FIVE STAR BANCORP - Annual Report: 2021 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

or

o TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _________ to _____

Commission file number: 001-40379

FIVE STAR BANCORP

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(916) 626-5000
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. YES o No x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. YES o No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (l) 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 x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (Section 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No o

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. o

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. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). YES o NO x

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity of the registrant held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2021 was $300.6 million. As of February 22, 2022, the number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock was 17,246,549.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A for its 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

INDEX

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent plans, estimates, objectives, goals, guidelines, expectations, intentions, projections, and statements of our beliefs concerning future events, business plans, objectives, expected operating results, and the assumptions upon which those statements are based. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate, or imply future results, performance, or achievements, and are typically identified with words such as “may,” “could,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “aim,” “intend,” “plan,” or words or phases of similar meaning. We caution that the forward-looking statements are based largely on our expectations and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on factors which are, in many instances, beyond our control. Such forward-looking statements are based on various assumptions (some of which may be beyond our control) and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which change over time, and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to:

The foregoing factors should not be considered exhaustive and should be read together with other cautionary statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including those discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors.” Additional factors that could cause results or performance to materially differ from those expressed in our forward-looking statements are detailed in other filings we may make with the SEC, copies of which are available from us at no charge. New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict their occurrence or how they will affect us. If one or more of the factors affecting our forward-looking information and statements proves incorrect, then our actual results, performance, or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, forward-looking information and statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Therefore, we caution you not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking information and statements. We disclaim any duty to revise or update the forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, to reflect actual results or changes in the factors affecting the forward-looking statements, except as specifically required by law.

PART I

Our Company

Headquartered in the greater Sacramento metropolitan area of California, Five Star Bancorp (“Bancorp” or the “Company”) is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Five Star Bank (“Five Star” or the “Bank”), a California state-chartered non-member bank. The Bank began operations on December 20, 1999. Bancorp was incorporated on September 16, 2002 and became the sole shareholder of the Bank on June 2, 2003. Our executive offices are located at 3100 Zinfandel Drive, Suite 100, Rancho Cordova, California 95670 and our telephone number is (916) 626-5000. Our website address is www.fivestarbank.com. Information on our website should not be considered a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The Company provides a broad range of banking products and services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals primarily in Northern California through seven branch offices, two loan production offices, the Internet, and its mobile banking application. The Bank’s deposits are insured in whole or in part by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”). The Bank’s loans and deposits are primarily within Northern California, and the Bank’s primary funding source is deposits from customers. Our mission is to strive to become the top business bank in all markets we serve through exceptional service, deep connectivity, and customer empathy. We are dedicated to serving real estate, agricultural, faith-based, and small to medium-sized enterprises. We aim to consistently deliver value that meets or exceeds expectations of our shareholders, customers, employees, business partners, and community. We refer to our mission as “purpose-driven and integrity-centered banking.” As of December 31, 2021, we had total assets of $2.6 billion, total loans, net of allowance for loan losses, of $1.9 billion, and total deposits of $2.3 billion. 

In May 2021, the Company completed its initial public offering (“IPO”), in which the Company issued 6,054,750 shares of common stock, no par value, including 789,750 shares sold pursuant to the underwriters’ exercise of their option to purchase additional shares. The securities were sold to the public at a price of $20.00 per share and began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on May 5, 2021 resulting in total net proceeds less other related expenses, including audit fees, legal fees, listing fees, and other expenses, of $109.1 million.

In connection with the IPO, the Company also terminated its status as a Subchapter S corporation as of May 5, 2021 and became a taxable C Corporation.

Unless otherwise indicated, references in this report to “we,” “our,” “us,” “the Company,” or “Bancorp” refer to Five Star Bancorp and our consolidated subsidiary. All references to “the Bank” or “Five Star” refer to Five Star Bank, our wholly owned subsidiary.

Our Market

The Company, through the Bank, provides financial services to customers who are predominately small and middle-market businesses, professionals, and individuals primarily in the Northern California region. Our primary loan products are commercial real estate loans, commercial loans, commercial land and construction loans, and farmland loans. Our primary deposit products are money market accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and interest checking accounts. 

Our principal geographic market is the Roseville/Sacramento/Rancho Cordova/Elk Grove area (the “Greater Sacramento Area”). The Greater Sacramento Area has a profitable and productive economy driven by the governmental, education, technology, health care, agricultural, and manufacturing sectors. Since 2016, our market share of the total deposits in the Sacramento Area has increased significantly, according to the FDIC Deposit Market Share Reports. We believe that our market growth confirms the quality of the purpose-driven and integrity-centered banking that we strive to deliver to our customers.

Our Products and Services

Lending Activities

We focus primarily on commercial lending, with an emphasis on commercial real estate. We offer a variety of loans to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals, including commercial real estate, commercial, commercial land and construction, and farmland loans. Although a substantial portion of our loan portfolio consists of commercial real estate loans within our market, our portfolio is diverse and includes a significant amount of Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loans to customers nationwide. To a lesser extent, we also offer residential real estate and construction loans and consumer loans. 

Commercial real estate loans: As of December 31, 2021, we had $1.6 billion in total commercial real estate loans, representing 81.48% of total loans. These loans are viewed primarily as cash flow loans and secondarily as loans secured by real estate. These loans are generally collateralized by first liens on real estate and amortized over a period of years. We monitor and evaluate commercial real estate loans based on collateral, geography, and risk grade criteria. Our commercial real estate lending typically involves higher loan principal amounts, and the repayment of these loans is generally largely dependent on the successful operation of the property securing the loan or the business conducted on the property securing the loan. Commercial real estate loans may be more adversely affected by conditions in the real estate markets or in the general economy. The properties securing our commercial real estate portfolio are diverse in terms of type and industry. This diversity helps reduce our exposure to adverse economic events that affect any single market or industry.

Commercial loans: As of December 31, 2021, we had $180.3 million in commercial loans, representing 9.26% of total loans. Commercial loans are underwritten after evaluating the borrower’s ability to operate profitably and prudently expand its business. Underwriting standards are designed to promote relationship banking rather than transactional banking. Commercial loans are primarily made based on the identified cash flows of the borrower and secondarily on the underlying collateral provided by the borrower. The cash flows of borrowers, however, may not be as expected, and the collateral securing these loans may fluctuate in value. Most commercial loans are secured by the assets being financed or other business assets, such as accounts receivable or inventory, and may incorporate a personal guarantee; however, some short-term loans may be made on an unsecured basis. In the case of loans secured by accounts receivable, the availability of funds for the repayment of these loans may be substantially dependent on the ability of the borrower to collect amounts due from its customers.

SBA loans: As of December 31, 2021, our total commercial SBA portfolio held for investment, excluding Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans, was $48.0 million, representing 2.48% of total loans held for investment. In 2021, we sold 169 SBA loans, excluding PPP loans, with government guaranteed portions totaling $41.4 million. We participate in the SBA 7(a) program in order to meet the needs of our small business community as well as customers nationwide. As an approved participant in the SBA Preferred Lender Program, we enable our clients to obtain SBA loans without being subject to the potentially lengthy SBA approval process necessary for lenders that are not SBA Preferred Lenders. Pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Consolidated Appropriations Act”), the SBA guaranteed 90% of the principal amount of each qualifying SBA loan originated under the SBA’s 7(a) loan program (excluding PPP loans) through October 1, 2021. The SBA presently guarantees 75% to 90% of the principal amount of qualifying loans originated under the 7(a) loan program (excluding PPP loans). The guarantee is conditional and covers a portion of the risk of payment default by the borrower, but not the risk of improper closing and servicing by the lender. As such, prudent underwriting and closing processes are essential to effective utilization of the 7(a) program. We typically sell in the secondary market the SBA-guaranteed portion of the SBA loans we originate.

PPP loans: Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) passed in March 2020, we funded over 1,500 loans to eligible small businesses and non-profit organizations nationwide who participated in the PPP administered by the SBA as of December 31, 2021. The balance of PPP loans at December 31, 2021 was $22.1 million, or 1.14% of total loans. PPP loans have terms of two to five years and earn interest at 1.00%. In addition, we received a fee of 1.00% to 5.00% from the SBA depending on the loan amount. PPP loans are fully guaranteed by the SBA and are expected to be forgiven by the SBA if borrowers meet the requirements of the program. The PPP Flexibility Act, signed into law on June 5, 2020, modified, among other things, rules governing the PPP payment deferral period. We ended our origination of new PPP loans under the first round of the PPP on June 30, 2020. In October 2020, due to updated guidance from the SBA that PPP loan payments were to be deferred until the SBA had remitted forgiveness funds to the lender if the borrower had applied during the ten months after the end of its covered period, we modified the first payment due dates for PPP loans that originated prior to June 5, 2020 and extended the payment deferral period from six months to a minimum of 16 months. The Consolidated Appropriations Act provided additional funding for the PPP and allowed eligible borrowers, including certain borrowers that had already received a PPP loan, to apply for PPP loans through March 31, 2021. In January 2021, we restarted our PPP loan origination efforts. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “American Rescue Plan Act”), which was enacted on March 11, 2021, expanded the eligibility criteria for PPP loans and revised the exclusions from payroll costs for purposes of loan forgiveness. The PPP Extension Act of 2021 (the “PPP Extension Act”), which became law on March 30, 2021, extended the deadline to apply for a PPP loan through May 31, 2021.

Commercial land and construction loans: As of December 31, 2021, we had $61.6 million in commercial land and construction loans, representing 3.16% of total loans. We make loans to established builders to construct residential properties, loans to developers of commercial real estate investment properties and residential developments, and, to a lesser extent, loans to individual clients for construction of single-family homes in our market. On rare occasions, we also make loans for the acquisition of undeveloped land subject to heightened underwriting requirements. Construction loans are typically disbursed as construction progresses and carry either fixed or variable interest rates generally based on the borrowers’ ability to repay the loans from the cash flow of their business(es). The terms of our commercial land and construction loans vary depending on factors such as the type and size of the development and the financial strength of the borrower/guarantor. Loans are typically structured with an interest-only construction period and mature at the completion of construction.

Farmland loans: As of December 31, 2021, we had $54.8 million in farmland loans, representing 2.82% of total loans. We are a strong agricultural lender, with both lines of credit and term loans. Farmland loans are generally made to producers and processors of crops and livestock. Repayment is primarily from the sale of an agricultural product or service. Farmland loans are secured by real property and are susceptible to changes in market demand for specific commodities. This may be exacerbated by, among other things, industry changes, changes in the individual financial capacity of the business owner, general economic conditions, and changes in business cycles, as well as adverse weather conditions.

Residential real estate and construction loans: As of December 31, 2021, we had $36.0 million in residential real estate and construction loans, representing 1.85% of total loans. Residential real estate loans are underwritten based upon income, credit history, and collateral. To monitor and manage residential loan risk, policies and procedures are developed and modified, as needed. We believe that this activity, coupled with relatively small loan amounts that are spread across many individual borrowers, minimizes risk. Underwriting standards for home loans are heavily influenced by statutory requirements, which include, but are not limited to, a maximum loan-to-value percentage, collection remedies, the number of such loans a borrower can have at one time, and documentation requirements.

Consumer and other loans: As of December 31, 2021, we had $17.2 million in consumer and other loans, representing 0.88% of total loans. We make a variety of loans in relatively small amounts to individuals for personal purposes, primarily for home repairs and improvements. Consumer loans are underwritten based on the individual borrower’s income, current debt level, past credit history, and the value of any available collateral. The terms of consumer loans vary considerably based upon the loan type, nature of collateral, and size of the loan. The performance of consumer loans is affected by the local and regional economy as well as the rates of personal bankruptcies, job loss, divorce, and other individual-specific characteristics. We do not expect these consumer and other loans to make up a significant portion of our lending activity.

Lending Philosophy

In keeping with our mission of purpose-driven and integrity-centered banking, we seek credit arrangements that serve our local community and provide attractive risk-adjusted returns to us. We pursue our objectives and are mindful of liquidity, flexibility, and risk considerations by exercising controls on non-interest expenses and close management of our assets and liabilities. We periodically set guidelines aimed to maintain stability of our loan-to-deposit ratio, minimize past-due and non-accrual loans, and achieve an optimal loan mix and concentration. We seek well-margined and collateralized loan opportunities to borrowers with extensive professional asset operating experience.

Lending Policy and Procedures

We have established common documentation, policies, and standards for lending based on the type of loan. A thorough credit analysis precedes commercial and real estate loan decisions, and we follow well-established and proven procedures when approving consumer loans.

We have established a Management Loan Committee and a Director Loan Committee. Our Management Loan Committee is comprised of our Chief Executive Officer, our Chief Credit Officer, certain other members of management, and select senior loan officers and is primarily responsible for day-to-day implementation and oversight of our loan approval procedures. Our board of directors approves, from time to time, a delegated lending authority to members of the Management Loan Committee. The amount of authority delegated to each member of the committee varies based on years of direct lending experience, responsibility, and performance, and the authority limits also vary by collateral type.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Although we have a diversified loan portfolio, a substantial portion is secured by commercial and residential real estate located in Northern California. As of December 31, 2021, approximately 69.13% of our real estate loans measured by dollar amount were secured by collateral located in California, a majority of which is in Northern California. Additionally, we have a high concentration of real estate related loans, which represented approximately 89.31% of our loan portfolio at December 31, 2021. Although management believes such concentrations have no more than the normal risk of collectability, a substantial decline in the economy in general, or a decline in real estate values in our primary market in particular, could have an adverse impact on the collectability of these loans. Personal and business incomes represent the primary source of repayment for the majority of these loans.

Deposit Products

Representing 98.46% of our total liabilities as of December 31, 2021, deposits are our primary source of funding for our business operations. As of December 31, 2021, we held $2.3 billion of total deposits, including $902.1 million in non-interest-bearing deposits.

We offer a complete array of deposit products for small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals, including a variety of checking and savings accounts, time deposits, and money market accounts. We also provide a wide range of deposit services, including debit cards, remote deposit capture, online banking, mobile banking, and direct deposit services.

We obtain most of our deposits from individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, and municipalities in our market. We solicit deposits through our relationship-driven team of dedicated and accessible bankers and through community-focused marketing. We emphasize obtaining deposit relationships at loan origination. We provide a high level of customer service to our depositors. We have invested in personnel, business and compliance processes, and technology that enable us to acquire, and efficiently and effectively serve, a wide array of business deposit accounts, while continuing to provide the level of customer service for which we are known.

As of December 31, 2021, our 26 largest deposit relationships, each accounting for more than $10 million, totaled $912.7 million, or 39.93% of our total deposits. This includes $424.5 million of our total deposits held by municipalities, of which we conduct a monthly review. Our management maintains our liquidity position and lines of credit with correspondent banks to mitigate the risk of large withdrawals by this group of large depositors.

Investment Securities

As of December 31, 2021, the carrying value of our investment portfolio, which represented 6.01% of total assets, totaled $153.8 million and had an average effective yield of 1.71% and an estimated modified duration of approximately 5.4 years. The primary objectives of the investment portfolio are to provide a source of liquidity and provide collateral that can be readily sold or pledged for public deposits or other business purposes. At December 31, 2021, 53.02% and 32.57% of our investment portfolio consisted of mortgage-backed securities and obligations of states and political subdivisions, respectively. The remainder of our securities portfolio is invested in U.S. government agencies, collateralized mortgage obligations, and corporate bonds. We regularly evaluate the composition of our investment portfolio as the interest rate yield curve changes and may sell or pledge investment securities from time to time to adjust our exposure to interest rates or to provide liquidity to meet loan demand. Due to the low interest rate environment, we are primarily holding the majority of our on-balance sheet liquidity in interest-bearing bank deposits to limit our exposure to interest rate and price risk and to provide readily available funds for loan growth.

Competition

The banking business is highly competitive, and we face strong competition from many other financial institutions and financial services providers. Our principal competitors are commercial and community banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, mortgage banking firms and online mortgage lenders, and commercial and consumer finance companies, including large national financial institutions that operate in our market. Our profitability depends in large part upon our continued ability to successfully compete with these institutions for lending opportunities, deposit funds, financial products, bankers, and potential acquisition targets.

We conduct business through nine banking centers in our key market of Northern California. Many other commercial and community banks, savings institutions, credit unions, and other financial institutions maintain a physical presence in our primary market area, and some maintain only a virtual presence. Many of these competitors are larger than we are, have significantly more resources, greater brand recognition, and more extensive and established branch networks or geographic footprints than we do, and may be able to attract customers more effectively than we can. Because of their scale, many of these competitors can be more aggressive on loan and deposit pricing than we can and may better afford and make broader use of media advertising, support services, and electronic technology than we do. Also, many of our non-bank competitors have fewer regulatory constraints and may have lower cost structures. To offset these competitive disadvantages, we concentrate marketing efforts in the local markets we service with local advertisements and personal contacts. We depend on our reputation of having greater personal service than our competitors, as well as consistency, flexibility, the ability to make credit and other business decisions quickly, and our deep knowledge of competitor strengths and weaknesses.

Based on the FDIC Summary of Deposits as of June 30, 2021, Five Star ranks eighth in the Sacramento metropolitan statistical area (“MSA”) by deposit market share with deposits of $1.8 billion and four branches. As of June 30, 2021, total market deposits in the Sacramento MSA is $73.2 billion of which $58.8 billion, or approximately 80.23%, is held by seven money center banks across 220 branches. We are the 57th largest insured depository institution in California by deposits as of June 30, 2021.

Information Technology Systems

We have made, and continue to make, significant investments in our information technology systems and staff for our banking and lending operations and treasury management activities. We believe this investment will support our continued growth and enable us to enhance our capabilities to offer new products, improve overall customer experience, improve profitability through efficiencies, and provide scalability for future growth. We utilize nationally recognized software vendors and their cloud/hosted models, which allow us to outsource the processing of our data. Our internal network and e-mail systems are administered by a managed service provider specializing in financial institutions, and we maintain our production infrastructure in a data center facility near Reno, Nevada. This site provides for power and connectivity redundancy, and we maintain a disaster recovery program, including a cloud-based recovery environment.

The majority of our other systems, including our electronic funds transfer, transaction processing, and our online banking services are hosted by third-party service providers. The scalability of this infrastructure will support our growth strategy. In addition, the tested capability of these vendors to automatically switch over to standby systems should allow us to recover our systems and provide business continuity quickly in case of a disaster.

Emerging Growth Company Status

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). An emerging growth company may take advantage of reduced reporting requirements and is relieved of certain other significant requirements that are otherwise generally applicable to public companies. Among other factors, as an emerging growth company:

We may take advantage of these provisions for up to five years unless we earlier cease to qualify as an emerging growth company. We would cease to be an emerging growth company upon the earliest of: (i) the first fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of our IPO; (ii) the first fiscal year after our annual gross revenues are $1.07 billion or more; (iii) the date on which we have during the previous three-year period, issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities; or (iv) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). We have elected to adopt the reduced disclosure requirements described above regarding the number of periods for which we are providing audited financial statements and selected financial data, and our executive compensation arrangements. In addition, we take advantage of the reduced reporting and other requirements under the JOBS Act with respect to the periodic reports we file with the SEC and proxy statements that we use to solicit proxies from our shareholders. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different than the information you receive from other public companies in which you invest.

The JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from compliance with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a registration statement declared effective under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or do not have a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of this extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies, but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. As such, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable with those of a public company that is not an emerging growth company, or those of a public company that is an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period, because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Risk Management

We believe that effective risk management and control processes are critical to our safety and soundness, our ability to predict and manage the challenges that we face, and, ultimately, our long-term corporate success. Risk management refers to the activities by which we identify, measure, monitor, evaluate, and manage the risks we face in the course of our banking activities. These include liquidity, interest rate, credit, operational, compliance, regulatory, strategic, financial, and reputational risk exposures. Our board of directors, both directly and through its committees, is responsible for overseeing our risk management processes, including quarterly enterprise risk management assessments and annual assessments in the following areas: (i) cyber; (ii) Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (“Bank Secrecy Act”)/anti-money laundering; and (iii) third-party risk, with each of the committees of our board of directors assuming a different and important role in overseeing the management of the risks we face.

The Audit Committee of our board of directors is responsible for overseeing risks associated with financial matters (particularly financial reporting, accounting practices and policies, disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting). The Compensation Committee of our board of directors has primary responsibility for risks and exposures associated with our compensation policies, plans, and practices regarding both executive compensation, board compensation, and our compensation structure generally. Our Compensation Committee, in conjunction with our President and Chief Executive Officer and other members of our management, as appropriate, reviews our incentive compensation arrangements to ensure these programs are consistent with applicable laws and regulations, including safety and soundness requirements, and do not encourage imprudent or excessive risk-taking by our employees. The Governance and Nominating Committee of our board of directors oversees risks associated with the independence of our board of directors and potential conflicts of interest.

Our senior management is responsible for implementing our risk management processes by assessing and managing the risks we face, including strategic, operational, regulatory, investment, and execution risks, on a day-to-day basis, and reporting to our board of directors regarding our risk management processes. Our senior management is also responsible for creating and recommending to our board of directors for approval of appropriate risk appetite metrics reflecting the aggregate levels and types of risk we are willing to accept in connection with the operation of our business and pursuit of our business objectives.

The role of our board of directors in our risk oversight is consistent with our leadership structure, with our President and Chief Executive Officer and the other members of senior management having responsibility for assessing and managing our risk exposure, and our board of directors and its committees providing oversight in connection with those efforts. We believe this division of risk management responsibilities presents a consistent, systemic, and effective approach for identifying, managing, and mitigating risks throughout our operations.

Human Capital

To facilitate talent attraction and retention, we strive to create an inclusive, safe, and healthy workplace with opportunities for our employees to grow and develop in their careers, supported by strong compensation, benefits, and health and welfare programs.

Employee Profile

As of December 31, 2021, we had 163 full-time employees and five part-time employees. None of our employees is covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good and have not experienced interruptions of operations due to labor disagreements.

Compensation and Benefits

We provide a competitive compensation and benefits program to help meet the needs of our employees. In addition to salaries, this program includes annual bonus opportunities, a 401(k) plan with an employer matching contribution, healthcare and insurance benefits, flexible spending accounts, paid time off and family leave, and an employee assistance program.

Learning and Development

We invest in the growth and development of our employees by providing a multi-dimensional approach to learning that empowers, intellectually grows, and professionally develops our colleagues under the leadership of a Training and Development Manager. We facilitate the educational and professional development of our employees through support to attend conferences and obtain degrees, licenses, and certifications while employed by us.

Commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance

We are executing, and plan to scale-up, an Environmental, Social, and Governance strategy to drive positive change that focuses on environmental impacts of our business, social factors in the communities we serve, and the governance of our board of directors.

Environmental: Climate change impacts our customers, communities, employees, and shareholders. We are committed to developing policies and procedures that can contribute to reducing the effects of climate change, including funding customer business ventures that create positive environmental impact through agriculture or technology. Beginning in June 2021, we onboarded over 2,000 loans in a micro-loan program funding residential energy efficiency equipment. Additionally, we equip customers with technology tools designed to reduce their carbon footprint by reducing in-branch customer visits.

We have taken steps designed to help reduce our own carbon footprint by utilizing e-signatures to conduct business to reduce paper consumption and encouraging our employees to work remotely, where possible. We recognize that reducing the effects of climate change and helping to drive the transformation of a lower carbon environment are ongoing, and plan to continually seek out opportunities that can positively impact the effect that climate change has on the environment.

Social: We work to create positive social impacts in the communities in which our business operates, including by addressing food deserts, supporting affordable housing projects, and encouraging nonprofit donations. As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue, including the emergence of new variants, we remain committed to employee and customer safety through robust alternative working arrangements and extensive safety measures.

Governance: The Governance and Nominating Committee of our board of directors is committed to diversity on our board of directors and compliance with applicable rules, regulations, and guidance regarding the composition of our leadership. During the course of 2021, we added members to our board of directors that represented diverse backgrounds, including those attributed to race, ethnicity, gender, and other demographics. We are committed to ethical business practices and accounting transparency, as evidenced through our involvement in the community and results of examinations by regulators.

Dedication to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DE&I”) is essential in our workplace. We have a fully engaged Senior Vice President, Chief Operations Officer and Chief DE&I Officer who leads our DE&I efforts. Our Human Resources department is demonstrating a commitment to DE&I through hiring practices and employee training. We are committed to ensuring that all employees feel a sense of belonging in the workplace and that processes and programs are impartial, fair, and provide equal opportunity for every individual. We also have a history of serving customers in the nonprofit community who assist our region’s most vulnerable, underserved, and underrepresented populations.

Available Information

The Company’s annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, proxy statements, current reports on Form 8-K, amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, and other filings with the SEC are available free of charge at http://investors.fivestarbank.com under the heading “Financials & Filings,” as soon as reasonably practicable after the Company electronically files such material with, or furnishes it to, the SEC. These reports are also available for free on the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov. The information contained on the Company’s website as referenced in this Annual Report on Form 10-K should not be considered a part of this report.

Supervision and Regulation

General

Federal and state banking laws impose a comprehensive system of supervision, examination, regulation, and enforcement on the operations of insured banks and their holding companies. As a result, our growth, earnings performance, and operations may be affected by the requirements of federal and state statutes and by the regulations and policies of various bank regulatory agencies, including the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (the “DFPI”), the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”). Furthermore, tax laws administered by the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”), and state taxing authorities, accounting rules developed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”), securities laws administered by the SEC and state securities authorities, anti-money laundering laws enforced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury Department”), and SBA regulations with respect to small business loans, have an impact on our business. These statutes, regulations, and policies are continually under the review of the United States Congress and state legislatures, as well as federal and state regulatory agencies, and the nature and extent of future legislative, regulatory, or other developments affecting financial institutions are impossible to predict with any certainty. Supervision and regulation of banks, their holding companies, and affiliates is intended primarily for the protection of depositors and customers, the Deposit Insurance Fund (the “DIF”) of the FDIC, and the U.S. banking and financial system, rather than holders of our capital stock.

The following is a summary of material elements of the regulatory and supervisory framework applicable to us and the Bank. It does not describe all of the statutes, regulations, and regulatory policies that apply, nor does it provide complete summaries of the statutes, regulations, and policies referenced therein.

Supervision and Regulation of the Company

We are a bank holding company registered under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “BHC Act”). As a result, we are primarily subject to the supervision, examination, and reporting requirements of the BHC Act, Federal Deposit Insurance Act (the “FDI Act”), the regulations of the Federal Reserve and FDIC, and certain of the requirements imposed by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”).

Federal law subjects bank holding companies, such as the Company, to restrictions on the types of activities in which they may engage, and to a range of supervisory requirements and activities, including regulatory enforcement actions for violations of laws and regulations. Violations of laws and regulations, or other unsafe and unsound practices, may result in regulatory agencies imposing fines, penalties, or cease and desist orders, or taking other enforcement actions. Under certain circumstances, these agencies may enforce these remedies directly against officers, directors, employees, and other parties participating in the affairs of a bank or bank holding company.

Federal Oversight Over Mergers and Acquisitions, Investments, and Activities

The BHC Act requires a bank holding company to obtain the prior approval of the Federal Reserve before: (i) it may acquire direct or indirect ownership or control of any voting shares of any bank if, after such acquisition, the bank holding company will directly or indirectly own or control 5.00% or more of the voting shares of the bank; (ii) it or any of its subsidiaries, other than a bank, may acquire all or substantially all of the assets of any bank; or (iii) it may merge or consolidate with any other bank holding company.

Before approving any such transaction, the Federal Reserve is required by the BHC Act to consider a number of factors, including the transaction’s competitive impact, the financial and managerial resources and future prospects of the bank holding companies and banks concerned, the convenience and needs of the community to be served, and the effectiveness of the parties in combatting money laundering activities. Provisions of the FDI Act known as the Bank Merger Act impose similar approval standards for an insured depository institution to merge with another insured depository institution or a non-insured institution.

The BHC Act, as amended by the interstate banking provisions of the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 (the “Riegle-Neal Act”), permits us to acquire a bank located in any other state, regardless of state law to the contrary, subject to certain deposit percentage, aging requirements, and other restrictions. The Riegle-Neal Act also generally permits national- and state-chartered banks to branch interstate through acquisitions of banks in other states. Bank holding companies must be “well-capitalized” and “well-managed” to obtain federal bank regulatory approval of an interstate acquisition without regard to state law prohibiting the transaction.

The BHC Act also generally requires Federal Reserve approval for a bank holding company’s acquisition of a company that is not an insured depository institution. Bank holding companies generally may engage, directly or indirectly, only in managing or controlling banks, and such other activities as are determined by the Federal Reserve to be closely related to banking, and certain other permissible nonbanking activities. Bank holding companies generally must notify the Federal Reserve before acquiring a company that is not an insured depository institution or engaging in a permissible nonbanking activity, and the Federal Reserve considers several factors in reviewing such a notice. The Federal Reserve may order a bank holding company or its subsidiaries to terminate any of these activities or to terminate its ownership or control of any subsidiary when it has reasonable cause to believe that the bank holding company’s continued ownership, activity, or control constitutes a serious risk to the financial safety, soundness, or stability of it or any of its bank subsidiaries.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (the “GLB Act”) allows a bank holding company that satisfies certain criteria to elect to become a financial holding company, which would allow such company to engage in activities that are financial in nature, incidental to such activities, or complementary to such activities. We have not elected financial holding company status.

The FDIC has the authority to approve applications by state non-member banks to establish de novo branches, including, under the Riegle-Neal Act, in states other than the bank’s home state if the law of the state in which the branch is located, or is to be located, would permit establishment of the branch if the bank were a state bank chartered by that state.

Certain acquisitions of our voting stock may be subject to regulatory approval or notice under federal law. Investors are responsible for ensuring that they do not, directly or indirectly, acquire shares of our stock in excess of the amount that can be acquired without regulatory approval under the Change in Bank Control Act and the BHC Act, which prohibit any person or company from acquiring control of the Company without, in most cases, the prior written approval of the Federal Reserve.

Source of Strength

The FDI Act and Federal Reserve regulations require a bank holding company to serve as a source of financial and managerial strength to its bank subsidiaries. As a result, a bank holding company may be expected to commit resources to support its bank subsidiary, including at times when the holding company may not be inclined or in a financial position to provide it.

Capital Adequacy

Bank holding companies and banks are subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by federal and state bank regulatory agencies. Capital adequacy regulations and prompt corrective action regulations involve quantitative measures of assets, liabilities, and certain off-balance sheet items calculated under regulatory accounting practices, as well as qualitative judgments by the regulators about components of capital, risk-weightings, and other factors. United States capital regulations were substantially revised in 2013 as a result of changes in the Dodd-Frank Act and Basel III capital rules. The Federal Reserve and the FDIC, the primary federal regulators of the Company and Bank, respectively, have substantially similar generally applicable risk-based capital ratio and leverage ratio requirements.

We operate under the Federal Reserve’s Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement, which exempts bank holding companies with assets of less than $3.0 billion that are not engaged in significant nonbanking activities, do not conduct significant off-balance sheet activities, and do not have a material amount of debt or equity securities registered with the SEC from the Federal Reserve’s generally applicable risk-based capital ratio and leverage ratio requirements. Historically, the Federal Reserve has not usually deemed a bank holding company ineligible for application of this policy statement solely because its common stock is registered under the Exchange Act. However, there can be no assurance that the Federal Reserve will continue this practice, and changes to this practice may result in the loss of our status as a small bank holding company for these purposes.

If the Company no longer were subject to the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement, the following generally applicable capital requirements that apply to the Bank also would apply to the Company. The Bank is required to meet a common equity Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets ratio of at least 7.00% (a minimum of 4.50% plus a capital conservation buffer of 2.50%), a Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets ratio of at least 8.50% (a minimum of 6.00% plus a capital conservation buffer of 2.50%), a total capital to risk-weighted assets ratio of at least 10.50% (a minimum of 8.00% plus a capital conservation buffer of 2.50%), and a Tier 1 leverage ratio of at least 4.00%. In addition, insured depository institutions such as the Bank, unlike bank holding companies, are subject to further capital requirements to be deemed “well-capitalized” under the prompt corrective action provisions of the FDI Act and implementing regulations of the federal banking agencies, as described in the section entitled “—Supervision and Regulation of the Bank—Prompt Corrective Action” below.

For purposes of calculating the denominator of the risk-based capital ratios, a banking institution’s assets and some of its specified off-balance sheet commitments and obligations are assigned to various risk categories. For purposes of calculating the numerator of the capital ratios, capital, at both the holding company and bank levels, is classified in one of three tiers depending on the “quality” and loss-absorbing features of the capital instrument. Common equity Tier 1 capital is predominantly comprised of common stock instruments (including related surplus) and retained earnings, net of treasury stock, and after making necessary capital deductions and adjustments. Tier 1 capital is comprised of common equity Tier 1 capital and additional Tier 1 capital, which includes non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock and similar instruments meeting specified eligibility criteria (including related surplus). Total capital is comprised of Tier 1 capital and Tier 2 capital, which includes certain subordinated debt with a minimum original maturity of five years (including related surplus) and a limited amount of allowance for loan losses. Newly issued trust preferred securities and cumulative perpetual preferred stock may not be included in Tier 1 capital, but generally may be included in Tier 2 capital, provided they do not include features that are disallowed by the capital rules, such as the acceleration of principal other than in the event of a bankruptcy, insolvency, or receivership of the issuer.

Failure to meet minimum capital requirements could subject a banking organization to a variety of enforcement remedies. A banking organization’s failure to exceed the capital conservation buffer with common equity Tier 1 capital would result in limitations on the banking organization’s ability to make capital distributions and discretionary bonus payments.

At December 31, 2021, common equity Tier 1 capital, Tier 1 capital, and total capital of the Company on a consolidated basis equaled 11.44%, 11.44%, and 13.98% of its total risk-weighted assets, respectively, and its Tier 1 leverage ratio on a consolidated basis was 9.47%. At December 31, 2021, the Bank exceeded its minimum capital requirements with common equity Tier 1 capital, Tier 1 capital, and total capital equal to 12.55%, 12.55%, and 13.69% of its total risk-weighted assets, respectively, and a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 10.38%. As a result, the Bank was “well-capitalized” for prompt corrective action purposes based on the ratios and guidelines described below.

Payment of Dividends and Stock Repurchases

The Company is limited in its ability to pay dividends or repurchase its stock by the Federal Reserve, including if doing so would be an unsafe or unsound banking practice. When a bank holding company intends to declare or pay a dividend that could raise safety and soundness concerns, it generally will be required to inform and consult with the Federal Reserve in advance. It is the policy of the Federal Reserve that a bank holding company should generally pay dividends on common stock only out of earnings, and only if prospective earnings retention is consistent with the company’s capital needs and overall current and prospective financial condition. Additionally, bank holding companies should inform and consult with the Federal Reserve in advance of declaring and paying a dividend that exceeds earnings for the period for which the dividend is being paid. We consulted the Federal Reserve in advance of our distribution of $27.0 million to our S Corporation shareholders, which exceeded earnings for the period for which the dividend was paid, from our federal accumulated adjustments account in 2021.

Because the Company operates under the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement, the Federal Reserve will generally expect the Company not to pay dividends unless its debt to equity ratio is 1:1 or lower, the Company meets certain other criteria under the Federal Reserve’s Regulation Y, and the dividends are reasonable in amount, do not adversely affect the ability of the Company to service its debt in an orderly manner, and do not adversely affect the ability of the Bank to be well-capitalized. Although the Company currently meets these requirements, the Company cannot be sure that it will continue to meet those requirements or that even if it does, it will be able to pay dividends.

If a bank holding company does not operate under the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement, according to guidance from the Federal Reserve, the bank holding company’s dividend policies will be assessed against, among other things, its ability to achieve applicable capital ratio requirements. If a bank holding company does not achieve applicable capital ratio requirements, it may not be able to pay dividends. The Company cannot be sure that it would meet those requirements or that even if it does, it would be able to pay dividends.

A bank holding company is required to give the Federal Reserve prior written notice before purchasing or redeeming its equity securities if the gross consideration for the purchase or redemption, when aggregated with the net consideration paid by the Company for all such purchases or redemptions during the preceding 12 months, is equal to 10.00% or more of the Company’s consolidated net worth. The Federal Reserve may disapprove such a purchase or redemption if it determines that the proposal would constitute an unsafe or unsound practice or would violate any law, regulation, Federal Reserve order, or any condition imposed by or written agreement with the Federal Reserve. This prior notice requirement does not apply to any bank holding company that meets certain “well-capitalized” and “well-managed” standards and is not the subject of any unresolved supervisory issues.

In addition, a bank holding company is required to consult with the Federal Reserve before redeeming any equity or other capital instrument included in Tier 1 or Tier 2 capital prior to stated maturity if such redemption could have a material effect on the level or composition of the organization’s capital base. For bank holding companies subject to the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement, such consultation is only required for the redemption of instruments included in equity as defined under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), such as common and perpetual preferred stock, and not for certain other instruments included as regulatory capital.

Examinations

Bank holding companies and banks are subject to regular examination by their respective regulatory agencies, which results in examination reports and ratings that, while not publicly available, can impact the conduct and growth of their businesses. These examinations may consider not only compliance with applicable laws and regulations, but also capital levels, asset quality and risk, management ability and performance, earnings, liquidity, sensitivity to market risk, and various other factors. The regulatory agencies generally have broad authority to impose restrictions and limitations on the operations of a regulated entity when an agency determines, among other things, that such operations are unsafe or unsound, fail to comply with applicable law, or are otherwise inconsistent with laws and regulations or with the supervisory policies of these agencies.

Anti-Money Laundering Initiatives and Sanctions Compliance

The Company and Bank are subject to extensive regulations aimed at combatting money laundering and terrorist financing. The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (the “Patriot Act”) substantially broadened the scope of U.S. anti-money laundering laws and regulations by imposing significant compliance and due diligence obligations, creating new crimes and penalties, and expanding the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the United States. Treasury Department regulations implementing the Patriot Act impose obligations on financial institutions to maintain appropriate policies, procedures, and controls to detect, prevent, and report money laundering and terrorist financing and to verify the identity of their customers. In addition, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (the “AML Act”), enacted in January 2021, includes the most substantial changes to U.S. anti-money laundering law since the Patriot Act. Among other things, the AML Act creates new beneficial ownership reporting requirements for certain entities doing business in the United States, requires the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to establish national anti-money laundering priorities and combating the financing of terrorism priorities, increases anti-money laundering whistleblower awards and expands whistleblower protections, and enhances penalties for Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering violations. Failure of a financial institution to maintain and implement adequate programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, or to comply with all of the relevant laws or regulations, could have serious legal and financial consequences for the institution.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) is responsible for helping to ensure that U.S. entities do not engage in transactions with certain prohibited parties, as defined by various Executive Orders and Acts of Congress. OFAC publishes lists of persons, organizations, and countries suspected of aiding, harboring, or engaging in terrorist acts, known as Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons. OFAC administers and enforces applicable economic and trade sanctions programs. These sanctions are usually targeted against foreign countries, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, and those believed to be involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These regulations generally require either the blocking of accounts or other property of specified entities or individuals, but they may also require the rejection of certain transactions involving specified entities or individuals. The Company maintains policies, procedures, and other internal controls designed to comply with anti-money laundering requirements and sanctions programs.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act represents a comprehensive revision of laws affecting corporate governance, accounting obligations, and corporate reporting. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is applicable to all companies with equity securities registered, or that file reports, under the Exchange Act. In particular, the act established: (i) requirements for audit committees, including independence, expertise, and responsibilities; (ii) responsibilities regarding financial statements for the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of the reporting company and new requirements for them to certify the accuracy of periodic reports; (iii) standards for auditors and regulation of audits; (iv) disclosure and reporting obligations for the reporting company and its directors and executive officers; and (v) civil and criminal penalties for violations of the federal securities laws. The legislation also established a new accounting oversight board to enforce auditing standards and restrict the scope of services that accounting firms may provide to their publicly traded company audit clients.

Supervision and Regulation of the Bank

The Bank is a commercial bank chartered under the laws of the state of California and is primarily subject to the supervision, examination, and reporting requirements of the FDIC and the DFPI. Almost every area of the operations and financial condition of the Bank is subject to extensive regulation and supervision and to various requirements and restrictions under federal and state law, including loans, reserves, investments, issuance of securities, establishment of branches, capital adequacy, liquidity, earnings, dividends, management practices, and the provision of services. The FDIC and the DFPI regularly examine the Bank’s operations and have the authority to approve or disapprove mergers, the establishment of branches, and similar corporate actions. Both regulatory agencies have the power to take enforcement action to prevent the development or continuance of unsafe or unsound banking practices or other violations of law. The Bank is subject to supervision, examination, enforcement, and reporting requirements under the FDI Act, the California Financial Code, regulations of the FDIC and DFPI, and certain of the requirements imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act. The Company and the Bank are also subject to a wide range of consumer protection laws and regulations.

California Law

California law governs the chartering and regulation of California commercial banks like ours, including organizational and capital requirements, fiduciary powers, investment authority, banking offices and electronic terminals, declaration of dividends, changes of control and mergers, out of state activities, interstate branching and banking, debt offerings, borrowing limits, and limits on loans to one borrower. The DFPI is charged with the Bank’s supervision and regulation. The DFPI may take possession of a bank if certain conditions exist, such as insufficient shareholders’ equity, unsafe or unauthorized operations, or violations of law.

Under California law, we may engage in the general business of banking, including, but not limited to, accepting deposits, making secured and unsecured loans, purchasing and holding real property for our own use, and issuing, advising, and confirming letters of credit. The amount a bank generally may borrow may not exceed the amount of its shareholders’ equity without the consent of the DFPI.

Restrictions on Lending, Insider Transactions, and Affiliate Transactions

California law limits California banks in the amount they may lend to one borrower and the amount they may lend to insiders. Under California law, with limited exceptions, unsecured loans to one person may not exceed 15.00% of the sum of a bank’s shareholders’ equity, allowance for loan losses, capital notes, and debentures. Additionally, both secured and unsecured loans to one person (excluding certain secured lending and letters of credit) at any given time generally may not exceed 25.00% of the sum of a bank’s shareholders’ equity, allowance for loan losses, capital notes, and debentures.

Section 22(g) of the Federal Reserve Act, as implemented by the Federal Reserve’s Regulation O, governs and restricts extensions of credit by a member bank to an executive officer, director, or principal shareholder of the bank and its affiliates. By making these provisions applicable to state non-member banks, the FDI Act and FDIC regulations impose these restrictions on the Bank’s purchases or sales of assets from insiders of the Bank and the Company. Additionally, California law imposes insider lending limits that are similar to the restrictions of the Federal Reserve’s Regulation O.

Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act, which the FDI Act makes applicable to a state non-member bank like ours in the same manner and to the same extent as if it were a member bank, establish parameters for an insured bank to conduct “covered transactions” with its affiliates, generally: (i) limiting the extent to which the bank or its subsidiaries may engage in “covered transactions” with any one affiliate to an amount not greater than 10.00% of the bank’s capital stock and surplus, and limiting the aggregate of all such transactions with all affiliates to an amount not greater than 20.00% of the bank’s capital stock and surplus; and (ii) requiring that all such transactions be on terms substantially the same, or at least as favorable, to the bank or subsidiary as those that would be provided to a non-affiliate. In addition, an insured bank’s loans to affiliates generally must be fully collateralized. The term “covered transaction” includes the making of loans to the affiliate, purchase of assets from the affiliate, issuance of a guarantee on behalf of the affiliate, and several other types of transactions.

Concentrations in Lending

In 2006, the federal bank regulatory agencies released guidance advising financial institutions of the risks posed by commercial real estate lending concentrations and reinforcing that financial institutions should implement sound risk management processes to identify, monitor, and control risks associated with commercial real estate concentrations. Higher allowances for loan losses and capital levels may also be required. The commercial real estate guidance provides that further supervisory analysis of an institution’s commercial real estate loan concentrations is warranted when its concentrations exceed either: (i) total reported loans for construction, land development, and other land of 100.00% or more of a bank’s total risk-based capital; or (ii) total reported loans secured by multifamily and non-farm non-residential properties and loans for construction, land development, and other land of 300.00% or more of a bank’s total risk-based capital, where the outstanding balance of the institution’s commercial real estate portfolio has also increased by 50.00% or more during the prior 36 months. We have exposures to loans secured by commercial real estate due to the nature of our market and the loan needs of both our retail and commercial customers. We believe that our long-term experience in commercial real estate lending, underwriting policies, internal controls, and other policies currently in place, as well as our loan and credit monitoring and administration procedures, are generally appropriate to managing our concentrations as required under the commercial real estate guidance.

Prompt Corrective Action

The FDI Act identifies five capital categories for insured depository institutions: well-capitalized, adequately capitalized, undercapitalized, significantly undercapitalized, and critically undercapitalized. Under the banking agencies’ prompt corrective action framework, an insured depository institution is subject to differential regulation corresponding to the capital category within which the institution falls. For an insured depository institution to be “well-capitalized” under this framework, it must have a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6.50%, a Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 8.00%, a total capital ratio of at least 10.00%, and a leverage ratio of at least 5.00%, and must not be subject to any written agreement, order or capital directive, or prompt corrective action directive issued by its primary federal or state banking regulator to meet and maintain a specific capital level for any capital measure. These limitations apply to the Bank, and not to the Company on a standalone basis.

The FDI Act requires the federal banking agencies to take prompt corrective action whenever an insured depository institution does not meet minimum capital requirements. Failure to meet the capital guidelines could also subject an insured depository institution to capital raising requirements. In addition, an insured depository institution is generally prohibited from making capital distributions, including paying dividends or paying management fees to a holding company, if the institution would thereafter be undercapitalized. Finally, failure to meet statutorily mandated capital guidelines or more restrictive ratios separately established for an insured depository institution could subject the institution to a variety of enforcement remedies available to federal regulatory authorities, including issuance of a capital directive, the termination of deposit insurance by the FDIC, a prohibition on accepting or renewing brokered deposits, limitations on the rates of interest that the institution may pay on its deposits, and other restrictions on its business.

The FDI Act also requires the federal banking agencies to prescribe certain noncapital standards for safety and soundness relating generally to operations and management, asset quality, and executive compensation, and permits regulatory action against an insured depository institution that does not meet such standards.

Payment of Dividends

The principal source of the Company’s cash flow is dividends from the Bank. There are various legal and regulatory provisions that limit the amount of dividends the Bank can pay to the Company without regulatory approval. Under the California Financial Code, the Bank may not make any distribution to shareholders that exceeds the lesser of its retained earnings or its net income for the last three fiscal years, less the amount of any distributions made by the Bank to shareholders of the Bank during such period. However, with prior approval of the DFPI, the Bank may make a distribution to shareholders that exceeds such amounts, subject to limits set forth in the California Financial Code. Moreover, an institution’s failure to exceed the capital conservation buffer set forth in the federal banking agencies’ capital rules with common equity Tier 1 capital would result in limitations on an institution’s ability to make capital distributions and discretionary bonus payments. In addition, an insured depository institution is generally prohibited from making capital distributions, including paying dividends or paying management fees to a holding company, if the institution would thereafter be undercapitalized. Finally, the FDI Act prohibits an insured depository institution from paying dividends on its capital stock if it is in default of its payment of deposit insurance assessments to the FDIC.

Reserve Requirements

Federal Reserve rules require depository institutions, such as the Bank, to maintain reserves against their transaction accounts. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve reduced reserve requirement ratios to 0.00% effective March 26, 2020. Increases to the reserve requirement would decrease the amount of the Bank’s assets that it may make available for lending and investment activities. Currently, the Federal Reserve has no plans to re-impose reserve requirements. However, the Federal Reserve may adjust reserve requirement ratios in the future if conditions warrant. Balances maintained by or on behalf of depository institutions in accounts at Reserve Banks continue to receive interest when reserve requirement ratios are set to zero percent. All balances earned the interest on excess reserves rate through July 28, 2021. Thereafter, all balances earn the Interest on Reserve Balances (the “IORB”) rate.  The IORB rate is the rate of interest paid by the Federal Reserve Bank on balances maintained by or on behalf of an eligible institution in an account at a Federal Reserve Bank. The Board of Governors votes on the level of the IORB rate at each Federal Open Market Committee meeting that is consistent with the announced monetary policy stance.  The amount of interest on reserve balances is calculated by multiplying the IORB rate on a day by the end of day balance maintained in an account on that day.

Consumer Protection Laws

While consumer lending is not currently a significant focus of our business, we are subject to numerous laws and regulations intended to protect consumers, in addition to those discussed above, when lending or offering deposit products to consumers. These laws include, among others: the Truth in Lending Act, the Truth in Savings Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Expedited Funds Availability Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Act, the GLB Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Right to Financial Privacy Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, laws regarding unfair and deceptive acts, and practices and usury laws. Additionally, the Dodd-Frank Act created the CFPB, which has authority to issue regulations prohibiting unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices.

Many states and local jurisdictions have consumer protection laws analogous, and in addition to, those listed above. These include, for instance, the California Unfair Competition Law, which broadly prohibits any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice, and false, deceptive, or misleading advertising. Violations of applicable consumer protection laws can result in significant potential liability, including actual damages, restitution, and injunctive relief, from litigation brought by customers, state attorneys general, and other plaintiffs, as well as enforcement actions by banking regulators.

Financial Privacy Laws

The GLB Act and California Consumer Privacy Act impose requirements related to the privacy of customer financial information. Among other things, these laws require disclosure of privacy policies to consumers and, in some circumstances, allow consumers to prevent disclosure of certain personal information to a nonaffiliated third party. The California Consumer Privacy Act grants California residents the rights to know about personal information collected about them, to delete certain of this personal information, to opt out of the sale of personal information, and to non-discrimination for exercising these rights. The privacy provisions of these laws may affect how consumer information is transmitted through diversified financial companies and conveyed to outside vendors.

Branching

Under California law, the Bank may open branch offices throughout California with the prior approval of the DFPI. In addition, with prior DFPI approval, the Bank may acquire branches of existing banks located in California. Under federal law, the Bank may establish branch offices with the prior approval of the FDIC. Federal law allows a bank to branch into a new state through the establishment of a new branch if, among other factors, the bank is “well-managed” and “well-capitalized” and, under the laws of the state in which the branch is to be located, a state bank chartered by that state would be permitted to establish the branch.

FDIC Deposit Insurance Assessments

The deposits of the Bank are insured by the DIF as administered by the FDIC and, accordingly, are subject to deposit insurance assessments to maintain the DIF at minimum levels required by statute. The Dodd-Frank Act increased the minimum reserve ratio requirement for the DIF to 1.35% of total estimated insured deposits or the comparable percentage of the deposit assessment base. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of total estimated insured deposits has grown very rapidly while the funds in the DIF grew at a normal rate. As a result, the DIF reserve ratio fell to below the statutory minimum of 1.35%. The FDIC adopted a restoration plan on September 15, 2020, to restore the DIF reserve ratio to at least 1.35% by September 30, 2028. Under the restoration plan, the FDIC will continue to closely monitor the factors that affect the DIF reserve ratio and maintain its current schedule of assessment rates. The FDIC expects the surge of insured deposits resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic to eventually recede and insured deposit growth rates to normalize in the medium- to long-term.

The FDIC uses a risk-based assessment system that imposes insurance premiums as determined by multiplying an insured bank’s assessment base by its assessment rate. A bank’s deposit insurance assessment base is generally equal to its total assets minus its average tangible equity during the assessment period. For a depository institution that has been insured for more than five years and that has total consolidated assets of less than $10.0 billion, such as the Bank, the FDIC determines the assessment rate within a range of base assessment rates based on the bank’s CAMELS composite rating, considering other factors and adjustments. The CAMELS rating system is a supervisory rating system developed to classify a bank’s overall condition by considering capital adequacy, assets, management capability, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity to market and interest rate risk.

Insurance of deposits may be terminated by the FDIC upon a finding that a bank has engaged in unsafe and unsound practices, is in an unsafe or unsound condition to continue operations, or has violated any applicable law, regulation, rule, order, or condition imposed by the bank’s federal regulatory agency. In addition, the FDI Act provides that, 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, including those of its parent bank holding company.

Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”)

The CRA requires that, in connection with examinations of insured depository institutions within their respective jurisdictions, the federal banking agencies must evaluate the record of each financial institution in meeting the credit needs of its local community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. A bank’s CRA performance is also considered in evaluating applications seeking approval for mergers, acquisitions, and new offices or facilities, and a CRA rating of less than “Satisfactory” may adversely affect the ability of a bank or its parent company to engage in such transactions. The FDIC’s evaluation of the Bank’s record of performance under the CRA is publicly available. The FDIC’s CRA regulations provide that a bank may elect to have its CRA performance evaluated under a strategic plan. This option enables a bank to structure its CRA goals and objectives to address the needs of its community consistent with its business strategy, operational focus, capacity, and constraints. The Bank is operating under a CRA Strategic Plan approved by the FDIC for the years 2019-2021 and has received a rating of “Satisfactory” at its most recent CRA evaluation, dated as of May 3, 2021.

Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (“FHLB”) Membership

The Bank is a member of the FHLB, which is one of 12 regional Federal Home Loan Banks that administer the home financing credit function of banking institutions. Each Federal Home Loan Bank is funded primarily from proceeds derived from the sale of consolidated obligations of the Federal Home Loan Bank system and makes advances to members in accordance with policies and procedures established by the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank and subject to the oversight of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. All advances from a Federal Home Loan Bank are required to be fully secured by sufficient collateral as determined by the Federal Home Loan Bank. In addition, all long-term advances are required to provide funds for residential home financing.

Cybersecurity

Federal banking agencies pay close attention to the cybersecurity practices of banks and their holding companies and affiliates. The interagency council of the agencies, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (the “FFIEC”), has issued several policy statements and other guidance for banks as new cybersecurity threats arise. The FFIEC has recently focused on such matters as compromised customer credentials and business continuity planning. Examinations by the banking agencies now include review of an institution’s information technology and its ability to thwart cyberattacks.

A final rule that the federal banking agencies issued in November 2021 requires banking organizations to notify their primary federal regulator of significant computer security incidents within 36 hours of determining that such an incident has occurred. The compliance date of this rule is May 1, 2022.

Limitations on Incentive Compensation

In April 2016, the Federal Reserve and other federal financial agencies re-proposed restrictions on incentive-based compensation pursuant to Section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Act for financial institutions with $1.0 billion or more in total consolidated assets. For institutions with at least $1.0 billion but less than $50.0 billion in total consolidated assets, the proposal would impose principles-based restrictions that are broadly consistent with existing interagency guidance on incentive-based compensation. Such institutions would be prohibited from entering into incentive compensation arrangements that encourage inappropriate risks by the institution: (i) by providing an executive officer, employee, director, or principal shareholder with excessive compensation, fees, or benefits; or (ii) that could lead to material financial loss to the institution. The proposal would also impose certain governance and recordkeeping requirements on institutions covered by the rule. Whether or when the agencies will finalize the proposal is uncertain.

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act

On March 27, 2020, the CARES Act was enacted, providing wide-ranging economic relief for individuals and businesses impacted by COVID-19. Among other things, the statute created the PPP and funded it with $349.0 billion. On April 16, 2020, the SBA announced that it had exhausted the $349.0 billion appropriated to it in the CARES Act. On April 24, 2020, the PPP and Health Care Enhancement Act was signed into law, which supplemented certain programs established by the CARES Act and provided additional funding for the PPP. The PPP expired on August 8, 2020. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law on December 27, 2020, provided additional funding for the PPP of approximately $284.0 billion. The act also permitted eligible borrowers, including certain borrowers who had already received a PPP loan, to apply for PPP loans through March 31, 2021. The American Rescue Plan Act, which was enacted on March 11, 2021, expanded the eligibility criteria for PPP loans and revised the exclusions from payroll costs for purposes of loan forgiveness. The PPP Extension Act, which became law on March 30, 2021, extended the deadline to apply for a PPP loan through May 31, 2021.

The CARES Act, as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, specified that COVID-19-related loan modifications executed between March 1, 2020 and the earlier of: (i) 60 days after the date of termination of the national emergency declared by the President; and (ii) January 1, 2022, on loans that were current as of December 31, 2019 are not troubled debt restructurings (“TDRs”). Additionally, under guidance from the federal banking agencies, other short-term modifications made on a good faith basis in response to COVID-19 to borrowers that were current prior to any relief are not TDRs under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Subtopic 310-40, “Troubled Debt Restructuring by Creditors.” These modifications include short-term (e.g., up to six months) modifications such as payment deferrals, fee waivers, extensions of repayment terms, or delays in payment that are insignificant.

The PPP was a stimulus response to the economic impacts of COVID-19, and its purpose was to provide forgivable loans to smaller businesses, non-profit organizations, and other eligible borrowers that use the proceeds of the loans for payroll and certain other qualifying expenses. The SBA manages the PPP and guarantees PPP loans. If a loan is fully forgiven, the SBA will repay the lending bank in full. If a loan is partially forgiven or not forgiven at all, a bank must look to the borrower for repayment of unforgiven principal and interest. If the borrower defaults, the loan is guaranteed by the SBA.

As of December 31, 2021, we had provided approximately $377.4 million in PPP loans for more than 1,500 new and existing customers and we were processing loan forgiveness applications.

Certain factors may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. You should carefully consider the following risks, together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the sections entitled “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our financial statements and the related notes thereto. Any of the following risks could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations and could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, which would cause you to lose all or part of your investment. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could also be harmed by risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe are material.

Risk Factor Summary

The most significant risks that may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations are summarized below.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our business and operations are concentrated in California, specifically Northern California, and we are more sensitive than our more geographically diversified competitors to adverse changes in the local economy.

Unlike many of our larger competitors that maintain significant operations located outside our market, substantially all of our customers are individuals and businesses located and doing business in the state of California. As of December 31, 2021, approximately 69.13% of our real estate loans measured by dollar amount were secured by collateral located in California, substantially all of which is in Northern California. Therefore, our success will depend upon the general economic conditions and real estate activity in these areas, which we cannot predict with certainty. As a result, our operations and profitability may be more adversely affected by a local economic downturn than those of large, more geographically diverse competitors. A downturn in the local economy could make it more difficult for our borrowers to repay their loans, may lead to loan losses that are not offset by operations in other markets, and may also reduce the ability of depositors to make or maintain deposits with us. In addition, businesses operating in Northern California, and Sacramento in particular, depend on California state government employees for business, and reduced spending activity by such employees in the event of furloughing or termination of such employees could have an adverse impact on the success or failure of these businesses, some of which are current or could become future customers of the Bank. For these reasons, any regional or local economic downturn could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The small to medium-sized businesses to which we lend may have fewer resources to weather adverse business developments, which may impair a borrower’s ability to repay a loan.

We target our business development and marketing strategy primarily to serve the banking and financial services needs of small to medium-sized businesses. These businesses generally have fewer financial resources in terms of capital or borrowing capacity than larger entities, frequently have smaller market shares than their competition, may be more vulnerable to economic downturns, often need substantial additional capital to expand or compete, and may experience substantial volatility in operating results, any of which may impair their ability as a borrower to repay a loan. These factors may be especially true given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the success of small and medium-sized businesses often depends on the management skills, talents, and efforts of one or two people or a small group of people, and the death, disability, or resignation of one or more of these people could have an adverse impact on the business and its ability to repay its loan. If general economic conditions negatively impact the markets in which we operate or any of our borrowers are otherwise affected by adverse business developments, our small to medium-sized borrowers may be disproportionately affected and their ability to repay outstanding loans may be negatively affected, resulting in an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our business is significantly dependent on the real estate markets in which we operate, as a significant percentage of our loan portfolio is secured by real estate.

As of December 31, 2021, approximately 89.31% of our loan portfolio was comprised of loans with real estate as a primary or secondary component of collateral, with a majority of these real estate loans concentrated in Northern California. Real property values in our market may be different from, and in some instances worse than, real property values in other markets or in the United States as a whole and may be affected by a variety of factors outside of our control and the control of our borrowers, including national and local economic conditions, generally. Declines in real estate values, including prices for homes and commercial properties, could result in a deterioration of the credit quality of our borrowers, an increase in the number of loan delinquencies, defaults, and charge-offs, and reduced demand for our products and services, generally. Our commercial real estate loans may have a greater risk of loss than residential mortgage loans, in part because these loans are generally larger or more complex to underwrite. In particular, real estate construction and acquisition and development loans have risks not present in other types of loans, including risks associated with construction cost overruns, project completion risk, general contractor credit risk, and risks associated with the ultimate sale or use of the completed construction. In addition, declines in real property values in California could reduce the value of any collateral we realize following a default on these loans and could adversely affect our ability to continue to grow our loan portfolio consistent with our underwriting standards. We may have to foreclose on real estate assets if borrowers default on their loans, in which case we are required to record the related asset to the then-fair market value of the collateral, which may ultimately result in a loss. An increase in the level of nonperforming assets increases our risk profile and may affect the capital levels regulators believe are appropriate in light of the ensuing risk profile. Our failure to effectively mitigate these risks could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are subject to interest rate risk, which could adversely affect our profitability.

Our profitability, like that of most financial institutions of our type, depends to a large extent on our net interest income, which is the difference between our interest income on interest-earning assets, such as loans and investment securities, and our interest expense on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings. Changes in interest rates can increase or decrease our net interest income because different types of assets and liabilities may react differently, and at different times, to market interest rate changes.

Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors that are beyond our control, including general economic conditions and policies of various governmental and regulatory agencies and, in particular, the Federal Reserve, which has suggested that it may take steps to raise interest rates in 2022. Changes in monetary policy, including changes in interest rates, could influence not only the interest we receive on loans and securities and the interest we pay on deposits and borrowings, but such changes could also affect our ability to originate loans and obtain deposits, the fair value of our financial assets and liabilities, and the average duration of our assets and liabilities. If the interest rates paid on deposits and other borrowings increase at a faster rate than the interest rates received on loans and other investments, our net interest income, and therefore earnings, could be adversely affected. Earnings could also be adversely affected if the interest rates received on loans and other investments fall more quickly than the interest rates paid on deposits and other borrowings. Any substantial, unexpected, or prolonged change in market interest rates could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. As of December 31, 2021, 73.13% of our interest-earning assets and 92.62% of our interest-bearing liabilities were variable rate, where our variable rate liabilities reprice at a slower rate than our variable rate assets.

In addition, an increase in interest rates could also have a negative impact on our results of operations by reducing the demand for loans, decreasing the ability of borrowers to repay their current loan obligations, and increasing early withdrawals on term deposits. These circumstances could not only result in increased loan defaults, foreclosures, and charge-offs, but also reduce collateral values and necessitate further increases to the allowance for loan losses, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The Federal Reserve has indicated that it expects it will soon be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate. In contrast, a decrease in the general level of interest rates, such as the Federal Reserve’s sharp reduction in interest rates in response to the economic and financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, may affect us through, among other things, increased prepayments on our loan portfolio, and our cost of funds may not fall as quickly as yields on interest-earning assets. Our asset-liability management strategy may not be effective in mitigating exposure to the risks related to changes in market interest rates.

We operate in a highly competitive market and face increasing competition from a variety of traditional and new financial services providers.

We have many competitors. Our principal competitors are commercial and community banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, mortgage banking firms and online mortgage lenders, and commercial and consumer finance companies, including large national financial institutions that operate in our market. Many of these competitors are larger than we are, have significantly more resources, greater brand recognition, and more extensive and established branch networks or geographic footprints than we do, and may be able to attract customers more effectively than we can. Because of their scale, many of these competitors can be more aggressive on loan and deposit pricing than we can and may better afford and make broader use of media advertising, support services, and electronic technology than we do. Also, many of our non-bank competitors have fewer regulatory constraints and may have lower cost structures. We compete with these other financial institutions both in attracting deposits and making loans. We expect competition to continue to increase as a result of legislative, regulatory, and technological changes, the continuing trend of consolidation in the financial services industry, and the emergence of alternative banking sources. Our profitability in large part depends upon our continued ability to compete successfully with traditional and new financial services providers, some of which maintain a physical presence in our market and others of which maintain only a virtual presence. Increased competition could require us to increase the rates we pay on deposits or lower the rates that we offer on loans, which could reduce our profitability.

Additionally, like many of our competitors, we rely on customer deposits as our primary source of funding for our lending activities, and we continue to seek and compete for customer deposits to maintain this funding base. Our future growth will largely depend on our ability to retain and grow our deposit base. As of December 31, 2021, we had $2.3 billion in deposits and a loan to deposit ratio of 85.09%. As of the same date, using deposit account related information such as tax identification numbers, account vesting, and account size, we estimated that $1.3 billion of our deposits exceeded the FDIC deposit insurance limits. Additionally, we have $366.9 million of governmental deposits secured by collateral. Although we have historically maintained a high deposit customer retention rate, these deposits are subject to potentially dramatic fluctuations in availability or price due to certain factors outside of our control, such as increasing competitive pressures for deposits, changes in interest rates and returns on other investment classes, customer perceptions of our financial health and general reputation, and a loss of confidence by customers in us or the banking sector generally, which could result in significant outflows of deposits within short periods of time or significant changes in pricing necessary to maintain current customer deposits or attract additional deposits. Additionally, any such loss of funds could result in lower loan originations, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Our failure to compete effectively in our market could restrain our growth or cause us to lose market share, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Failure to keep up with the rapid technological changes in the financial services industry could have an adverse effect on our competitive position and profitability.

The financial services industry is undergoing rapid technological changes, with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. The effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables financial institutions to better serve customers and 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 customer demands for convenience, as well as to create additional efficiencies in our operations. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements than we do. We may not be able to implement new technology-driven products and services effectively or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers. Failure to keep pace successfully with technological change affecting the financial services industry could harm our ability to compete effectively and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. As these technologies improve in the future, we may be required to make significant capital expenditures in order to remain competitive, which may increase our overall expenses and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are dependent on the use of data and modeling in both our management’s decision-making generally and in meeting regulatory expectations in particular.

The use of statistical and quantitative models and other quantitatively based analyses is endemic to bank decision making and regulatory compliance processes, and the employment of such analyses is becoming increasingly widespread in our operations. Liquidity stress testing, interest rate sensitivity analysis, allowance for loan loss measurement, portfolio stress testing, and the identification of possible violations of anti-money laundering regulations are examples of areas in which we are dependent on models and the data that underlie them. We anticipate that model-derived insights will be used more widely in our decision making in the future. While these quantitative techniques and approaches improve our decision making, they also create the possibility that faulty data or flawed quantitative approaches could yield adverse outcomes or regulatory scrutiny. Secondarily, because of the complexity inherent in these approaches, misunderstanding or misuse of their outputs could similarly result in suboptimal decision making, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may not be able to measure and limit our credit risk adequately, which could adversely affect our profitability.

Our business depends on our ability to successfully measure and manage credit risk. As a lender, we are exposed to the risk that the principal of, or interest on, a loan will not be paid timely or at all or that the value of any collateral supporting a loan will be insufficient to cover our outstanding exposure. In addition, we are exposed to risks with respect to the period of time over which the loan may be repaid, risks relating to proper loan underwriting, risks resulting from changes in economic and industry conditions, and risks inherent in dealing with individual loans and borrowers. The creditworthiness of a borrower is affected by many factors, including local market conditions and general economic conditions. Many of our loans are made to small to medium-sized businesses that are less able to withstand competitive, economic, and financial pressures than larger borrowers. If the overall economic climate in the United States, generally, or in our market specifically, experiences material disruption, particularly due to the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, our borrowers may experience difficulties in repaying their loans, the collateral we hold may decrease in value or become illiquid, and the level of nonperforming loans, charge-offs, and delinquencies could rise and require significant additional provisions for loan losses. Additional factors related to the credit quality of multifamily residential, real estate construction, and other commercial real estate loans include the quality of management of the business and tenant vacancy rates.

Our risk management practices, such as monitoring the concentration of our loans within specific markets and our credit approval, review, and administrative practices, may not adequately reduce credit risk, and our credit administration personnel, policies, and procedures may not adequately adapt to changes in economic or any other conditions affecting customers and the quality of the loan portfolio. A failure to effectively measure and limit the credit risk associated with our loan portfolio may result in loan defaults, foreclosures, and additional charge-offs, and may necessitate that we significantly increase our allowance for loan losses, each of which could adversely affect our net income. As a result, our inability to successfully manage credit risk could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are exposed to higher credit risk by our commercial real estate, commercial land and construction, commercial construction, and farmland loans.

Commercial real estate, commercial land and construction, commercial construction, and farmland-based lending usually involve higher credit risks than other types of mortgage loans. As of December 31, 2021, the following loan types accounted for the stated percentages of our loan portfolio: commercial real estate (both owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied)—81.48%; and commercial land and construction—3.16%. These types of loans also involve larger loan balances to a single borrower or groups of related borrowers. These higher credit risks are further heightened when the loans are concentrated in a small number of larger borrowers leading to relationship exposure.

Non-owner-occupied commercial real estate loans may be affected to a greater extent than residential loans by adverse conditions in real estate markets or the economy because commercial real estate borrowers’ ability to repay their loans depends on successful development of their properties, in addition to the factors affecting residential real estate borrowers. These loans also involve greater risk because they generally are not fully amortizing over the loan period but have a balloon payment due at maturity. A borrower’s ability to make a balloon payment typically will depend on being able to either refinance the loan or sell the underlying property in a timely manner.

Banking regulators closely supervise banks’ commercial real estate lending activities and may require banks with higher levels of commercial real estate loans to implement improved underwriting, internal controls, risk management policies, and portfolio stress testing, as well as possibly higher levels of allowances for losses and capital levels as a result of commercial real estate lending growth and exposures.

Commercial land development loans and owner-occupied commercial real estate loans are typically based on the borrowers’ ability to repay the loans from the cash flow of their businesses. These loans may involve greater risk because the availability of funds to repay each loan depends substantially on the success of the business itself. In addition, the assets securing the loans have the following characteristics: (i) they depreciate over time; (ii) they are difficult to appraise and liquidate; and (iii) they fluctuate in value based on the success of the business.

Commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, and construction loans are more susceptible to a risk of loss during a downturn in the business cycle. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic could have adverse effects on our loans for office and hospitality space, which are dependent for repayment on the successful operation and management of the associated commercial real estate. Our underwriting, review, and monitoring cannot eliminate all the risks related to these loans.

We also make both secured and unsecured loans to our commercial clients. Secured commercial loans are generally collateralized by real estate, accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, or other assets owned by the borrower, or may include a personal guaranty of the business owner. Unsecured loans generally involve a higher degree of risk of loss than do secure loans because, without collateral, repayment is wholly dependent upon the success of the borrowers’ businesses. Because of this lack of collateral, we are limited in our ability to collect on defaulted unsecured loans. Furthermore, the collateral that secures our secured commercial and industrial loans typically includes inventory, accounts receivable, and equipment, which, if the business is unsuccessful, usually has a value that is insufficient to satisfy the loan without a loss.

Real estate construction loans are based upon estimates of costs and values associated with the complete project. These estimates may be inaccurate, and we may be exposed to significant losses on loans for these projects.

As of December 31, 2021, real estate construction loans comprised 3.16% of our total loan portfolio and such lending involves additional risks because funds are advanced based on the security of the project, which is of uncertain value prior to its completion, and costs may exceed realizable values in declining real estate markets. Because of the uncertainties inherent in estimating construction costs and the realizable market value of the completed project and the effects of governmental regulation of real property, it is relatively difficult to evaluate accurately the total funds required to complete a project and the related loan-to-value ratio. As a result, construction loans often involve the disbursement of substantial funds with repayment dependent, in part, on the success of the ultimate project and the ability of the borrower to sell or lease the property, rather than the ability of the borrower or guarantor to repay principal and interest. If our appraisal of the value of the completed project proves to be overstated or market values or rental rates decline, we may have inadequate security for the repayment of the loan upon completion of construction of the project. If we are forced to foreclose on a project prior to or at completion due to a default, we may not be able to recover all the unpaid balance of, and accrued interest on, the loan, as well as related foreclosure and holding costs. In addition, we may be required to fund additional amounts to complete the project and may have to hold the property for an unspecified period of time while we attempt to dispose of it.

The non-guaranteed portion of SBA loans that we retain on our balance sheet as well as the guaranteed portion of SBA loans that we sell could expose us to various credit and default risks.

At December 31, 2021, our total commercial SBA loan portfolio held for investment, excluding PPP loans, was $48.0 million, representing 2.48% of total loans held for investment. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we sold 169 SBA loans with government-guaranteed portions totaling $41.4 million. The non-guaranteed portion of SBA loans have a higher degree of risk of loss as compared to the guaranteed portion of such loans, and these non-guaranteed loan portions make up a substantial majority of our remaining SBA loans.

When we sell the guaranteed portion of an SBA loan in the ordinary course of business, we are required to make certain representations and warranties to the purchaser about the SBA loan and the manner in which it was originated. Under these agreements, we may be required to repurchase the guaranteed portion of the SBA loan if we have breached any of these representations or warranties, in which case we may record a loss. In addition, if repurchase and indemnity demands increase on loans that we sell from our portfolios, our liquidity, results of operations, and financial condition could be adversely affected. Further, we generally retain the non-guaranteed portions of the SBA loans that we originate and sell, and to the extent the borrowers of such loans experience financial difficulties, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted.

Curtailment of government-guaranteed loan programs could affect a segment of our business.

One component of our business consists of originating and periodically selling U.S. government-guaranteed loans, in particular those guaranteed by the SBA. Pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, the SBA guaranteed 90% of the principal amount of each qualifying SBA loan originated under the SBA’s 7(a) loan program (excluding PPP loans) through October 1, 2021. The SBA presently guarantees 75% to 90% of the principal amount of qualifying loans originated under the 7(a) loan program (excluding PPP loans). The U.S. government may not maintain the SBA 7(a) loan program, and even if it does, the guaranteed portion may not remain at its current or anticipated level. In addition, from time to time, the government agencies that guarantee these loans reach their internal limits and cease to guarantee future loans. In addition, these agencies may change their rules for qualifying loans or Congress may adopt legislation that would have the effect of discontinuing or changing the loan guarantee programs. Non-governmental programs could replace government programs for some borrowers, but the terms might not be equally acceptable. Therefore, if these changes occur, the volume of loans to small business and industrial borrowers of the types that now qualify for government-guaranteed loans could decline. Also, the profitability of the sale of the guaranteed portion of these loans could decline as a result of market displacements due to increases in interest rates, and premiums realized on the sale of the guaranteed portions could decline from current levels. As the funding and sale of the guaranteed portion of SBA 7(a) loans is a major portion of our business and a significant portion of our non-interest income, any significant changes to the SBA 7(a) loan program, such as its funding or eligibility requirements, may have an unfavorable impact on our prospects, future performance, and results of operations. The aggregate principal balance of SBA 7(a) guaranteed portions sold during the year ended December 31, 2021 was $41.4 million, as compared to $71.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020.

As a participating lender in the SBA’s PPP, we are subject to added risks, including credit, fraud, and litigation risks.

In April 2020, we began processing loan applications under the PPP as an eligible lender with the benefit of a government guarantee of loans to small business clients, many of whom have faced, or continue to face, difficulties even after being granted such a loan. PPP loans have contributed to our loan growth since March 31, 2020. The PPP Extension Act, which became law on March 31, 2021, extended the deadline to apply for a PPP loan through May 31, 2021.

As a participant in the PPP, we face increased risks, particularly in terms of credit, fraud, and litigation. The PPP opened to borrower applications shortly after the enactment of its authorizing legislation, and, as a result, there is some ambiguity in the laws, rules, and guidance regarding the program’s operation. Subsequent rounds of legislation and associated agency guidance have not provided needed clarity in all instances and in certain other instances have potentially created additional inconsistencies and ambiguities. Accordingly, we are exposed to risks relating to compliance with PPP requirements, including the risk of becoming the subject of governmental investigations, enforcement actions, private litigation, and negative publicity.

We have additional credit risk with respect to PPP loans if a determination is made by the SBA that there is a deficiency in the manner in which the loan was originated, funded, or serviced, such as an issue with the eligibility of a borrower to receive a PPP loan, which may or may not be related to the ambiguity in the laws, rules, and guidance regarding the operation of the PPP. In the event of a loss resulting from a default on a PPP loan and a determination by the SBA that there was a deficiency in the manner in which the PPP loan was originated, funded, or serviced by us, the SBA may deny its liability under the guarantee, reduce the amount of the guarantee, or, if it has already paid under the guarantee, seek recovery of any loss related to the deficiency from the Bank.

Also, PPP loans are fixed, low interest rate loans that are guaranteed by the SBA and subject to numerous other regulatory requirements, and a borrower may apply to have all or a portion of the loan forgiven. If PPP borrowers fail to qualify for loan forgiveness, we face a heightened risk of holding these loans at unfavorable interest rates for an extended period of time.

Furthermore, since the launch of the PPP, several larger banks have been subject to litigation regarding the process and procedures that such banks used in processing applications for the PPP, and we may be exposed to the risk of litigation, from both customers and non-customers that approached us regarding PPP loans, relating to these or other matters. Also, many financial institutions throughout the country have been named in putative class actions regarding the alleged nonpayment of fees that may be due to certain agents who facilitated PPP loan applications. Although many of these actions have been resolved in favor of banks participating in the PPP, the costs and effects of litigation related to PPP participation could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Farmland real estate loans and volatility in commodity prices may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

At December 31, 2021, farmland loans totaled $54.8 million, or 2.82% of our total loan portfolio. Farmland lending involves a greater degree of risk and typically involves higher principal amounts than many other types of loans. Repayment is dependent upon the successful operation of the business, which is greatly dependent on many things outside the control of either us or the borrowers. These factors include adverse weather conditions that prevent the planting of crops or limit crop yields (such as hail, drought, fires, and floods), loss of livestock due to disease or other factors, declines in market prices for agricultural products (both domestically and internationally), and the impact of government regulations (including changes in price supports, subsidies, and environmental regulations). Volatility in commodity prices could adversely impact the ability of borrowers in these industries to perform under the terms of their borrowing arrangements with us, and, as a result, a severe and prolonged decline in commodity prices may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. It is also difficult to project future commodity prices, as they are dependent upon many different factors beyond our control. In addition, many farms are dependent on a limited number of key individuals whose injury or death may significantly affect the successful operation of the farm. Consequently, farmland real estate loans may involve a greater degree of risk than other types of loans.

Liquidity risk could impair our ability to fund operations and meet our obligations as they become due.

Liquidity is essential to our business, and we monitor our liquidity and manage our liquidity risk at the holding company and bank levels. We require sufficient liquidity to fund asset growth, meet customer loan requests, facilitate customer deposit maturities and withdrawals, make payments on our debt obligations as they come due, and fulfill other cash commitments under both normal operating conditions and other unpredictable circumstances, including events causing industry or general financial market stress. Liquidity risk can increase due to a number of factors, which include, but are not limited to, an over-reliance on a particular source of funding, changes in the liquidity needs of our depositors, adverse regulatory actions against us, or a downturn in the markets in which our loans are concentrated.

Market conditions or other events could also negatively affect the level or cost of funding, affecting our ongoing ability to accommodate liability maturities and deposit withdrawals, meet contractual obligations, and fund asset growth and new business transactions at a reasonable cost, in a timely manner, and without adverse consequences. Our inability to raise funds through deposits, borrowings, the sale of loans, and other sources could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, and could result in the closure of the Bank.

Other primary sources of funds consist of cash flows from operations, maturities and sales of investment securities, and proceeds from issuance and sale of our equity and debt securities. Additional liquidity is provided by the ability to borrow from the FHLB and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to fund our operations. We may also borrow funds from third-party lenders, such as other financial institutions. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance our activities or on acceptable terms could be impaired by factors that affect our organization specifically or the financial services industry or economy in general. Our access to funding sources could also be affected by a decrease in the level of our business activity as a result of a downturn in our primary market or by one or more adverse regulatory actions against us.

Any substantial, unexpected, and/or prolonged change in the level or cost of liquidity could impair our ability to fund operations and meet our obligations as they become due and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Although we have historically been able to replace maturing deposits and advances if desired, we may not be able to replace such funds in the future if our financial condition, the financial condition of the FHLB, or market conditions change. FHLB borrowings and other current sources of liquidity may not be available or, if available, may not be sufficient to provide adequate funding for operations and to support our continued growth. The unavailability of sufficient funding could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may be adversely affected by the soundness of other financial institutions.

Our ability to engage in routine funding transactions could be adversely affected by the actions and commercial soundness of other financial institutions. Financial services companies may be interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, counterparty, and other relationships. We have exposure to different industries and counterparties through transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry, including broker-dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, and other financial intermediaries. As a result, defaults by, declines in the financial condition of, or even rumors or questions about one or more financial services companies, or the financial services industry generally, could lead to market-wide liquidity problems and losses or defaults by us or other institutions. These losses could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our risk management framework may not be effective in mitigating risks and/or losses to us.

Our risk management framework is comprised of various processes, systems, and strategies, and is designed to manage the types of risk to which we are subject, including, among others, credit, market, liquidity, interest rate, and compliance. Our framework also includes financial or other modeling methodologies that involve management assumptions and judgment. Our risk management framework may not be effective under all circumstances. Our risk management framework may not adequately mitigate any risk or loss to us. If our risk management framework is not effective, we could suffer unexpected losses and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected. We may also be subject to potentially adverse regulatory consequences.

We engage in lending secured by real estate and may be forced to foreclose on the collateral and own the underlying real estate, subjecting us to the costs and potential risks associated with the ownership of real property, or consumer protection initiatives or changes in state or federal law may substantially raise the cost of foreclosure or prevent us from foreclosing at all.

Since we originate loans secured by real estate, we may have to foreclose on the collateral property to protect our investment and may thereafter own and operate such property, in which case we would be exposed to the risks inherent in the ownership of real estate. The amount that we, as a mortgagee, may realize after a foreclosure depends on factors outside of our control, including, but not limited to, general or local economic conditions, environmental cleanup liabilities, assessments, interest rates, real estate tax rates, operating expenses of the mortgaged properties, our ability to obtain and maintain adequate occupancy of the properties, zoning laws, governmental and regulatory rules, and natural disasters. Our inability to manage the amount of costs or size of the risks associated with the ownership of real estate, or write-downs in the value of other real estate owned (“OREO”) could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Additionally, consumer protection initiatives or changes in state or federal law may substantially increase the time and expenses associated with the foreclosure process or prevent us from foreclosing at all. A number of states in recent years have either considered or adopted foreclosure reform laws that make it substantially more difficult and expensive for lenders to foreclose on properties in default. Additionally, federal and state regulators and state attorneys general have prosecuted or pursued enforcement action against a number of mortgage servicing companies for alleged consumer protection law violations. If new federal or state laws or regulations are ultimately enacted that significantly raise the cost of foreclosure or raise outright barriers to foreclosure, they could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Regulatory requirements affecting our loans secured by commercial real estate could limit our ability to leverage our capital and adversely affect our growth and profitability.

The federal banking agencies have issued guidance regarding concentrations in commercial real estate lending for institutions that are deemed to have particularly high concentrations of commercial real estate loans within their lending portfolios. Under this guidance, an institution that has: (i) total reported loans for construction, land development, and other land which represent 100% or more of the institution’s total risk-based capital; or (ii) total commercial real estate loans representing 300% or more of the institution’s total risk-based capital, where the outstanding balance of the institution’s commercial real estate loan portfolio has increased 50% or more during the prior 36 months, is identified as having potential commercial real estate concentration risk. An institution that is deemed to have concentrations in commercial real estate lending is expected to employ heightened levels of risk management with respect to its commercial real estate portfolios and may be required to maintain higher levels of capital. We have a concentration in commercial real estate loans, and we have experienced significant growth in our commercial real estate portfolio in recent years. From December 31, 2020 through December 31, 2021, our commercial real estate loan balances have increased by $543.0 million. As of December 31, 2021, commercial real estate loans represent 577.92% of our total risk-based capital. We cannot guarantee that any risk management practices we implement will be effective to prevent losses relating to our commercial real estate portfolio. Management has extensive experience in commercial real estate lending and has implemented and continues to maintain heightened portfolio monitoring and reporting, and strong underwriting criteria with respect to our commercial real estate portfolio. Nevertheless, we could be required to maintain higher levels of capital as a result of our commercial real estate concentration, which could limit our growth, require us to obtain additional capital, and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We could be subject to environmental risks and associated costs on our foreclosed real estate assets.

Our loan portfolio is secured by real property. During the ordinary course of business, we may foreclose on and take title to properties securing loans. There is a risk that hazardous or toxic substances could be found on these properties and that we could be liable for remediation costs, as well as personal injury and property damage. Environmental laws may require us to incur substantial expenses and may materially reduce the affected property’s value or limit our ability to sell the affected property. The remediation costs and any other financial liabilities associated with an environmental hazard could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our recovery on commercial real estate loans could be further reduced by a lack of a liquid secondary market for such mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities.

Our current business strategy includes an emphasis on commercial real estate lending. Although we sold $41.4 million of loans in the year ended December 31, 2021, one of which was a commercial real estate loan, we may decide to sell more loans in the future. A secondary market for most types of commercial real estate loans is not readily liquid, so we have less opportunity to mitigate credit risk by selling part or all of our interest in these loans. As a result of these characteristics, if we foreclose on a commercial real estate loan, our holding period for the collateral typically is longer than for residential mortgage loans because there are fewer potential purchasers of the collateral. Accordingly, charge-offs on commercial real estate loans may be larger as a percentage of the total principal outstanding than those incurred with our residential or consumer loan portfolios.

The appraisals and other valuation techniques we use in evaluating and monitoring loans secured by real property and OREO may not accurately reflect the net value of the asset.

In considering whether to make a loan secured by real property, we generally require an appraisal of the property. However, an appraisal is only an estimate of the value of the property at the time the appraisal is made, and as real estate values may change significantly in value in relatively short periods of time (especially in periods of heightened economic uncertainty), this estimate may not accurately reflect the net value of the collateral after the loan is made. As a result, we may not be able to realize the full amount of any remaining indebtedness when we foreclose on and sell the relevant property. In addition, we rely on appraisals and other valuation techniques to establish the value of OREO that we acquire through foreclosure proceedings and to determine loan impairments. If any of these valuations are inaccurate, our consolidated financial statements may not reflect the correct value of our OREO, if any, and our allowance for loan losses may not reflect accurate loan impairments. Inaccurate valuation of OREO or inaccurate provisioning for loan losses could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Federal, state, and local consumer lending laws may restrict our or our partners’ ability to originate certain loans or increase our risk of liability with respect to such loans.

Federal, state, and local laws have been adopted that are intended to prevent certain lending practices considered “predatory.” These laws prohibit practices such as steering borrowers away from more affordable products, selling unnecessary insurance to borrowers, repeatedly refinancing loans, and making loans without a reasonable expectation that the borrowers will be able to repay the loans irrespective of the value of the underlying property. It is our policy to determine borrowers’ ability to repay and not to make predatory loans. Nonetheless, the law and related rules create the potential for increased liability with respect to our lending and loan investment activities. Compliance with these laws increases our cost of doing business.

Additionally, consumer protection initiatives or changes in state or federal law, including the CARES Act and its automatic loan forbearance provisions, may substantially increase the time and expenses associated with the foreclosure process or prevent us from foreclosing at all. A number of states in recent years have either considered or adopted foreclosure reform laws that make it substantially more difficult and expensive for lenders to foreclose on properties in default, and we cannot be certain that the state in which we operate will not adopt similar legislation in the future. Additionally, federal regulators have prosecuted or pursued enforcement actions against a number of mortgage servicing companies for alleged consumer protection law violations. If new state or federal laws or regulations are ultimately enacted that significantly raise the cost of foreclosure or raise outright barriers to foreclosure, such laws or regulations could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our largest loan relationships make up a material percentage of our total loan portfolio, and credit risks relating to these would have a disproportionate impact.

As of December 31, 2021, our 30 largest borrowing relationships ranged from approximately $14.7 million to $58.9 million (including unfunded commitments) and totaled approximately $784.6 million in total commitments (representing, in the aggregate, 40.53% of our total loans held for investment as of December 31, 2021). Each of the loans associated with these relationships has been underwritten in accordance with our underwriting policies and limits. Along with other risks inherent in these loans, such as the deterioration of the underlying businesses or property securing these loans, this concentration of borrowers presents a risk that, if one or more of these relationships were to become delinquent or suffer default, we could be exposed to material losses. The allowance for loan losses may not be adequate to cover losses associated with any of these relationships, and any loss or increase in the allowance would negatively affect our earnings and capital. Even if these loans are adequately collateralized, an increase in classified assets could harm our reputation with our regulators and inhibit our ability to execute our business plan.

Our largest deposit relationships currently make up a material percentage of our deposits and the withdrawal of deposits by our largest depositors could force us to fund our business through more expensive and less stable sources.

At December 31, 2021, our 26 largest deposit relationships, each accounting for more than $10.0 million, amounted to $912.7 million, or 39.93%, of our total deposits. This includes $424.5 million in deposits from municipalities, of which we conduct a monthly review. Withdrawals of deposits by any one of our largest depositors or by one of our related customer groups could force us to rely more heavily on borrowings and other sources of funding for our business and withdrawal demands, adversely affecting our net interest margin and results of operations. If a significant amount of these deposits were withdrawn within a short period of time, it could have a negative impact on our short-term liquidity and have an adverse impact on our earnings. We may also be forced, as a result of withdrawals of deposits, to rely more heavily on other, potentially more expensive and less stable, funding sources. Additionally, such circumstances could require us to raise deposit rates in an attempt to attract new deposits, which would adversely affect our results of operations, and/or to raise funding through brokered deposits. Under applicable regulations, if the Bank were no longer “well-capitalized,” the Bank would not be able to accept brokered deposits without the approval of the FDIC.

Our allowance for loan losses may be inadequate to absorb losses inherent in the loan portfolio.

Experience in the banking industry indicates that a portion of our loans will become delinquent, and that some may only be partially repaid or may never be repaid at all. We may experience losses for reasons beyond our control, such as the impact of general economic conditions on customers and their businesses. Accordingly, we maintain an allowance for loan losses that represents management’s judgment of probable losses and risks inherent in our loan portfolio. In determining the size of our allowance for loan losses, we rely on an analysis of our loan portfolio that considers historical loss experience, volume and types of loans, trends in classification, volume and trends in delinquencies and non-accruals, economic conditions, and other pertinent information. The determination of the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses is inherently highly subjective and requires us to make significant estimates of and assumptions regarding current credit risk and future trends, all of which may change materially. Although we endeavor to maintain our allowance for loan losses at a level adequate to absorb any inherent losses in the loan portfolio, these estimates of loan losses are necessarily subjective, and their accuracy depends on the outcome of future events. At December 31, 2021, the allowance for loan losses was $23.2 million.

Deterioration of economic conditions affecting borrowers, new information regarding existing loans, inaccurate management assumptions, identification of additional problem loans, temporary modifications, loan forgiveness, automatic forbearance, and other factors, both within and outside of our control, may result in our experiencing higher levels of nonperforming assets and charge-offs, and incurring loan losses in excess of our current allowance for loan losses, requiring us to make material additions to our allowance for loan losses, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Additionally, federal and state banking regulators, as an integral part of their supervisory function, periodically review the allowance for loan losses. These regulatory agencies may require us to increase our allowance for loan losses or to recognize further loan charge-offs based upon their judgments, which may be different from ours. If we need to make significant and unanticipated increases in the loss allowance in the future, or to take additional charge-offs for which we have not established adequate reserves, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected at that time.

Finally, the FASB has issued a new accounting standard for establishing allowances for loan and lease losses that will replace the current approach under GAAP, which generally considers only past events and current conditions, with a forward-looking methodology that reflects the expected credit losses over the lives of financial assets, starting when such assets are first originated or acquired. As an emerging growth company relying on the extended transition period for new accounting standards, this standard, referred to as Current Expected Credit Loss (“CECL”), will be effective for us on January 1, 2023. The CECL standard will require us to record, at the time of origination, credit losses expected throughout the life of the asset portfolio on loans and held-to-maturity securities, as opposed to the current practice of recording losses when it is probable that a loss event has occurred. We are currently evaluating the impact the CECL standard will have on our accounting and regulatory capital position. The adoption of the CECL standard will materially affect how we determine allowance for loan losses and could require us to significantly increase the allowance. Moreover, the CECL standard may create more volatility in the level of allowance for loan losses. If we are required to materially increase the level of our allowance for loan losses for any reason, such increase could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We could recognize losses on investment securities held in our securities portfolio, particularly if interest rates increase or economic and market conditions deteriorate.

As of December 31, 2021, the carrying value of our investment securities portfolio was approximately $153.8 million. As of the same date, 12.80% of our investments were U.S. government agency securities. Factors beyond our control can significantly influence the fair value of securities in our portfolio and can cause potential adverse changes to the fair value of these securities. These factors include, but are not limited to, rating agency actions in respect to the securities, defaults by the issuer or with respect to the underlying securities, and changes in market interest rates and instability in the capital markets. Any of these factors, among others, could cause other-than-temporary impairments (“OTTIs”), realized and/or unrealized losses in future periods, and declines in other comprehensive income, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The process for determining whether impairment of a security is OTTI usually requires complex, subjective judgments about the future financial performance and liquidity of the issuer, any collateral underlying the security, and our intent and ability to hold the security for a sufficient period of time to allow for any anticipated recovery in fair value, in order to assess the probability of receiving all contractual principal and interest payments on the security. Our failure to correctly and timely assess any impairments or losses with respect to our securities could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We depend on the accuracy and completeness of information provided by customers and counterparties.

In deciding whether to extend credit or enter into other transactions with customers and counterparties, we may rely on information furnished by or on behalf of customers and counterparties, including financial information. We may also rely on representations of customers and counterparties as to the accuracy and completeness of that information. In deciding whether to extend credit, we may rely upon customers’ representations that their financial statements conform to GAAP and present fairly the financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows of the customer. We also may rely on customer representations and certifications, or other audit or accountants’ reports, with respect to the business and financial condition of our customers. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected if we rely on misleading, false, inaccurate, or fraudulent information.

Risks Related to Our Industry and Regulation

Our industry is highly regulated, and the regulatory framework, together with any future legislative or regulatory changes, may have a materially adverse effect on our operations.

The banking industry is highly regulated and supervised under both federal and state laws and regulations that are intended primarily for the protection of depositors, customers, the public, the banking system as a whole, or the FDIC DIF, not for the protection of our shareholders and creditors. We are subject to regulation and supervision by the Federal Reserve, and our Bank is subject to regulation and supervision by the FDIC and the DFPI. Compliance with these laws and regulations can be difficult and costly, and changes to laws and regulations can impose additional compliance costs. The Dodd-Frank Act, which imposed significant regulatory and compliance changes on financial institutions, is an example of this type of federal law. The laws and regulations applicable to us govern a variety of matters, including permissible types, amounts, and terms of loans and investments we may make, the maximum interest rate that may be charged, the amount of reserves we must hold against deposits we take, the types of deposits we may accept and the rates we may pay on such deposits, maintenance of adequate capital and liquidity, changes in control of us and our Bank, transactions between us and our Bank, handling of nonpublic information, restrictions on dividends, and establishment of new offices. We must obtain approval from our regulators before engaging in certain activities, and there is risk that such approvals may not be granted, either in a timely manner or at all. These requirements may constrain our operations, and the adoption of new laws and changes to or repeal of existing laws may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Also, the burden imposed by those federal and state regulations may place banks in general, including our Bank in particular, at a competitive disadvantage compared to their non-bank competitors. Compliance with current and potential regulation, as well as supervisory scrutiny by our regulators, may significantly increase our costs, impede the efficiency of our internal business processes, require us to increase our regulatory capital, and limit our ability to pursue business opportunities in an efficient manner by requiring us to expend significant time, effort, and resources to ensure compliance and respond to any regulatory inquiries or investigations. Our failure to comply with any applicable laws or regulations, interpretations of such laws and regulations, or regulatory policies could result in sanctions by regulatory agencies, civil money penalties, and/or damage to our reputation, all of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Applicable laws, regulations, interpretations, enforcement policies, and accounting principles have been subject to significant changes in recent years and may be subject to significant future changes. Additionally, federal and state regulatory agencies may change the manner in which existing regulations are applied. We cannot predict the substance or effect of pending or future legislation or regulation or changes to the application of laws and regulations to us. Future changes may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In addition, given the current economic and financial environment, regulators may elect to alter standards or the interpretation of the standards used to measure regulatory compliance or to determine the adequacy of liquidity, risk management, or other operational practices for financial service companies. This could impact our ability to implement our strategy, could affect us in substantial and unpredictable ways, and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Furthermore, the regulatory agencies have broad discretion in their interpretation of laws and regulations and their assessment of the quality of our loan portfolio, securities portfolio, and other assets. Based on our regulators’ assessment of the quality of our assets, operations, lending practices, investment practices, capital structure, or other aspects of our business, we may be required to take additional charges or undertake, or refrain from taking, actions that could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Monetary policies and regulations of the Federal Reserve could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our earnings and growth are affected by the policies of the Federal Reserve. An important function of the Federal Reserve is to regulate the money supply and credit conditions. Among the instruments used by the Federal Reserve to implement these objectives are open market purchases and sales of U.S. government securities, adjustments of the discount rate, and changes in banks’ reserve requirements against bank deposits. These instruments are used in varying combinations to influence overall economic growth and the distribution of credit, bank loans, investments, and deposits. Their use also affects interest rates charged on loans or paid on deposits.

The monetary policies and regulations of the Federal Reserve have had a significant effect on the operating results of commercial banks in the past and are expected to continue to do so in the future. The effects of such policies upon our business, financial condition, and results of operations cannot be predicted.

Federal and state regulators periodically examine our business and may require us to remediate adverse examination findings or may take enforcement action against us.

The Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the DFPI periodically examine our business, including our compliance with laws and regulations. If, as a result of an examination, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, or the DFPI were to determine that our financial condition, capital resources, asset quality, earnings prospects, management, liquidity, or other aspects of any of our operations had become unsatisfactory, or that we were in violation of any law or regulation, they may take a number of different remedial actions as they deem appropriate. These actions may include requiring us to remediate any such adverse examination findings.

In addition, these agencies have the power to take enforcement action against us to enjoin “unsafe or unsound” practices, to require affirmative action to correct any conditions resulting from any violation of law or regulation or unsafe or unsound practice, to issue an administrative order that can be judicially enforced, to direct an increase in our capital, to direct the sale of subsidiaries or other assets, to limit dividends and distributions, to restrict our growth, to assess civil money penalties against us or our officers or directors, to remove officers and directors, and, if it is concluded that such conditions cannot be corrected or there is imminent risk of loss to depositors, to terminate our deposit insurance and place our Bank into receivership or conservatorship. Any regulatory enforcement action against us could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are subject to stringent capital requirements, which could have an adverse effect on our operations.

Federal regulations establish minimum capital requirements for insured depository institutions, including minimum risk-based capital and leverage ratios, and define different forms of capital for calculating these ratios. The capital rules generally require bank holding companies and banks to maintain a common equity Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets ratio of at least 7.00% (a minimum of 4.50% plus a capital conservation buffer of 2.50%), a Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets ratio of at least 8.50% (a minimum of 6.00% plus a capital conservation buffer of 2.50%), a total capital to risk-weighted assets ratio of at least 10.50% (a minimum of 8.00% plus a capital conservation buffer of 2.50%), and a Tier 1 leverage ratio of at least 4.00%. An institution’s failure to exceed the capital conservation buffer with common equity Tier 1 capital would result in limitations on an institution’s ability to make capital distributions and discretionary bonus payments. In addition, for an insured depository institution to be “well-capitalized” under the banking agencies’ prompt corrective action framework, it must have a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6.50%, a Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 8.00%, a total capital ratio of at least 10.00%, and a Tier 1 leverage ratio of at least 5.00%, and must not be subject to any written agreement, order or capital directive, or prompt corrective action directive issued by its primary federal or state banking regulator to meet and maintain a specific capital level for any capital measure.

We operate under the Federal Reserve’s Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement, which exempts from the Federal Reserve’s risk-based capital and leverage rules bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of less than $3.0 billion that are not engaged in significant nonbanking activities, do not conduct significant off-balance sheet activities, and do not have a material amount of debt or equity securities registered with the SEC. Historically, the Federal Reserve has not usually deemed a bank holding company ineligible for application of this policy statement solely because its common stock is registered under the Exchange Act. However, there can be no assurance that the Federal Reserve will continue this practice, and changes to this practice may result in the loss of our status as a small bank holding company for these purposes. Additionally, we will be ineligible to operate under the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement if we grow to $3.0 billion or more in total consolidated assets.

Any new or revised standards adopted in the future may require us to maintain materially more capital, with common equity as a more predominant component, or manage the configuration of our assets and liabilities to comply with formulaic capital requirements. We may not be able to raise additional capital at all, or on terms acceptable to us. Failure to maintain capital to meet current or future regulatory requirements could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are subject to numerous “fair and responsible banking” laws and other laws and regulations designed to protect consumers, and failure to comply with these laws could lead to a wide variety of sanctions.

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act, and other fair lending laws and regulations, including state laws and regulations, prohibit discriminatory lending practices by financial institutions. The Federal Trade Commission Act prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and the Dodd-Frank Act prohibits unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices by financial institutions. The U.S. Department of Justice, federal and state banking agencies, and other federal and state agencies, including the CFPB, are responsible for enforcing these fair and responsible banking laws and regulations. Banks with no more than $10.0 billion in total consolidated assets, including the Bank, are subject to rules promulgated by the CFPB but are examined and supervised by federal banking agencies for compliance with federal consumer protection laws and regulations. Accordingly, CFPB rulemaking has the potential to have a significant impact on the operations of the Bank.

A challenge to an institution’s compliance with fair and responsible banking laws and regulations could result in a wide variety of sanctions, including damages and civil money penalties, injunctive relief, restrictions on mergers and acquisitions activity, restrictions on expansion, and restrictions on entering new business lines. Private parties may also have the ability to challenge an institution’s performance under fair lending laws in private litigation, including through class action litigation. Such actions could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are subject to laws regarding the privacy, information security, and protection of personal information, and any violation of these laws or other incidents involving personal, confidential, or proprietary information of individuals could damage our reputation and otherwise adversely affect our business.

Our business requires the collection and retention of large volumes of customer data, including personally identifiable information (“PII”), in various information systems that we maintain and in those maintained by third-party service providers. We also maintain important internal company data such as PII about our employees and information relating to our operations. We are subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations governing the privacy and protection of PII of individuals (including customers, employees, and other third parties). For example, our business is subject to the GLB Act, which, among other things: (i) imposes certain limitations on our ability to share nonpublic PII about our customers with nonaffiliated third parties; (ii) requires that we provide certain disclosures to customers about our information collection, sharing, and security practices and afford customers the right to “opt out” of any information sharing by us with nonaffiliated third parties (with certain exceptions); and (iii) requires that we develop, implement, and maintain a written comprehensive information security program containing appropriate safeguards based on our size and complexity, the nature and scope of our activities, and the sensitivity of customer information we process, as well as plans for responding to data security breaches. Various federal and state banking regulators and states have also enacted data breach notification requirements with varying levels of individual, consumer, regulatory, or law enforcement notification in the event of a security breach. The California Consumer Privacy Act grants California residents the rights to know about personal information collected about them, to delete certain of this personal information, to opt out of the sale of personal information, and to non-discrimination for exercising these rights.

Ensuring that our collection, use, transfer, and storage of PII complies with all applicable laws and regulations can increase our costs. Furthermore, we may not be able to ensure that customers and other third parties have appropriate controls in place to protect the confidentiality of the information that they exchange with us, particularly where such information is transmitted by electronic means. If personal, confidential, or proprietary information of customers or others were to be mishandled or misused (in situations where, for example, such information was erroneously provided to parties who are not permitted to have the information, or where such information was intercepted or otherwise compromised by third parties), we could be exposed to litigation or regulatory sanctions under privacy and data protection laws and regulations. Concerns regarding the effectiveness of our measures to safeguard PII, or even the perception that such measures are inadequate, could cause us to lose customers or potential customers and thereby reduce our revenues. Accordingly, any failure or perceived failure to comply with applicable privacy or data protection laws and regulations may subject us to inquiries, examinations, and investigations that could result in requirements to modify or cease certain operations or practices or in significant liabilities, fines, or penalties, and could damage our reputation and otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are a bank holding company and are dependent upon the Bank for cash flow, and the Bank’s ability to make cash distributions is restricted.

We are a bank holding company with no material activities other than activities incidental to holding the common stock of the Bank. Our principal source of funds to pay distributions on our common stock and service any of our obligations, other than further issuances of securities, is dividends received from the Bank. Furthermore, the Bank is not obligated to pay dividends to us, and any dividends paid to us would depend on the earnings or financial condition of the Bank, various business considerations, and applicable law and regulation. As is generally the case for banking institutions, the profitability of the Bank is subject to the fluctuating cost and availability of money, changes in interest rates, and economic conditions in general. In addition, various federal and state statutes and regulations limit the amount of dividends that the Bank may pay to the Company without regulatory approval.

The Federal Reserve may require us to commit capital resources to support the Bank.

The Federal Reserve requires a bank holding company to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to its subsidiary banks and to commit resources to support its subsidiary banks. Under the “source of strength” doctrine that was codified by the Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Reserve may require a bank holding company to make capital injections into a subsidiary bank, including at times when the bank holding company may not be inclined to do so, and may charge the bank holding company with engaging in unsafe and unsound practices for failure to commit resources to such a subsidiary bank. Accordingly, we could be required to provide financial assistance to the Bank if it experiences financial distress.

A capital injection may be required at a time when our resources are limited, and we may be required to borrow the funds or raise capital to make the required capital injection. Any loan by a bank holding company to its subsidiary bank is subordinate in right of payment to deposits and certain other indebtedness of such subsidiary bank. In the event of a bank holding company’s bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee will assume any commitment by the holding company to a federal bank regulatory agency to maintain the capital of a subsidiary bank. Moreover, bankruptcy law provides that claims based on any such commitment will be entitled to a priority of payment over the claims of the holding company’s general unsecured creditors, including the holders of any note obligations. Thus, any borrowing by a bank holding company for the purpose of making a capital injection to a subsidiary bank may become more difficult and expensive relative to other corporate borrowings.

We face a risk of noncompliance and enforcement action with the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering statutes and regulations.

The Bank Secrecy Act, the Patriot Act, and other laws and regulations require financial institutions, among other duties, to institute and maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and to file reports such as suspicious activity reports and currency transaction reports. We are required to comply with these and other anti-money laundering requirements. Our federal and state banking regulators, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and other government agencies are authorized to impose significant civil money penalties for violations of anti-money laundering requirements. We are also subject to increased scrutiny of compliance with the regulations issued and enforced by the Treasury Department’s OFAC, which is responsible for helping to ensure that U.S. entities do not engage in transactions with certain prohibited parties, as defined by various Executive Orders and Acts of Congress. If our program is deemed deficient, we could be subject to liability, including fines, civil money penalties, and other regulatory actions, which may include restrictions on our business operations and our ability to pay dividends, restrictions on mergers and acquisitions activity, restrictions on expansion, and restrictions on entering new business lines. Failure to maintain and implement adequate programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing could also have significant reputational consequences for us. Any of these circumstances could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our Bank’s FDIC deposit insurance premiums and assessments may increase.

Our Bank’s deposits are insured by the FDIC up to legal limits and, accordingly, our Bank is subject to insurance assessments based on our Bank’s average consolidated total assets less its average tangible equity. Our Bank’s regular assessments are determined by its CAMELS composite rating (a supervisory rating system developed to classify a bank’s overall condition by taking into account capital adequacy, assets, management capability, earnings, liquidity, and sensitivity to market and interest rate risk), taking into account other factors and adjustments. In order to maintain a strong funding position and the reserve ratios of the DIF required by statute and FDIC estimates of projected requirements, the FDIC has the power to increase deposit insurance assessment rates and impose special assessments on all FDIC-insured financial institutions. Any future increases or special assessments, including as part of the FDIC’s plan to restore the DIF reserve ratio to at least 1.35% by September 30, 2028, could reduce our profitability and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The planned discontinuation of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) as a benchmark interest rate and a transition to an alternative reference interest rate could present operational problems and result in market disruption.

The administrator of LIBOR will publish most tenors of LIBOR for U.S. dollars (“USD”) through June 30, 2023 and permanently cease publication of the 1-week and 2-month USD LIBOR settings following December 31, 2021. The Federal Reserve and other federal banking agencies have encouraged banks to transition away from LIBOR in new contracts by no later than December 31, 2021, to ensure existing contracts have robust fallback language that includes a clearly defined alternative reference rate, and have emphasized the expectation that supervised institutions with LIBOR exposure continue to progress toward an orderly transition away from LIBOR. Although we expect that the capital and debt markets will cease to use LIBOR as a benchmark in the near future, we cannot predict what impact such a transition may have on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The Federal Reserve, based on the recommendations of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee, has begun publishing the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), which is intended to replace LIBOR. Additionally, on April 6, 2021, New York Governor Cuomo signed into law legislation that provides for the substitution of SOFR in any LIBOR-based contract governed by New York state law that does not include clear fallback language, once LIBOR is discontinued. Although SOFR appears to be the preferred replacement rate for LIBOR, it is unclear if other benchmarks may emerge or if other rates will be adopted outside of the United States. The replacement of LIBOR also may result in economic mismatches between different categories of instruments that now consistently rely on the LIBOR benchmark. Markets are slowly developing in response to these new rates, and questions around liquidity in these rates and how to appropriately adjust these rates to eliminate any economic value transfer at the time of transition remain a significant concern. We cannot predict whether the SOFR or another alternative rate will become the market benchmark in place of LIBOR.

Certain of our financial products are tied to LIBOR. We are currently monitoring the actions of LIBOR’s regulator and the implementation of alternative reference rates in advance of the expected discontinuation of LIBOR to determine any potential impact on our financial products and our subordinated notes. Inconsistent approaches to a transition from LIBOR to an alternative rate among different market participants and for different financial products may cause market disruption and operational problems, which could adversely affect us, including by exposing us to increased basis risk and resulting costs in connection, and by creating the possibility of disagreements with counterparties.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

Our stock price may be volatile, and we may not be able to meet investor or analyst expectations. You may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price you paid and may lose part or all of your investment as a result.

Stock price volatility may negatively impact the price at which our common stock may be sold and may also negatively impact the timing of any sale. We cannot assure you that the market price of our shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) will equal or exceed prices in privately negotiated transactions of our shares that have occurred from time to time before our IPO. Our stock price may fluctuate widely in response to a variety of factors including the risk factors described herein and, among other things:

In particular, the realization of any of the risks described in this section could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and cause the value of your investment to decline. In addition, the stock market in general has experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock over the short, medium, or long term, regardless of our actual performance.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in Rule 12b-2 in the Exchange Act, and are able to avail ourselves of reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies, which could make our common stock less attractive to investors and adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various requirements generally applicable to public companies. These exemptions allow us, among other things, to present only two years of audited financial statements and discuss our results of operations for only two years in related Management’s Discussions and Analyses; not to provide an auditor attestation of our internal control over financial reporting; to take advantage of an extended transition period to comply with the new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies; to provide reduced disclosure regarding our executive compensation arrangements pursuant to the rules applicable to smaller reporting companies, which means we do not have to include a compensation discussion and analysis and certain other disclosure regarding our executive compensation; and not to seek a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements.

We may take advantage of these exemptions until we are no longer an emerging growth company. We would cease to be an emerging growth company upon the earliest of: (i) the first fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of our IPO; (ii) the first fiscal year after our annual gross revenues are $1.07 billion or more; (iii) the date on which we have, during the previous three-year period, issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities; or (iv) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the rules of the SEC.

Even after we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, we may still qualify as a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in Rule 12b-2 in the Exchange Act, which would allow us to take advantage of many of the same exemptions from disclosure requirements, including not being required to provide an auditor attestation of our internal control over financial reporting and reduced disclosure regarding our executive compensation arrangements in our periodic reports and proxy statements.

We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock, and our stock price may be more volatile or decline.

Our significant shareholders have the ability to control significant corporate activities, and our significant shareholders’ interests may not coincide with yours.

Upon the closing of our IPO, our directors, executive officers, and principal shareholders beneficially owned an aggregate of 5,881,682 shares, or approximately 34.47% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Consequently, our directors, executive officers, and principal shareholders are able to significantly affect our affairs and policies, including the outcome of the election of directors and the potential outcome of other matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders, such as mergers, the sale of substantially all of our assets, and other extraordinary corporate matters. This influence may also have the effect of delaying or preventing changes of control or changes in management or limiting the ability of our other shareholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in the best interests of our Company. The interests of these insiders could conflict with the interests of our other shareholders, including you.

Our management had broad discretion in allocating the net proceeds of our IPO. Our failure to effectively utilize such net proceeds may have an adverse effect on our financial performance and the value of our common stock.

Following the distributions to certain of our shareholders in May 2021, we used the net proceeds of our IPO to increase the capital of the Bank in order to support our organic growth strategies, including expanding our overall market share, to strengthen our regulatory capital, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes. However, we were not required to apply any portion of the net proceeds of our IPO for any particular purpose, and our management could have used them for purposes other than those contemplated at the time of the IPO. Accordingly, our management had broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from the IPO, and you will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of these proceeds. You did not have the opportunity to assess whether we used the proceeds appropriately. Our management might not have applied our net proceeds in ways that would have ultimately increased the value of your investment. If we did not invest or apply the net proceeds from our IPO in ways that enhance shareholder value, we may fail to achieve expected financial results, which could cause our stock price to decline.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We may be unable to attract or sustain research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no securities or industry analysts cover our company, the trading price for our stock would likely be negatively impacted. If we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage and if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If we fail to meet the expectations of analysts for our operating results, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.

We may not pay dividends on our common stock in the future, and our ability to pay dividends is subject to certain restrictions.

Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive only such dividends as our board of directors may declare out of funds legally available for such payments. Our board of directors may, in its sole discretion, change the amount or frequency of dividends or discontinue the payment of dividends entirely. In addition, we are a bank holding company, and our ability to declare and pay dividends is dependent on federal regulatory considerations, including the guidelines of the Federal Reserve regarding capital adequacy and dividends. It is the policy of the Federal Reserve that bank holding companies should generally pay dividends on common stock only out of earnings, and only if prospective earnings retention is consistent with the organization’s expected future needs, asset quality, and financial condition, and that bank holding companies should inform and consult with the Federal Reserve in advance of declaring and paying a dividend that exceeds earnings for the period for which the dividend is being paid.

The holders of our debt obligations and preferred stock, if any, have priority over the holders of our common stock with respect to payment in the event of liquidation, dissolution, or winding up and with respect to the payment of interest and dividends.

In any liquidation, dissolution, or winding up of the Company, our common stock would rank below all claims of debt holders against us as well as any preferred stock that has been issued. As of December 31, 2021, we had an aggregate of $28.4 million of subordinated notes, net of debt issuance costs, outstanding, and we did not have any outstanding preferred stock or trust preferred securities. We could incur such debt obligations or issue preferred stock in the future to raise additional capital. In such event, holders of our common stock will not be entitled to receive any payment or other distribution of assets upon the liquidation, dissolution, or winding up of the Company until after all of our obligations to the debt holders are satisfied and holders of subordinated debt and senior equity securities, including preferred shares, if any, have received any payment or distribution due to them. In addition, we will be required to pay interest on the subordinated notes and dividends on the trust preferred securities and preferred stock before we will be able to pay any dividends on our common stock.

California law and the provisions of our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have an anti-takeover effect, and there are substantial regulatory limitations on changes of control of bank holding companies.

California corporate law and provisions of our amended and restated articles of incorporation (“articles of incorporation”) and our amended and restated bylaws (“bylaws”) could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if doing so would be perceived to be beneficial by our shareholders. Furthermore, with certain limited exceptions, federal regulations prohibit a person or company or a group of persons deemed to be “acting in concert” from, directly or indirectly, acquiring 10% or more (5% or more if the acquirer is a bank holding company) of any class of our voting stock or obtaining the ability to control in any manner the election of a majority of our directors or otherwise direct the management or policies of our Company without prior notice or application to and the approval of the Federal Reserve. Accordingly, prospective investors must comply with these requirements, if applicable, in connection with any purchase of shares of our common stock. Collectively, provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws and other statutory and regulatory provisions may delay, prevent, or deter a merger, acquisition, tender offer, proxy contest, or other transaction that might otherwise result in our shareholders receiving a premium over the market price for their common stock. Moreover, the combination of these provisions effectively inhibits certain business combinations, which, in turn, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Our bylaws have an exclusive forum provision, which could limit a shareholder’s ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees.

Our bylaws have an exclusive forum provision providing that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (or, in the event that the United States District Court for the Northern District of California does not have jurisdiction, any federal or state court of California) shall be the sole and exclusive forum for: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of any duty owed by any director, officer, or other employee to us or to our shareholders; (iii) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees arising pursuant to any provision of the General Corporation Law of California or the articles of incorporation or the bylaws; or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers, or other employees that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Our bylaws will further provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America will, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the federal securities laws, including the applicable rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Any person purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to this provision of our bylaws. The exclusive forum provision may limit a shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find the exclusive forum provision to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects.

Prior to our IPO, we were treated as an S Corporation, and claims of taxing authorities related to our prior status as an S Corporation could adversely affect us.

Immediately prior to the consummation of our IPO, our status as an S Corporation terminated and we commenced treatment as a C Corporation under the provisions of Sections 301 through 385 of the Internal Revenue Code, which treat the corporation as an entity that is subject to U.S. federal income tax. If the unaudited, open tax years in which we were an S Corporation are audited by the IRS, and we are determined not to have qualified for, or to have violated any requirement for maintaining, our S Corporation status, we will be obligated to pay back taxes, interest, and penalties. The amounts that we would be obligated to pay could include taxes on all our taxable income while we were an S Corporation. Any such claims could result in additional costs to us and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We have entered into a Tax Sharing Agreement with most of our shareholders who owned our common stock prior to our IPO and could become obligated to make payments to such shareholders for any additional federal, state, or local income taxes assessed against them for tax periods prior to the completion of our IPO.

We historically were treated as an S Corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and our shareholders prior to our IPO were taxed on our net income. Therefore, such shareholders received distributions, referred to as tax distributions, from us that were generally intended to equal the amount of tax the existing shareholders were required to pay with respect to our income. In connection with our IPO, our S Corporation status terminated, and we are now subject to federal and increased California state income taxes. In the event of an adjustment to our reported taxable income for periods prior to termination of our S Corporation status, it is possible that our shareholders who owned our common stock prior to our IPO would be liable for additional income taxes for those prior periods. Pursuant to the Tax Sharing Agreement, upon our filing any tax return (amended or otherwise), in the event of any restatement of our taxable income or pursuant to a determination by, or a settlement with, a taxing authority, for any period during which we were an S Corporation, depending on the nature of the adjustment, we may be required to make a payment to our shareholders who owned our common stock prior to our IPO, who accepted distribution of the estimated balance of our federal accumulated adjustments account under the Tax Sharing Agreement, in an amount equal to such shareholders’ incremental tax liability (including interest and penalties), which amount may be material. In addition, the Tax Sharing Agreement provides that we will indemnify such shareholders with respect to unpaid income tax liabilities (including interest and penalties) to the extent that such unpaid income tax liabilities are attributable to an adjustment to our taxable income for any period after our S Corporation status terminated. In both cases the amount of the payment will be based on the assumption that our shareholders are taxed at the highest federal and state income tax rates applicable to married individuals filing jointly and residing in California for the relevant periods. Our shareholders who owned our common stock prior to our IPO and accepted distribution of the estimated balance of our federal accumulated adjustments account under the Tax Sharing Agreement will, severally and not jointly, indemnify us with respect to our unpaid income tax liabilities (including interest and penalties) to the extent that such unpaid income tax liabilities are attributable to a decrease in any such shareholder’s taxable income for any tax period and a corresponding increase in our taxable income for any period (but only to the extent of the amount by which the shareholder’s tax liability is reduced).

An investment in our common stock is not an insured deposit.

An investment in our common stock is not a bank deposit and, therefore, is not insured against loss by the FDIC, any other deposit insurance fund, or by any other public or private entity. Investment in our common stock is inherently risky for the reasons described herein and is subject to the same market forces that affect the price of common stock in any company. As a result, if you acquire our common stock, you could lose some or all of your investment.

The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources and divert management’s attention.

As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting, insurance, and other expenses. We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and applicable securities rules and regulations. These laws and regulations increase the scope, complexity, and cost of corporate governance, reporting, and disclosure practices over those of non-public or non-reporting companies. Despite our conducting business in a highly regulated environment, these laws and regulations have different requirements for compliance than we experienced prior to becoming a public company. Among other things, the Exchange Act requires that we file annual, quarterly, and current reports with respect to our business and operating results and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. As a Nasdaq-listed company, we are required to prepare and file proxy materials which meet the requirements of the Exchange Act and the SEC’s proxy rules. Compliance with these rules and regulations has increased, and will continue to increase, our legal and financial compliance costs, will make some activities more difficult, time-consuming, or costly, and will increase demand on our systems and resources, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. In order to maintain, appropriately document and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet the standards required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, significant resources and management oversight may be required. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could harm our business and operating results. Additionally, any failure by us to file our periodic reports with the SEC in a timely manner could harm our reputation and cause our investors and potential investors to lose confidence in us, and restrict trading in, and reduce the market price of, our common stock, and potentially impact our ability to access the capital markets.

If we fail to design, implement, and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or remediate any future material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud.

Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of the financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Effective internal control over financial reporting is necessary for us to provide reliable reports and prevent fraud. We may not be able to identify all significant deficiencies and/or material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in the future, and our failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In the normal course of our operations, we may identify deficiencies that would have to be remediated to satisfy the SEC rules for certification of our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is defined by the standards issued by the PCAOB as a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting that results in a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. As a consequence, we would have to disclose in periodic reports we file with the SEC any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. The existence of a material weakness would preclude management from concluding that our internal control over financial reporting is effective and, when we cease to be an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act, preclude our independent registered public accounting firm from rendering their report addressing an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, disclosures of deficiencies of this type in our SEC reports could cause investors to lose confidence in our financial reporting, may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, and could result in the delisting of our securities from the securities exchanges on which they trade. Moreover, effective internal controls are necessary to produce reliable financial reports and to prevent fraud. If we have deficiencies in our disclosure controls and procedures or internal control over financial reporting, such deficiencies may adversely affect us.

General Risk Factors

The COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of actions to mitigate the spread of the virus could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Federal, state, and local governments enacted various restrictions and policies in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19. Such measures disrupted economic activity and contributed to job losses and reductions in consumer and business spending. In response to the economic and financial effects of COVID-19, the Federal Reserve sharply reduced interest rates and instituted quantitative easing measures as well as domestic and global capital market support programs. In addition, the current and prior presidential administrations, Congress, various federal agencies, and state and local governments took measures to address the economic and social consequences of the pandemic, including the passage of the CARES Act, which was enacted on March 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was enacted on December 27, 2020, and the American Rescue Plan Act, which was enacted on March 11, 2021. The CARES Act provided wide-ranging economic relief for individuals and businesses impacted by COVID-19, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act and American Rescue Plan Act extended some of these relief provisions in certain respects as well as provided other forms of relief.

The CARES Act established and provided $349.0 billion in funding for the PPP, a loan program administered by the SBA. Under the PPP, small businesses, sole proprietorships, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals were able to apply for forgivable loans from existing SBA lenders and other approved regulated lenders that enrolled in the program, subject to numerous limitations and eligibility criteria. Congress appropriated additional funding to the PPP on April 24, 2020 and amended the PPP on June 5, 2020 to make the terms of the PPP loans and loan forgiveness more flexible. The Consolidated Appropriations Act provided additional funding for the PPP and allowed eligible borrowers, including certain borrowers who had already received a PPP loan, to apply for PPP loans through March 31, 2021. The American Rescue Plan Act expanded the eligibility criteria for both first and second draw PPP loans and revised the exclusions from payroll costs for purposes of loan forgiveness. The PPP Extension Act, which became law on March 30, 2021, extended the deadline to apply for a PPP loan through May 31, 2021. In April 2020, we began processing loan applications under the PPP.

In addition, the CARES Act and related guidance from the federal banking agencies provided financial institutions the option to temporarily suspend requirements under GAAP related to classification of certain loan modifications as TDRs to account for the effects of COVID-19. The CARES Act, as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, specified that COVID-19 related loan modifications executed between March 1, 2020 and the earlier of: (i) 60 days after the date of termination of the national emergency declared by the President; and (ii) January 1, 2022, on loans that were current as of December 31, 2019 are not TDRs. Additionally, under guidance from the federal banking agencies, other short-term modifications made on a good faith basis in response to COVID-19 to borrowers that were current prior to any relief are not TDRs under ASC Subtopic 310-40, “Troubled Debt Restructuring by Creditors.” These modifications include short-term (e.g., up to six months) modifications such as payment deferrals, fee waivers, extensions of repayment terms, or delays in payment that are insignificant. We made a high level of loan modifications under our deferred payment program. Further, our loan portfolio includes loans that are in forbearance, but which are not classified as TDRs because they were current at the time forbearance began. When the forbearance periods end, we may be required to classify a substantial portion of these COVID-19 deferments as TDRs.

The CARES Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act also included a range of other provisions designed to support the U.S. economy and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on financial institutions and their customers, including through the authorization of various programs and measures that the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and other federal agencies may be or are required to implement. Among other provisions, sections 4022 and 4023 of the CARES Act provide mortgage loan forbearance relief to certain borrowers experiencing financial hardship during the COVID-19 emergency. The full impact on our lending and other business activities as a result of new government and regulatory policies, programs, and guidelines, as well as regulators’ reaction to such activities, remains uncertain.

While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to decrease in significance, its economic effects on financial markets and key market indices continue to impact overall economic activity. The uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic and the resulting economic disruption caused increased market volatility and led to an economic recession and a significant decrease in consumer confidence and business generally, the long-term effects of which remain uncertain. The continuation of these conditions (including whether due to a resurgence or additional waves or variants of COVID-19 infections, particularly as the geographic areas in which we operate determine whether and when to re-open, and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume, especially as a vaccine is now widely available), as well as the impacts of the CARES Act and other federal and state measures, specifically with respect to loan forbearances, has adversely affected our business, financial condition, and results of operations, and has and can be expected to further adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations and the operations of our borrowers, customers, and business partners. In particular, these events have had, and/or can be expected to continue to have, the following effects, among others:

Prolonged measures by health or other governmental authorities encouraging or requiring significant restrictions on travel, assembly, or other core business practices could further harm our business and those of our customers, in particular our small to medium-sized business customers. Although we have business continuity plans and other safeguards in place, there is no assurance that they will be effective.

While the ultimate impact of these factors over the longer term is uncertain and we do not yet know the full extent of the impacts on our business, our operations, or the global economy as a whole, nor the pace of continued economic recovery when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the decline in economic conditions generally, and a prolonged negative impact on small to medium-sized businesses in particular, due to COVID-19 is likely to result in an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations in future periods, and may heighten many of our known risks.

We are dependent on our management team and key employees.

Our success depends, in large part, on the retention of our management team and key employees. Our management team and other key employees, including those who conduct our loan origination and other business development activities, have significant industry experience. We cannot ensure that we will be able to retain the services of any members of our management team or other key employees. Though we have employment agreements in place with certain members of our management team, they may still elect to leave at any time. The loss of any of our management team or our key employees could adversely affect our ability to execute our business strategy, and we may not be able to find adequate replacements on a timely basis, or at all.

Our future success also depends on our continuing ability to attract, develop, motivate, and retain key employees. Qualified individuals are in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to attract and retain them. Because the market for qualified individuals is highly competitive, we may not be able to attract and retain qualified officers or candidates. Failure to attract and retain a qualified management team and qualified key employees could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our success is largely dependent upon our ability to successfully execute our business strategy.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to grow and to remain profitable in future periods, or, if profitable, that our overall earnings will remain consistent with our prior results of operations or increase in the future. A downturn in economic conditions in our market, particularly in the real estate market, heightened competition from other financial services providers, an inability to retain or grow our core deposit base, regulatory and legislative considerations, and failure to attract and retain high-performing talent, among other factors, could limit our ability to grow assets, or increase profitability, as rapidly as we have in the past. Sustainable growth requires that we manage our risks by following prudent loan underwriting standards, balancing loan and deposit growth without materially increasing interest rate risk or compressing our net interest margin, maintaining more than adequate capital at all times, managing a growing number of customer relationships, scaling technology platforms, hiring and retaining qualified employees, and successfully implementing our strategic initiatives. We must also successfully implement improvements to, or integrate, our management information and control systems, procedures, and processes in an efficient and timely manner and identify deficiencies in existing systems and controls. In particular, our controls and procedures must be able to accommodate an increase in loan volume in various markets and the infrastructure that comes with expanding operations, including new branches. Our growth strategy may require us to incur additional expenditures to expand our administrative and operational infrastructure. If we are unable to effectively manage and grow our banking franchise, we may experience compliance and operational problems, have to slow the pace of growth, or have to incur additional expenditures beyond current projections to support such growth. We may not have, or may not be able to develop, the knowledge or relationships necessary to be successful in new markets. Our failure to sustain our historical rate of growth, adequately manage the factors that have contributed to our growth, or successfully enter new markets could have an adverse effect on our earnings and profitability and, therefore, on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may pursue strategic acquisitions in the future, and we may not be able to overcome risks associated with such transactions.

Although we plan to continue to grow our business organically, we may explore opportunities to invest in, or to acquire, other financial institutions and businesses that we believe would complement our existing business.

Our investment or acquisition activities could be material to our business and involve a number of risks including the following:

We may not be successful in overcoming these risks or other problems encountered in connection with potential investments or acquisitions. Our inability to overcome these risks could have an adverse effect on our ability to implement our business strategy and enhance shareholder value, which, in turn, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Additionally, if we record goodwill in connection with any acquisition, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected if that goodwill is determined to be impaired, which would require us to take an impairment charge.

New lines of business, products, product enhancements, or services may subject us to additional risk.

From time to time, we may implement new lines of business or offer new products and product enhancements as well as new services within our existing lines of business. There are substantial risks and uncertainties associated with these efforts. In developing, implementing, or marketing new lines of business, products, product enhancements, or services, we may invest significant time and resources. We may underestimate the appropriate level of resources or expertise necessary to make new lines of business or products successful or to realize their expected benefits. We may not achieve the milestones set in initial timetables for the development and introduction of new lines of business, products, product enhancements, or services, and price and profitability targets may not prove feasible. External factors, such as new or changing regulations, competitive alternatives, and shifting market preferences, may also impact the ultimate implementation of a new line of business or offerings of new products, product enhancements, or services. Any new line of business, product, product enhancement, or service could have a significant impact on the effectiveness of our system of internal controls. We may also decide to discontinue businesses or products due to lack of customer acceptance or unprofitability. Failure to successfully manage these risks in the development and implementation of new lines of business or offerings of new products, product enhancements, or services could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our reputation is critical to our business, and damage to it could have an adverse effect on us.

A key differentiating factor for our business is the strong reputation we are building in our market. Maintaining a positive reputation is critical to attracting and retaining customers and employees. Adverse perceptions of us could make it more difficult for us to execute on our strategy. Harm to our reputation can arise from many sources, including actual or perceived employee misconduct, errors or misconduct by our third-party vendors or other counterparties, litigation or regulatory actions, our failure to meet our high customer service and quality standards, and compliance failures.

In particular, it is not always possible to prevent employee error or misconduct, and the precautions we take to prevent and detect this activity may not be effective in all cases. Because the nature of the financial services business involves a high volume of transactions, certain errors may be repeated or compounded before they are discovered and successfully rectified. Our necessary dependence upon processing systems to record and process transactions and our large transaction volume may further increase the risk that employee errors, tampering, or manipulation of those systems will result in losses that are difficult to detect. Employee error or misconduct could also subject us to financial claims. If our internal control systems fail to prevent or detect an occurrence, or if any resulting loss is not insured, exceeds applicable insurance limits, or if insurance coverage is denied or not available, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Additionally, as a financial institution, we are inherently exposed to operational risk in the form of theft and other fraudulent activity by employees, customers, and other third parties targeting us and our customers or data. Such activity may take many forms, including check fraud, electronic fraud, wire fraud, phishing, social engineering, and other dishonest acts. Although we devote substantial resources to maintaining effective policies and internal controls to identify and prevent such incidents, given the increasing sophistication of possible perpetrators, we may experience financial losses or reputational harm as a result of fraud.

Negative publicity about us, whether accurate or not, may also damage our reputation, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our operations could be interrupted if our third-party service providers experience difficulty, terminate their services, or fail to comply with banking regulations.

We outsource some of our operational activities and, accordingly, depend on relationships with third-party providers for services such as core systems support, informational website hosting, internet services, online account opening, and other processing services. Our business depends on the successful and uninterrupted functioning of our information technology and telecommunications systems, many of which also depend on third-party providers. The failure of these systems, a cybersecurity breach involving any of our third-party service providers, or the termination or change in terms of a third-party software license or service agreement on which any of these systems is based could interrupt our operations. Because our information technology and telecommunications systems interface with and depend on third-party systems, we could experience service denials if demand for such services exceeds capacity, or such third-party systems fail or experience interruptions. Replacing vendors or addressing other issues with our third-party service providers could entail significant delay, expense, and disruption of service.

As a result, if these third-party service providers experience difficulties, are subject to cybersecurity breaches, or terminate their services, and we are unable to replace them with other service providers, particularly on a timely basis, our operations could be interrupted. If an interruption were to continue for a significant period of time, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected. Even if we are able to replace third-party service providers, it may be at a higher cost to us, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Furthermore, third-party service providers, and banking organizations’ relationships with those providers, are subject to demanding regulatory requirements and attention by bank regulators. These regulatory expectations may change, and potentially become more rigorous in certain ways, due to an interagency effort to replace existing guidance on the risk management of third-party relationships with new guidance. Our regulators may hold us responsible for any deficiencies in our oversight or control of our third-party service providers and in the performance of the parties with which we have these relationships. As a result, if our regulators assess that we have not exercised adequate oversight and control over our third-party service providers or that such providers have not performed adequately, we could be subject to administrative penalties, fines, or other forms of regulatory enforcement action as well as requirements for consumer remediation, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

System failure or cybersecurity breaches of our network security could subject us to increased operating costs as well as litigation, damage to our reputation, and other potential losses.

Failures in, or breaches of, our computer systems and network infrastructure, or those of our third-party vendors or other service providers, including as a result of cyber-attacks, could disrupt our business, result in the disclosure or misuse of confidential or proprietary information, damage our reputation, increase our costs, and cause losses. Our operations are dependent upon our ability to protect our computer equipment against damage from fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, or a similar catastrophic event. Any damage or failure that causes an interruption in our operations could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, our operations are dependent upon our ability to protect our computer systems and network infrastructure, including our internet banking activities, against damage from physical break-ins, cybersecurity breaches, and other disruptive problems caused by the internet or other users. Cybersecurity breaches and other disruptions would 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 damage to our reputation and may discourage current and potential customers from using our internet banking services. Our security measures, including firewalls and penetration testing, may not prevent or detect future potential losses from system failures or cybersecurity breaches.

In the normal course of business, we collect, process, and retain sensitive and confidential information regarding our customers. Although we devote significant resources and management focus to ensuring the integrity of our systems through information security and business continuity programs, our facilities and systems, and those of our third-party service providers, are vulnerable to external or internal security breaches, acts of vandalism, computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming or human errors, or other similar events. We and our third-party service providers have experienced these types of events in the past and expect to continue to experience them in the future. These events could interrupt our business or operations or result in significant legal and financial exposure, supervisory criticism, regulatory enforcement action, damage to our reputation, loss of customers and business, or a loss of confidence in the security of our systems, products, and services. Although the impact to date from these events has not had an adverse effect on us, we cannot be sure this will be the case in the future. Any of these occurrences could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Information security risks for financial institutions like us have increased recently in part because of new technologies, the use of the internet and telecommunications technologies (including mobile devices) to conduct financial and other business transactions, and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, perpetrators of fraud, hackers, terrorists, and others. In addition to cyber-attacks or other security breaches involving the theft of sensitive and confidential information, hackers recently have engaged in attacks against large financial institutions that are designed to disrupt key business services, such as consumer-facing web sites. We are not able to anticipate or implement effective preventive measures against all security breaches of these types, especially because the techniques used change frequently and because attacks can originate from a wide variety of sources. Our early detection and response mechanisms may be thwarted by sophisticated attacks and malware designed to avoid detection.

The federal banking agencies issued a final rule in November 2021 that requires banking organizations to notify their primary federal regulator of significant computer security incidents within 36 hours of determining that such an incident has occurred. The compliance date of this rule is May 1, 2022. Failure to comply with this rule in the event of such an incident could result in sanctions by regulatory agencies, civil money penalties, and/or damage to our reputation, all of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our ability to conduct our business could be disrupted by natural or man-made disasters or the effects of climate change.

All of our offices, a significant portion of the real estate securing loans we make, and many of our borrowers’ business operations in general, are located in California. California has had and will continue to have major earthquakes in areas where a significant portion of the collateral and assets of our borrowers are concentrated. California is also prone to fires, mudslides, floods, and other natural disasters, such as the recent fires that impacted several counties in California, including Orange and Napa. Additionally, acts of terrorism, war, civil unrest, violence, other man-made disasters, or the effects of climate change could also cause disruptions to our business or to the economy as a whole. The occurrence of natural or man-made disasters or the effects of climate change could destroy, or cause a decline in the value of, mortgaged properties or other assets that serve as our collateral and increase the risk of delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures and losses on our loans, damage our banking facilities and offices, negatively impact regional economic conditions, result in a decline in loan demand and loan originations, result in drawdowns of deposits by customers impacted by disasters and negatively impact the implementation of our growth strategy. Natural or man-made disasters or the effects of climate change could also disrupt our business operations more generally. We have implemented a business continuity program that allows us to move critical functions to a backup data center in the event of a catastrophe. Although this program has been tested, we cannot guarantee its effectiveness in any disaster scenarios. Regardless of the effectiveness of our disaster recovery and business continuity plan, the occurrence of any natural or man-made disaster or the effects of climate change could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Climate change also could present financial risks to us as a result of transition risks, such as societal and/or technological responses to climate change, which could include changes in climate policy or in the regulation of financial institutions with respect to risks posed by climate change.

Litigation and regulatory actions, including possible enforcement actions, could subject us to significant fines, penalties, judgments, or other requirements resulting in increased expenses or restrictions on our business activities.

From time to time, in the normal course of business, we have in the past been and may in the future be named as a defendant in various legal actions, arising in connection with our current and/or prior business activities. Legal actions could include claims for substantial compensatory or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages. Further, in the future our regulators may impose consent orders, civil money penalties, matters requiring attention, or similar types of supervisory criticism. We may also, from time to time, be the subject of subpoenas, requests for information, reviews, investigations, and proceedings (both formal and informal) by governmental agencies regarding our current and/or prior business activities. Any such legal or regulatory actions may subject us to substantial compensatory or punitive damages, significant fines, penalties, obligations to change our business practices, or other requirements resulting in increased expenses, diminished income, and damage to our reputation. Our involvement in any such matters, whether tangential or otherwise and even if the matters are ultimately determined in our favor, could also cause significant harm to our reputation and divert management attention from the operation of our business. Further, any settlement, consent order, or adverse judgment in connection with any formal or informal proceeding or investigation by government agencies may result in litigation, investigations, or proceedings as other litigants and government agencies begin independent reviews of the same activities. As a result, the outcome of legal and regulatory actions could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are subject to an extensive body of accounting rules and best practices. Periodic changes to such rules may change the treatment and recognition of critical financial line items.

The nature of our business makes us sensitive to the large body of accounting rules in the United States. From time to time, the governing bodies that oversee changes to accounting rules and reporting requirements may release new guidance for the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. These changes can materially impact how we record and report our financial condition and results of operations. In some instances, we could be required to apply a new or revised standard retroactively, resulting in the restatement of prior period financial statements. Changes which have been approved for future implementation, or which are currently proposed or expected to be proposed or adopted include requirements that we: (i) calculate the allowance for loan losses on the basis of the current expected loan losses over the lifetime of our loans, which is expected to be applicable to us beginning in 2023, and may result in increases in our allowance for loan losses and future provisions for loan losses; and (ii) record the value of and liabilities relating to operating leases on our balance sheet, which became applicable to us beginning in 2022. These changes could adversely affect our capital, regulatory capital ratios, ability to make larger loans, earnings, and performance metrics. Any such changes could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The accuracy of our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures could be affected if the judgments, assumptions, or estimates used in our critical accounting policies are inaccurate.

The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with GAAP requires us to make judgments, assumptions, and estimates that affect the amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Our critical accounting policies, which are included in the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, describe those significant accounting policies and methods used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements that we consider “critical” because they require judgments, assumptions, and estimates that materially affect our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. As a result, if future events or regulatory views concerning such analysis differ significantly from the judgments, assumptions, and estimates in our critical accounting policies, those events or assumptions could have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures, in each case resulting in our possible need to revise or, if in error, restate prior period financial statements, cause damage to our reputation and the price of our common stock and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

None.

Our corporate headquarters is located at 3100 Zinfandel Drive, Suite 100, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670. As of December 31, 2021, in addition to our corporate headquarters, which includes our Rancho Cordova branch, we operated six other branch offices in Roseville, Natomas, Redding, Elk Grove, Chico, and Yuba City and two commercial loan production offices in Santa Rosa and Sacramento. We lease our corporate headquarters and all of our other offices. The lease on our corporate headquarters expires in 2026, and the leases on our branch offices and commercial loan production offices expire in 2022 through 2032. We believe that these facilities and additional or alternative space available to us are adequate to meet our needs for the foreseeable future.

From time to time, we are a party to various litigation matters incidental to the conduct of our business. We do not believe that any currently pending legal proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

Not applicable.

PART II

Market Information, Holders of Common Stock, and Dividends

The Company’s common stock, no par value per share, is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “FSBC.” On December 31, 2021, there were 240 holders of record of the Company’s common stock.

The Company has paid cash dividends on its common stock in every quarter since January 2002, with the exception of the third and fourth quarters of 2009 and all quarters of 2010. Historically, we had been treated as an S Corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as such, we had paid distributions to our existing shareholders to assist them in paying the U.S. federal income taxes on our taxable income that was “passed through” to them, as well as additional amounts for returns on capital. Following the completion of our IPO, our dividend policy and practice has changed, as we are now taxed as a C Corporation and, therefore, no longer pay distributions to provide our shareholders with funds to pay U.S. federal income tax on their pro rata portion of our taxable income.

It is currently the intention of the board of directors of the Company to continue payment of cash dividends on a quarterly basis. There is no assurance, however, that any dividends will be paid since they are dependent on a number of factors, including general and economic conditions, industry standards, our financial condition and operating results, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, our ability to service debt obligations senior to our common stock, banking regulations, contractual, legal, tax, and regulatory restrictions, and limitations on the payment of dividends by us to our shareholders or by the Bank to us, and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. As of December 31, 2021, there was $15.5 million available for payment of dividends by the Bank to the Company, under applicable laws and regulations. For a discussion of dividend restrictions on our common stock, or of restrictions on dividends from the Company’s subsidiaries to the Company, see the sections entitled “Part I, Item 1. Business—Supervision and Regulation—Supervision and Regulation of the Company—Payment of Dividends and Stock Repurchases” and “Part I, Item 1. Business—Supervision and Regulation—Supervision and Regulation of the Bank—Payment of Dividends.”

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

See “Part III, Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters.”

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities 

Not applicable.

Use of Proceeds

On May 7, 2021, we completed our IPO of 6,054,750 shares of our common stock at an IPO price of $20.00 per share, including 789,750 shares pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock. We raised approximately $111.2 million in net proceeds after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $8.5 million and certain estimated offering expenses payable by us of approximately of $1.3 million. The net proceeds less $2.1 million in other related expenses, including audit fees, legal fees, listing fees, and other expenses, totaled $109.1 million. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. acted as bookrunner for the IPO, and Stephens Inc. and D.A. Davidson acted as co-managers. None of the expenses associated with the IPO were paid to directors, officers, affiliates, persons owning 10% or more of any class of equity securities, or their associates.

All of the shares issued and sold in our IPO were registered under the Securities Act pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-255143) (the “Registration Statement”), which was declared effective by the SEC on May 4, 2021. We have used the proceeds from our IPO as disclosed in our final prospectus dated as of May 4, 2021 and filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) on May 6, 2021, including a cash distribution in the amount of $27.0 million to our shareholders of record as of May 3, 2021, paid on May 21, 2021, and there has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds. No proceeds currently remain from the IPO.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 

None.

The following discussion and analysis presents management’s perspective on our financial condition and results of operations on a consolidated basis. However, because we conduct all of our material business operations through the Bank, the discussion and analysis relate to activities primarily conducted by the Bank. This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes presented elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Average balances, including balances used in calculating certain financial ratios, are generally comprised of average daily balances.

To the extent that this discussion describes prior performance, the descriptions relate only to the periods listed, which may not be indicative of our future financial outcomes. In addition to containing historical information, this discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause results to differ materially from management’s expectations. Factors that could cause such differences are discussed in the sections entitled “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.” We assume no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by law.

Company Overview

Headquartered in the greater Sacramento metropolitan area of California, Five Star Bancorp is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Five Star Bank, a California state-chartered non-member bank. We provide a broad range of banking products and services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals primarily in Northern California through seven branch offices and two loan production offices. Our mission is to strive to become the top business bank in all markets we serve through exceptional service, deep connectivity, and customer empathy. We are dedicated to serving real estate, agricultural, faith-based, and small to medium-sized enterprises. We aim to consistently deliver value that meets or exceeds the expectations of our shareholders, customers, employees, business partners, and community. We refer to our mission as “purpose-driven and integrity-centered banking.” At December 31, 2021, we had total assets of $2.6 billion, total loans, net of allowance for loan losses, of $1.9 billion, and total deposits of $2.3 billion.

Key Factors Affecting our Business

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of actions to mitigate the spread of the virus affected our business, financial condition, and results of operations in the year ended December 31, 2021. During the year, we maintained our focus on relationship-based banking and made the health and safety of our customers and employees our priority. To help protect our customers and their finances during the pandemic, while all of our branches were open, we took into account guidelines from public health officials, and encouraged our customers to conduct business with us via phone, online banking, and mobile apps.

Our financial results for the year ended December 31, 2021 were also impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 27, 2020, the CARES Act was enacted, providing wide ranging economic relief for individuals and businesses impacted by COVID-19, including the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), a loan program administered by the SBA. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Consolidated Appropriations Act”) enacted on December 27, 2020, extended some of these relief provisions in certain respects, and the PPP Extension Act of 2021, enacted on March 30, 2021, extended the deadline to apply for a PPP loan through May 31, 2021. Under the PPP if a loan is fully forgiven, the SBA will repay the lending bank in full. If a loan is partially forgiven or not forgiven at all, a lender must look to the borrower for repayment of unforgiven principal and interest. If the borrower defaults, in part or in full, the loan is guaranteed by the SBA.

Our responsiveness and certainty of execution resulted in our ability to quickly provide 1,602 PPP loans to 1,239 customers nationwide, approximately 39% of which were new customers as of December 31, 2021. Because of our relationship-based banking approach, the influx of new customers contributed to a corresponding increase in deposits in the year ended December 31, 2020, which continued into the year ended December 31, 2021. Our balance of PPP loans at December 31, 2021 was $22.1 million, or 1.14% of total loans.

Additionally, the uncertainty and economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affected our overall existing loan portfolio. In 2020, our methodology for evaluating the allowance for loan losses was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in higher reserve levels primarily related to our commercial secured portfolio. In 2021, we continued to monitor higher risk concentrations identified in the loan portfolio for ongoing effects from COVID-19 and the impact on the economy. During 2021, reserve amounts were positively impacted by improved economic conditions and reductions to reserves required for classified and watch loans, which was offset by additional provisions required for loan growth during the year. We also recognized COVID-19 deferments and related modifications on our loan portfolio more generally. The CARES Act, as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, specified that COVID-19 related loan modifications executed between March 1, 2020 and the earlier of: (i) 60 days after the date of termination of the national emergency declared by the President; and (ii) January 1, 2022, on loans that were current as of December 31, 2019 are not TDRs. Additionally, under guidance from the federal banking agencies, other short-term modifications made on a good faith basis in response to COVID-19 to borrowers that were current prior to any relief are not troubled debt restructurings (“TDRs”) under ASC Subtopic 310-40, “Troubled Debt Restructuring by Creditors.” These modifications include short-term (e.g., up to six months) modifications such as payment deferrals, fee waivers, extensions of repayment terms, or delays in payment that are insignificant. We elected to apply these temporary accounting provisions to loans under payment relief beginning in March 2020. As of December 31, 2021, six loans totaling $12.2 million, or 0.63% of the loan portfolio, were in a COVID-19 deferment period and three loans totaling $0.1 million had been in a COVID-19 deferment in the third quarter of 2021 but were not in such deferment as of December 31, 2021. None of the loans that received COVID-19 deferments in the fourth quarter of 2021 had the principal portion deferred to the respective maturity of the loan. We accrue and recognize interest income on loans under payment relief based on the original contractual interest rates. When payments resume at the end of the relief period, the payments will generally be applied to accrued interest due until accrued interest is fully paid.

Interest Rates

Net interest income is the most significant contributor to our net income and is the difference between the interest and fees earned on interest-earning assets and the interest expense incurred in connection with interest-bearing liabilities. Net interest income is primarily a function of the average balances and yields of these interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities. These factors are influenced by internal considerations such as product mix and risk appetite as well as external influences such as economic conditions, competition for loans and deposits and market interest rates.

The cost of our deposits and short-term borrowings is primarily based on short-term interest rates, which are largely driven by the Federal Reserve’s actions and market competition. The yields generated by our loans and securities are typically affected by short-term and long-term interest rates, which are driven by market competition and market rates often impacted by the Federal Reserve’s actions. The level of net interest income is influenced by movements in such interest rates and the pace at which such movements occur.

We anticipate that interest rates may rise over the next few years. Based on our asset sensitivity, a steepened yield curve could have a beneficial impact on our net interest income. Additionally, a continued flat yield curve would be expected to maintain our net interest income.

Factors Affecting Comparability of Financial Results

S Corporation Status

Beginning at our inception, we elected to be taxed for U.S. federal income tax purposes as an S Corporation. In conjunction with our IPO, we filed consents from the requisite amount of our shareholders to revoke our S Corporation election with the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”), resulting in the commencement of our taxation as a C Corporation for U.S. federal and California state income tax purposes in the second quarter of fiscal year 2021. Prior to such revocation, our earnings were not subject to, and we did not pay, U.S. federal income tax, and we were not required to make any provision or recognize any liability for U.S. federal income tax in our consolidated financial statements. While we were not subject to, and did not pay, U.S. federal income tax, we were subject to, and paid, California S Corporation income tax at a current rate of 3.50%. Upon the termination of our status as an S Corporation, we commenced paying U.S. federal income tax and a higher California state income tax on our taxable earnings for each year (including the short year beginning on the date our status as an S Corporation terminated), and our consolidated financial statements reflect a provision for U.S. federal income tax and a higher California state income tax from that date forward. As a result of this change, the net income and earnings per share (“EPS”) data presented in our historical 2020 financial statements and the other related financial information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which (unless otherwise specified) do not include any provision for U.S. federal income tax or the higher California state income tax rate, will not be comparable with our net income and EPS in periods after we commenced being taxed as a C Corporation. As a C Corporation, our net income is calculated by including a provision for U.S. federal income tax and a higher California state income tax rate at a combined statutory rate of 29.56%.

The termination of our status as an S Corporation may also affect our financial condition and cash flows. Historically, we made quarterly cash distributions to our shareholders in amounts estimated by us to be sufficient for them to pay estimated individual U.S. federal and California state income tax liabilities resulting from our taxable income that was “passed through” to them. However, these distributions were not consistent, as sometimes the distributions were less than or in excess of the shareholders’ estimated U.S. federal and California state income tax liabilities resulting from their ownership of our stock. In addition, these estimates were based on individual income tax rates, which may differ from the rates imposed on the income of C Corporations. As a C Corporation, no income is “passed through” to any shareholders, but, as noted above, we commenced paying U.S. federal income tax and a higher California state income tax. However, in the event of an adjustment to our reported taxable income for periods prior to the termination of our S Corporation status, it is possible that our pre-IPO shareholders would be liable for additional income taxes for those prior periods. Pursuant to the Tax Sharing Agreement we entered into with such shareholders, upon our filing any tax return (amended or otherwise), in the event of any restatement of our taxable income or pursuant to a determination by, or a settlement with, a taxing authority, for any period during which we were an S Corporation, depending on the nature of the adjustment, we may be required to make a payment to such shareholders, who accepted distribution of the estimated balance of our federal accumulated adjustments account of $27.0 million under the Tax Sharing Agreement, in an amount equal to such shareholders’ incremental tax liability (including interest and penalties). In addition, the Tax Sharing Agreement provides that we will indemnify such shareholders with respect to unpaid income tax liabilities (including interest and penalties) to the extent that such unpaid income tax liabilities are attributable to an adjustment to our taxable income for any period after our S Corporation status terminated. The amounts that we have historically distributed to our shareholders may not be indicative of the amount of U.S. federal and California state income tax that we will be required to pay going forward. Depending on our effective tax rate and our future dividend rate, our future cash flows and financial condition could be positively or adversely affected compared to our historical cash flows and financial condition.

Furthermore, deferred tax assets and liabilities were recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of our existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of the change in tax rates resulting from becoming a C Corporation was recognized in net income in the year ended December 31, 2021.

Refer to the highlights of the financial results table within the section entitled “—Executive Summary” below for the impact of being taxed as a C Corporation on our net income, EPS, and various other financial measures for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Public Company Costs

Following the completion of our IPO, we began to, and will continue to, incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. These costs include additional personnel, legal, consulting, regulatory, insurance, accounting, investor relations, and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules adopted by the SEC, the FDIC, and national securities exchanges, require public companies to implement specified corporate governance practices that were inapplicable to us as a private company. These additional rules and regulations have increased, and are expected to continue to increase, our legal, regulatory, and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly.

Critical Accounting Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles that are generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of our assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenses. We have identified certain policies and estimates as critical to our business operations and the understanding of our past or present consolidated financial condition and results of operations. These policies and estimates are considered critical because they have a material impact, or they have the potential to have a material impact, on our consolidated financial statements and because they require us to make significant judgments, assumptions, or estimates. We believe that the judgments, estimates, and assumptions used in the preparation of our financial statements are reasonable and appropriate, based on the information available at the time they were made. However, actual results may differ from those estimates, and these differences may be material.

Pursuant to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), as an emerging growth company, we can elect to opt out of the extended transition period for adopting any new or revised accounting standards. We have elected not to opt out of the extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public and private companies, we may adopt the standard on the application date for private companies.

We have elected to take advantage of the scaled disclosures and other relief under the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of some or all of the reduced regulatory and reporting requirements that will be available to us under the JOBS Act, so long as we qualify as an emerging growth company.

Provision and Allowance for Loan Losses

The allowance for loan losses represents the estimated probable incurred loan losses in our loan portfolio. The allowance for loan losses is established through a provision for loan losses charged to operations. Loans are charged against the allowance for loan losses when management believes that the collectability of the principal is unlikely. Subsequent recoveries of previously charged-off amounts, if any, are credited to the allowance for loan losses.

The allowance for loan losses is evaluated on a regular basis by management in consideration of optimistic, moderate, and pessimistic current conditions, and is based on management’s periodic review of the collectability of the loans in light of historical experience, the nature and volume of the loan portfolio, adverse situations that may affect the borrower’s ability to repay, estimated value of any underlying collateral, prevailing economic conditions specifically impacting each loan type by purpose and by geography, and concentrations within the loan portfolio. This evaluation is inherently subjective, as it requires estimates that are susceptible to significant revision as more information becomes available.

A significant amount of the allowance for loan losses is measured on a collective (pool) basis by loan type when similar risk characteristics exist. For loans evaluated collectively, the allowance for loan losses is determined using historical losses adjusted for qualitative and environmental factors to reflect current conditions. The most significant components of qualitative and environmental factors used to estimate the allowance for loan losses are adjustments relating to prevailing economic conditions and volume of the loan portfolio. The prevailing economic conditions factor is estimated based on a range of potential economic conditions and is applied at both the portfolio and individual concentration level based on various factors. This estimate is subject to significant judgment and could potentially add $7.5 million based on existing loan balances, if not more, to the allowance for loan losses in pessimistic economic conditions. The volume of the loan portfolio is estimated based on growth rates in the prior year combined with an assessment of underwriting and credit standards. This estimate is subject to significant judgment and could potentially add $2.9 million based on existing loan balances, if not more, to the allowance for loan losses based on growth due to significant changes to underwriting standards. The concentrations estimate of qualitative and environmental factors is determined by the overall market outlook and is focused on significant concentrations within the loan portfolio. This estimate is subject to significant judgment and could potentially add $5.3 million based on existing loan balances, if not more, to the allowance for loan losses based on a pessimistic market outlook for the specifically identified concentration.

Income Taxes 

Income tax expense is the total of the current year income tax due or refundable and the change in deferred tax assets and liabilities. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are the expected future tax amounts for the temporary differences between carrying amounts and tax bases of assets and liabilities, computed using tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. A valuation allowance, if needed, reduces deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. These estimates are determined using information available in the current year and are subject to change. As of December 31, 2021, the estimated net deferred tax asset was approximately $4.9 million and was estimated using an estimated blended statutory tax rate of 29.56%. Actual enacted tax rates upon recognition of the tax asset could vary significantly from our initial estimate.

Uncertain tax positions are recognized as a benefit only if it is “more likely than not” that the tax position would be sustained in a tax examination, with a tax examination being presumed to occur. The amount recognized is the largest amount of tax benefit that has a likelihood greater than 50% of being realized on examination. For tax positions not meeting the “more likely than not” test, no tax benefit is recorded. As of December 31, 2021, the Company did not recognize any uncertain tax positions.

Executive Summary

Our strategic focus is to continue to grow organically by leveraging our existing core competencies and positioning our business for success in the evolving banking landscape. In leveraging our core competencies, we intend to:

Highlights of the financial results are presented in the following tables:

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion of our results of operations compares the year ended December 31, 2021 to the year ended December 31, 2020.

Net Interest Income

Net interest income is the most significant contributor to our net income. Net interest income represents interest income from interest-earning assets, such as loans and investments, less interest expense on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits, FHLB advances, subordinated notes, and other borrowings, which are used to fund those assets. In evaluating our net interest income, we measure and monitor yields on our interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities as well as trends in our net interest margin. Net interest margin is a ratio calculated as net interest income divided by total interest-earning assets for the same period. We manage our interest-earning assets and funding sources in order to maximize this margin while limiting credit risk and interest rate sensitivity to our established risk appetite levels. Changes in market interest rates and competition in our market typically have the largest impact on periodic changes in our net interest margin.

Our net interest margin of 3.64% for the year ended December 31, 2021 decreased from 3.68% for the year ended December 31, 2020. This decrease was primarily due to a 37 basis point decrease in yields on interest-earning assets, which decreased from 4.20% for the year ended December 31, 2020 to 3.83% for the year ended December 31, 2021, partially offset by a 46 basis point decrease in yields on interest-bearing liabilities, which decreased from 0.78% for the year ended December 31, 2020 to 0.32% for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Average balance sheet, interest, and yield/rate analysis. The following table presents average balance sheet information, interest income, interest expense and the corresponding average yield earned or rates paid for each period reported. The average balances are daily averages and include both performing and nonperforming loans.

Analysis of changes in interest income and expenses. Increases and decreases in interest income and interest expense result from changes in average balances (volume) of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, as well as changes in average interest rates. The following table shows the effect that these factors had on the interest earned from our interest-earning assets and interest incurred on our interest-bearing liabilities. The effect of changes in volume is determined by multiplying the change in volume by the current period’s average rate. The effect of rate changes is calculated by multiplying the change in average rate by the previous period’s volume. Changes not solely attributable to volume or rates have been allocated in proportion to the respective volume and rate components.

Net interest income increased while net interest margin decreased for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase in net interest income was driven primarily by a $7.5 million increase in interest income from loans to $78.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as the average daily balance of loans increased by $197.9 million, or 13.75%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The four basis point decrease in net interest margin to 3.64% for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, was primarily attributable to a 14 basis point decrease in average loan yields to 4.82% for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to 4.96% for the year ended December 31, 2020 and a 39 basis point decrease in average loan yields, excluding PPP loans, to 4.70% for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to 5.09% for the year ended December 31, 2020. Average total loans and average loan yield, excluding PPP loans, respectively, are considered non-GAAP financial measures. See the section entitled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of our non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. Decreases in market interest rates and increases in market competition caused a majority of the Company’s current fixed rate loans funded in 2021 to recognize yields lower than those recognized in the year ended December 31, 2020, contributing to the aforementioned decrease in average loan yields. Additionally, the rates associated with the index utilized for a significant portion of the Company’s variable rate loans, the United States 5 Year Treasury index, were higher during the year ended December 31, 2021 than during the prior year, but a majority of these loans were not scheduled to reprice during the year ended December 31, 2021, contributing to the downward trend in average loan yields. Partially offsetting the declining average loan yields was $6.2 million of fee income resulting from PPP loans being forgiven and repaid by the SBA that was recognized in the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to $4.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2020. As a result, yields on PPP loans increased from 3.95% for the year ended December 31, 2020 to 6.36% for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Interest expense decreased for the year ended December 31, 2021, when compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The decline in interest expense was primarily attributed to reductions in the rates offered on deposit products. In addition, the growth of non-interest-bearing deposits continues to benefit the cost of funds as compared to historical periods. Specifically, the ratio of average total non-interest-bearing deposits to average total deposits was 40.69% in the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to 32.18% in the year ended December 31, 2020. As a result, the cost of interest-bearing liabilities decreased by 46 basis points at December 31, 2021 to 0.32%, from 0.78% at December 31, 2020, and the cost of funds decreased to 0.19% at December 31, 2021, as compared to 0.54% at December 31, 2020.

Provision for Loan Losses

The provision for loan losses is based on management’s assessment of the adequacy of our allowance for loan losses. Factors impacting the provision include inherent risk characteristics in our loan portfolio, the level of nonperforming loans and net charge-offs, both current and historic, local economic and credit conditions, the direction of the change in collateral values, and the funding probability on unfunded lending commitments. The provision for loan losses is charged against earnings in order to maintain our allowance for loan losses, which reflects management’s best estimate of probable losses inherent in our loan portfolio at the balance sheet date.

We recorded a $1.7 million provision for loan losses in the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to a $9.0 million provision for loan losses for the year ended December 31, 2020. The decline of $7.3 million for the provision year-over-year was primarily due to improvements in general economic conditions, albeit at a pace slower than expected due to unforeseen disruptions in the supply chain and increasing energy prices. The level of government assistance provided through the PPP and other programs during 2021, as well as the less significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to 2020, within California and other states where our collateral is located, resulted in favorable economic conditions for our borrowers.

Non-interest Income

Non-interest income is a secondary contributor to our net income. Non-interest income consists primarily of gain on sale of loans, net gain on sale of securities, FHLB dividends, and other fee income, including loan-related fees and fees related to customer deposits.

The following table details the components of non-interest income for the periods indicated.

Net gain on sale of securities. The decrease in net gain on sale of securities was primarily due to a decrease in the gain recognized on the sale of approximately $47.1 million of municipal securities, U.S. government agencies, and U.S. government treasuries during the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the gain recognized on the sale of approximately $46.4 million of municipal securities, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds during the year ended December 31, 2020. Of the securities sold during the year ended December 31, 2020, approximately $18.7 million were sold prior to the shutdowns enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, representing approximately $0.5 million of the gain, and the remaining balance of the securities were sold throughout the remainder of the year in response to market fluctuations.

Loan-related fees. The decrease in loan-related fees resulted primarily from a $1.4 million decrease in swap referral fees recognized in the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, combined with $0.4 million of loan-related fees earned during the year ended December 31, 2020 for processing micro-loans on behalf of a local government agency to businesses in the local area in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which did not recur in the year ended December 31, 2021.

Non-interest Expense

Non-interest expense includes salaries and employee benefits, occupancy and equipment, data processing and software, FDIC insurance, professional services, advertising and promotional, loan-related expenses, and other operating expenses. In evaluating our level of non-interest expense, we closely monitor our efficiency ratio. The efficiency ratio is calculated as non-interest expense divided by the sum of net interest income and non-interest income. We constantly seek to identify ways to streamline our business and operate more efficiently, which has enabled us to reduce our non-interest expense in both absolute terms and as a percentage of our revenue while continuing to achieve growth in total loans and assets.

Over the past several years, we have invested significant resources in personnel and infrastructure. Additionally, to support corporate organizational matters leading up to the IPO, we experienced increased audit, consulting, and legal costs, particularly during the year ended December 31, 2021. As a result, non-interest expense is increasing in the periods presented below; however, we do not anticipate incurring significant costs of this type in future periods, and we expect our efficiency ratio will improve going forward due, in part, to our past investment in infrastructure.

The following table details the components of non-interest expense for the periods indicated.

Salaries and employee benefits. The increase in salaries and employee benefits year-over-year was primarily related to an increase of employees and increased commissions related to our loan and deposit growth for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, as well as an increase in restricted stock compensation expense recognized for employee restricted share grants of $0.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. These increases were partially offset by a $1.7 million increase in deferred loan origination costs for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, from increased loan originations.

Data processing and software. Data processing and software increased, primarily as a result of: (i) increased usage of our digital banking platform; (ii) higher transaction volumes related to the increased number of loan and deposit accounts; (iii) increased number of licenses for new users on our loan origination and documentation system; and (iv) increased costs related to improved collateral tracking, electronic statements, and mobile payment solutions.

Professional services. Professional services increased, primarily as a result of increased audit, consulting, and legal costs incurred to support corporate organizational matters leading up to the IPO during the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020.

Other operating expenses. Other operating expenses are comprised of travel, insurance, postage and supplies, director fees, other employee expenses, armored car expenses, courier services, and other miscellaneous administrative expenses. The increase in other operating expenses year-over-year was primarily related to stock compensation expense recognized for director restricted share grants of $0.8 million, which were related to the IPO, during the year ended December 31, 2021. These expenses did not occur in the year ended December 31, 2020. Additionally, other operating expenses increased as a result of increased director fees and expenses combined with increases in expenses related to travel, insurance, dues and subscriptions, data, and telephone, which increased as a result of an increase in volume of customers and employees period-over-period.

Provision for Income Taxes

The Company terminated its status as a Subchapter S corporation as of May 5, 2021, in connection with its IPO, and became a C Corporation. Prior to that date, as an S Corporation, the Company had no U.S. federal income tax expense. The provision recorded for the year ended December 31, 2021 yielded an effective tax rate of 9.98%. Refer to the section entitled “Pro Forma C Corporation Income Tax Expense” below for a discussion on what the Company’s income tax expense and net income potentially could have been had the Company been taxed as a C Corporation for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the year ended December 31, 2020.

In conjunction with the termination of the Subchapter S corporation status as of May 5, 2021, the C Corporation deferred tax assets and liabilities were estimated for future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of the Company’s existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. The deferred tax assets and liabilities were measured using tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of the change in tax rates resulting from becoming a C Corporation was recognized by increasing the net deferred tax asset to $5.4 million through a reduction to the provision for income taxes of $4.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. Provision for income taxes increased by $3.4 million, or 254.71%, to $4.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. This increase is due to the change in the tax rate as a result of the Company’s conversion from an S Corporation to a C Corporation, which was partially offset by the $4.6 million reduction to the provision for income taxes for the adjustment of the net deferred tax assets due to the termination of the Company’s S Corporation status, recorded during the year ended December 31, 2021.

Pro Forma C Corporation Income Tax Expense

Because of the Company’s status as a Subchapter S Corporation prior to May 5, 2021, no U.S. federal income tax expense was recorded for a portion of the year ended December 31, 2021 and the entirety of the year ended December 31, 2020. Had the Company been taxed as a C Corporation and paid U.S. federal income tax for such periods, the combined statutory income tax rate would have been 29.56% in each period. These pro forma statutory rates reflect a U.S. federal income tax rate of 21.00% and a California income tax rate of 8.56%, after adjustment for the federal tax benefit, on corporate taxable income. Had the Company been subject to U.S. federal income tax for each of these periods, on a statutory income tax rate pro forma basis, the provision for combined federal and state income tax would have been $11.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. As a result of the foregoing factors, the Company’s pro forma net income (after U.S. federal and California state income tax) would have been $26.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The pro forma statutory rates for the year ended December 31, 2021 are calculated using an effective tax rate of 19.80%, which is the actual effective tax rate, excluding the effects of the discrete deferred tax adjustment of $4.6 million, discussed above. As a result, the Company’s pro forma provision for income taxes and pro forma net income for the year ended December 31, 2021 are $9.3 million and $37.8 million, respectively.

FINANCIAL CONDITION SUMMARY

The following discussion compares our financial condition as of December 31, 2021 to our financial condition as of December 31, 2020. The following table summarizes selected components of our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.

Total Assets

At December 31, 2021, total assets were $2.6 billion, an increase of $603.0 million from $2.0 billion at December 31, 2020, primarily due to increases in cash and cash equivalents, total investments, and total loans held for investment, net of deferred loan fees, as discussed below.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Total cash and cash equivalents were $425.3 million at December 31, 2021, an increase of $134.8 million, as compared to $290.5 million at December 31, 2020. The increase in cash and cash equivalents since December 31, 2020 was primarily a result of net income recognized of $42.4 million, proceeds from the sale of securities of $47.1 million, cash inflows of $18.7 million related to maturities, prepayments, and calls of available-for-sale securities, an increase in deposits of $501.9 million, and net proceeds of $111.2 million from the issuance of 6,054,750 shares of common stock in our IPO. These increases were partially offset by a decrease of $99.7 million related to purchases of securities, an increase in total loans held for investment, net of deferred loan fees, of $431.3 million, and cash dividends paid of $51.9 million during the same period.

Investment Portfolio

Our investment portfolio is primarily comprised of U.S. government agencies, mortgage-backed securities, and obligations of states and political subdivisions, which are high-quality liquid investments. We manage our investment portfolio according to written investment policies approved by our board of directors. Our investment strategy aims to maximize earnings while maintaining liquidity in securities with minimal credit risk and interest rate risk that is reflective of the yields obtained on those securities. Most of our securities are classified as available-for-sale, although we have one long-term, fixed rate municipal security classified as held-to-maturity.

Our total securities held for investment and available-for-sale amounted to $153.8 million at December 31, 2021 and $122.9 million at December 31, 2020, an increase of $30.8 million year-over-year. The increase was primarily due to purchases of $99.7 million of mortgage-backed securities, obligations of states and political subdivisions, and U.S. government treasuries to deploy excess cash into interest-earning assets in a more favorable interest rate environment and was partially offset by the sale of $47.1 million of low-yielding securities, and paydowns, calls, and maturities of $18.7 million.

The following table presents the carrying value of our investment portfolio as of the dates indicated:

The following table presents the carrying value of our securities by their stated maturities, as well as the weighted average yields for each maturity range, at December 31, 2021:

The following table presents the carrying value of our securities by their stated maturities, as well as the weighted average yields for each maturity range, at December 31, 2020: