BankGuam Holding Co - Annual Report: 2020 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

OR

For the transition period from                      to                      .

Commission file number: 000-54483

BankGuam Holding Company

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

111 W Chalan Santo Papa

Hagåtña, Guam 96910

(671) 472-5300

(Address, including Zip Code, and telephone number, including area code, of the registrant’s principal executive offices)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

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 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 and posted 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 registration 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.

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.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant was $43,934,863 based on the number of shares held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2020, and based on the closing sale price of common stock on June 30, 2020, which is the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter. This calculation does not reflect a determination that persons are affiliates for any other purposes.

BANKGUAM HOLDING COMPANY

FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

For purposes of this Annual Report, the terms the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to BankGuam Holding Company and its subsidiaries. This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains statements that are not historical in nature, are predictive in nature, or that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions or contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be preceded by, followed by or include the words “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “will,” “is designed to” and similar expressions as well as other statements regarding our future operations, financial condition and prospects, and business strategies. We claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for all forward-looking statements.

We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about our business that could affect our future results and could cause those results or other outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. We are not able to predict all of the factors that may affect future results. These include, among other things, the following risks:

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Other factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Annual Report and as may be updated in filings we make from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q to be filed by us in our fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. We have no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or risks, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. New information, future events or risks could cause the forward-looking events we discuss in this Annual Report not to occur. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect our opinions only as of the date of this Annual Report.

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PART I

General

BankGuam Holding Company (the “Company”), a Guam corporation organized in 2011, is a bank holding company registered under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended. The Company provides a wide range of banking services through Bank of Guam, our wholly-owned subsidiary and principal asset (the “Bank”). Unless the context indicates otherwise, references to the “Company” include the Company’s subsidiaries, including the Bank. The Company, the Bank and their subsidiaries are sometimes referred to hereinafter as “we,” “our” or “us”.

The Bank is a regional community bank that was organized in Guam, a United States flag territory, in 1972. The Bank provides a variety of financial services to individuals, businesses and government entities through its branch network. The Bank’s primary deposit products are demand deposits, savings and time certificates of deposit, and its primary lending products are consumer, commercial and real estate loans. We attract deposits throughout our market area with a customer-oriented product mix, competitive pricing and convenient locations. We lend in all markets where we have a physical presence through our branch network. The Bank also provides many other financial services to its customers, including trade financing and trust services.

In addition to the traditional financial services offered, the Bank offers credit life, health, auto and homeowners insurance through its subsidiary, BankGuam Insurance, as agents for various insurance companies. Through a second subsidiary, BankGuam Investment Services (“BGIS”), the Company offers options and opportunities of our customers to build future income and wealth. BGIS is a registered investment company, primarily involved in providing investment advisory services and trading securities for its customers.

In May 2016, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Agreement”) to acquire 25% of ASC Trust LLC, formerly ASC Trust Corporation. In July 2016, subsequent to the approval of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in June 2016, the purchase was executed. The Company borrowed $3.5 million in the form of subordinated debt in connection with the purchase to finance the transaction. On July 1, 2019, with the approval of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Company used $4.1 million of the proceeds from the subordinated notes totaling $15.0 million that were issued on June 27, 2019, to acquire an additional 20% ownership interest in ASC Trust LLC. This transaction brought the Company’s non-controlling interest in ASC Trust LLC to 45%. See “Note 22 – Subordinated Debt” for more detailed information on the subordinated notes. The Agreement provides for the acquisition of an additional 25% of the stock of ASC Trust LLC in April 2021, with the future purchase subject to regulatory approval. The Agreement contains customary warranties, representations and indemnification provisions. ASC Trust LLC is primarily involved in administering 401(k) retirement plans and other employee benefit programs for its customers.

Other than holding the shares of the Bank, BGIS and ASC Trust LLC, the Company conducts no significant activities, although it is authorized, with the prior approval of its principal regulator, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, to engage in a variety of activities related to the business of banking. Currently, substantially all of the Company’s operations are conducted and substantially all of its assets are owned by the Bank, which accounts for substantially all of its consolidated revenues, expenses and operating income.

Bank of Guam

The Bank is a Guam-chartered bank headquartered at 111 West Chalan Santo Papa in Hagåtña, Guam 96910. It was incorporated in March 1972 and opened for business in December of that year. We operate through 18 full service branch offices, including 7 in Guam; two in Saipan and one each in Tinian and Rota, all in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; one in the Republic of Palau; one each in the states of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia; one in the Republic of the Marshall Islands; and one in San Francisco, California. In 2020, the Bank permanently closed the Malesso and Tumon branches. In addition the Bank closed the Dededo and Harmon branches in Guam, effective January 29, 2021. The latter two branches have not operated since March 2020 as a result of COVID-19 measures. The Bank has been adding digital channels to its product delivery system for several years. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of those digital channels by our customers, which was considered in our decision to close those branches.

Due to the Company’s concerns for the health and safety of its customers and employees, in March 2020 the Bank temporarily closed seven of its branches in Guam, and one of its branches in the CNMI, and limited the number of customers allowed to be in its remaining facilities at any one time to 50. During 2020, the Bank re-opened four of its branches in Guam, while four branches remain closed. The Bank continues to limit the number of customers allowed in its facilities to be in compliance with local regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bank continues to provide a secure telecommuting program for those personnel who are able to perform their responsibilities remotely, the computer hardware and software needed to support those tasks, and established teleconferencing capabilities to reduce the number of people in attendance at all of its larger group meetings. To accommodate working remotely some internal procedures have been modified to maintain our internal control over financial reporting.

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The Bank’s business strategy has been to emphasize and support economic growth and development in and among the U.S.-affiliated islands in the western Pacific Ocean. To accomplish this goal, the Bank offers competitively-priced deposit and loan products and other financial services that are primarily tailored to the needs of consumers, small businesses and government entities. Although the needs of our customers in a small, remote island environment can be particularly challenging for a community bank, we have succeeded in providing a broad range of services, such as trade financing and corporate trust services, that are typically provided only by much larger, money center institutions.

Our lending products include commercial, real estate, construction, consumer and Small Business Administration-guaranteed loans. We also provide home mortgage and home equity loans. Commercial loans and industrial loans comprise the largest portion of the Bank’s loan portfolio. Residential mortgage loans comprise the second largest portion of the Bank’s loan portfolio. At December 31, 2020, the Bank had a loan concentration in Commercial Real Estate loans for rentals and property development management purposes totaling $322.0 million, representing 22.5% of our $1.43 billion in total loans outstanding.

We offer a wide range of deposit products for retail and business banking markets including checking accounts, interest-bearing transaction accounts, savings accounts, time deposits and retirement accounts. Our branch network enables us to attract deposits from throughout our market area with a customer-oriented product mix, competitive pricing and convenient locations. At December 31, 2020, the Bank had deposit concentrations in government savings and demand deposits totaling $354.7 million (16.7%) and $362.5 million (17.0%), respectively, of our $2.12 billion in total deposits.

In addition, correspondent bank deposit accounts are maintained to enable the Bank to transact types of activity that it would otherwise be unable to perform or would not be cost effective due to the size of the Bank or the volume of activity. The Bank has utilized several correspondent banks to process a variety of transactions. The Bank also provides a multitude of other products and services to complement our lending and depository services. These include wire and Automated Clearing House transfers, cashier’s checks, traveler’s checks, corporate and consumer credit cards, bank-by-mail, ATMs, night depositories, safe deposit boxes, direct deposit, electronic funds transfers, online banking and bill payments, merchant services, check imaging, and other customary banking services. We currently operate ATMs in seventy-nine locations.

The Bank has a trust department, primarily engaged in corporate trust services under indenture.

Competition

Banking and the financial services industry in Guam are highly competitive. The market is dominated by the Bank, two of Hawaii’s largest banks and two locally-organized federal credit unions. Also, as a result of the U.S. military presence as a longtime employer, military credit unions have physical branches at the island’s main military facilities and in the civilian community. The Bank’s presence in the remaining areas of the western Pacific is less competitive, and in many cases the Bank remains the dominant financial services organization in the islands. In the San Francisco Bay area, where the Bank has had a branch office since 1983, the Bank’s California division primarily focuses its lending efforts on owner-occupied commercial real estate and commercial investor properties. The division provides financing to hotels, gasoline service stations, apartments, office and retail space, and residential care homes for the elderly and disabled, and also works closely with selected banks in loan participations. Framing this environment is the increasingly competitive setting as a result of regulatory, technological and product delivery systems changes.

Larger banks have a competitive advantage because of global marketing campaigns and U.S. name recognition. They also offer extensive international trade finance and discount brokerage services that the Bank is not currently prepared to provide. To compensate for this, the Bank has arrangements with correspondent banks and other financial institutions to deliver such services to its customers.

To compete with other financial institutions in its service area, the Bank relies principally on local media as well as personal contact by directors, officers and employees with existing and potential customers. The Bank emphasizes to customers the advantages of dealing with a locally-owned and managed community-oriented institution. Because decisions are made locally by people who are intimately familiar with the economy, the legal structure and the developmental needs of the islands, the Bank is able to respond quickly and effectively to its customers’ needs. The Bank also provides local service and timely decision-making for small businesses and local governments.

The financial services industry continues to undergo rapid technological changes involving the frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services that have further increased competition. The Bank may not adopt these new technologies and products ahead of its competitors, and there is no assurance that these technological improvements, if made, will increase the Company’s operational efficiency, or that the Company will be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers.

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Employees

At December 31, 2020, the Bank had 581 full-time employees and 612 total employees. The Bank’s employees are not represented by any union or collective bargaining agreement, and the Bank believes its employee relations are good.

Supervision and Regulation

Recent Developments

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted legislative and regulatory action designed to address the pandemic’s challenges. On March 22, 2020, the federal bank regulatory agencies issued the Interagency Statement on Loan Modifications and Reporting for Financial Institutions Working with Customers Affected by the Coronavirus , which publicly encouraged regulated depository institutions to work with borrowers experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19.

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus law, was enacted. The CARES Act and various regulations promulgated thereunder contain many provisions that impact financial institutions, including, among others, the following:

To further support the financing and liquidity necessitated by the various economic programs designed to alleviate the impact of COVID-19, the Federal Reserve, in cooperation with the Department of the Treasury, established several financing and liquidity facilities, including, for example, the Main Street Lending Program, the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (“MMLF”), and the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (“PPPLF”). In particular, the PPPLF is designed to provide an adequate liquidity source to financial institutions for purposes of funding PPP loans. The federal bank regulatory agencies issued multiple rules throughout 2020 that were designed to provide relief to financial institutions from any adverse regulatory capital or liquidity impacts resulting from the Federal Reserve’s liquidity facilities.

Other Developments

In December 2017, the Basel Committee published standards that it described as the finalization of the Basel III post-crisis regulatory reforms (the standards are commonly referred to as “Basel IV”). Among other things, these standards revise the Basel Committee’s standardized approach for credit risk (including by recalibrating risk weights and introducing new capital requirements for certain “unconditionally cancellable commitments,” such as unused credit card lines of credit) and provide a new standardized approach for operational risk capital. Under the proposed framework, these standards will generally be effective on January 1, 2022, with an aggregate output floor phasing-in through January 1, 2027. Under the current capital rules, operational risk capital requirements and a capital floor apply only to advanced approaches institutions, and not to the Company. The impact of Basel IV on the Company and the Bank will depend on the manner in which it is implemented by the federal bank regulatory agencies.

On May 24, 2018, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the “EGRRCPA”) amended provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) of 2010 as well as certain other statutes administered by the federal bank agencies. We continue to monitor and implement rules and regulations of the Dodd-Frank Act and the EGRRCPA as they are adopted and modified, and to evaluate their application to our business.

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On August 28, 2018, the Federal Reserve Board issued an interim final rule required by the EGRRCPA that expands the applicability of the Federal Reserve Board’s small bank holding company policy statement (the “SBHC Policy Statement”) to bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of less than $3 billion (up from the prior $1 billion threshold). Under the SBHC Policy Statement, qualifying bank holding companies have additional flexibility in the amount of debt they can issue and are also exempt from the Basel III capital standards (subsidiary depository institutions of qualifying bank holding companies are still subject to capital requirements). The Company currently has less than $3 billion in total consolidated assets and would likely qualify under the revised SBHC Policy Statement. However, the Company does not currently intend to issue a material amount of debt or take any other action that would cause its capital ratios to fall below the minimum ratios required by the Basel III capital standards.

On November 21, 2018, the federal banking agencies jointly issued a proposed rule required by the EGRRCPA that would permit qualifying banks and bank holding companies that have less than $10 billion in consolidated assets to elect to be subject to a 9% leverage ratio that would be applied using less complex leverage calculations (commonly referred to as the community bank leverage ratio or “CBLR”). Under the final rule, which was effective on January 1, 2020, banks and bank holding companies that opt into the CBLR framework and maintain a CBLR of greater than 9% would not be subject to other risk-based and leverage capital requirements under the Basel III Capital Rules and would be deemed to have met the well capitalized ratio requirements under the “prompt corrective action” framework. The Company and the Bank did not opt into the CBLR framework on its effective date.

It is difficult to predict at this time what other specific impacts the EGRRCPA and the remaining, yet-to-be-written implementing rules and regulations will have on community banks. However, compliance with the EGRRCPA, the Dodd-Frank Act and its implementing rules and regulations has resulted in, and is expected to continue to result in, increased operating and compliance costs.

Introduction

Banking is a complex, highly regulated industry. The primary goals of the regulatory scheme are to maintain a safe and sound banking system, protect depositors and the FDIC insurance fund, and facilitate the conduct of sound monetary policy. In furtherance of these goals, Congress and the states have created several largely autonomous regulatory agencies and enacted numerous laws that govern banks, bank holding companies and the financial services industry in general. Consequently, the growth and earnings performance of the Bank can be affected not only by management decisions and general economic conditions, but also by the requirements of applicable state and federal statues, regulations and the policies of various governmental regulatory authorities, including the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, and the banking authorities of each of the jurisdictions in which the Bank operates.

The Bank’s business is also influenced by the monetary and fiscal policies of the federal government and the policies of regulatory agencies, particularly the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC. The Federal Reserve Board implements national monetary policies (with objectives such as curbing inflation and combating unemployment) through its open-market operations in U.S. Government securities, by adjusting the required level of reserves for depository institutions subject to its reserve requirements, and by varying the target Federal Funds and discount rates applicable to borrowings by depository institutions. The actions of the Federal Reserve Board in these areas influence the growth of bank loans, investments and deposits, and also affect interest earned on interest-earning assets and paid on interest-bearing liabilities. The nature and impact of any future changes in monetary and fiscal policies on the Bank are difficult to predict.

The system of supervision and regulation applicable to financial services businesses governs most aspects of the business of the Bank, including: (i) the scope of permissible business; (ii) investments; (iii) reserves that must be maintained against deposits; (iv) capital levels that must be maintained; (v) the nature and amount of collateral that may be taken to secure loans; (vi) the establishment of new branches; (vii) mergers and consolidations with other financial institutions; and (viii) the payment of dividends.

From time to time, federal and local legislation is enacted which may have the effect of materially increasing the cost of doing business, limiting or expanding permissible activities, or affecting the competitive balance between banks and other financial services providers. In addition, the various bank regulatory agencies often adopt new rules, regulations and policies to implement and enforce existing legislation. It cannot be predicted whether, or in what form, any such legislation or regulations or changes in policy may be enacted, or the extent to which the business of the Bank or the Company would be affected thereby. The Bank cannot predict whether or when potential legislation will be enacted and, if enacted, the effect that it, or any implemented regulations and supervisory policies, would have on our financial condition or results of operations. In addition, the outcome of examinations, any litigation or any investigations initiated by federal or local authorities may result in necessary changes in our operations that may increase our costs.

Set forth below is a description of the significant elements of the laws and regulations applicable to the Company and the Bank. The description is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the statutes, regulations and policies that are described. Also, such statutes, regulations and policies are continually under review by the U.S. Congress and local legislatures and federal and local regulatory agencies, and, where applicable, their foreign counterparts. A change in statutes, regulations or regulatory policies applicable to the Company or the Bank could have a material effect on our business.

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Regulation of BankGuam Holding Company

As a bank holding company, the Company is registered under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (“BHCA”), and is subject to regulation and periodic examination by the Federal Reserve Board. The Company is also required to file periodic reports of its operations and any additional information regarding its activities and those of its subsidiaries, as may be required by the Federal Reserve Board.

Federal Reserve Board regulations require bank holding companies to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to their subsidiary banks. Under these regulations, the holding company is expected to commit resources to support its bank subsidiary, including at times when the holding company may not be in a financial position to provide such support. Bank holding companies must also maintain the financial flexibility and capital raising capacity to obtain additional resources for assisting their subsidiary bank. A bank holding company’s failure to meet its obligations to serve as a source of strength to its subsidiary bank will generally be considered by the Federal Reserve Board to be an unsafe and unsound banking practice, a violation of the Federal Reserve Board’s regulations, or both.

Under the BHCA, a bank holding company must obtain the Federal Reserve Board’s approval before: (i) directly or indirectly acquiring more than 5% ownership or control of any voting shares of another bank or bank holding company; (ii) acquiring all or substantially all of the assets of another bank; or (iii) merging or consolidating with another bank holding company.

The business activities of the Company, as a bank holding company, are restricted by the BHCA. Under the BHCA and the Federal Reserve’s bank holding company regulations, the Company may only engage in, acquire or control voting securities or assets of a company engaged in: (i) banking, or managing or controlling banks and other subsidiaries authorized under the BHCA; and, (ii) any non-banking activity the Federal Reserve has determined to be so closely related to banking or managing or controlling banks as to be a proper incident thereto. These include any incidental activities necessary to carry on those activities as well as a variety of activities that the Federal Reserve has determined to be so closely related to the business of banking as to be a proper incident thereto.

There are various restrictions on the ability of the holding company to borrow from, and engage in certain other transactions with, its bank subsidiary. In general, these restrictions require that any extensions of credit by the Bank to any single affiliate of the Bank must be secured by designated amounts of specified collateral and are limited to 10% of the Bank’s capital stock and surplus, and, as to the Company and all other affiliates of the Bank collectively, to 20% of the Bank’s capital stock and surplus. Federal law also provides that extensions of credit and other transactions between the Bank and the Company must be on terms and conditions, including credit standards, that are substantially the same or at least as favorable to the Bank as those prevailing at the time for comparable transactions involving non-affiliated companies or, in the absence of comparable transactions, on terms and conditions, including credit standards, that in good faith would be offered to or would apply to non-affiliated companies.

Federal law prohibits a bank holding company and any subsidiary banks from engaging in certain tie-in arrangements in connection with the extension of credit. Thus, for example, the Bank may not extend credit, lease or sell property, or furnish any services, or fix or vary the consideration for any of the foregoing on the condition that: (i) the customer must obtain or provide some additional credit, property or services from or to the Bank other than a loan, discount, deposit or trust services; (ii) the customer must obtain or provide some additional credit, property or service from or to the Company or the Bank; or, (iii) the customer must not obtain some other credit, property or services from competitors, except reasonable requirements to ensure soundness of the credit extended.

The principal source of the Company’s cash revenues are dividends from its subsidiary, the Bank. The Company’s earnings and activities are affected by legislation, by regulations and by local legislative and administrative bodies and decisions of courts in the jurisdictions in which we conduct business. For example, these include limitations on the ability of the Bank to pay dividends to the Company and our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders. It is the policy of the Federal Reserve Board that bank holding companies should pay cash dividends on common stock only out of income available over the past year and only if prospective earnings retention is consistent with the organization’s expected future needs and financial condition. The policy provides that bank holding companies should not maintain a level of cash dividends that undermines the bank holding company’s ability to serve as a source of strength to its banking subsidiary.

Regulation of the Bank

General. As a Guam-chartered bank, the Bank is subject to supervision, periodic examination and regulation by the Guam Banking Commission. As a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Bank is also subject to supervision, periodic examination and regulation by the FDIC as the Bank’s primary federal regulator. If, as a result of an examination, the Guam Banking Commission or the FDIC should determine that the financial condition, capital resources, asset quality, earnings prospects, management, liquidity, or other aspects of the Bank’s operations are unsatisfactory, or that the Bank or its management is violating or has violated any law or regulation, the Guam Banking Commission and the FDIC have residual authority to: (i) require affirmative action to correct any conditions resulting from any violation or practice; (ii) direct an increase in capital; (iii) restrict the Bank’s growth geographically, by products and services, or by mergers and acquisitions; (iv) enter into informal nonpublic or formal public memoranda of understanding or written agreements; (v) enjoin unsafe and unsound practices and issue cease and desist orders to take corrective action; (vi) remove officers and directors and assess civil monetary penalties; and, (vii) take possession of, close and liquidate the Bank.

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Guam law permits locally-chartered commercial banks to engage in any activity permissible for national banks. Therefore, the Bank may form subsidiaries to engage in the many so-called “closely related to banking” or “nonbanking” activities commonly conducted by national banks in operating subsidiaries, and further, pursuant to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Bank may conduct certain “financial” activities in a subsidiary to the same extent as may a national bank, provided the Bank is and remains “well-capitalized,” “well-managed” and in satisfactory compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act (discussed below).

The Bank is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) of Des Moines. Among other benefits, each FHLB serves as a reserve or central bank for its members within its assigned region and makes available loans or advances to its members. Each FHLB is financed primarily from the sale of consolidated obligations of the FHLB system. As an FHLB member, the Bank is required to own a certain amount of capital stock in the FHLB. At December 31, 2020, the Bank was in compliance with the FHLB’s stock ownership requirement.

Regulatory Capital Guidelines. The federal banking agencies have established minimum capital standards known as risk-based capital guidelines. These guidelines are intended to provide measures of capitalization that reflect the degree of risk associated with a bank’s operations. The risk-based capital guidelines include both a definition of capital and a framework for calculating the amount of capital that must be maintained against a bank’s assets and off-balance sheet items. The amount of capital required to be maintained is based upon the credit risks associated with the various types and quality of a bank’s assets and off-balance sheet items. A bank’s assets and off-balance sheet items are classified under several risk categories, with each category assigned a particular risk weighting from 0% to 150%. The Bank’s Tier 1 capital consists of its capital stock, capital surplus, treasury stock, undivided earnings and the cumulative effect of the FDIC’s adjustment of our intangible assets. Our Tier 2 capital adds to Tier 1 the allowed portion of our reserves for possible loan losses. The inclusion of Tier 2 capital as qualifying capital for regulatory purposes is subject to certain other requirements and limitations of the federal banking agencies. The federal regulators require a minimum ratio of total qualifying capital to risk-adjusted assets of 8.0%, a minimum ratio of Tier 1 capital to risk-adjusted assets of 6.0%, a minimum amount of Tier 1 capital to total assets (referred to as the “leverage ratio”) of 4% and a minimum ratio of Common Equity Tier 1 Capital to risk-adjusted assets of 4.5%. As of December 31, 2020, the Company’s capital levels met all minimum regulatory requirements and the Bank was considered “well capitalized” under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action described below. There is no condition or event since December 31, 2020, that management believes has changed the Company’s or the Bank’s capitalization category.

Prompt Corrective Action. The federal banking agencies possess broad powers to take prompt corrective action to resolve the problems of regulated banks. Each federal banking agency has issued regulations defining five capital categories: “well capitalized,” “adequately capitalized,” “undercapitalized,” “significantly undercapitalized,” and “critically undercapitalized.” Under the regulations, a bank shall be deemed to be:

Banks are prohibited from paying dividends or management fees to controlling persons or entities if, after making the payment, the bank would be “undercapitalized,” that is, the bank fails to meet the required minimum level for any relevant capital measure. Asset growth and branching restrictions apply to “undercapitalized” banks. Banks classified as “undercapitalized” are required to submit acceptable capital plans guaranteed by their holding company, if any. Broad regulatory authority was granted with respect to “significantly undercapitalized” banks, including forced mergers, growth restrictions, ordering new elections for directors, forcing divestiture by their holding company, if any, requiring management changes, and prohibiting the payment of bonuses to senior management. Even more severe restrictions are applicable to “critically undercapitalized” banks, those with capital at or less than 2%. Restrictions for these banks include the appointment of a receiver or conservator. All of the federal banking agencies have promulgated substantially similar regulations to implement this system of prompt corrective action.

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A bank, based upon its capital levels, that is classified as “well capitalized,” “adequately capitalized” or “undercapitalized” may be treated as though it were in the next lower capital category if the appropriate federal banking agency, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, determines that an unsafe or unsound condition, or an unsafe or unsound practice, warrants such treatment. At each successive lower capital category, an insured bank is subject to more restrictions. The federal banking agencies, however, may not treat an institution as “critically undercapitalized” unless its capital ratios actually warrant such treatment.

In addition to measures taken under the prompt corrective action provisions, insured banks may be subject to potential enforcement actions by federal banking agencies, or the banking regulators in any of the jurisdictions in which the Bank operates, for unsafe or unsound practices in conducting their businesses, or for violations of any law, rule, regulation or any condition imposed in writing by the agency, or any written agreement with the agency. Enforcement actions may include the imposition of a conservator or receiver, the issuance of a cease-and-desist order that can be judicially enforced, the termination of insurance of deposits (in the case of a depository institution), the imposition of civil money penalties, the issuance of directives to increase capital, the issuance of formal and informal agreements, and the issuance of removal and prohibition orders against “institution-affiliated” parties. The enforcement of such actions through injunctions or restraining orders may be based upon a judicial determination that the agency would be harmed if such equitable relief was not granted.

Neither the Company nor the Bank is currently operating under any corrective actions by their respective regulatory authorities.

Safety and Soundness Standards. The federal banking agencies have also adopted guidelines establishing safety and soundness standards for all insured depository institutions, as have the other regulatory authorities in jurisdictions in which the Bank operates. Those guidelines relate to internal controls, information systems, internal audit systems, loan underwriting and documentation, compensation and interest rate exposure. In general, the standards are designed to assist the various banking authorities in identifying and addressing problems at depository institutions before capital becomes impaired. If an institution fails to meet these standards, the appropriate banking authority may require the institution to submit a compliance plan and may institute enforcement proceedings if an acceptable compliance plan is not submitted.

FDIC Insurance and Insurance Assessments. The FDIC is an independent federal agency that insures deposits, up to prescribed statutory limits, of federally insured banks and savings institutions, and safeguards the safety and soundness of the banking and savings industries. The FDIC insures the Bank’s customer deposits through the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”). The maximum deposit insurance amount is $250,000.

The amount of FDIC assessments paid by each DIF member institution is based on its relative risk of default as measured by regulatory capital ratios and other supervisory factors. The FDIC is required to set the reserve ratio for the DIF annually at no less than 1.35% of estimated insured deposits. The FDIC may increase or decrease the assessment rate schedule on a semi-annual basis. The assessment base consists of average consolidated total assets during the assessment period minus the average tangible equity during the assessment period.

Effective June 26, 2020, the FDIC adopted a final rule to mitigate the effect on deposit insurance assessments when an insured institution participates in the PPP, the PPPLF, and the MMLF. Under the rule, the FDIC provides adjustments to the risk based premium formula and certain of its risk ratios, and provides an offset to an insured institution’s total assessment amount due for the increase to its assessment base attributable to participation in the PPP and MMLF.

The FDIC may terminate a depository institution’s deposit insurance upon a finding that the institution’s financial condition is unsafe or unsound or that the institution has engaged in unsafe or unsound practices that pose a risk to the DIF or that may prejudice the interest of depositors.

Depositor Preference. In the event of the “liquidation or other resolution” of an insured depository institution, the claims of depositors of the institution, including the claims of the FDIC as subrogee of insured depositors, and certain claims for administrative expenses of the FDIC as a receiver, will have priority over other general unsecured claims against the institution. If an insured depository institution fails, insured and uninsured depositors, along with the FDIC, will have priority in payment ahead of unsecured, non-deposit creditors, including the parent bank holding company, with respect to any extensions of credit they have made to such insured depository institution.

Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”). The CRA is intended to encourage insured depository institutions, while operating safely and soundly, to help meet the credit needs of their communities. The CRA specifically directs the federal bank regulatory agencies, in examining insured depository institutions, to assess their record of helping to meet the credit needs of their entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound banking practices. The CRA further requires the agencies to take a financial institution’s record of meeting its community credit needs into account when evaluating applications for, among other things, domestic branches, consummating mergers or acquisitions, or holding company formations.

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The federal banking agencies have adopted regulations which measure a bank’s compliance with its CRA obligations on a performance-based evaluation system. This system bases CRA ratings on an institution’s actual lending service and investment performance rather than the extent to which the institution conducts needs assessments, documents community outreach or complies with other procedural requirements. The ratings range from “outstanding” to a low of “substantial noncompliance.” The Bank had a CRA rating of “satisfactory” as of its most recent regulatory examination. A copy of the rating report is publicly available for review in the Bank’s branches.

Other Consumer Protection Laws and Regulations. The bank regulatory agencies are increasingly focusing attention on compliance with consumer protection laws and regulations, and banks have been advised to carefully monitor their compliance with these laws and regulations. The federal Interagency Task Force on Fair Lending issued a policy statement on discrimination in home mortgage lending describing three methods that federal agencies will use to prove discrimination: overt evidence of discrimination, evidence of disparate treatment, and evidence of disparate impact. In addition to CRA and fair lending requirements, the Bank is subject to numerous other federal consumer protection statutes and regulations. Due to heightened regulatory concern related to compliance with consumer protection laws and expanded regulations generally, the Bank may incur additional compliance costs or be required to expend additional funds for investments in the local communities it serves.

Privacy. The Federal Reserve Board and other bank regulatory agencies have adopted guidelines for safeguarding confidential, personal customer information. These guidelines require financial institutions to create, implement and maintain a comprehensive written information security program designed to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer information, protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such information, and protect against unauthorized access to or use of such information that could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to any customer. The Bank has adopted a customer information security program to comply with these requirements. On December 18, 2020, the FDIC, along with the other federal financial regulatory agencies, announced a proposal that would require supervised banking organizations to promptly notify their primary federal regulator in the event of a computer security incident.

Financial institutions are also required to implement policies and procedures regarding the disclosure of nonpublic personal information about consumers to non-affiliated third parties. In general, financial institutions must provide explanations to consumers on policies and procedures regarding the disclosure of such nonpublic personal information, and, except as otherwise required by law, prohibits disclosing such information except as provided in the Bank’s policies and procedures. The Bank has implemented privacy policies addressing these restrictions, and these policies are distributed regularly to all existing and new customers of the Bank.

USA Patriot Act of 2001. Under the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (the “Patriot Act”), financial institutions are subject to prohibitions regarding specified financial transactions and account relationships, as well as enhanced due diligence and “know your customer” standards in their dealings with foreign financial institutions and foreign customers. Among other things, the Patriot Act requires: (i) enhanced due diligence policies, procedures, and controls on banks opening or holding accounts for foreign banks or wealthy foreign individuals; and, (ii) requires all financial institutions to establish anti-money laundering programs. The Bank has adopted and implemented policies and procedures to comply with the requirements of the Patriot Act.

On January 1, 2021, the National Defense Authorization Act was enacted by Congress. The new law establishes the most significant overhaul of anti-money laundering regulations since the Patriot Act of 2001, including: (i) new beneficial ownership reporting requirements; (ii) whistleblower and penalty enhancements; (iii) improvements to existing information sharing provisions that permit financial institutions to share information relating to suspicious activity reports for purposes of combating illicit finance risks; and (iv) provisions emphasizing the importance of risk-based approaches to anti-money laundering program requirements.

Office of Foreign Assets Control Regulation. The United States has imposed economic sanctions that affect transactions with designated foreign countries, nationals and others. These are typically known as the “OFAC” rules based on their administration by the U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). The OFAC-administered sanctions targeting countries take many different forms. Generally, however, they contain one or more of the following elements: (i) restrictions on trade with or investment in a sanctioned country, including prohibitions against direct or indirect imports from and exports to a sanctioned country and prohibitions on “U.S. persons” engaging in financial transactions relating to making investments in, or providing investment-related advice or assistance to, a sanctioned country; and, (ii) a blocking of assets in which the government or specially designated nationals of the sanctioned country have an interest, by prohibiting transfers of property subject to U.S. jurisdiction (including property in the possession or control of U.S. persons). Blocked assets (e.g., property and bank deposits) cannot be paid out, withdrawn, set off or transferred in any manner without a license from OFAC. Failure to comply with these sanctions could have serious legal and reputational consequences, including civil money penalties and potential criminal prosecution. The Bank has established policies and implemented procedures to detect and prohibit transactions that would violate the OFAC rules.

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Other Aspects of Banking Law. The Bank is also subject to federal statutory and regulatory provisions covering, among other things, security procedures, insider and affiliated party transactions, management interlocks, electronic funds transfers, funds availability, and truth-in-savings.

Other Pending and Proposed Legislation

Other legislative and regulatory initiatives which could affect the Bank, the Company and the banking industry in general may be proposed or introduced before the United States Congress, the Guam legislature and other governmental bodies in the future. Such proposals, if enacted, may further alter the structure, regulation and competitive relationship among financial institutions, and may subject the Bank or the Company to increased regulation, disclosure and reporting requirements. In addition, the various banking regulatory agencies often adopt new rules and regulations to implement and enforce existing legislation. It cannot be predicted whether, or in what form, any such legislation or regulations may be enacted or the extent to which the business of the Bank or the Company would be affected thereby.

Available Information

The Company makes available free of charge through the Bank’s website (www.bankofguam.com) the Company’s annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports. The Company makes these reports available on the Bank’s website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or otherwise furnish it to, the SEC. The information posted on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report. The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

Our business, financial condition and results of operations are subject to various risks, including those discussed below. The risks discussed are those that we believe are the most significant risks, although additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem less significant may also adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, perhaps materially.

Risks Relating to Recent Economic Conditions and Governmental Response Efforts

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and measures intended to prevent its spread are expected to continue to have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition, and such effects will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and difficult to predict.

Global health concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and related government actions taken to reduce the spread of the virus have impacted the macroeconomic environment, significantly increased economic uncertainty and reduced economic activity. Our business and earnings are closely tied to the economies of Guam, San Francisco, CNMI, FSM, RMI and ROP. These local economies rely heavily on tourism, real estate, construction, and other service-based industries. Lower visitor arrivals or spending, real or threatened acts of war or terrorism, public health issues and the spread of the COVID-19 virus may impact consumer and corporate spending. The impacts of the various travel restrictions, stay-at-home orders and quarantine requirements for visitors to Guam have had a dramatic impact on tourism. These events have contributed to a significant deterioration in general economic conditions in our markets which adversely impacted us and our customers’ operations. It is uncertain how long these conditions will last or how significant the impacts will be.

We have modified our business practices and operations as a result of the spread of COVID-19, including providing loan payment deferrals and adjustments to our commercial and consumer customers. Many of our employees are working from home. These measures could impair our ability to perform critical functions and may adversely impact our results of operations.

Federal, state, local and foreign governmental authorities have enacted, and may enact in the future, legislation, regulations and protocols in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including governmental programs intended to provide economic relief to businesses and individuals. Our participation in and execution of any such programs may cause operational, compliance, reputational and credit risks, which could result in litigation, governmental action or other forms of loss. The extent of these impacts, which may be substantial, will depend on the degree of our participation in these programs. There remains significant uncertainty regarding the measures that authorities will enact in the future and the ultimate impact of the legislation, regulations and protocols that have been and will be enacted.

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The COVID-19 pandemic is creating extensive disruptions to the global economy and the lives of individuals throughout the world. While the scope, duration and full effects of the pandemic are rapidly evolving and not fully known, the pandemic and related efforts to contain it have disrupted global economic activity, adversely affected the functioning of financial markets, impacted interest rates, increased economic and market uncertainty and disrupted trade and supply chains. If these effects continue for a prolonged period or result in sustained economic stress or recession, many of the other risk factors identified below could be exacerbated and such effects could have a material adverse impact on us in a number of ways related to credit, collateral, capital, customer demand, funding, liquidity, operations, interest rate risk, and human capital.

Risks Related to Our Markets and Business

Our business may be adversely affected by conditions in the financial markets and economic conditions generally.

Our operating results are impacted by general business and economic conditions in the islands where we operate, the U.S. and, to some extent, abroad. These conditions include short-term and long-term interest rates, inflation, money supply, political issues, legislative and regulatory changes, fluctuations in both debt and equity markets, broad trends in industry and finance, the strength of the U.S. economy and uncertainty in financial markets globally, all of which are beyond our control. A deterioration in economic conditions in one or more of these areas could result in an increase in loan delinquencies and non-performing assets, decreases in loan collateral values, and a decrease in demand for our products and services, among other things, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Our profitability is dependent upon the economic conditions of the markets in which we operate.

We operate on ten relatively remote Pacific islands and in San Francisco, California, and, as a result, our financial condition and results of operations are affected by changes in the economic conditions in each of those areas. Our success depends upon the business activity, population, income levels, deposits and lending activity in these markets. Because some of our customers’ business and financial interests may extend well beyond these market areas, adverse economic conditions that affect those other market areas could reduce our growth rate, affect the ability of those customers to repay their loans, and generally affect our financial condition and results of operations. Other than in San Francisco, our lending operations are located in market areas dependent on tourism and fishing, along with a military presence and other federal government activities in Guam. Because of the magnified influence of external events, these small island economies tend to be somewhat more volatile than larger economic systems. Thus, our borrowers could be adversely impacted by a downturn in these sectors of the economy that could reduce the demand for loans and adversely impact the borrowers’ ability to repay their loans, which would, in turn, increase our nonperforming assets. Because of our geographic concentration in several relatively small island economies, we are less able than many regional or national financial institutions to diversify our credit risks across multiple dissimilar markets. In recent years, we have taken the initiative to expand our operations in California in an effort to increase and help to stabilize our profitability.

Our loan portfolio has a large concentration of real estate loans in Guam and in San Francisco, which involves risks specific to real estate values.

A downturn in our real estate markets could adversely affect our business because many of our loans are secured by real estate. Real estate lending (including commercial and construction) is a large portion of our loan portfolio. At December 31, 2020, approximately $866.4 million, or 60.5% of our loan portfolio, was secured by various forms of real estate, including residential and commercial real estate. The real estate securing our loan portfolio is concentrated in Guam and San Francisco. From time to time, there have been adverse developments affecting real estate values in one or more of our markets, and the market value of real estate can fluctuate significantly in a short period of time as a result of changing market conditions. Real estate values and real estate markets are generally affected by changes in national, regional or local economic conditions, fluctuations in interest rates and the availability of loans to potential purchasers, changes in tax laws and other governmental statutes, regulations and policies, and acts of nature, such as earthquakes and typhoons. Additionally, commercial real estate lending typically involves larger loan principal amounts and the repayment of the loans generally is dependent, in large part, on sufficient income from the properties securing the loans to cover operating expenses and debt service. If real estate values decline, the value of the collateral securing some of our loans could be significantly reduced. Our ability to recover on defaulted loans by foreclosing and selling the real estate collateral would then be diminished, and we would be more likely to suffer losses on defaulted loans.

Our largest loan relationships currently make up a significant percentage of our total loan portfolio.

As of December 31, 2020, our 10 largest borrowing relationships totaled $345.0 million in commitments (including unfunded commitments), or approximately 24.1% of our total gross loans. The concentration risk associated with having a small number of relatively large loan relationships is that, if one or more of these relationships were to become delinquent or suffer default, we could be at risk of material losses. The allowance for credit losses may not be adequate to cover losses associated with any of these relationships, and any loss or increase in the allowance could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud.

Effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, effectively prevent fraud and to operate successfully as a public company. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our reputation and business would be harmed. In addition, failure in our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures could cause us to fail to meet the requirements of Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act and, as a result, risk errors in our financial reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Each calendar quarter, management conducts an assessment of the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on the framework established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. For additional information on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, see Part II. Item 9A. “Controls and Procedures” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our performance depends on attracting and retaining key employees and skilled personnel to operate our business effectively, and the loss of one or more of those key personnel may materially and adversely affect our prospects.

Our success is dependent on our ability to recruit and retain qualified, skilled management, loan origination, finance, administrative, marketing and technical personnel to operate our business effectively. Competition for qualified employees and personnel in the banking industry is intense, and there is a limited number of persons with knowledge of, and experience in, the community banking industry in the markets we serve. In particular, our success has been and continues to be highly dependent upon the abilities of key executives, including our Chief Executive Officer, our Chief Operating Officer, our Chief Financial Officer, and certain other key employees. Failure to maintain adequate staffing in key positions could adversely impact our operations and our ability to compete.

We are subject to credit risk.

There are inherent risks associated with our lending activities. These risks include, among other things, the impact of changes in interest rates and changes in the economic conditions in the markets where we operate, as well as those within our region, across the United States and abroad. Increases in interest rates and/or weakening economic conditions could adversely impact the ability of borrowers to repay outstanding loans or the value of the collateral securing those loans. We are also subject to various laws and regulations that affect our lending activities. Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could subject us to regulatory enforcement action, which could result in the assessment of significant civil money penalties against us.

We seek to mitigate the risks inherent in our loan portfolio by adhering to specific underwriting practices. Although we believe that our underwriting criteria are appropriate for the various kinds of loans we make, our underwriting criteria may not correctly assess the creditworthiness of a borrower, and we may incur losses on loans that meet our underwriting standards. These losses may exceed the amounts set aside as reserves in our allowance for loan losses. Due to economic conditions in the recent past, many lending institutions, including the Bank, experienced declines in the performance of their loans, including consumer and commercial loans. The value of real estate collateral supporting some commercial loans declined and may decline again in the future. Developments in the financial industry and credit markets may adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

Our allowance for loan losses may not be adequate to cover actual loan losses, which could adversely affect our earnings.

We maintain an allowance for loan losses for possible defaults and other reductions in the principal value of the Bank’s loan portfolio. The allowance is established through a provision for loan losses based on management’s evaluation of the risks inherent in the loan portfolio and the general economy. The allowance is also appropriately increased for new loan growth. The allowance is based upon a number of factors, including the size of the loan portfolio, asset classifications, economic trends, industry experience and trends, industry and geographic concentrations, estimated collateral values, management’s assessment of the credit risk inherent in the portfolio, historical loan loss experience and loan underwriting policies.

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We strive to carefully manage and monitor credit quality and to identify deteriorating loans, and adjust the allowance for loan losses accordingly. However, because future events are uncertain and because we may not successfully identify all deteriorating loans in a timely manner, there may be loans that deteriorate in an accelerated time frame. As a result, future additions to the allowance may be necessary. Further, because the loan portfolio contains some commercial real estate, construction, and land development loans with relatively large balances, deterioration in the credit quality of one or more of these loans may require a significant increase to the allowance for loan losses. Future additions to the allowance may also be required due to changes in the financial condition of borrowers, such as changes resulting from potentially worsening economic conditions, or as a result of incorrect assumptions by management in determining the allowance for loan losses. As discussed in Note 6, in 2019 two commercial loan borrowers filed for bankruptcy. The first borrower filed on January 16, 2019, and sought bankruptcy protection in order to reorganize under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code. This borrower has an outstanding relationship of $8.2 million in unsecured loans as of December 31, 2020. The Bank retains the right of offset against a minimum of $6.8 million in the customer’s depository accounts, and has made a specific allowance for loan losses of $3.5 million at December 31, 2020. The second borrower filed for bankruptcy on April 30, 2019, with an outstanding relationship of $2.3 million at December 31, 2019. This bankruptcy case was settled during the third quarter of 2020.

Our regulators, as an integral part of their examination process, periodically review our allowance for loan losses and may require us to increase our allowance for loan losses by making additional provisions for loan losses, charged as an expense, or to decrease our allowance for loan losses by recognizing loan charge-offs, net of recoveries. Any such additional provisions for loan losses or charge-offs, as required by these regulatory agencies, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Nonperforming assets take significant time to resolve and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

At December 31, 2020, nonperforming loans were 1.04% of the total loan portfolio, and 0.63% of total assets, as compared to 0.84% and 0.57% at December 31, 2019, respectively, indicating a decreased level of risk. Nonperforming assets adversely affect our earnings in various ways. Depending upon economic and market conditions, we may incur losses relating to an increase in nonperforming assets. We do not record interest income on non-accrual loans or other real estate owned, thereby adversely affecting our income, and increasing our loan administration costs. Upon foreclosure or similar proceedings, we record the foreclosed asset at the fair value of the asset, reduced by estimated selling costs, which may result in a loss. An increase in the level of nonperforming assets increases our risk profile and may impact the capital levels our regulators believe are appropriate in light of the increased risk profile. While we reduce problem assets through collection efforts, asset sales, workouts, restructurings and otherwise, decreases in the value of the underlying collateral or in these borrowers’ performance or financial condition, whether or not due to economic and market conditions beyond our control, could adversely affect our business, our results of operations and our financial condition.

In addition, the resolution of nonperforming assets requires significant commitments of time from management and our directors, which can hinder the performance of their other responsibilities. If economic and market conditions worsen, it is possible that we will experience future increases in nonperforming assets, particularly if we are unsuccessful in our efforts to reduce our classified assets, which would have an adverse effect on our business.

We may be required to make additional provisions for loan losses and charge off additional loans in the future, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, we recorded a $10.4 million provision for loan losses, charged off $5.6 million of loans, and recovered $2.2 million of loans previously charged off. At December 31, 2020, we had $866.4 million in commercial and residential real estate loans and construction loans, of which $9.2 million was on non-accrual. Nonperforming commercial & industrial loans comprise of 58.6% of our nonperforming assets, commercial real estate loans comprise 18.1%, and residential mortgage loans comprise 14.9%. Deterioration in the real estate market in Guam, San Francisco and/or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands could affect the ability of our loan customers to service their debt, which could result in additional loan charge-offs and provisions for loan losses in the future, and could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and capital.

The Bank has one significant borrowing relationship in bankruptcy totaling $8.2 million at December 31, 2020. The Bank has calculated a specific reserve within the allowance for this borrowing relationship in bankruptcy in the amount of $3.5 million, and believes it has sufficient collateral for the remaining amount. As a result, the Bank’s management believes that at December 31, 2020,  there is sufficient coverage to protect the Bank’s exposure to this relationship.

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Our business is subject to interest rate risk, and variations in interest rates may negatively affect our financial performance.

Our earnings and cash flows are highly dependent upon net interest income. Net interest income is the difference between interest income earned on interest-bearing assets, such as loans and securities, and interest expense paid on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowed funds. Our net interest income (including net interest spread and margin) and ultimately our earnings are impacted by changes in interest rates and monetary policy. Changes in interest rates and monetary policy can impact the demand for new loans, the credit profile of our borrowers, the yields earned on loans and securities, and the rates paid on deposits and borrowings. Given our current volume and mix of interest-bearing liabilities and interest-earning assets, we expect our interest rate spread (the difference in the rates paid on interest-bearing liabilities and the yields earned on interest-earning assets) as well as net interest income to increase as interest rates rise and, conversely, to decline if interest rates fall. Additionally, increasing levels of in-market and out-of-market competition in the banking and financial services business may decrease our net interest spread as well as net interest margin by forcing us to offer lower lending interest rates and pay higher deposit interest rates. Although we believe our current level of interest rate sensitivity is reasonable, significant fluctuations in interest rates (such as a sudden and substantial increase in Prime and Fed Funds rates) as well as increasing competition may require us to increase rates on deposits at a faster pace than the yield we receive on interest-earning assets increases. The impact of any sudden and substantial move in interest rates and/or increased competition may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, as our net interest income may be adversely affected.

Additionally, a sustained decrease in market interest rates could negatively affect our earnings. When interest rates decline, borrowers tend to refinance higher-rate, fixed-rate loans at lower rates, prepaying their existing loans. Under those circumstances, we would not be able to reinvest those prepayments in assets earning interest rates as high as the rates on the prepaid loans. In addition, our commercial loans, which carry variable interest rates that generally adjust in accordance with changes in the prime rate, will adjust to lower rates. Because of this, we have established minimum interest rates on those loans to mitigate our interest rate risk and potential reductions in income.

We are also significantly affected by the level of loan demand available in our markets. The inability to make sufficient loans directly affects the interest income we earn. Lower loan demand will generally result in lower interest income realized as we place funds in lower-yielding investments.

Liquidity risk could impair our ability to fund operations and jeopardize our financial condition.

Liquidity is essential to our business. An inability to raise funds through deposits, borrowings, the sale of loans and other sources could have a substantial negative effect on our liquidity. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance our activities could be impaired by factors that affect us specifically or the financial services industry in general. Factors that could detrimentally impact our access to liquidity sources include a decrease in the level of our business activity due to a market downturn in markets in which our loans are concentrated, a change in our financial condition or adverse regulatory action against us. Our ability to borrow could also be impaired by factors that are not specific to us, such as a severe disruption of the financial markets or negative views and expectations about the prospects for the financial services industry as a whole.

If we lost a significant portion of our low-cost deposits, it would negatively impact our liquidity and profitability.

Our profitability depends in part on our success in attracting and retaining a stable base of low-cost deposits. At December 31, 2020, 36.3% of our deposit base was comprised of non-interest bearing deposits, and the average rate on our interest-bearing deposits during 2020 was 0.10%. While we generally do not believe these core deposits are very sensitive to interest rate fluctuations, the competition for these deposits in our markets is strong. If we were to lose a significant portion of our low-cost deposits, it could negatively impact our liquidity and profitability.

We may be the subject of litigation, which could result in legal liability and damage to our business and reputation.

From time to time, we may be subject to claims or legal action from customers, employees or others. Financial institutions like the Company and the Bank are facing a growing number of significant class actions, including those based on the manner of calculation of interest on loans and the assessment of overdraft fees. Future litigation could include claims for substantial compensatory and/or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages. We are also involved from time to time in other reviews, investigations and proceedings (both formal and informal) by governmental and other agencies regarding our business. These matters also could result in adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties, injunctions or other relief. Like other large financial institutions, we are also subject to risk from potential employee misconduct, including non-compliance with policies and improper use or disclosure of confidential information.

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Our insurance may not cover all claims that may be asserted against us, and any claims asserted against us, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, may harm our reputation. Should the ultimate judgments or settlements in any litigation exceed our insurance coverage, they could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may not be able to obtain appropriate types or levels of insurance in the future, nor may we be able to obtain adequate replacement policies with acceptable terms, if at all.

If we are limited in our ability to originate loans secured by commercial real estate we may face greater risk in our loan portfolio.

Federal banking agencies have issued guidance regarding high concentrations of commercial real estate loans within bank loan portfolios. The guidance requires financial institutions that exceed certain levels of commercial real estate lending compared with their total capital to maintain heightened risk management practices that address the following key elements: board and management oversight and strategic planning, portfolio management, development of underwriting standards, risk assessment and monitoring through market analysis and stress testing, and maintenance of increased capital levels as needed to support the level of commercial real estate lending. If there is any deterioration in our commercial real estate portfolio or if our regulators conclude that we have not implemented appropriate risk management practices, it could adversely affect our business, and could result in the requirement to maintain increased capital levels. Such capital may not be available at that time, and may result in our regulators requiring us to reduce our concentration in commercial real estate loans.

If because of our concentration of commercial real estate loans, or for any other reasons, we are limited in our ability to originate loans secured by commercial real estate, our results of operations may be negatively impacted and we may incur greater risk in our loan portfolio.

The laws and regulations applicable to the banking industry could change at any time, and these changes may adversely affect our business and profitability.

We are subject to extensive federal and state regulation and may be the subject of further significant legislation or regulation in the future, none of which is within our control. The increased scope, complexity, and cost of corporate governance, reporting, and disclosure practices are proportionately higher for a company of our size and will affect our profitability more than that of some of our larger competitors. Current and future legal and regulatory requirements, restrictions, and regulations, may adversely impact our profitability, financial condition and operations; may require us to invest significant management attention and resources to evaluate and make any changes required by the legislation and related regulations; and may make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified executive officers and employees.

New legislation or regulations could impose restrictions on our operations and our ability to conduct business consistent with our historical practices. Financial regulatory agencies frequently adopt changes to their regulations or change the manner in which existing regulations are applied. Changes to statutes, regulations, accounting standards or regulatory policies, including changes in their interpretation or implementation by regulators, could affect us in substantial and unpredictable ways. Such changes could, among other things, subject us to additional costs and lower revenues, limit the types of financial services and products that we may offer, ease restrictions on non-banks and thereby enhance their ability to offer competing financial services and products, increase compliance costs, and require a significant amount of management’s time and attention. Changes in accounting standards could materially impact, potentially even retroactively, how we report our financial condition and results of our operations. Failure to comply with statutes, regulations, or policies could result in sanctions by regulatory agencies, civil monetary penalties, or reputational damage, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Additionally, like all regulated financial institutions, we are affected by monetary policies implemented by the Federal Reserve and other federal instrumentalities. A primary instrument of monetary policy employed by the Federal Reserve is the restriction or expansion of the money supply through open market operations. This instrument of monetary policy frequently causes volatile fluctuations in interest rates, and it can have a direct, material adverse effect on the operating results of financial institutions including our business. Borrowings by the United States government to finance government debt may also cause fluctuations in interest rates and have similar effects on the operating results of such institutions. We do not have any control over monetary policies implemented by the Federal Reserve or otherwise and any changes in these policies could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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Any future FDIC insurance premium increases will adversely affect our earnings.

As an FDIC-insured institution, the bank is assessed a quarterly deposit insurance premium. The FDIC uses a risk-based assessment system that calculates FDIC insurance premiums based on an institution’s unsecured debt, secured liabilities and brokered deposits. If the Bank or insured institutions as a whole present a greater risk to the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund in the future than they do today, if the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund becomes depleted in any material respect, or if other circumstances arise that lead the FDIC to determine that the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund should be strengthened, the Bank could be required to pay significantly higher deposit insurance premiums and/or additional special assessments to the FDIC. Those premiums and/or assessments could have a material adverse effect on the Bank’s earnings, thereby reducing the availability of funds to pay dividends to to the Company.Our FDIC deposit insurance expense for the year ended December 31, 2020, was $1.4 million.

The complying with consumer protection regulations and policies could adversely affect our business.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), is a regulatory entity with broad powers to supervise and enforce consumer protection laws. The CFPB has extensive rulemaking authority for a wide range of consumer protection laws that apply to banks and other types of lenders, including the authority to prohibit “unfair, deceptive or abusive” acts and practices. It also has examination and enforcement authority over all banks with more than $10 billion in assets. Institutions with less than $10 billion in assets, like the Bank, are examined for compliance with consumer protection laws by their primary bank regulators, but these regulators defer to the CFPB’s rules and interpretations in evaluating a bank’s compliance with consumer protection laws. Therefore, although the CFPB does not directly supervise us, the actions of the CFPB significantly impact our operations.

The CFPB has set forth numerous rules and guidance documents since its inception concerning a wide range of consumer protection laws, many of which are directly applicable to our operations. For example, the CFPB recently imposed new requirements regarding the origination and servicing of residential mortgage loans, limitations on the manner in which loan originators may be compensated, mandatory disclosures on documentation given to borrowers, and an obligation on the part of lenders to verify a borrower’s “ability to repay” a residential mortgage loan before extending credit, among others. The CFPB likely will continue to make rules relating to consumer protection, and it is difficult to predict which of our products and services will be subject to these rules or how these rules will be implemented. However, compliance with CFPB regulations likely will result in additional operating and compliance costs that could have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.

We have the ability to borrow from the Federal Home Loan Bank, and there can be no assurance their programs will continue in their current manner.

We have access to funding by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines for term advances; we also borrow from correspondent banks under our Fed Funds lines of credit from time to time, primarily to test the continuing availability of those lines. The amount loaned to us is generally dependent on the value of the collateral pledged. These lenders could reduce the percentages loaned against various collateral categories, could eliminate their acceptance of certain types of collateral, and could otherwise modify or even terminate their loan programs, particularly to the extent they are required to do so because of capital adequacy or other balance sheet concerns. Any change or termination of the programs under which we borrow from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines or correspondent banks could have an adverse effect on our liquidity and profitability.

Our results of operations may be adversely affected by other-than-temporary impairment charges relating to our securities portfolio.

We may be required to record future impairment charges on our securities, including our stock in the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, if they suffer declines in value that we consider other-than-temporary. Numerous factors, including the lack of liquidity for re-sale of certain securities, the absence of reliable pricing information for some securities, adverse changes in the business climate, adverse regulatory actions or unanticipated changes in the competitive environment, could have a negative effect on our securities portfolio in future periods. Significant impairment charges could also negatively impact our regulatory capital ratios and result in the Bank not being classified as “well-capitalized” for regulatory purposes.

We may need to raise additional capital in the future, and such capital may not be available when needed or at all.

We may need to raise additional capital in the future to provide us with sufficient capital resources and liquidity to meet regulatory requirements, our commitments or our business needs. Our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, will depend, among other things, on conditions in the capital markets at that time, which are outside of our control, and our financial performance. The loss of confidence in financial institutions may increase our cost of funding and limit our access to some of our customary funding sources, including, but not limited to, inter-bank borrowings and borrowings from the discount window of the Federal Reserve.

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We cannot provide assurances that such capital will be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. Any occurrence that may limit our access to the capital markets, such as a decline in the confidence of debt purchasers, depositors of the Bank or counterparties participating in the capital markets, may adversely affect our capital costs and our ability to raise capital and, in turn, our liquidity.

We must effectively manage our growth strategy.

As part of our general growth strategy, we may expand into additional communities or attempt to strengthen our position in our current markets by opening new offices. To the extent that we are able to open additional offices, we are likely to temporarily experience the effects of higher operating expenses relative to operating income from the new operations for a period of time, which may have an adverse effect on our levels of reported net income, return on average equity and return on average assets. Our current growth strategies involve internal growth from our current offices and the addition of new offices over time, so that the additional overhead expenses associated with recent openings are absorbed prior to opening other new offices.

We have a nominal amount of deferred tax asset and cannot assure that it will be fully realized.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are the expected future tax amounts for the temporary differences between the carrying amounts and tax basis of assets and liabilities computed using enacted tax rates. If we determine that we will not achieve sufficient future taxable income to realize our net deferred tax asset, we are required under generally accepted accounting principles to establish a full or partial valuation allowance. If we determine that a valuation allowance is necessary, we are required to incur a charge to operations. We regularly assess available positive and negative evidence to determine whether it is more likely than not that our net deferred tax asset will be realized. Realization of a deferred tax asset requires us to apply significant judgment and is inherently speculative because it requires estimates that cannot be made with certainty. At December 31, 2020, we had a net deferred tax asset of $8.5 million. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we established a partial valuation allowance of $1.3 million to reduce the net deferred tax asset of $9.8 million because, in management’s opinion, it is more likely than not that only the remaining $8.5 million will be realized. If we were to determine at some point in the future that we will not achieve sufficient future taxable income to realize our net deferred tax asset, we would be required, under generally accepted accounting principles, to establish a full or increase any partial valuation allowance, which would require us to incur a charge to operations for the period in which the determination was made. The deferred tax asset valuation allowance at December 31, 2020, was decreased by $550 thousand, as compared to a decrease of $373 million at December 31, 2019.

We face strong competition from financial service companies and other companies that offer banking services.

We face substantial competition in all phases of our operations from a variety of different competitors. Our competitors, including larger commercial banks, community banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, consumer finance companies, insurance companies, brokers, investment advisors and other financial institutions, compete with the lending and deposit-gathering services we offer. Increased competition in our markets may result in reduced loans and deposits.

Many of these competing institutions have much greater financial and marketing resources than we have. Due to their size, many competitors can achieve larger economies of scale in a broader range of products and services than we can. If we are unable to offer competitively priced products and services, our business may be negatively affected.

Some of the financial services organizations with which we compete are not subject to the same degree of regulation as is imposed on bank holding companies and federally insured financial institutions, and are not subject to increased supervisory oversight arising from regulatory examinations. As a result, these non-bank competitors have certain advantages over us in accessing funding and in providing various services. The banking business in our primary market areas is very competitive, and the level of competition facing us may increase further, which may limit our asset growth and financial results.

In the future, the Bank and/or the Company may become subject to supervisory actions and/or enhanced regulation that could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating flexibility, financial condition, the value of our common stock and our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders.

Under federal, state and local laws and regulations pertaining to the safety and soundness of insured depository institutions, various state or local regulators (for non-federally chartered banks), the Federal Reserve Board (for bank holding companies and member banks), the local financial industry regulators of the various jurisdictions in which the Bank operates and, separately, the FDIC as the insurer of bank deposits, each have the authority to compel or restrict certain activities on our part if they determine that we have insufficient capital or are otherwise operating in a manner that may be deemed to be inconsistent with safe and sound banking practices. Under their respective authority, our bank regulators can require us to enter into informal or formal enforcement orders, including board resolutions, memoranda of understanding, written agreements, and consent or cease and desist orders, pursuant to which we may be required to take identified corrective actions to address cited concerns or to refrain from taking certain actions. Neither the Bank nor the Company is currently operating under any regulatory enforcement orders.

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Technology is continually changing and we must effectively implement new technologies.

The financial services industry is undergoing rapid technological changes with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. In addition to better serving customers, the effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables us to reduce costs. Our future success will depend 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 for convenience, as well as to create additional efficiencies in our operations as we continue to grow and expand our geographic and product markets. In order to anticipate and develop new technology, we employ a qualified staff of internal information system specialists and consider this area a core part of our business. We do not develop our own software products, but have been able to respond to technological changes in a timely manner through association with leading technology vendors. We must continue to make substantial investments in technology, which may affect our results of operations. If we are unable to make such investments, or we are unable to respond to technological changes in a timely manner, our operating costs may increase, which could adversely affect our operating results.

System failure or breaches of our network security could subject us to increased operating costs as well as litigation and other potential liabilities.

The computer systems and network infrastructure we use could be vulnerable to unforeseen problems. Our operations are dependent upon our ability to protect our computer equipment against damage from physical theft, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure or a similar catastrophic event, as well as from security breaches, denial of service attacks, viruses, worms and other disruptive problems caused by malicious parties. Any damage or failure that causes an interruption in our operations could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Computer break-ins and other disruptions could also jeopardize the security of information stored in and transmitted through our computer systems and network infrastructure, which may result in significant liability to us and may cause existing and potential customers to refrain from doing business with us. We employ external auditors to conduct auditing and testing for weaknesses in our systems, controls, firewalls and encryption to reduce the likelihood of any security failures or breaches, as well as both internal and external monitoring systems to detect and report any attempt to overcome our electronic defenses. Although we, with the help of third-party service providers and auditors, intend to continue to implement effective security technology and establish operational procedures to prevent such damage, there can be no assurance that these security measures will ultimately be successful. In addition, advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or other developments could result in a compromise or breach of the algorithms we and our third-party service providers use to encrypt and protect customer transaction data. A failure of such security measures would present a reputational risk, and could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Breaches of third parties’ network security could subject us to increased operating costs and other liabilities.

In recent years, there have been numerous highly publicized breaches of customer databases maintained by both public and private entities, often compromising personally identifiable information. These breaches increase the risk that compromised information may be used to fraudulently obtain financial services. The Bank has established systems to mitigate the possibility that some compromised information could be used fraudulently to open deposit and/or loan accounts.  Despite all reasonable efforts, though, we are unable to be absolutely certain that the risk of that form of fraud is entirely eliminated.

Further, some of these third party data breaches have compromised credit card information, creating an opportunity to defraud the Bank and its credit card customers by initiating fraudulent charges using the compromised card information. Under current law, the Bank retains potential liabilities associated with those fraudulent charges. Also, when it is known that a credit card has been compromised, the Bank incurs costs in replacing the card. As a result, a third-party network security breach could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and the results of our operations.

Managing operational risk is important to attracting and maintaining customers, investors and employees.

Operational risk represents the risk of loss resulting from our operations, including but not limited to, the risk of fraud by employees or persons outside the Bank, the execution of unauthorized transactions by employees, transaction processing errors and breaches of the internal control system, and failure to effectively meet compliance requirements. This risk of loss also includes the potential legal actions that could arise as a result of an operational deficiency or as a result of noncompliance with applicable regulatory standards, adverse business decisions or their implementation, and customer attrition due to potential negative publicity. Operational risk is inherent in all business activities, and the management of this risk is important to the achievement of our business objectives. In the event of a breakdown in our internal control system, improper operation of systems or improper employee actions, we could suffer financial loss, face regulatory action and suffer damage to our reputation. We have a stringent code of ethics and attendant procedures in place to protect our reputation and promote ethical conduct, but these policies and procedures might not be fully effective. Negative publicity regarding our business, employees, or customers, with or without merit, may result in the loss of customers, investors and employees, costly litigation, a decline in revenues and increased regulatory oversight.

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Severe weather, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, and other external events could significantly impact our business.

Severe weather, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, and other adverse external events or conditions have the potential to significantly impact our ability to conduct business. Such events or conditions could affect the stability of our deposit base, impair the ability of borrowers to repay outstanding loans, impair the value of collateral securing loans, cause significant property damage, result in loss of revenue and/or cause us to incur additional expenses. For example, our primary market areas in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (the “CNMI”) are subject to typhoons, earthquakes and wildland fires, and our California region is subject to earthquakes and wildland fires. All of the islands in our market are at risk from more frequent and more intense storms, coastal flooding and coastal erosion related to climate change. Operations in our market could be disrupted by both the evacuation of large portions of the population as well as damage and/or lack of access to our banking and operational facilities. While we have experienced severe weather and strong earthquakes in the past and resumed our operations promptly, a recurrence of these, along with acts of war, terrorism or other adverse external events or conditions, may occur in the future. Although management has established a business continuity plan, disaster recovery policies and corresponding procedures, the occurrence of any such event 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.

Epidemics, including pandemics, present a risk to the island markets that we serve and may cause unpredictable effects on their economies and performance, and the market value of our common stock.

With the advent of globalization and the substantial expansion of international transportation, combined with regional and worldwide climate changes, the increase in the number of bacterial and viral diseases that are widely and quickly distributed may affect our profitability in one or more of our market areas. In an island environment, an epidemic has effectively the same result as a pandemic and may potentially have greater or lesser effects on economic conditions, whether locally or throughout our network. We may decide to defer payments, extend maturities or otherwise modify the terms of existing commercial and/or consumer loans in order to protect the value of our loan portfolio, although there is the possibility that we may experience some loan losses. Depending on the severity of those effects, a decline in the market price of our common stock could occur.

Uncertain geopolitical conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business and the markets that we serve, which could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

Our business is subject to geopolitical conditions in the western Pacific, including concerns over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and China’s expanded military operations in the South and East China Seas. This has resulted in increased uncertainty regarding both China’s and North Korea’s actions and the potential responses of the United States. In addition, after several years of substantial Chinese investment in tourism activities in two of the islands in the Bank’s market, both investments and the arrival of tourists from China into those islands were suddenly curtailed, more or less disrupting both of those economies. Any of these conditions could result in a decline in the market price of shares of our common stock.

Risks Related to Our Securities

The price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly, and this may make it difficult for stockholders to resell shares of common stock at times or at prices they find attractive.

The Company common stock is traded in the Over-the-Counter market under the symbol “BKGM.” The trading volume has historically been substantially less than that of larger financial services companies. This may make it difficult for stockholders to resell shares of common stock at times or at prices they find attractive. Stock price volatility may also make it more difficult to sell common stock quickly and at attractive prices.

None.

Our properties consist primarily of leased office facilities for our branch offices. Our headquarters facility, which we own, consists of 74,240 square feet in Hagåtña, Guam. We also own the buildings of our Santa Cruz branch in Guam, our Garapan branch in Saipan and the Rota branch in the CNMI, which comprise 47,292 square feet in total. These branch buildings are situated on leased land. We believe our facilities are in excellent condition and suitable for the conduct of our business.

In 2020, the Bank permanently closed the Malesso branch, effective April 3, 2020, and the Tumon branch, effective May 19, 2020. In addition, the Bank closed the Dededo and Harmon branches, effective January 29, 2021.

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For additional information on operating leases and rent expense, see Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Neither the Company nor the Bank is involved in any legal proceedings other than those occurring on a routine basis in the ordinary course of business. The majority of such proceedings have been initiated by the Bank in the process of collecting delinquent loans. Such routine legal proceedings, in the aggregate, are believed by management to be immaterial to the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of December 31, 2020.

None.

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PART II

Market for Common Stock

The Company’s common stock is quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol “BKGM.” Transactions of the Company’s common stock through private negotiated sales are also facilitated with the assistance of the Bank’s Trust Department. Management is not aware of any securities dealers which actively make a market in the Company’s common stock. No assurance can be given that an active trading market will be sustained for the common stock at any time in the future.

As of March 22, 2021, there were approximately 4,496 holders of record of common stock. There are no other classes of common equity.

Dividends  

Payment of dividends by the Company on its common stock is subject to various factors, including regulatory restrictions and guidelines. See Part I. Item 1. “Business – Supervision and Regulation – Regulation of BankGuam Holding Company” and “ – Regulation of the Bank” for further detail.

The Company declared and paid dividends of $0.10 per share to stockholders as of a declaration date for each share of common stock outstanding in each of the eight calendar quarters ended December 31, 2020. The decision whether to pay future dividends will be made by our Board of Directors in light of conditions then existing, including factors such as our results of operations, financial condition, business conditions, regulatory capital requirements and covenants under any applicable contractual arrangements, including agreements with regulatory authorities.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

Stock Purchase Plan

The Bank’s 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “2011 Plan”) was adopted by the Bank’s Board of Directors and approved by the Bank’s Stockholders on May 2, 2011, to replace the Bank’s 2001 Non-Statutory Stock Option Plan. This plan was subsequently adopted by the Company. The 2011 Plan is open to all employees of the Company and its subsidiaries who have met certain eligibility requirements.

Under the 2011 Plan, as amended and restated as of July 1, 2012, eligible employees can purchase, through payroll deductions, shares of common stock at a discount. The right to purchase stock is granted to eligible employees during a quarterly offer period that is established from time to time by the Board of Directors of the Company. Eligible employees cannot accrue the right to purchase more than $25 thousand worth of stock at the fair market value at the beginning of each offer period. Eligible employees also may not purchase more than one thousand five hundred (1,500) shares of stock in any one offer period. The shares are purchased at 85% of the fair market price of the stock on the enrollment date.

Information requested by this Item is not applicable as we are electing scaled disclosure requirements available to Smaller Reporting Companies with respect to this Item.

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The following discussion provides information about the results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, and capital resources of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Bank. This information is intended to facilitate the understanding and assessment of significant changes and trends related to our financial condition and the results of operations. This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes presented elsewhere in this Annual Report.

Executive Summary

This summary is intended to identify the most important matters on which management focuses when it evaluates the financial condition and performance of the Bank. When evaluating financial condition and performance, management looks at certain key metrics and measures. The Bank’s evaluation includes comparisons with peer group financial institutions and its own performance objectives established in internal planning processes.

The primary activity of the Bank is commercial banking, as it has been since the Bank opened in Guam in 1972. The Company’s operations are located entirely in the U.S. territories, the U.S.-affiliated nations of the western Pacific, and in the San Francisco Bay area of California. The largest community in the Bank’s western Pacific market is Guam, followed by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The market includes a number of transportation-, travel- and tourism-related companies in the region, as well as substantial U.S. Department of Defense and other U.S. federal government activities in Guam. The Company’s customers are primarily transnational corporations, governments, closely-held businesses and individuals.

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting governmental responses impacted our operations in 2020. See “Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies – COVID-19” for a discussion.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, net income attributable to common stockholders was $11.9 million, or $1.23 per basic and diluted common share. For the year ended December 31, 2019, net income was $15.6 million, or $1.62 per basic and diluted common share.

The returns on average assets and average equity for the year ended December 31, 2020, were 0.55% and 7.21%, respectively, compared to 0.83% and 10.23%, respectively, for 2019. The equity to asset ratios for the same periods were 7.53% and 8.41%, respectively, while the dividend payout ratios were 35.40% and 27.30%, respectively. As provided in the 2018 Form 10-K that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 15, 2019, the returns on average assets and average equity for the year ended, were 0.67% and 8.86%, respectively. For that year, the equity to assets ratio and dividend payout ratio were 7.84% and 31.35%, respectively.

The following are major factors that impacted the Company’s results of operations:

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The following are important factors in understanding our current financial condition and liquidity position:

Deposits

The composition and cost of the Bank’s deposit base are important in analyzing the Bank’s net interest margin and balance sheet liquidity characteristics. The Bank’s depositors are generally located in its primary market area. Depending on loan demand and other funding requirements, the Bank also attracts deposits through its interest rate pricing. The Bank monitors all deposits that may be sensitive to interest rate changes to help ensure that liquidity risk does not become excessive due to deposit migration. Deposits at December 31, 2020, were $2.119 billion, compared to $1.730 billion at December 31, 2019. The 22.5% increase was primarily due to the rise of $231.4 million, or 24.0%, in consumer, commercial and government in deposits in Guam, the increase of $74.3 million (25.7%) in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, primarily in government deposits, the rise of $82.0 million (19.2%) in the Freely Associated States of Micronesia, and $1.2 million (2.6%) in the Bank’s deposits in the California region. The significant increase in total deposits was primarily due to the receipt of funds from various COVID-19 federal relief programs.

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The Bank does not currently accept brokered deposits because it already maintains ample liquidity.

Liquidity

Our liquidity position refers to our ability to maintain cash flows sufficient to fund operations and to meet obligations and other commitments in a timely fashion. We believe that the Bank’s liquidity position is more than sufficient to meet our operating expenses, borrowing needs and other obligations for  2021, and management has tested and determined that, even under severely stressed scenarios, the Bank’s liquidity will be more than adequate to meet our requirements. At December 31, 2020, our liquidity increased by $288.9 million, 56.8%  of total cash and cash equivalents and available-for-sale investment securities totaling $797.7 million compared to $508.8 million at December 31, 2019. Once the increases in our loan portfolio and other assets were accommodated, the marginal increase in our deposit liabilities and smaller increase in our equity were channeled into a decrease in cash and cash equivalents, and our available-for-sale investment securities. At December 31, 2020, we had $287.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and approximately $187.9 million in available borrowing capacity from various sources, including the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”), which is subject to the purchase of activity based stock at par equivalent to 4.00% of the borrowing, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (“FRB”), and Federal Funds facilities with several financial institutions. The Bank also had approximately $196.3 million in unpledged securities available at December 31, 2020. Our loan-to-deposit ratio decreased to 67.6% at December 31, 2020, compared to 75.5% at December 31, 2019, as our gross loans increased by 9.6% and our deposits increased by 22.5%.

Lending

Our loans originate almost entirely through the branch offices located in our primary market. As the Bank approached a saturation point in our island service area, we expanded our activities in California through our branch in San Francisco. The total loan portfolio remains well diversified with commercial real estate loans accounting for 47.9%  and commercial and industrial loans accounting for 25.6% of the total loan portfolio at December 31, 2020. Construction loans decreased from 5.4% of the portfolio at December 31, 2019, to 3.6% at December 31, 2020. Residential mortgages and other consumer-related loans accounted for the remaining 22.9% of total loans at December 31, 2020. The increase in gross loans during 2020 compared to 2019 was primarily due to an increase of $158.9 million, or 16.8%, in our commercial loan portfolio, partially offset by a $33.3 million, or 9.2%, decrease in consumer loans. The Bank also had a decrease of $2.6 million in loans sold to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”) from $189.5 million at December 31, 2019, to $186.9 million at December 31, 2020, but these loans are off-book, except for the value of the associated mortgage servicing rights. The Bank exercises careful selectivity with respect to the types of loans it chooses to originate.

With the passage of the Paycheck Protection Program, administered by the Small Business Administration, the Bank actively participated in assisting its customers with applications for resources through the program. PPP loans have either a two-year or five-year term and earn interest at 1%. The Bank believes that the majority of these loans will ultimately be forgiven by the SBA in accordance with the terms of the program. In 2020, the Bank approved and funded over $93.4 million in PPP loans. Through December 31, 2020, a total of $7.7 million in PPP loans were forgiven reducing the outstanding balance to $85.7 million at year-end. On January 13, 2021, the SBA re-opened the PPP program and began accepting applications for PPP loans. As of March 18, 2021, the bank approved and funded over $28.6 million in additional PPP loans. It is the Bank’s understanding that loans funded through the PPP program are fully guaranteed by the U.S. government. Should those circumstances change, the Bank could be required to establish additional allowance for loan loss through additional credit loss expense charged to earnings.

Net Interest Income

The management of interest income and expense is fundamental to the performance of the Company and the Bank. Net interest income, the difference between interest income and interest expense, is the largest component of the Bank’s total revenue. Management closely monitors both total net interest income and the net interest margin (net interest income divided by average earning assets).

The Bank, through its asset and liability management policies and practices, as overseen by its Asset and Liability Committee, seeks to maximize net interest income without exposing itself to an excessive level of interest rate risk. Interest rate risk is managed by monitoring the pricing, maturity and repricing options of all classes of interest-bearing assets and liabilities. This is discussed in more detail under Liquidity and Asset/Liability Management. In addition, as the market allows, we take measures and initiatives to improve our net interest margin, including increasing loan rates, maintaining interest rate floors on floating rate loans, reducing nonperforming assets, managing deposit interest rates and reducing higher-cost deposits.

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After several years of historically low rates the Federal Reserve increased the target Federal Funds Rate by 25 basis points four times during 2018, on March 21, June 13, September 26 and December 19, ending in a target range from 2.25% to 2.50%. In 2019, the target Federal Funds Rate was cut three times on July 31, September 18, and October 30, ending the target range from 1.50% to 1.75%. On March 3, 2020, the Federal Open Market Committee reduced the target range for federal funds by 50 basis points to 1.00% - 1.25%. This rate was further reduced to a target range of 0% - 0.25% on March 16, 2020. The decrease in short-term rates affected the rates applicable to the Bank’s floating rate loans. In conjuction with the decrease in short-term interest rates, the overall cost of interest-bearing deposits, which represent the Bank’s primary funding source, decreased by .04% by the end of 2020, which includes the issuance of subordinated debt on June 27, 2019. The decrease in the yields on the Bank’s interest earnings assets reduced its net interest margin, from 4.93% in 2019 to 3.87% in 2020.

Management of Credit Risk

We continue to proactively identify, quantify and manage our problem loans. Early identification of problem loans and potential future losses helps enable us to resolve credit issues with potentially less risk and lower ultimate losses. We maintain an allowance for loan losses in an amount that we believe is adequate to absorb probable and projected incurred losses in the portfolio. While we strive to carefully monitor and manage credit quality and to identify loans that may be deteriorating, circumstances can change at any time that may result in future losses for loans included in the portfolio, that as of the date of the financial statements have not yet been identified as potential problem loans. Through established credit practices, we adjust the allowance for loan losses accordingly. However, because future events are uncertain, there may be loans that deteriorate, some of which could occur in an accelerated time frame. As a result, future additions to the allowance may be necessary. Because the loan portfolio contains a number of commercial loans, commercial real estate and construction loans with relatively large balances, deterioration in the credit quality of one or more of these loans may require a significant increase to the allowance for loan losses. Future additions to the allowance may also be required based on changes in the financial condition of borrowers, such as have resulted due to changing economic conditions. Additionally, federal and local banking regulators throughout our market area, as an integral part of their supervisory function, periodically review our allowance for loan losses. These regulatory agencies may require us to recognize further loan loss provisions or charge-offs based upon their judgments, which may be different from ours. Any increase in the allowance for loan losses may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operation.

We also maintain a reserve against potential credit risks associated with our unfunded off-balance sheet loan commitments.

Further discussion of the management of credit risk appears under “Provision for Loan Losses” and “Allowance for Loan Losses”.

Capital Management

As part of its asset and liability management process, the Company continually assesses its capital position to take into consideration growth, expected earnings, risk profile and potential corporate activities that it may choose to pursue.

During the past several years, the Bank’s principal source of increases in capital has been retained earnings, supplemented by stock purchases through our Employee Stock Purchase Plan, and issuances of common and preferred stock. See Note 14 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 15 of this Annual Report for a description of the Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Since the formation of the Company in 2011, though, the Bank’s assets have grown by 113.2%, prompting the Bank to seek additional sources of capital. Those more traditional sources of additional capital are finally catching up, having increased by 99.6% during the same period. A portion of the increase in capital was derived from the sale of additional common and preferred stock and the issuance of subordinated debt.

Results of Operations

The Bank earns income from two primary sources. The first is net interest income, which is interest income generated by earning assets less a provision for loan losses and interest expense on interest-bearing liabilities. The second is non-interest income, which primarily consists of service charges and fees, income from merchants for processing credit and debit card transactions, non-interest income from holders of the Bank’s credit cards, trustee fees and net investment securities gains. The majority of the Company’s non-interest expenses are operating costs that relate to providing a full range of banking services to our customers.

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Distribution, Rate and Yield

The following Distribution, Rate and Yield table presents the average amounts outstanding during 2020 and 2019 for the major categories of the Company’s balance sheet, the average interest rates earned or paid thereon, and the resulting net interest margin on average interest earning assets for the periods indicated. Average balances are based on monthly averages.

The Distribution, Rate and Yield table above sets forth the dollar amounts in interest earned and paid for each major category of interest earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities for the noted periods, as well as their respective yields and costs, and the resulting interest rate spreads and net interest margins.

The Bank’s net interest margin, expressed as a percentage of average earning assets, was 3.87% for 2020, down 105 basis points from 4.93% for 2019, even as average earning assets increased by 16.1% during the year, from $1.83 billion in 2019 to $2.13 billion in 2020. The reason for the decrease in the net interest margin was that our average earning assets interest income decreased by $8.1 million, from $92.9 million in 2019 to $84.8 million in 2020, partially offset by the decrease in funding costs of 9.0%, from $2.5 million in 2019 to $2.3 million in 2020. Our average loan balances increased by $108.3 million, or 8.5%, and the average yield on the entire loan portfolio decreased by 78 basis points to 5.61% resulting in a decrease of interest earnings on loans by $3.9 million, or 0.8%. Yields on our investment securities portfolio decreased by 75 basis points and the yield on short term investments went down by 1.58%. Average total interest-bearing liabilities increased by 11.7% during 2020, to $1.33 billion from $1.19 billion the previous year, primarily due to the growth in consumer savings, commercial checking, and government checking and savings accounts as a result of the funds received by depositors from the CARES Act.

Net interest income for the year ended December 31, 2020, decreased by $7.9 million, to $82.5 million, compared to $90.4 million a year earlier, primarily due to the 150 basis points (1.50%) rate cut in March 2020 by the Federal Open Market Committee. This impacted our loan portfolio, investment securities, and short term deposits in other banks, including the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

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A substantial portion of the Bank’s earning assets are variable-rate loans that re-price when the Bank’s reference rate, which usually corresponds with the New York prime lending rate, is changed. This is in contrast to a large base of core deposits that are generally slower to re-price. This causes the Bank’s balance sheet to be asset-sensitive, which means that, all else being equal, net interest margin will be higher during periods when short-term interest rates are rising and lower when rates are falling. However, we will not necessarily have to raise rates on the personal savings portion of our core deposits as general market interest rates increase, increasing the sensitivity of our net interest margin to rising interest rates.

The following table provides information regarding the changes in interest income and interest expense, attributable to changes in rates and changes in volumes that contribute to the total change in net interest income for the years ending December 31, 2020 and 2019. Variances attributable to both rate and volume changes are equal to the change in rate times the change in average balance and are included below in the average volume column.

Provision for Loan Losses

Credit risk is inherent in the lending business. The Bank establishes an allowance for loan losses through charges to earnings, which are shown in the statements of income as the provision for loan losses. Specifically identifiable and quantifiable known losses are promptly charged off against the allowance. The provision for loan losses is allocated monthly and evaluated quarterly through a determination of the adequacy of the Bank’s allowance for loan losses, and reset if necessary, charging the shortfall, if any, to the current quarter’s expense. This has the effect of creating variability in the amount and frequency of charges to the Bank’s earnings. The provision for loan losses and level of allowance for each period are dependent upon many factors, including loan growth, net charge-offs, changes in the composition of the loan portfolio, delinquencies, management’s assessment of the quality of the loan portfolio, the valuation of problem loans and the general economic conditions in the Bank’s market area.

For 2020, the Bank had a provision for loan and credit losses of $10.4 million, and $6 thousand assigned to the reserve for unfunded credit commitments. The 2020 provision was $570 thousand more than the provision for 2019. The 2020 provision increased due to the risks related to the ongoing pandemic. The provision is deemed by management to provide a sufficient allowance for loan losses due to net chargeoffs of $3.4 million during the year, as well as to maintain the allowance for loan losses at a level that is adequate to absorb all reasonably expected future losses and to express management’s perception of risk in the existing loan portfolio, as well as changes in the quality of that portfolio. At December 31, 2020, management adjusted the economic risk factors to incorporate the current economic implications, which includes reduced tourism and higher unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The allowance for loan losses represented 2.43% and 2.13% of total gross loans at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Provisions for loan losses are charged to operating income to bring the allowance for loan losses to a level deemed appropriate by the Bank based on the factors discussed under “Allowance for Loan Losses.”

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Non-interest income

The following table sets forth the various components of the Company’s non-interest income:

While net interest income remains the largest single component of total revenues, non-interest income is an important source, as well. In total, the Bank received $16.4 million in non-interest income during 2020, an decrease of $1.3 million from the $17.7 million recorded for 2019. The decrease from 2019 to 2020 was primarily due to a $978 thousand decrease in trustee fees resulting from the decrease in rates, a $402 thousand decrease in service charges and fees, and a $354 thousand decrease in income from merchant services. These decreases were partially offset by a  $328 thousand increase in our net income from cardholders.

Non-interest expense

The following table sets forth the various components of the Company’s non-interest expense:

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The following table indicates the percentage of non-interest expense in each category:

Management considers the control of operating expenses to be a critical element of the performance of the Company and the Bank. As in years past, the Bank has undertaken initiatives to contain its non-interest expense and improve its efficiency. Nevertheless, total non-interest expense was $72.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $76.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, a decrease of $4.0 million. This decrease was largely the result of lower costs associated with general, administrative and other by $1.7 million, other real estate owned by $1.2 million, traininig and education by $693 thousand, and salaries and employee benefits by $588 thousand. The decreases in general, administrative and other expenses are primarily due to reduction of $883 thousand in public relations expense and $506 thousand in legal expense. The decrease in other real estate owned expense is primarily due to the charge off of two foreclosed properties, both in California, in order to meet regulatory requirements. Those decreases were partially offset by an increase of $513 thousand in FDIC insurance assessment, and $434 thousand increase in equipment and depreciation.

Income Tax Expense

The Company computes its provision for income taxes on a monthly basis. The effective tax rate is determined by applying the Bank’s statutory income tax rate to pre-tax book income, as adjusted for permanent differences between pre-tax book income and actual taxable income. These permanent differences include, but are not limited to, tax-exempt interest income, increases in the cash surrender value of life insurance policies, certain expenses that are not allowed as tax deductions, and tax credits.

The Bank pays income taxes in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under a territorial “mirror” of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, with payments made to the respective territorial governments instead of the U.S. Treasury; there is no equivalent of a state income tax in either of these jurisdictions. The Bank also pays taxes to the governments of the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the State of California. The Bank’s territorial and state income tax expense in 2020 was $3.5 million, as compared to an income tax expense of $5.6 million in 2019.

The difference in the effective tax rate compared to the combined territorial, foreign and state statutory tax rate of 21% in effect for 2020 is primarily the result of the Bank’s portfolio of tax-exempt loans to the government of Guam totaling $35.1 million and $10.2 million at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Additionally, there was a one-time impact on total income tax expense and the effective tax rate in 2019 due to a $921 thousand adjustment.

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Some items of income and expense are recognized in different years for tax purposes than when applying generally accepted accounting principles, leading to timing differences between the Bank’s actual tax liability and the amount accrued for this liability based on book income. These temporary differences comprise the “deferred” portion of the Bank’s tax expense or benefit, which is accumulated on the Bank’s books as a deferred tax asset or deferred tax liability until such time as they reverse. At the end of the years 2020 and 2019, the Bank had a gross deferred tax asset of $9.8 million and $9.4 million, respectively.

Realization of the net deferred tax asset is primarily dependent upon the Bank generating sufficient taxable income to obtain a benefit from the reversal of net deductible temporary differences, utilization of tax credit carry-forwards and the net operating loss carry-forwards for Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and California state income tax purposes. The amount of deferred tax assets considered realizable is subject to adjustment in future periods based on estimates of future taxable income. Under generally accepted accounting principles, a valuation allowance is required to be recognized if it is “more likely than not” that a deferred tax asset will not be realized. The determination of whether the deferred tax assets will actually be realized is highly subjective and dependent upon judgment concerning management’s evaluation of both positive and negative evidence, including forecasts of future income, cumulative losses, applicable tax planning strategies, and assessments of current and future economic and business conditions.

In assessing the realization of deferred tax assets at December 31, 2020, based on these factors, the Bank believed that it was more likely than not that the Bank will realize only $8.5 million of the benefits of these deductible differences. Therefore, a valuation allowance of $1.3 million for its deferred tax asset was recorded at December 31, 2020.

In assessing the realization of deferred tax assets at December 31, 2019, the Bank believed that it was more likely than not that the Bank would realize only $7.5 million of the benefits of these deductible differences. Therefore, a valuation allowance of $1.8 million for the deferred tax asset was recorded at December 31, 2019.

Financial Condition

As of December 31, 2020, total assets were $2.35 billion, an increase of 20.4% from $1.95 billion at December 31, 2019. Total securities available-for-sale (at fair value) were $510.1 million, an increase of 35.3% from $377.1 million at December 31, 2019. The total loan portfolio, net of allowance for loan losses and deferred fees, was $1.39 billion, an increase of $117.5 million, or 9.2% from $1.28 billion at year-end 2019. Interest bearing deposits in banks increased during 2020, rising to $244.8 million from $93.8 million at the end of 2019. Total deposits were $2.12 billion, an increase of just 22.5% from $1.73 billion at year-end 2019. The Bank had no short-term borrowings at December 31, 2020. The growth in deposits resulted from the receipt of various funds by our depositors from the CARES Act.

Securities Portfolio

The following table reflects the estimated fair value of Available-for-Sale securities and the amortized cost of Held-to-Maturity securities, for each category for the past two years:

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Investment Portfolio

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The amortized cost and fair value of investment securities by contractual maturity at December 31, 2020 and 2019, are shown below.

The securities portfolio is the second largest component of the Bank’s interest earning assets, and the structure and composition of this portfolio is important to an analysis of the financial condition of the Bank and the Company. The portfolio serves the following purposes: (i) it provides a source of pledged assets for securing certain deposits and borrowed funds, as may be required by law or by specific agreement with a depositor or lender; (ii) it can be used as an interest rate risk management tool, since it provides a large base of assets, the maturity and interest rate characteristics of which can be changed more readily than the loan portfolio to better match changes in the deposit base and other funding sources of the Bank; and (iii) it is an alternative interest earning use of funds when loan demand is weak or when deposits grow more rapidly than loans.

Approximately 91.6% of the Bank’s securities at December 31, 2020, were classified under existing accounting rules as “Available-for-Sale” to allow flexibility in the management of the portfolio. Accounting guidance requires Available-for-Sale securities to be marked to fair market value, with an offset to other comprehensive income (loss), a component of stockholders’ equity, recorded on a quarterly basis. The remaining 8.4% of the investment portfolio was in Held-to-Maturity securities, which the Bank is willing and believes it will be able to retain until they mature, and which are recorded on an amortized cost basis.

The Bank’s portfolio has historically been comprised primarily of: (i) U.S. government agency and sponsored entities’ debt securities for liquidity and pledging; (ii) U.S. government agency and sponsored entities’ mortgage-backed securities, which in many instances can also be used for pledging, and which generally enhance the yield of the portfolio; and (iii) U.S. government agency pool securities, which generally enhance the yield of the portfolio. Since the downgrade of many municipal obligations and their respective insurers in the past few years, the Bank no longer holds municipal bonds, but may do so again when markets become more stable.

Compared to December 31, 2019, the Bank’s securities portfolio increased by $129.6 million to 23.7% of total assets at December 31, 2020, from 21.9% at December 31, 2019. The Bank increased its holding of mortgage-back securities by $51.5 million to $192.2 million at December 31, 2020, from $140.7 million at December 31, 2019, and its holdings of U.S. government agency and sponsored enterprise debt securities increased by $224.2 million, to $331.4 million during the same periods. These increases were partially offset by the Bank’s holdings of U.S. government agency pool securities, which decreased by $146.1 million, to $33.1 million at December 31, 2020, from $179.2 millon at December 31, 2019. The Bank has not used interest rate swaps or other derivative instruments to hedge fixed rate loans or securities to otherwise mitigate interest rate risk.

Loans

The Bank’s loans represent the largest portion of earning assets, substantially greater than the securities portfolio or any other asset category, and the quality and diversification of the loan portfolio is an important consideration when assessing the financial condition of the Bank and the Company.

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Gross loans represented 60.9% of total assets at December 31, 2020, as compared to 66.9% at December 31, 2019. The ratio of gross loans to deposits decreased to 67.6% at the end of 2020 from 75.5% at the end of 2019. Demand for loans has strengthened within the Bank’s Guam, Northern Mariana, and California markets, and declined in the Freely Associated States and Guam markets. The 23.8% increase in gross loans outstanding in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is due to the growth in commercial & industrial loans, while the 10.1% growth in Guam is due to the growth in commercial & industrial loans, and the 9.5% growth in California is due to continuing strength in the economy there. These increases were partially offset by the decrease in loans in the Freely Associated States by 9.5%.   

The Loan Distribution table that follows sets forth the Bank’s gross loans outstanding, deferred fee income amortized over the life of some loans, the allowance for loan losses and the percentage distribution in each loan category at the dates indicated.

Loan Portfolio

About three fourths of the Bank’s loan portfolio is concentrated in commercial loans (which include loans to governments), primarily in commercial real estate, multifamily rentals, hotels and gas stations, with the balance in working capital and equipment financing. These are followed by other consumer loans and residential mortgages. The increase in the Bank’s loan portfolio in 2020 was due to customary loan activity throughout our markets, increases in the commercial mortgage portfolios in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and California region, and the addition of two significant commercial & industrial loans in the Freely Associated States and Guam region, along with the addition of PPP loans in Guam, California and the CNMI.  The Bank’s gross loans were concentrated in Guam and San Francisco, at 83.4% of our gross loan portfolio as of December 31, 2020, compared to 83.2% as of December 31, 2019. The only industry concentration that was considered significant at December 31, 2020, was within our commercial mortgage loan portfolio, which was at 47.9% and 45.3% of total gross loans in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

In recognition of the potential difficulties that may be faced by our commercial, real estate and consumer customers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank initiated a temporary program in March 2020 under which affected commercial and consumer customers may have their loan payments deferred or otherwise adjusted for a period of up to 90 days. This temporary program ended on September 30, 2020. The Bank continues to process commercial and consumer deferral requests on a case-by-case basis.

The Bank’s commercial & industrial loans are made for working capital, financing the purchase of equipment and other business purposes. Commercial loans include loans with maturities ranging from thirty days to one year and “term loans” with maturities normally ranging from three to fifteen years. Short- term business loans are generally intended to finance current transactions and typically provide for periodic principal payments, with interest payable monthly. Term loans normally carry floating interest rates, with monthly payments of both principal and interest, but may be amortized over a longer period than the term of the loan, with a balloon payment at the end of the term.

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The Bank is an active participant in the Small Business Administration (SBA), State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), Nor-Cal Financial Development Corp. and U.S. Department of Agriculture guaranteed lending programs, and has been approved by the SBA as a lender under the Preferred and Patriot Express Lender Programs. The Bank regularly makes such guaranteed loans, with an outstanding volume of $11.1 million at December 31, 2020.

As of December 31, 2020, commercial and residential real estate loans of $866.4 million consist primarily of adjustable and fixed rate loans secured by deeds of trust or mortgages on commercial and residential property, and comprised 60.51% of the total loan portfolio. The Bank’s commercial mortgages at December 31, 2020, consist of $685.1 million, or 47.9% of gross loans. Commercial construction loans comprise $51.8 million, or 3.6%, of gross loans. Residential mortgages, including home equity loans, were $129.4 million, or 9.0% of gross loans. Properties securing the commercial and residential real estate loans are located in the Bank’s primary markets, which include the San Francisco Bay area.

The Bank’s commercial real estate loans consist primarily of loans based on the borrower’s cash flow and are secured by deeds of trust or mortgages on commercial and residential property to provide a secondary source of repayment. The Bank generally restricts commercial real estate term loans to no more than the lower of 75% of the property’s appraised value or the purchase price of the property, whichever is lower, during the initial underwriting of the credit, depending on the type of property and its utilization. The Bank offers both fixed and floating rate loans. Maturities on commercial real estate loans are generally ten to fifteen years (with amortization up to thirty years and a balloon payment due at maturity), and maturities on residential mortgage loans are typically between 15 and 30 years, with many of those loans sold to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation with the retention of servicing rights. SBA and certain other real estate loans that can be sold in the secondary market may be granted for longer maturities.

The Bank’s construction loans primarily finance the development and construction of commercial and residential properties. The Bank uses underwriting guidelines to assess the likelihood of repayment from sources such as sale of the property or availability of permanent mortgage financing prior to making the construction loan. Construction loans decreased by $19.3 million to $51.8 million at December 31, 2020, from $71.1 million at December 31, 2019.

Additionally, the Bank makes consumer loans for the purpose of financing automobiles, various types of consumer goods, and other personal purposes. Consumer loans generally provide for the monthly payment of principal and interest. Most of the Bank’s consumer loans are either unsecured, secured by the personal property being purchased or, in the case of home equity loans, real property.

At December 31, 2020, total gross loans had increased during the year by $125.7 million, or 9.6%, to $1.43 billion from $1.31 billion at December 31, 2019. The increase was largely attributed to a $158.9 million increase in commercial loans to $1.10 billion at December 31, 2020, from $945.6 million at December 31, 2019. This was primarily due to increases in commercial mortgage loans by $93.8 million, commercial & industrial loans by $84.5 million, partially offset by commercial construction loans of $19.3 million.  Further, the increase was partially offset by a $34.1 million decrease during 2020 in other consumer loans.  

At December 31, 2020, loans outstanding were comprised of approximately 66.03% variable rate loans and 33.97% fixed rate loans.

Since it first opened in 1972, the Bank has expanded its operations and its branch network, first in Guam, then in the other islands of our region and in San Francisco, California. In the interests of enhancing performance and stability through market and industry diversification, the Bank has increased its focus on growth in the San Francisco area in recent years, adding personnel with experience and expertise in the Bay Area. The following table provides figures for gross loans in the Bank’s administrative regions for the years ending December 31, 2020, and 2019:

As the table indicates, the Bank’s total gross loans increased by 9.6% during 2020. Total loans in Guam increased by $71.2 million, or 10.1% accounting for the largest source of total portfolio growth during 2020. Loan growth in California was second, with growth at $36.3 million, or 9.5%, followed by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands at $27.9 million, or 23.8%. These three regions account for loan growth in 2020, of which approximately $85.7 million is due to the PPP loans that were added during the period and was outstanding. These increases were partially offset by the decrease in The Freely Associated States of Micronesia at $9.8 million or 9.5%.

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Loan Maturities

The following table presents the maturity distribution of the Bank’s loans as of December 31, 2020. The table also shows the distribution of such loans between those with predetermined (fixed) interest rates and those with variable (floating) interest rates. Floating rates generally fluctuate with changes in the New York prime rate, as reflected in The Wall Street Journal, and the Bank of Guam prime rate.