now expect a choice of banking options for the delivery of services, including traditional banking offices, telephone, internet, mobile, ATMs, self-service branches, in-store branches and/or digital and technology based solutions. These delivery channels are offered by traditional banks and savings associations, credit unions, brokerage firms, asset management groups, financial technology companies, finance and insurance companies, internet-based companies, and mortgage banking firms.
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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
Investments in our common stock involve risk. The following discussion highlights the risks that we believe are material to S&T, potentially impacting our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. However, other factors not discussed below or elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K could adversely affect our businesses, results of operations and financial condition. Therefore, the risk factors below do necessarily include all risks that we may face.
Risks Related to Credit
Our ability to assess the credit-worthiness of our customers may diminish, which may adversely affect our results of operations.
We incur credit risk by virtue of making loans and extending loan commitments and letters of credit. Credit risk is one of our most significant risks. Our exposure to credit risk is managed through the use of consistent underwriting standards that emphasize “in-market” lending while avoiding excessive industry and other concentrations. Our credit administration function employs risk management techniques to ensure that loans adhere to corporate policy and problem loans are promptly identified. There can be no assurance that such measures will be effective in avoiding undue credit risk. If the models and approaches that we use to select, manage and underwrite our consumer and commercial loan products become less predictive of future charge-offs, due to events adversely affecting our customers, including rapid changes in the economy, we may have higher credit losses.
The value of the collateral used to secure our loans may not be sufficient to compensate for the amount of an unpaid loans and we may be unsuccessful in recovering the remaining balances from our customers.
Decreases in real estate values, particularly with respect to our commercial lending and mortgage activities, could adversely affect the value of property used as collateral for our loans and our customers’ ability to repay these loans, which in turn could impact our profitability. Repayment of our commercial loans is often dependent on the cash flow of the borrower, which may become unpredictable. If the value of the assets, such as real estate, serving as collateral for the loan portfolio were to decline materially, a significant part of the loan portfolio could become under-collateralized. If the loans that are secured by real estate become troubled when real estate market conditions are declining or have declined, in the event of foreclosure, we may not be able to realize the amount of collateral that was anticipated at the time of originating the loan. This could result in higher charge-offs which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
Changes in the overall credit quality of our portfolio can have a significant impact on our earnings.
Like other lenders, we face the risk that our customers will not repay their loans. We reserve for losses in our loan portfolio based on our assessment of expected credit losses. This process, which is critical to our financial results and condition, requires complex judgment including our assessment of economic conditions, which are difficult to predict. Through a periodic review of the loan portfolio, management determines the amount of the ACL by considering historical losses combined with qualitative factors including changes in lending policies and practices, economic conditions, changes in the loan portfolio, changes in lending management, results of internal loan reviews, asset quality trends, collateral values, concentrations of credit risk and other external factors. The amount of future losses is susceptible to changes in economic, operating and other conditions, including changes in interest rates, which may be beyond our control. Although we have policies and procedures in place to determine future losses, due to the subjective nature of this area, there can be no assurance that our management has accurately assessed the level of allowances reflected in our Consolidated Financial Statements. We may underestimate our expected credit losses and fail to hold an ACL sufficient to account for these losses. Incorrect assumptions could lead to material underestimates of expected losses and an inadequate ACL. As our assessment of expected losses changes, we may need to increase or decrease our ACL, which could significantly impact our financial results and profitability.
The adoption of ASU No. 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, referred to as CECL, effective for us on January 1, 2020, resulted in a significant change in how we recognize credit losses. If the assumptions or estimates we used in adopting the new standard are incorrect or we need to change our underlying assumptions, there may be a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.
Effective January 1, 2020, we adopted CECL, which replaces the incurred loss impairment methodology in current U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to form credit loss estimates. The measurement of expected credit losses is to be based on historical loss experience, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the reported amount. This measurement will take place at the time the financial asset is first added to the balance sheet and periodically thereafter. This differs significantly from the incurred loss model which delayed
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recognition until it was probable a loss had been incurred. Upon origination of a loan, the estimate of expected credit losses, and any subsequent changes to such estimate, will be recorded through provision for credit losses in our consolidated statement of income. The CECL model may create more volatility in the level of our ACL.
The CECL model permits the use of judgment in determining the approach that is most appropriate for us, based on facts and circumstances. Changes in economic conditions affecting borrowers, new information regarding our loans and other factors, both within and outside of our control, may require an increase in the ACL. Actual credit losses may exceed our estimate of expected losses. We will continue to periodically review and update our CECL methodology, models and the underlying assumptions, estimates and assessments we use to establish our ACL under the CECL standard to reflect our view of current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts. We will implement further enhancements or changes to our methodology, models and the underlying assumptions, estimates and assessments, as needed. If the assumptions we used in developing our estimate of expected credit losses require updating over time, there may be a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.
For additional information on our adoption of the CECL standard, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”.
Our loan portfolio is concentrated within our market area, and our lack of geographic diversification increases our risk profile.
The regional economic conditions within our market area affect the demand for our products and services as well as the ability of our customers to repay their loans and the value of the collateral securing these loans. A significant decline in the regional economy caused by inflation, recession, unemployment or other factors could negatively affect our customers, the quality of our loan portfolio and the demand for our products and services. Any sustained period of increased payment delinquencies, foreclosures or losses caused by adverse market or economic conditions in our market area could adversely affect the value of our assets, revenues, results of operations and financial condition. Moreover, we cannot give any assurance that we will benefit from any market growth or favorable economic conditions in our primary market area.
Our loan portfolio has a significant concentration of commercial loans that have a higher risk of loss.
The majority of our loans are to commercial borrowers including commercial and industrial, or C&I, commercial real estate, or CRE, and construction loans with real estate as the primary collateral. The commercial loan portfolio typically involves a higher degree of credit risk than other types of loans. For the C&I segment this is due to the customer’s repayment ability being based upon the success of its business operations, the susceptibility of the customer’s business to changing economic conditions, the dependence of our customer on maintaining sufficient cash flow to make payments on the loan and our reliance on the underlying collateral, which is usually only the business assets that may not have sufficient value when the borrower encounters financial difficulties. For the CRE segment higher risk is due to higher loan principal amounts, where the repayment of these loans is generally dependent, in large part, on sufficient income from the properties securing the loans to cover operating expenses and debt service. Because payments on loans secured by CRE often depend upon the successful operation and management of the properties, repayment of these loans may be affected by factors outside the borrower’s control, including adverse conditions in the real estate market or the economy. Additionally, we have a number of significant credit exposures to commercial borrowers, and while the majority of these borrowers have numerous projects that make up the total aggregate exposure, if one or more of these borrowers default or have financial difficulties, we could experience higher credit losses, which could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations. Further, an individual commercial loan balance is typically larger than other loans in our portfolio, creating the potential for larger credit losses on an individual loan. The deterioration of one or a few of these loans could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to General Economic Conditions
General economic conditions may harm our industry, business and results of operations.
Various aspects of our business could be impacted by general macroeconomic conditions including, among others, inflation, interest rates, supply chain complications and economic uncertainty. Inflation rates in the United States have increased to levels not experienced in several years. Inflation, interest rates and related economic volatility, as well as supply chain complications, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. These unfavorable economic conditions could, among other things, impact the value of our securities portfolio, impact our net interest margin, adversely impact our customer’s ability to make payments on floating rate loans, if interest rates rise, and increase the risk of default by our customers experiencing financial difficulties and business disruptions.
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Risks Related to Our Operations
Failure to keep pace with technological changes could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
The financial services industry is constantly undergoing rapid technological change with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. The effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables financial institutions to better service customers and reduce costs. Our future success depends, in part, upon our ability to address the needs of our customers by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy their demands, as well as create additional efficiencies within our operations. Many of our large competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements. We may not be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services quickly or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers. Failure to successfully keep pace with technological change affecting the financial services industry could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
A failure in or breach of our operational or security systems or infrastructure, or those of third parties, could disrupt our businesses, and adversely impact our results of operations, liquidity and financial condition, as well as cause reputational harm.
Our operational and security systems, infrastructure, including our computer systems, data management and internal processes, as well as those of third parties, are integral to our business. We rely on our employees and third parties in our day-to-day and ongoing operations, who may, as a result of human error, misconduct or malfeasance, or failure or breach of third- party systems or infrastructure, expose us to risk. We have taken measures to implement backup systems and other safeguards to support our operations, but our ability to conduct business may be adversely affected by any significant disruptions to us or to third parties with whom we interact. In addition, our ability to implement backup systems and other safeguards with respect to third-party systems is more limited than with our own systems.
We handle a substantial volume of customer and other financial transactions every day. Our financial, accounting, data processing, check processing, electronic funds transfer, loan processing, online and mobile banking, automated teller machines, or ATMs, backup or other operating or security systems and infrastructure may fail to operate properly or become disabled or damaged as a result of a number of factors including events that are wholly or partially beyond our control. This could adversely affect our ability to process these transactions or provide these services. There could be sudden increases in customer transaction volume, electrical, telecommunications or other major physical infrastructure outages, natural disasters, events arising from local or larger scale political or social matters, including terrorist acts, and cyber attacks. We continuously update these systems to support our operations and growth. This updating entails significant costs and creates risks associated with implementing new systems and integrating them with existing ones. Operational risk exposures could adversely impact our results of operations, liquidity and financial condition, and cause reputational harm.
A cyber attack, information or security breach, or a technology failure of ours or of a third-party could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business or manage our exposure to risk, result in the disclosure or misuse of confidential or proprietary information, increase our costs to maintain and update our operational and security systems and infrastructure, and adversely impact our results of operations, liquidity and financial condition, as well as cause reputational harm.
Our business is highly dependent on the security and efficacy of our infrastructure, computer and data management systems, as well as those of third parties with whom we interact. Cyber security risks for financial institutions have significantly increased in recent years in part because of the proliferation of new technologies, the use of the Internet and telecommunications technologies to conduct financial transactions, and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, hackers, terrorists and other external parties, including foreign state actors. Our operations rely on the secure processing, transmission, storage and retrieval of confidential, proprietary and other information in our computer and data management systems and networks, and in the computer and data management systems and networks of third parties. We rely on digital technologies, computer, database and email systems, software, and networks to conduct our operations. In addition, to access our network and products and services, our customers and third parties may use personal mobile devices or computing devices that are outside of our network environment.
Financial services institutions have been subject to, and are likely to continue to be the target of, cyber attacks, including computer viruses, malicious or destructive code, phishing attacks, denial of service or other security breaches that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss or destruction of confidential, proprietary and other information of the institution, its employees or customers or of third parties, or otherwise materially disrupt network access or business
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operations. For example, denial of service attacks have been launched against a number of large financial institutions and several large retailers have disclosed substantial cyber security breaches affecting debit and credit card accounts of their customers. We have experienced cyber security incidents in the past and although not material, we anticipate that, as a growing regional bank, we could experience further incidents. There can be no assurance that we will not suffer material losses or other material consequences relating to technology failure, cyber attacks or other information or security breaches.
In addition to external threats, insider threats also present a risk to us. Insiders, having legitimate access to our systems and the information contained in them, have the opportunity to make inappropriate use of the systems and information. We have policies, procedures, and controls in place designed to prevent or limit this risk, but we cannot guarantee that these policies, procedures and controls fully mitigate this risk.
As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify and enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any information security vulnerabilities or incidents. Any of these matters could result in our loss of customers and business opportunities, significant disruption to our operations and business, misappropriation or destruction of our confidential information and/or that of our customers, or damage to our customers’ and/or third parties’ computers or systems, and could result in a violation of applicable privacy laws and other laws, litigation exposure, regulatory fines, penalties or intervention, loss of confidence in our security measures, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensatory costs, and additional compliance costs. In addition, any of the matters described above could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
Fraudulent activity associated with our products and services could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and stock price, negatively impact our brand and reputation, and result in regulatory intervention or sanctions.
As a financial institution we are exposed to operational risk in the form of fraudulent activity that may be committed by customers, other third parties, or employees, targeting us and our customers. The risk of fraud continues to increase for the financial services industry. Fraudulent activity has escalated, become more sophisticated, and continues to evolve, as there are more options to access financial services. In our Form 8-K filed May 26, 2020, we disclosed that we discovered customer fraud resulting from a check kiting scheme by a business customer of S&T. We recognized a pre-tax loss of $58.7 million during the second quarter of 2020 related to this customer fraud. As a result of our internal review of the fraud, we have made process and monitoring enhancements. While we believe we have operational risk controls in place to prevent or detect future instances of fraud or to mitigate the impact of any fraud, we cannot provide assurance that we can prevent or detect fraud or that we will not experience future fraud losses or incur costs or other damage related to such fraud, at levels that adversely affect our results of operation, financial condition, or stock price. Furthermore, fraudulent activity could negatively impact our brand and reputation, which could also adversely affect our results of operation, financial condition, or stock price. Fraudulent activity could also lead to regulatory intervention or regulatory sanctions.
We rely on third-party providers and other suppliers for a number of services that are important to our business. An interruption or cessation of an important service by any third-party could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are dependent for the majority of our technology, including our core operating system, on third-party providers. If these companies were to discontinue providing services to us, we may experience significant disruption to our business. In addition, each of these third parties faces the risk of cyber attack, information breach or loss, or technology failure. If any of our third-party service providers experience such difficulties, or if there is any other disruption in our relationships with them, we may be required to find alternative sources of such services. We are dependent on these third-party providers securing their information systems, over which we have limited control, and a breach of their information systems could adversely affect our ability to process transactions, service our clients or manage our exposure to risk and could result in the disclosure of sensitive, personal customer information, which could have a material adverse impact on our business through damage to our reputation, loss of business, remedial costs, additional regulatory scrutiny or exposure to civil litigation and possible financial liability. Assurance cannot be provided that we could negotiate terms with alternative service sources that are as favorable or could obtain services with similar functionality as found in existing systems without the need to expend substantial resources, if at all, thereby resulting in a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
Failure to continue to attract, develop, and maintain a highly skilled workforce may have an adverse effect on our business.
Our business requires that we attract, develop, and maintain a highly skilled workforce. Competition for qualified employees and personnel in the banking industry is strong, and there are a limited number of qualified persons with knowledge of, and experience in, the banking industry where we conduct our business. Our ability to attract and retain skilled personnel cost effectively is subject to a variety of external factors, including the limited availability of qualified personnel in the
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workforce in the local markets in which we operate, unemployment levels within those markets, prevailing wage rates, which have increased significantly, health and other insurance costs, and changes in employment and labor laws. Furthermore, the complexities introduced into the labor market as a result of the transition to increased work-from-home arrangements have impacted the competitive landscape in our labor market. Based on current conditions in the labor market, we have experienced some difficulty in retaining and attracting personnel and there is no assurance that we will be able to continue to successfully do so.
Risks Related to Our Business Strategy
Our strategy includes growth plans through organic growth and by means of acquisitions. Our financial condition and results of operations could be negatively affected if we fail to grow or fail to manage our growth effectively.
We intend to continue pursuing a growth strategy through organic growth within our current footprint and through market expansion. We also actively evaluate acquisition opportunities as another source of growth. We cannot give assurance that we will be able to expand our existing market presence, or successfully enter new markets or that any such expansion will not adversely affect our results of operations. Failure to manage our growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, future prospects, financial condition or results of operations and could adversely affect our ability to successfully implement our business strategy.
Our failure to find suitable acquisition candidates, or successfully bid against other competitors for acquisitions, could adversely affect our ability to fully implement our business strategy. If we are successful in acquiring other entities, the process of integrating such entities will divert significant management time and resources. We may not be able to integrate efficiently or operate profitably any entity we may acquire. We may experience disruption and incur unexpected expenses in integrating acquisitions. These failures could adversely impact our future prospects and results of operation.
Our future performance will depend, in part, on the successful transition of our new CEO.
Christopher J. McComish was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of S&T and S&T Bank, effective August 23, 2021 (the “Effective Date”) and was appointed to the Boards of Directors of S&T and S&T Bank on the Effective Date. David G. Antolik, who served as Interim Chief Executive Officer since April 2021 through the Effective Date, continues to serve as President of S&T and S&T Bank and as a member of the Boards of Directors of S&T and S&T Bank. Our future performance will depend, in part, on the successful transition of our new CEO. This transition may be disruptive to our business, and if we are unable to execute an orderly transition and successfully integrate our new CEO into our management team, our revenue, results of operations, and financial condition may be adversely affected. Further, if our new CEO formulates different or changed views, the future strategy and plans of S&T may differ materially from those of the past.
We are subject to competition from both banks and non-banking companies.
The financial services industry is highly competitive, and we encounter strong competition for deposits, loans and other financial services in our market area, including online providers of these products and services. Our principal competitors include other local, regional and national financial services providers, such as other financial holding companies, commercial banks, credit unions, finance companies and brokerage and insurance firms, including competitors that provide their products and services online. Many of our non-bank competitors are not subject to the same degree of regulation that we are and have advantages over us in providing certain services. Additionally, many of our competitors are significantly larger than we are and have greater access to capital and other resources. Failure to compete effectively for deposit, loan and other financial services customers in our markets could cause us to lose market share, slow our growth rate and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We may be required to raise capital in the future, but that capital may not be available or may not be on acceptable terms when it is needed.
We are required by federal regulatory authorities to maintain adequate capital levels to support operations. While we believe we currently have sufficient capital, if we cannot raise additional capital when needed, we may not be able to meet these requirements. In addition, our ability to further expand our operations through organic growth, which includes growth within our current footprint and growth through market expansion, may be adversely affected by any inability to raise necessary capital. Our ability to raise additional capital at any given time is dependent on capital market conditions at that time and on our financial performance and outlook.
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Risks Related to Interest Rates and Investments
Our net interest income could be negatively affected by interest rate changes which may adversely affect our financial condition.
Our results of operations are largely dependent on net interest income, which is the difference between the interest and fees earned on interest-earning assets and the interest paid on interest-bearing liabilities. Therefore, any change in general market interest rates, including changes resulting from the Federal Reserve Board’s policies, can have a significant effect on our net interest income and total income. There may be mismatches between the maturity and repricing of our assets and liabilities that could cause the net interest rate spread to compress, depending on the level and type of changes in the interest rate environment. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors that are beyond our control, including general economic conditions and the policies of various governmental agencies. In addition, some of our customers often have the ability to prepay loans or redeem deposits with either no penalties or penalties that are insufficient to compensate us for the lost income. A significant reduction in our net interest income will adversely affect our business and results of operations. If we are unable to manage interest rate risk effectively, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially harmed.
Declines in the value of investment securities held by us could require write-downs, which would reduce our earnings.
In order to diversify earnings and enhance liquidity, we own debt instruments of government agencies and municipalities. We may be required to record impairment charges on our debt securities if they suffer a decline in value due to the underlying credit of the issuer. Additionally, the value of these investments may fluctuate depending on the interest rate environment, general economic conditions and circumstances specific to the issuer. Volatile market conditions may detrimentally affect the value of these securities, such as through reduced valuations due to the perception of heightened credit or liquidity risks. Changes in the value of these instruments may result in a reduction to earnings and/or capital, which may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Related to Regulatory Compliance and Legal Matters
We are subject to extensive governmental regulation and supervision.
We are subject to extensive state and federal regulation, supervision and legislation that govern nearly every aspect of our operations. The regulations are primarily intended to protect depositors, customers and the banking system as a whole, not shareholders. These regulations affect our lending practices, capital structure, investment practices, dividend policy and growth, among other things. Congress and federal regulatory agencies continually review banking laws, regulations and policies for possible changes. The Dodd-Frank Act, enacted in July 2010, instituted major changes to the banking and financial institutions regulatory regimes. Other changes to statutes, regulations or policies could affect us in substantial and unpredictable ways. The regulatory environment of the current administration may take a more active approach to financial services regulation with respect to its major policy goals, such as climate change, racial equity, and consumer protection. Any regulatory changes could subject us to additional costs of regulatory compliance and of doing business, limit the types of financial services and products we may offer and/or increase the ability of non-banks to offer competing financial services and products, among other things, and could divert management’s time from other business activities. Failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations, policies or supervisory guidance could lead to enforcement and other legal actions by federal or state authorities, including criminal or civil penalties, the loss of FDIC insurance, the revocation of a banking charter, other sanctions by regulatory agencies, and/or damage to our reputation. The ramifications and uncertainties of the level of government intervention in the U.S. financial system could also adversely affect us.
Our controls and policies and procedures may fail or be circumvented, which may result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Management regularly reviews and updates our internal controls, disclosure controls and procedures, operating, risk management and corporate governance policies and procedures. Any system of controls, policies and procedures, however well designed and operated, is based in part on certain assumptions and can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurances that the objectives of the system are met. Any failure or circumvention of internal controls, disclosure controls and procedures, or operating, risk management and corporate governance policies and procedures, whether as a result of human error, misconduct or malfeasance, or failure to comply with regulations related to controls and policies and procedures could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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Furthermore, we may in the future discover areas of our internal controls, disclosure controls and procedures, or operating, risk management and corporate governance policies and procedures that need improvement. Failure to maintain effective controls or to timely implement any necessary improvement of our internal and disclosure controls, or operating, risk management and corporate governance policies and procedures, could, among other things, result in losses from errors, harm our reputation, or cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
As a participating lender in the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, we are subject to risks of litigation from our customers or other parties in connection with our processing of loans for the PPP and risks that the Small Business Administration may not fund some or all PPP loans.
We participate as a lender in the PPP. Due to the short timeframe between the passing of the CARES Act and the opening of the PPP, there is some ambiguity in the laws, rules and guidance regarding the operation of the program, which exposes us to risks relating to noncompliance with the PPP. Since the opening of the PPP, several large banks have been subject to litigation relating to the policies and procedures they used in processing applications for the program. We may be exposed to the risk of litigation, from both customers and non-customers who approached us requesting PPP loans, regarding the process and procedures used by us in processing applications for the PPP. Any such litigation filed against us may be costly, regardless of the outcome, and result in significant financial liability or adversely affect our reputation.
In addition, while the PPP loans are fully guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, or SBA, and we believe that the majority of these loans will be forgiven, there can be no assurance that the borrowers will use or have used the funds appropriately or will have satisfied the staffing or payment requirements to qualify for forgiveness in whole or in part. Any portion of the loan that is not forgiven must be repaid by the borrower. In the event of a loss resulting from a default on a PPP loan and a determination by the SBA that there was a deficiency in the manner in which the PPP loan was originated, funded or serviced by us, which may or may not be related to an ambiguity in the laws, rules or guidance regarding operation of the PPP, the SBA may deny its liability under the guaranty, reduce the amount of the guaranty, or, if we have already been paid under the guaranty, seek recovery from us of any loss related to the deficiency.
Negative public opinion could damage our reputation and adversely impact our earnings and liquidity.
Reputational risk, or the risk to our business, earnings, liquidity and capital from negative public opinion, is inherent in our operations. Negative public opinion could result from our actual or alleged conduct in a variety of areas, including legal and regulatory compliance, lending practices, corporate governance, litigation, ethical issues or inadequate protection of customer information. Financial companies are highly vulnerable to reputational damage when they are found to have harmed customers, particularly retail customers, through conduct that is illegal or viewed as unfair, deceptive, manipulative or otherwise wrongful. We are dependent on third-party providers for a number of services that are important to our business. Refer to the risk factor titled, “We rely on third-party providers and other suppliers for a number of services that are important to our business. An interruption or cessation of an important service by any third-party could have a material adverse effect on our business.” for additional information. A failure by any of these third-party service providers could cause a disruption in our operations, which could result in negative public opinion about us or damage to our reputation. We expend significant resources to comply with regulatory requirements, and the failure to comply with such regulations could result in reputational harm or significant legal or remedial costs. Damage to our reputation could adversely affect our ability to retain and attract new customers and employees, expose us to litigation and regulatory action and adversely impact our earnings and liquidity.
Our ability to pay dividends on our common stock may be limited
Holders of our common stock will be entitled to receive only such dividends as our Board of Directors may declare out of funds legally available for such payments. The payment of common dividends by S&T is subject to certain requirements and limitations of Pennsylvania law. Although we have historically declared cash dividends on our common stock, we are not required to do so and our Board of Directors could reduce, suspend or eliminate our dividend at any time. Substantial portions of our revenue consist of dividend payments we receive from S&T Bank. The payment of common dividends by S&T Bank is subject to certain requirements and limitations under federal and state laws and regulations that limit the amount of dividends it can pay to S&T. In addition, both S&T and S&T Bank are subject to various general regulatory policies relating to the payment of dividends, including requirements to maintain adequate capital above regulatory minimums. Any decrease to or elimination of the dividends on our common stock could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
We may be adversely impacted by the transition from LIBOR as a reference rate.
On July 27, 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom announced that it would phase out LIBOR as a benchmark by the end of 2021. In late 2020, the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) extended the cessation date for submission and publication of rates for all LIBOR currency-tenor pairs until June 30, 2023, except for the one-week and two-
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month USD LIBOR tenors, which ceased on December 31, 2021. U.S. regulators, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, published a statement supporting the IBA’s plans and urged banks to phase out LIBOR as soon as practicable. On March 5, 2021, IBA stated that it will cease the publication of (i) the overnight and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months USD LIBOR settings immediately following the LIBOR publication on June 30, 2023 and (ii) all other LIBOR settings, including the 1 week and 2 month USD LIBOR settings, immediately following the LIBOR publication on Friday, December 31, 2021. In October 2021, five federal financial institution regulatory agencies, in conjunction with the state bank and state credit union regulators, jointly issued a statement to emphasize the expectation that supervised institutions with LIBOR exposure continue to progress toward an orderly transition away from LIBOR. In that guidance, the agencies offered their regulatory expectations and outlined potential supervisory and enforcement consequences for banks that fail to adequately plan for and implement the transition away from LIBOR. The failure to properly transition away from LIBOR may result in increased supervisory scrutiny. The U.S. Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of large U.S. financial institutions, has identified the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, a new index calculated by short-term repurchase agreements, backed by Treasury securities, as its preferred alternative rate for LIBOR however, other market alternatives have been developed. While SOFR has been adopted in select product areas it has not achieved full implementation as an alternative reference rate. At this time, it is not possible to predict how markets will respond to alternative reference rates as markets continue to transition away from LIBOR. While several states have enacted legislation addressing the LIBOR transition and others may do so and the U.S. House of Representatives passed LIBOR transition legislation on December 8, 2021, it remains unclear that these initiatives will fully address the issues with the LIBOR transition.
Furthermore, because of the complexity of the transition from LIBOR, at this time, it is not possible to predict what rate or rates may become accepted alternatives to LIBOR, or what the effect of any such changes in views or alternatives may be on the value of LIBOR-based securities and variable rate loans, subordinated debentures, or other securities or financial arrangements.
We have a significant number of loans, derivative contracts, borrowings and other financial instruments with attributes that are either directly or indirectly dependent on LIBOR. We have established a committee to guide our transition from LIBOR and have begun efforts to transition to alternative rates consistent with industry timelines. We have identified products that utilize LIBOR and are revising fallback language to facilitate the transition to alternative reference rates. Our failure to adequately manage the transition could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Climate change and related legislative and regulatory initiatives may have an adverse impact on us and our clients.
Increased focus and concern over the effects of climate change have resulted in increased political and social initiatives directed toward climate change. Governments have entered into international agreements with respect to climate change, and U.S. federal and state legislatures, regulatory agencies, and supervisory authorities, including those with oversight of financial institutions, have proposed initiatives seeking to mitigate the effects of climate change. While many of the current regulatory proposals do not apply directly to S&T, continued focus on climate change may lead to the promulgation of new regulations or supervisory guidance applicable to S&T and, as a result, we may experience increased compliance costs and other compliance-related risks. Furthermore, our customers could be impacted by regulatory initiatives focused on addressing and mitigating the effects of climate change resulting in an adverse impact on their financial condition and creditworthiness. Depending on the nature of the initiative, the business impacted, and the composition of loan portfolio, our business and results of operations could be negatively impacted by climate change initiatives directed at our customers. Additionally, our business and the business of our customers could be negatively impacted by disruptions in economic activity resulting from the physical impacts of climate change.
Risks Related to Liquidity
We rely on a stable core deposit base as our primary source of liquidity.
We are dependent for our funding on a stable base of core deposits. Our ability to maintain a stable core deposit base is a function of our financial performance, our reputation and the security provided by FDIC insurance, which combined, gives customers confidence in us. If any of these considerations deteriorates, the stability of our core deposits could be harmed. In addition, deposit levels may be affected by factors such as general interest rate levels, rates paid by competitors, returns available to customers on alternative investments and general economic conditions. Accordingly, we may be required from time to time to rely on other sources of liquidity to meet withdrawal demands or otherwise fund operations.
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Our ability to meet contingency funding needs, in the event of a crisis that causes a disruption to our core deposit base, is dependent on access to wholesale markets, including funds provided by the FHLB of Pittsburgh.
We own stock in the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, or FHLB, in order to qualify for membership in the FHLB system, which enables us to borrow on our line of credit with the FHLB that is secured by a blanket lien on a significant portion of our loan portfolio. Changes or disruptions to the FHLB or the FHLB system in general may materially impact our ability to meet short and long-term liquidity needs or meet growth plans. Additionally, we cannot be assured that the FHLB will be able to provide funding to us when needed, nor can we be certain that the FHLB will provide funds specifically to us, should our financial condition and/or our regulators prevent access to our line of credit. The inability to access this source of funds could have a materially adverse effect on our ability to meet our customer’s needs. Our financial flexibility could be severely constrained if we were unable to maintain our access to funding or if adequate financing is not available at acceptable interest rates.
Risks Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, in our principal area of operations, nationally and globally, has adversely impacted and will likely continue to adversely impact S&T’s business, results of operations and financial condition. While it is difficult to predict the further impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (or any other outbreak) on the economy and S&T, the future impacts may include, but are not limited to, the following:
•Our results of operations may negatively be impacted by general economic or business conditions and uncertainty, including the strength of economic conditions in our principal area of operations impacting the demand for our products and services.
•Credit losses may be higher and our provision for credit losses may be elevated due to deterioration in the financial condition of S&T’s commercial and consumer loan customers.
•Lower asset and collateral values may necessitate increases in our provision for credit losses and net charge-offs.
•The pace of recovery in the hospitality and healthcare industries and our associated loan portfolio could result in additional credit losses and net charge-offs.
•Expense management will be impacted by the uncertainty of the effects of the pandemic and S&T’s continued efforts to promote the health and safety of our employees, and the customers and communities we serve.
•We may have an interruption or cessation of an important service provided by a third-party provider.
•S&T’s liquidity and regulatory capital could be adversely impacted.
•Any new or revised regulations regarding capital and liquidity adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic may require us to maintain materially more capital or liquidity.
•Investors may have less confidence in the equity markets in general and in financial services industry in particular, which could have a negative impact on S&T’s stock price and resulting market valuation.
•Economic pressure caused by the pandemic may recur, be deeper and last longer in the areas where we do business, relative to other areas of the country, which could negatively affect our relative financial performance.
•We face heightened cyber security risk in connection with our operation in a remote working environment.
•It may become harder to maintain our corporate culture, which is somewhat dependent on a level of in-person interaction.
Even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the U.S. economy will likely require time to recover.It is uncertain how long this recovery will take. As a result, we anticipate our business may be adversely affected during this recovery.
To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic continues to adversely affect the global economy it may also increase the likelihood and/or magnitude of other risks described in this section.
The impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on S&T’s credit losses is uncertain, and continued economic uncertainty in the forward looking economic forecasts used to estimate credit losses, as well as the potential inability of our credit models to accurately predict the relevant financial metrics, may adversely affect our ACL.
S&T calculates the ACL in accordance with Current Expected Credit Loss, or CECL, accounting standard adopted January 1, 2020. The CECL methodology reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broad range of reasonable and supportable information to form credit loss estimates. The CECL accounting standard bases the measurement of expected credit losses on historical loss experience, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the reported amount. S&T’s ability to assess expected credit losses may be impaired if the models and approaches we use become less predictive of future behaviors. In particular, the reliance on supportable economic forecasts in light of the COVID-19 pandemic has had and is expected to have an impact on the estimates of our ACL. Given the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, if our credit models fail to adequately predict or forecast relevant financial
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metrics during and after the pandemic and these forecasts deteriorate and contain economic uncertainty, our ACL may be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Owning Our Stock
The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to a number of factors.
Our quarterly and annual operating results have varied significantly in the past and could vary significantly in the future, which makes it difficult for us to predict our future operating results. Our operating results may fluctuate due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including the changing U.S. economic environment and changes in the commercial and residential real estate market, any of which may cause our stock price to fluctuate. If our operating results fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Our stock price can fluctuate significantly in response to a variety of factors including, among other things:
•volatility of stock market prices and volumes in general;
•changes in market valuations of similar companies;
•changes in the conditions of credit markets;
•changes in accounting policies or procedures as required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, or other regulatory agencies;
•legislative and regulatory actions, including the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act and related regulations, that may subject us to additional regulatory oversight which may result in increased compliance costs and/or require us to change our business model;
•government intervention in the U.S. financial system and the effects of and changes in trade and monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including the interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve Board;
•additions or departures of key members of management;
•fluctuations in our quarterly or annual operating results; and
•changes in analysts’ estimates of our financial performance.
General Risk Factors
We may be a defendant from time to time in a variety of litigation and other actions, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
From time to time, customers and others make claims and take legal action pertaining to the performance of our responsibilities. Whether customer claims and legal action related to the performance of our responsibilities are founded or unfounded, if such claims and legal actions are not resolved in a manner favorable to us, they may result in significant expenses, attention from management and financial liability. Any financial liability or reputational damage could have a material adverse effect on our business, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
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Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
There are no unresolved SEC staff comments.
Item 2. PROPERTIES
S&T Bancorp, Inc. headquarters is located in Indiana, Pennsylvania. We operate in five markets including Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio and Upstate New York. At December 31, 2021, we operate 73 banking branches and 5 loan production offices, of which 43 are leased facilities.
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
The nature of our business generates a certain amount of litigation that arises in the ordinary course of business. However, in management’s opinion, there are no proceedings pending that we are a party to or to which our property is subject that would be material in relation to our financial condition or results of operations. In addition, no material proceedings are pending nor are known to be threatened or contemplated against us by governmental authorities or other parties.
Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Stock Prices and Dividend Information
Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market System, or NASDAQ, under the symbol STBA. As of the close of business on January 31, 2022, we had approximately 2,813 shareholders of record. The number of record-holders does not reflect the number of persons or entities holding stock in nominee name through banks, brokerage firms and other nominees.
As discussed under "Our ability to pay dividends on our common stock may be limited." included in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Part I, the amount and timing of dividends is subject to the discretion of the Board and depends upon business conditions and regulatory requirements. The Board has the discretion to change the dividend at any time for any reason. The Board of Directors presently intends to continue the policy of paying quarterly cash dividends. The amount of any future dividends will depend on economic and market conditions, our financial condition and operating results and other factors, including applicable government regulations and policies. S&T’s Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.29 per share on January 24, 2022.
Certain information relating to securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans is set forth under the heading Equity Compensation Plan Information in Part III, Item 12 Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters of this Report.
Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table is a summary of our purchases of common stock during the fourth quarter of 2021:
(1)On March 15, 2021, our Board of Directors authorized an extension of the $50 million share repurchase plan. This authorization extended the expiration date of the repurchase plan through March 31, 2022. The plan permits S&T to repurchase from time to time up to the previously authorized $50 million in aggregate value of shares of S&T's common stock, with $37.4 million of capacity remaining at December 31, 2021, through a combination of open market and privately negotiated repurchases. The specific timing, price and quantity of repurchases will be at the discretion of S&T and will depend on a variety of factors, including general market conditions, the trading price of common stock, legal and contractual requirements, applicable securities laws and S&T's financial performance. The repurchase plan does not obligate us to repurchase any particular number of shares. We expect to fund any repurchases from cash on hand and internally generated funds. Share repurchases will not occur unless permissible under applicable laws.
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Five-Year Cumulative Total Return
The following chart compares the cumulative total shareholder return on our common stock with the cumulative total shareholder return of the NASDAQ Composite Index(1) and the NASDAQ Bank Index(2) assuming a $100 investment in each on December 31, 2016 and the reinvestment of dividends.
Source: Bloomberg
Period Ending
(1)The NASDAQ Composite Index measures all NASDAQ domestic and international based common type stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
(2)The NASDAQ Bank Index contains securities of NASDAQ-listed companies classified according to the Industry Classification Benchmark as Banks. These companies include banks providing a broad range of financial services, including retail banking, loans and money transmissions.
Item 6. [RESERVED]
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Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This section reviews our financial condition for each of the past two years and results of operations for each of the past three years. Certain reclassifications have been made to prior periods to place them on a basis comparable with the current period presentation. Some tables may include additional time periods to illustrate trends within our Consolidated Financial Statements. The results of operations reported in the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected in future periods.
Important Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains or incorporates statements that we believe are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally relate to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, outlook for earnings, revenues, expenses, capital and liquidity levels and ratios, asset levels, asset quality, financial position, and other matters regarding or affecting S&T and its future business and operations. Forward looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as “will likely result”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “assume”, “strategy”, “trend”, “plan”, “outlook”, “outcome”, “continue”, “remain”, “potential”, “opportunity”, “comfortable”, “current”, “position”, “maintain”, “sustain”, “seek”, “achieve” and variations of such words and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as will, would, should, could or may. Although we believe the assumptions upon which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of these assumptions could prove to be inaccurate and the forward-looking statements based on these assumptions could be incorrect. The matters discussed in these forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results and trends to differ materially from those made, projected, or implied in or by the forward-looking statements depending on a variety of uncertainties or other factors including, but not limited to: credit losses and the credit risk of our commercial and consumer loan products; changes in the level of charge-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the allowance for credit losses, or ACL; cyber security concerns; rapid technological developments and changes; operational risks or risk management failures by us or critical third parties, including fraud risk; our ability to manage our reputational risks; sensitivity to the interest rate environment including a prolonged period of low interest rates, a rapid increase in interest rates or a change in the shape of the yield curve; a change in spreads on interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities; the transition from LIBOR as a reference rate; regulatory supervision and oversight, including changes in regulatory capital requirements and our ability to address those requirements; unanticipated changes in our liquidity position; changes in accounting policies, practices, or guidance; legislation affecting the financial services industry as a whole, and S&T, in particular; climate change and related legislative and regulatory initiatives; the outcome of pending and future litigation and governmental proceedings; increasing price and product/service competition; the ability to continue to introduce competitive new products and services on a timely, cost-effective basis; managing our internal growth and acquisitions; the possibility that the anticipated benefits from acquisitions cannot be fully realized in a timely manner or at all, or that integrating the acquired operations will be more difficult, disruptive or costly than anticipated; containing costs and expenses; reliance on significant customer relationships; an interruption or cessation of an important service by a third-party provider; our ability to attract and retain talented executives and employees, particularly in light of the strong competition in the marketplace; our ability to successfully manage our CEO transition; general economic or business conditions, including the strength of regional economic conditions in our market area; macroeconomic conditions including inflation and economic uncertainty; the duration and severity of the coronavirus, or COVID-19 pandemic, both in our principal area of operations and nationally, including the ultimate impact of the pandemic on the economy generally and on our operations; our participation in the Paycheck Protection Program; deterioration of the housing market and reduced demand for mortgages; deterioration in the overall macroeconomic conditions or the state of the banking industry that could warrant further analysis of the carrying value of goodwill and could result in an adjustment to its carrying value resulting in a non-cash charge to net income; the stability of our core deposit base and access to contingency funding; re-emergence of turbulence in significant portions of the global financial and real estate markets that could impact our performance, both directly, by affecting our revenues and the value of our assets and liabilities, and indirectly, by affecting the economy generally and access to capital in the amounts, at the times and on the terms required to support our future businesses. Many of these factors, as well as other factors, are described elsewhere in this report, including Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors and any of our subsequent filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements are based on beliefs and assumptions using information available at the time the statements are made. We caution you not to unduly rely on forward-looking statements because the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and projections about future events may, and often do, differ materially from actual results. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as to the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect developments occurring after the statement is made.
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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. Application of these principles requires management to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the amounts reported in the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying Notes. These estimates, assumptions and judgments are based on information available as of the date of the Consolidated Financial Statements; accordingly, as this information changes, the Consolidated Financial Statements could reflect different estimates, assumptions and judgments. Certain policies are based to a greater extent on estimates, assumptions and judgments of management and, as such, have a greater possibility of producing results that could be materially different than originally reported.
Our most significant accounting policies are presented in Note 1 Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Report. These policies, along with the disclosures presented in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, provide information on how significant assets and liabilities are valued in the Consolidated Financial Statements and how those values are determined.
We view critical accounting policies to be those which are highly dependent on subjective or complex estimates, assumptions and judgments and where changes in those estimates and assumptions could have a significant impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements. Further, we view critical accounting estimates as those estimates made in accordance with
GAAP that involve a significant level of estimation uncertainty and have had or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations. We currently view the determination of the ACL and goodwill and other intangible assets to be critical accounting policies. Refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 for critical accounting policies and estimates for the prior year. We did not significantly change the manner in which we applied our critical accounting policies or developed related assumptions or estimates during 2021. We have reviewed these critical accounting estimates and related disclosures with the Audit Committee.
Allowance for Credit Losses
In January 2020, we adopted ASC 326, which replaced the former incurred loss methodology with an expected credit loss methodology that requires consideration of a broader range of information to estimate expected credit losses over the lifetime of an asset. The allowance for credit losses, or ACL, is a valuation reserve established and maintained by charges against operating income. It is an estimate of expected credit losses, measured over the contractual life of a loan, that considers historical loss experience, current conditions and forecasts of future economic conditions.
Management’s evaluation process used to determine the appropriateness of the ACL is complex and requires the use of estimates, assumptions and judgments which are inherently subject to high uncertainty. The evaluation process combines several factors: historical loan loss experience, managements ongoing review of lending policies and practices, experience and depth of staff, quality of the loan grading system, the fair value of underlying collateral, concentration of loans to specific borrowers or industries, existing economic conditions and forecasts, segment specific risks and other quantitative and qualitative factors which could affect future credit losses. Our reasonable and supportable forecast is based primarily on the national unemployment forecast produced by the Federal Reserve and is for a period of two years. For periods beyond our two-year forecast, we revert to historical loss rates utilizing a straight-line method over a one-year reversion period. Because current economic conditions and forecasts can change and future events are inherently difficult to predict, the anticipated amount of estimated credit losses on loans and the appropriateness of the ACL could change significantly. It is challenging to estimate how potential changes in any one economic factor or input might affect the overall allowance because a wide variety of factors and inputs may be directionally inconsistent, such that improvement in one factor may offset deterioration in others.
In conjunction with our capital stress testing process, we consider different economic scenarios that impact the ACL. Among other balance sheet and income statement changes, our severely adverse scenario would have resulted in an increase to the ACL of approximately 80 percent. This stressed scenario includes both the quantitative and qualitative components of the model. This severely adverse scenario shows how sensitive the ACL can be to key qualitative and quantitative assumptions underlying the overall ACL calculation. To the extent actual losses are higher than management estimates, additional provision for credit losses could be required and could adversely affect our earnings or financial position in future periods.
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
As a result of acquisitions, we have recorded goodwill and identifiable intangible assets in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net assets acquired.
The acquisition method of accounting requires that assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations are recorded at their fair values. This often involves estimates based on third party valuations or internal valuations based on discounted cash flow analyses or other valuation techniques which are inherently subjective. Business combinations also typically result in goodwill which is subject to ongoing periodic impairment tests based on the fair values of the reporting units to which the acquired goodwill relates.
The carrying value of goodwill is tested annually for impairment each October 1st or more frequently if events and
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circumstances indicate that it may be impaired. We test for impairment by comparing the fair value of our Community Banking reporting unit with its carrying amount. An impairment charge would be recognized if the the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit's fair value. Determining the fair value of a reporting unit is judgmental and involves the use of significant estimates and assumptions. The fair value of the reporting unit is determined by using both a discounted cash flow model and market based models. The discounted cash flow model has many assumptions including future earnings projections, a long-term growth rate and discount rate. The market based method calculates the fair value based on observed price multiples for similar companies. The fair values of each method are then weighted based on the relevance and reliability in the current economic environment.
We last completed a quantitative goodwill impairment test as of November 30, 2020 and concluded that goodwill was not impaired. A discount rate of 11.50 percent was used for the income approach. If the discount rate was increased 2 percent to 13.50 percent, our fair value would have still exceeded carrying value resulting in no goodwill impairment. Based upon our qualitative assessment performed for our annual impairment analysis as of October 1, 2021, we concluded that goodwill is not impaired.
The financial services industry and securities markets can be adversely affected by declining values. If economic conditions result in a prolonged period of economic weakness in the future, our business may be adversely affected. In the event that we determine that our goodwill is impaired, recognition of an impairment charge could have a significant adverse impact on our financial position or results of operations in the period in which the impairment occurs.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements and Developments
Note 1 Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, which is included in Part II, Item 8 Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this Report, discusses new accounting pronouncements that we have adopted and the expected impact of accounting pronouncements recently issued or proposed, but not yet required to be adopted.
Explanation of Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to traditional measures presented in accordance with GAAP, our management uses, and this Report contains or references, certain non-GAAP financial measures identified below. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide information useful to investors in understanding our underlying operational performance and our business and performance trends as they facilitate comparisons with the performance of other companies in the financial services industry. Although we believe that these non-GAAP financial measures enhance investors’ understanding of our business and performance, these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered an alternative to GAAP or considered to be more important than financial results determined in accordance with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable with non-GAAP measures which may be presented by other companies. See discussion of net interest income on an FTE basis (non-GAAP) and the efficiency ratio (non-GAAP) and related reconciliations to GAAP discussed below.
Executive Overview
We are a bank holding company that is headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania with assets of $9.5 billion at December 31, 2021. We operate in five markets including Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio and Upstate New York. We provide a full range of financial services with retail and commercial banking products, cash management services, trust and brokerage services. Our common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "STBA."
We earn revenue primarily from interest on loans and securities and fees charged for financial services provided to our customers. We incur expenses for the cost of deposits and other funding sources, provision for credit losses and other operating costs such as salaries and employee benefits, data processing, occupancy and tax expense.
Our mission is to become the financial services provider of choice within the markets that we serve which will enable us to be a high performing regional community bank. We strive to do this by delivering exceptional service and value.
On August 23, 2021, Christopher McComish joined S&T as our new chief executive officer. He brings over 34 years of proven banking leadership with a track record of growth and transformation of commercial, consumer and wealth businesses. Additionally, we have elevated both proven internal leaders and attracted external talent from larger banking institutions to position us for future growth. Our priorities for 2022 and beyond include pursuing high impact growth initiatives, ensuring rigorous credit risk and enterprise governance practices, advancing strategic infrastructure and platform investments, investing in organization talent and performance and promoting strategic clarity and effective communications. Organic loan growth continues to be our top priority within our current footprint and through market expansion. Our growth strategy includes a collaborative model that combines expertise from all areas of our business and focuses on satisfying each customer’s individual financial objectives.We also actively evaluate acquisition opportunities that align with our strategic objectives as another source of growth.
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Results of Operations
Year Ended December 31, 2021
COVID-19 Pandemic Update
S&T continues to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has taken steps to mitigate the potential risks and impact on S&T and to promote the health and safety of our employees, and the customers and communities that we serve. We have taken preventive health measures for our employees through rigorous sanitation, social distancing, wearing masks, remote work where feasible and providing access to financial wellness programs. We have taken extensive safety measures for our customers in our branches and are encouraging our customers to use online and mobile banking solutions. We have also extended our solution center hours to allow for customer consultation without entering a branch. Our Business Continuity teams were activated and have guided our response efforts.
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES Act was signed into law. It contained substantial tax and spending provisions intended to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act included the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, a $349 billion program designed to aid small and medium sized businesses through federally guaranteed loans distributed through banks. The PPP and Health Care Enhancement Act, or PPP/HCEA, was signed into law on April 24, 2020. The PPP/HCEA authorized an additional $310 billion of funding under the CARES Act for PPP loans among other provisions. On July 4, 2020, legislation was passed to extend the application period for the PPP through August 8, 2020.These loans are intended to cover eight weeks of payroll and other permitted expenses to help those businesses remain viable. The PPP ended on May 31, 2021.
We originated $771.5 million of PPP loans during 2020 and 2021. PPP loans are forgivable, in whole or in part, if the proceeds are used for payroll and other permitted expenses in accordance with the requirements of the PPP. These loans carry a fixed rate of 1.00 percent and a term of two years, or five years for loans approved by the SBA, on or after June 5, 2020. Payments are deferred for at least six months of the loan. The loans are 100 percent guaranteed by the SBA.
The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may adversely impact our business depends on future developments, which remain highly uncertain and unpredictable. The pandemic has had, and we expect that it will continue to have, negative impacts on S&T’s commercial and consumer loan customers and the economy as a whole. The severity and length of the pandemic’s impact on S&T and the U.S. and global economies continue to be unknown. Our financial performance continues to be negatively impacted in many ways due to the pandemic. We are closely monitoring our asset quality with a focus on the loan portfolios that have been significantly impacted by the pandemic, including hotel, healthcare and C&I portfolios. We have increased our ACL to be responsive to this additional risk within our loan portfolio. We did experience improvement in our asset quality during 2021, but remain cautious given the current environment. The hotel portfolio improved in the second half of 2021 with $34.0 million of loans being returned to performing status due to improved operating performance. Our balance sheet is asset sensitive resulting in our net interest income and net interest margin, or NIM, being negatively impacted in this low interest rate environment. Loan demand was challenging in the first half of 2021, but we saw growth trends improving late in the second quarter and for the third and fourth quarter of 2021. Net interest income was favorably impacted by PPP loans which contributed to net interest income $17.3 million for 2021 and $11.4 million for 2020.
In order to assist our customers through this difficult period, we have provided the following assistance, which may have an adverse impact on our results in the short term, but which we believe will provide better outcomes in the long term for our customers and for S&T.
•We provided needs-based payment deferrals and modifications to interest only periods to commercial loans during 2020 and 2021 totaling $995.7 million. Only $28.8 million remain on deferral at December 31, 2021.
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•We provided loan payment deferrals, with no negative credit bureau reporting, to mortgage and consumer loans during 2020 and 2021 totaling $81.6 million. No loans remain on deferral at December 31, 2021.
None of these were designated troubled debt restructurings, or TDRs, for accounting purposes.
Earnings Summary
Net income increased $89.3 million to $110.3 million, or $2.81 per diluted share, in 2021 compared to $21.0 million, or $0.53 per diluted share in 2020. This net increase was primarily due to a lower provision for credit losses related to improving economic conditions, as well the offsetting impact of the 2020 customer fraud that reduced net income by $46.3 million, or $1.19 per diluted share.We experienced a pre-tax loss of $58.7 million related to a customer fraud resulting from a check kiting scheme during 2020. The fraud was perpetrated by a single business customer and the customer has plead guilty in a criminal investigation. We continue to pursue all available sources of recovery to mitigate the loss.
Return on average assets, or ROA, was 1.18 percent and return on average equity, or ROE, was 9.30 percent for 2021 compared to ROA of 0.23 percent and ROE of 1.80 percent for 2020.
Net interest income decreased $3.3 million to $276.1 million compared to 2020. The decrease in interest income was primarily due to lower average loan balances and the low rate interest environment compared to 2020. Average loan balances decreased $325.8 million compared to 2020. Net interest income was favorably impacted by PPP loans which contributed $17.3 million compared to $11.4 million in 2020. Average interest-bearing deposits decreased $126.2 million compared to 2020. The net interest margin, or NIM, on an FTE basis (non-GAAP) decreased 16 basis points compared to 2020. The decrease is primarily due to higher average cash balances and the low interest rate environment. PPP loans positively impacted the NIM on an FTE basis (non-GAAP) by 8 basis points compared to the negative impact of 3 basis points in 2020. NIM is reconciled to net interest income adjusted to an FTE basis (non-GAAP) below in the "Net Interest Income" section of this MD&A.
The provision for credit losses was $16.2 million for 2021 compared to $131.4 million in 2020. Excluding a customer fraud loss of $58.7 million, the provision for credit losses was $72.7 million for 2020. The significant decrease in the provision for credit losses during 2021 was mainly due to the customer fraud in 2020 and an improved outlook for the economy and our loan portfolio. Net loan charge-offs were $34.5 million, or 0.49 percent of average loans, in 2021 compared to $103.4 million, or 1.40 percent of average loans, during 2020. Excluding the customer fraud, net loan charge-offs were $44.7 million, or 0.61 percent of average loans in 2020.
Noninterest income increased $4.9 million to $64.6 million compared to $59.7 million in 2020. Wealth management income increased $2.9 million due to customer growth and improved market conditions. Debit and credit card fees increased $2.9 million and service charges on deposit accounts increased $1.4 million due to increased customer activity. These were offset by lower commercial loan swap income of $3.6 million and mortgage banking income of $1.2 million.
Noninterest expense increased $2.2 million to $188.8 million compared to $186.6 million in 2020. Salaries and employee benefits increased $10.1 million primarily due to higher incentives. Data processing and information technology increased $1.2 million due to new products and services in 2021. These higher expenses were offset by decreases in other noninterest expense of $4.1 million, merger related expenses of $2.3 million and marketing of $1.4 million. The efficiency ratio (non-GAAP) for 2021 was 55.05 percent compared to 53.86 percent for 2020.
The efficiency ratio is noninterest expense divided by noninterest income plus net interest income, on an FTE basis, which ensures comparability of net interest income arising from both taxable and tax-exempt sources and is consistent with industry practice. Below is a reconciliation of the non-GAAP efficiency ratio.
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December 31,
Efficiency Ratio (non-GAAP)
Less: merger related expenses — (2,342) (11,350)
Less: net (gains) losses on sale of securities (29) (142) 26
The provision for income taxes increased to $25.3 million in 2021 compared to nearly zero for 2020. The increase in our income tax provision was primarily due to a $114.6 million increase in pretax income in 2021 compared to 2020 when pretax income was impacted by significantly higher provision for credit losses. The effective tax rate increased to 18.7 percent in 2021 compared to a nominal negative annual effective tax rate in 2020. The increase in the effective tax rate was primarily due to significantly higher income before taxes in 2021 compared to 2020.
Net Interest Income
Our principal source of revenue is net interest income. Net interest income represents the difference between the interest and fees earned on interest-earning assets and the interest paid on interest-bearing liabilities. Net interest income is affected by changes in the average balance of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities and changes in interest rates and spreads. The level and mix of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities is managed by our Asset and Liability Committee, or ALCO, in order to mitigate interest rate and liquidity risks of the balance sheet. A variety of ALCO strategies were implemented, within prescribed ALCO risk parameters, to produce what we believe is an acceptable level of net interest income.
The interest income on interest-earning assets and the net interest margin are presented on an FTE basis. The FTE basis adjusts for the tax benefit of income on certain tax-exempt loans and securities and the dividend-received deduction for equity securities using the federal statutory tax rate of 21 percent and the dividend-received deduction for equity securities. We believe this to be the preferred industry measurement of net interest income that provides a relevant comparison between taxable and non-taxable sources of interest income.
The following table reconciles interest income per the Consolidated Statements of Net Income to net interest income and rates on an FTE basis for the periods presented:
Years Ended December 31,
Net Interest Margin (FTE) (non-GAAP) 3.22 % 3.38 % 3.64 %
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Average Balance Sheet and Net Interest Income Analysis
The following table provides information regarding the average balances, interest and rates earned on interest-earning assets and the average balances, interest and rates paid on interest-bearing liabilities for the years ended December 31:
ASSETS
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(1)Nonaccruing loans are included in the daily average loan amounts outstanding.
(2)Tax-exempt income is on an FTE basis using the statutory federal corporate income tax rate of 21 percent .
(3)Taxable investment income is adjusted for the dividend-received deduction for equity securities.
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The following table sets forth for the periods presented a summary of the changes in interest earned and interest paid resulting from changes in volume and changes in rates:
(dollars in thousands) Volume(4) Rate(4) Net Volume(4) Rate(4) Net
Interest earned on:
Interest paid on:
(1)Nonaccruing loans are included in the daily average loan amounts outstanding.
(2)Tax-exempt income is on an FTE basis using the statutory federal corporate income tax rate of 21 percent.
(3)Taxable investment income is adjusted for the dividend-received deduction for equity securities.
(4)Changes to rate/volume are allocated to both rate and volume on a proportionate dollar basis.
Net interest income on an FTE basis (non-GAAP) decreased $4.2 million compared to 2020. The decline was primarily due to lower average loan balances compared to 2020. Net interest income was favorably impacted by PPP loans which contributed $17.3 million compared to $11.4 million in 2020. The net interest margin, or NIM, on an FTE basis (non-GAAP) decreased 16 basis points compared to 2020. The decrease is primarily due to higher average cash balances and the low interest rate environment. PPP loans positively impacted the net interest margin on an FTE basis (non-GAAP) by 8 basis points compared to the negative impact of 3 basis points in 2020.
Interest income on an FTE basis (non-GAAP) decreased $32.1 million compared to 2020. The decrease in interest income was primarily due to lower average loan balances compared to 2020 and the continued low interest rate environment. Average loan balances decreased $325.8 million compared to 2020. Average PPP loans decreased $53.7 million compared to 2020. The average rate earned on loans decreased 25 basis points primarily due to lower short-term interest rates. Average interest-bearing deposits with banks increased $542.2 million compared to 2020 due to PPP loan forgiveness, lower loan balances and a significant increase in average deposits as a result of customer PPP loans and stimulus payments along with customers' liquidity preferences. Overall, the FTE rate on interest-earning assets (non-GAAP) decreased 50 basis points compared to 2020.
Interest expense decreased $27.9 million compared to 2020. The decrease was primarily due to lower short-term interest
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rates. Average interest-bearing deposits decreased $126.2 million compared to 2020. The average rate paid on interest-bearing deposits decreased 46 basis points compared to 2020 primarily due to lower short-term interest rates. The interest-bearing deposit decreases are favorably offset by a $521.8 million increase in demand deposits. We experienced demand deposit growth due to customer PPP loans and stimulus payments along with customers' liquidity preferences. Brokered deposits decreased $216.0 million and borrowings decreased $164.6 million compared to 2020 due to maturities and a reduced need for wholesale funding. Overall, the cost of interest-bearing liabilities decreased 48 basis points compared to 2020.
Provision for Credit Losses
The provision for credit losses, which includes a provision for losses on loans and on unfunded loan commitments, is a charge to earnings to maintain the ACL at a level consistent with management's assessment of expected losses in the loan portfolio at the balance sheet date. The provision for credit losses decreased $115.2 million to $16.2 million for 2021 compared to $131.4 million for 2020. Excluding the customer fraud loss of $58.7 million, the provision for credit losses was $72.7 million for 2020.