UMB FINANCIAL CORP - Annual Report: 2020 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended: December 31, 2020

OR

For the transition period from         to         

Commission file number: 001-38481

UMB FINANCIAL CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code): (816) 860-7000

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    ☐  No

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  ☒  Yes    ☐  No

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company”, and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issues its audit report. ☒

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

As of June 30, 2020, the aggregate market value of common stock outstanding held by nonaffiliates of the registrant was approximately $2,226,284,007 based on the closing price of the registrant’s common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on that date.

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant's classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Company's Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A (the “Proxy Statement”) to be delivered to shareholders in connection with the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on April 27, 2021, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

INDEX

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

General

UMB Financial Corporation (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, unless the context requires otherwise, the Company) is a financial holding company that is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The Company provides banking services and asset servicing to its customers in the United States and around the globe.

The Company was organized as a corporation under Missouri law in 1967 and is registered as a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the BHCA) and a financial holding company under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, as amended (the GLBA). The Company currently owns all of the outstanding stock of one national bank and several nonbank subsidiaries.

The Company’s national bank, UMB Bank, National Association (the Bank), has its principal office in Missouri and also has branches in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Bank offers a full complement of banking products and other services to commercial, retail, government, and correspondent-bank customers, including a wide range of asset-management, trust, bankcard, and cash-management services.

The Company also owns UMB Fund Services, Inc. (UMBFS), which is a significant nonbank subsidiary that has offices in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and Ogden, Utah. UMBFS provides fund accounting, transfer agency, and other services to mutual fund and alternative-investment groups.

COVID-19

During the first quarter of 2020, the global economy began experiencing a downturn related to the impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic (the COVID-19 pandemic, or the pandemic).  Such impacts have included significant volatility in the global stock and fixed income markets, a 150-basis-point reduction in the target federal funds rate, the enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) administered by the Small Business Administration, and a variety of rulings from the Company’s banking regulators.

The Company continues to actively monitor developments related to COVID-19 and its impact to its business, customers, employees, counterparties, vendors, and service providers. The COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home and similar mandates have necessitated certain actions related to the way the Company operates its business, including transitioning most of its workforce off-site or to work-from-home to help mitigate health risks. The Company is also carefully monitoring the activities of its vendors and other third-party service providers to mitigate the risks associated with any potential service disruptions. While the Company has not experienced material adverse disruptions to its internal operations due to the pandemic, it continues to review evolving risks and developments.  

See further details surrounding the Company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic under “Human Capital” below and within Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, pages 23 through 50.

Business Segments

The Company’s products and services are grouped into three segments: Commercial Banking, Institutional Banking, and Personal Banking.

These segments and their financial results are described in detail in (i) the section of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations entitled Business Segments, which can be found in Part II, Item 7, pages 37 through 39, of this report and (ii) Note 12, “Business Segment Reporting,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, which can be found in Part II, Item 8, pages 105 through 106 of this report.

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Competition

The Company faces intense competition in each of its business segments and in all of the markets and geographic regions that the Company serves. Competition comes from both traditional and non-traditional financial-services providers, including banks, savings associations, finance companies, investment advisors, asset managers, mutual funds, private-equity firms, hedge funds, brokerage firms, mortgage-banking companies, credit-card companies, insurance companies, trust companies, securities processing companies, and credit unions.  Increasingly, financial-technology (fintech) companies are partnering with financial-services providers to compete with the Company for lending, payments, and other business. Many of the Company’s competitors are not subject to the same kind or degree of supervision and regulation as the Company.

Competition is based on a number of factors.  Banking customers are generally influenced by convenience, interest rates and pricing, personal experience, quality and availability of products and other services, lending limits, transaction execution, and reputation. Investment advisory services compete primarily on returns, expenses, third-party ratings, and the reputation and performance of managers.  Asset servicing competes primarily on price, quality of services, and reputation.  The Company and its competitors are all impacted to varying degrees by the overall economy and health of the financial markets. 

The Company’s ability to successfully compete in its chosen markets and regions also depends on its ability to attract, retain, and motivate talented employees, to invest in technology and infrastructure, and to innovate, all while effectively managing its expenses.  The Company expects that competition will likely intensify in the future.

Human Capital

UMB is dedicated to creating the Unparalleled Customer Experience, and its associates are critical to achieving this mission. As part of our efforts to recruit and retain top talent, the Company strives to offer competitive compensation and benefits programs, while fostering a culture rooted in inclusion of a diverse mix of associates who are empowered to be part of something more. We believe our associates, customers, and communities mutually benefit by our focus on providing opportunities for our associates to make an impact at work and in our communities.  On a full-time equivalent basis at December 31, 2020, the Company and its subsidiaries employed 3,591 associates across the country.

Compensation and Benefits Program. The Company’s compensation program is designed to allow it to attract, reward, and retain talented individuals who contribute significant value to the organization.  UMB’s compensation programs reward performance, reserving the highest rewards for the highest performers.  The Company’s incentive plans are intended to promote the interests of UMB and its shareholders by providing associates with incentives and rewards to encourage them to continue in service of the Company.  The Company provides employees with compensation packages that include base salary, annual short-term incentive bonuses, and long-term equity awards tied to management, growth, and protection of the business of the Company. In addition to cash and equity compensation, UMB offers a robust benefits program that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, health savings accounts and a variety of insurance options, including pet, life and long-term care.  UMB also offers associates benefits including paid time off, paid volunteer time off, paid parental leave, adoption assistance, a 401(k) plan, as well as profit sharing and an employee stock ownership plan. Additionally, the Company strives to engage and encourage associates to act and take personal responsibility for improving the health and well-being for themselves and their families.  To assist associates with their goals, UMB offers wellness incentives and wellness coaches for strategic wellness support strategies.  

Diversity and Inclusion. The Company believes that an equitable and inclusive environment with diverse teams produces more creative solutions, results in better products and services, and is crucial to our efforts to attract and retain key talent. UMB’s talent acquisition team focuses on building recruitment marketing strategies that are designed to identify and attract diverse associates. In 2019, the Company launched a diverse panel approach specifically targeting senior-level roles where diversity is underrepresented and encourages hiring managers to engage a diverse panel of candidates before making hiring decisions. UMB business resource groups (BRGs) also play a vital role in deepening the recruitment pipeline of diverse talent and refer candidates to UMB on a regular basis.  BRGs are structured to engage associates who share common interests, including associates from traditionally underrepresented groups.  Nearly 20% of UMB associates participate in one or more BRGs.

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Community Involvement. For more than a century, UMB has maintained a commitment to the prosperity of each community the Company serves.  In addition to providing financial products built for the needs of our customers, UMB uses associate volunteerism and corporate philanthropy to build strong community partnerships.  The Company encourages associates to give back to their local communities through various programs and initiatives, including paid volunteer time off and matching charitable gift programs.

COVID-19. The Company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is rooted in supporting its associates while focusing on the safety and security of associates, customers, and vendors.  Beginning mid-March 2020, more than 85% of associates shifted to a remote work environment.  The remainder of associates were in roles that required them to be on-site.  For on-site associates, the Company provided five additional days of paid time off, company-provided lunches and supplemental pay through the second quarter of 2020.  The Company instituted social distancing signage and reconfigured spaces to limit the risk of exposure within its locations.  This allowed for additional associates to return on-site if they chose to, which increased on-site associates to approximately 35% as of December 31, 2020. 

For more information on our diversity and inclusion and community involvement initiatives, please see our Corporate Citizenship Report available at www.umb.com/corporatecitizenship.

Government Monetary and Fiscal Policies

In addition to the impact of general economic conditions, the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition, capital, liquidity, and prospects are significantly affected by government monetary and fiscal policies that are announced or implemented in the United States and abroad.

A sizeable influence is exerted, in particular, by the policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the FRB), which influences monetary and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. Among the FRB’s policy tools are (1) open market operations (that is, purchases or sales of securities in the open market to adjust the supply of reserve balances in order to achieve targeted federal funds rates or to put pressure on longer-term interest rates in order to achieve more desirable levels of economic activity and job creation), (2) the discount rate charged on loans by the Federal Reserve Banks, (3) the level of reserves required to be held by depository institutions against specified deposit liabilities, (4) the interest paid or charged on balances maintained with the Federal Reserve Banks by depository institutions, including balances used to satisfy their reserve requirements, and (5) other deposit and loan facilities.

The FRB and its policies have a substantial impact on the availability and demand for loans and deposits, the rates and other aspects of pricing for loans and deposits, and the conditions in equity, fixed income, currency, and other markets in which the Company operates.  Policies announced or implemented by other central banks around the world have a meaningful effect as well and sometimes may be coordinated with those of the FRB.

Tax and other fiscal policies, moreover, impact not only general economic conditions but also give rise to incentives or disincentives that affect how the Company and its customers prioritize objectives, operate businesses, and deploy resources.

Regulation and Supervision

The Company is subject to regulatory frameworks in the United States at federal, State, and local levels. In addition, the Company is subject to the direct supervision of various government authorities charged with overseeing the kinds of financial activities conducted by its business segments.

This section summarizes certain provisions of the principal laws and regulations that apply to the Company. The descriptions, however, are not complete and are qualified in their entirety by the full text and judicial or administrative interpretations of those laws and regulations and other laws and regulations that affect the Company.

Overview

The Company is a bank holding company under the BHCA and a financial holding company under the GLBA. As a result, the Company—including all of its businesses and operations—is subject to the regulation, supervision, and examination of the FRB and to restrictions on permissible activities. This framework of regulation, supervision, and examination is intended primarily for the protection and benefit of depositors and other customers of the Bank,

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the Deposit Insurance Fund (the DIF) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the FDIC), the banking and financial systems as a whole, and the broader economy, not for the protection or benefit of the Company’s shareholders or its non-deposit creditors.

Many of the Company’s subsidiaries are also subject to separate or related forms of regulation, supervision, and examination, including: (1) the Bank, by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) under the National Banking Acts, the FDIC under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (the FDIA), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB) under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act); (2) UMBFS, UMB Distribution Services, LLC, UMB Financial Services, Inc., and Prairie Capital Management, LLC, by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and State regulatory authorities under federal and State securities laws, and UMB Distribution Services, LLC and UMB Financial Services, Inc., by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA); and (3) UMB Insurance, Inc., by State regulatory authorities under applicable State insurance laws. These regulatory schemes, like those overseen by the FRB, are designed to protect public or private interests that often are not aligned with those of the Company’s shareholders or non-deposit creditors.

The FRB possesses extensive authorities and powers to regulate the conduct of the Company’s businesses and operations. If the FRB were to take the position that the Company or any of its subsidiaries have violated any law or commitment or engaged in any unsafe or unsound practice, formal or informal corrective or enforcement actions could be taken by the FRB against the Company, its subsidiaries, and institution-affiliated parties (such as directors, officers, and agents). These enforcement actions could include an imposition of civil monetary penalties and could directly affect not only the Company, its subsidiaries, and institution-affiliated parties but also the Company’s counterparties, shareholders, and creditors and its commitments, arrangements, or other dealings with them. The OCC has similarly expansive authorities and powers over the Bank and its subsidiaries, as does the CFPB over matters involving consumer financial laws. The SEC, FINRA, and other domestic or foreign government authorities also have an array of means at their disposal to regulate and enforce matters within their jurisdiction that could impact the Company’s businesses and operations.

Restrictions on Permissible Activities and Corporate Matters

Under the BHCA, bank holding companies and their subsidiaries are generally limited to the business of banking and to closely related activities that are incidental to banking.

As a bank holding company that has elected to become a financial holding company under the GLBA, the Company is also able—directly or indirectly through its subsidiaries—to engage in activities that are financial in nature, that are incidental to a financial activity, or that are complementary to a financial activity and do not pose a substantial risk to the safety or soundness of depository institutions or the financial system generally. Activities that are financial in nature include: (1) underwriting, dealing in, or making a market in securities, (2) providing financial, investment, or economic advisory services, (3) underwriting insurance, and (4) merchant banking.

The Company’s ability to directly or indirectly engage in these banking and financial activities, however, is subject to conditions and other limits imposed by law or the FRB and, in some cases, requires the approval of the FRB or other government authorities. These conditions or other limits may arise due to the particular type of activity or, in other cases, may apply to the Company’s business more generally. Examples of the former are the substantial restrictions on the timing, amount, form, substance, interconnectedness, and management of the Company’s merchant banking investments. An example of the latter is a condition that, in order for the Company to engage in broader financial activities, its depository institutions must remain “well capitalized” and “well managed” under applicable banking laws and must receive at least a “satisfactory” rating under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).  

Under amendments to the BHCA promulgated by the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 and the Dodd-Frank Act, the Company may acquire banks outside of its home State of Missouri, subject to specified limits and may establish new branches in other States to the same extent as banks chartered in those States. Under the BHCA, however, the Company must procure the prior approval of the FRB and possibly other government authorities to directly or indirectly acquire ownership or control of five percent or more of any class of voting securities of, or substantially all of the assets of, an unaffiliated bank, savings association, or bank holding company. In deciding whether to approve any acquisition or branch, the FRB, the OCC, and other government authorities will consider public or private interests that may not be aligned with those of the Company’s

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shareholders or non-deposit creditors. The FRB also has the power to require the Company to divest any depository institution that cannot maintain its “well capitalized” or “well managed” status.

The FRB maintains a targeted policy that requires a bank holding company to inform and consult with the staff of the FRB sufficiently in advance of (1) declaring and paying a dividend that could raise safety and soundness concerns (for example, a dividend that exceeds earnings in the period for which the dividend is being paid), (2) redeeming or repurchasing regulatory capital instruments when the holding company is experiencing financial weaknesses, or (3) redeeming or repurchasing common stock or perpetual preferred stock that would result in a net reduction as of the end of the quarter in the amount of those equity instruments outstanding compared with the beginning of the quarter in which the redemption or repurchase occurred.

Requirements Affecting the Relationships among the Company, Its Subsidiaries, and Other Affiliates

The Company is a legal entity separate and distinct from the Bank, UMBFS, and its other subsidiaries but receives the vast majority of its revenue in the form of dividends from those subsidiaries. Without the approval of the OCC, however, dividends payable by the Bank in any calendar year may not exceed the lesser of (1) the current year’s net income combined with the retained net income of the two preceding years and (2) undivided profits. In addition, under the Basel III capital-adequacy standards described below under the heading “Capital-Adequacy Standards,” the Bank is currently required to maintain a capital conservation buffer in excess of its minimum risk-based capital ratios and will be restricted in declaring and paying dividends whenever the buffer is breached. The authorities and powers of the FRB, the OCC, and other government authorities to prevent any unsafe or unsound practice also could be employed to further limit the dividends that the Bank or the Company’s other subsidiaries may declare and pay to the Company.  

The Dodd-Frank Act requires a bank holding company like the Company to serve as a source of financial strength for its depository-institution subsidiaries and to commit resources to support those subsidiaries in circumstances when the Company might not otherwise elect to do so. The functional regulator of any nonbank subsidiary of the Company, however, may prevent that subsidiary from directly or indirectly contributing its financial support, and if that were to preclude the Company from serving as an adequate source of financial strength, the FRB may instead require the divestiture of depository-institution subsidiaries and impose operating restrictions pending such a divestiture.

A number of laws, principally Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act (the FRA), and the FRB’s Regulation W, also exist to prevent the Company and its nonbank subsidiaries from taking improper advantage of the benefits afforded to the Bank as a depository institution, including its access to federal deposit insurance and the discount window. These laws generally require the Bank and its subsidiaries to deal with the Company and its nonbank subsidiaries only on market terms and, in addition, impose restrictions on the Bank and its subsidiaries in directly or indirectly extending credit to or engaging in other covered transactions with the Company or its nonbank subsidiaries. The Dodd-Frank Act extended the restrictions to derivatives and securities lending transactions and expanded the restrictions for transactions involving hedge funds or private-equity funds that are owned or sponsored by the Company or its nonbank subsidiaries.

In addition, under the Volcker Rule, the Company is subject to extensive limits on proprietary trading and on owning or sponsoring hedge funds and private-equity funds. The limits on proprietary trading are largely directed toward purchases or sales of financial instruments by a banking entity as principal primarily for the purpose of short-term resale, a benefit from actual or expected short-term price movements, or the realization of short-term arbitrage profits. The limits on owning or sponsoring hedge funds and private-equity funds are designed to ensure that banking entities generally maintain only small positions in managed or advised funds and are not exposed to significant losses arising directly or indirectly from them. The Volcker Rule also provides for increased capital charges, quantitative limits, rigorous compliance programs, and other restrictions on permitted proprietary trading and fund activities, including a prohibition on transactions with a covered fund that would constitute a covered transaction under Sections 23A and 23B of the FRA.

Stress Testing and Enhanced Prudential Standards

The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA) was enacted in May 2018, amending requirements previously established in the Dodd-Frank Act, including stress testing and enhanced prudential standards.  Bank holding companies with assets of less than $100 billion, including the Company, are no longer subject to the requirement to conduct forward-looking, company-run stress testing, including publishing a summary of results.  The Company continues to run internal stress tests as a component of our comprehensive risk

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management and capital planning process.  In addition, the EGRRCPA increased the statutory asset threshold above which the Federal Reserve is required to apply enhanced prudential standards from $50 billion to $250 billion (subject to certain discretion by the Federal Reserve to apply any enhanced prudential standard requirement to any bank holding company with between $100 billion and $250 billion in total consolidated assets that would otherwise be exempt under EGRRCPA).  The Company remains exempt from applying the enhanced prudential standards.

Capital-Adequacy Standards

The FRB and the OCC have adopted risk-based capital and leverage guidelines that require the capital-to-assets ratios of bank holding companies and national banks, respectively, to meet specified minimum standards.

The risk-based capital ratios are based on a banking organization’s risk-weighted asset amounts (RWAs), which are generally determined under the standardized approach applicable to the Company and the Bank by (1) assigning on-balance-sheet exposures to broad risk-weight categories according to the counterparty or, if relevant, the guarantor or collateral (with higher risk weights assigned to categories of exposures perceived as representing greater risk) and (2) multiplying off-balance-sheet exposures by specified credit conversion factors to calculate credit equivalent amounts and assigning those credit equivalent amounts to the relevant risk-weight categories. The leverage ratio, in contrast, is based on an institution’s average on-balance-sheet exposures alone.

The capital ratios for the Company and the Bank as of December 31, 2020, are set forth below:

These capital-to-assets ratios also play a central role in prompt corrective action (PCA), which is an enforcement framework used by the federal banking agencies to constrain the activities of banking organizations based on their levels of regulatory capital. Five categories have been established using thresholds for the total risk-based capital ratio, the tier 1 risk-based capital ratio, the common-equity tier 1 risk-based capital ratio, and the leverage ratio: (1) well capitalized, (2) adequately capitalized, (3) undercapitalized, (4) significantly undercapitalized, and (5) critically undercapitalized.  While bank holding companies are not subject to the PCA framework, the FRB is empowered to compel a holding company to take measures—such as the execution of financial or performance guarantees—when prompt corrective action is required in connection with one of its depository-institution subsidiaries. At December 31, 2020, the Bank was categorized as well capitalized under the PCA framework.

Basel III includes a number of more rigorous provisions applicable only to banking organizations that are larger or more internationally active than the Company and the Bank.  These include, for example, a supplementary leverage ratio incorporating off-balance-sheet exposures, a liquidity coverage ratio, and a net stable funding ratio. These standards may be informally applied or considered by the FRB and the OCC in their regulation, supervision, and examination of the Company and the Bank.

Deposit Insurance and Related Matters

The deposits of the Bank are insured by the FDIC in the standard insurance amount of $250 thousand per depositor for each account ownership category. This insurance is funded through assessments on the Bank and other insured depository institutions. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, each institution’s assessment base is determined based on its average consolidated total assets less average tangible equity, and there is a scorecard method for calculating assessments that combines CAMELS (an acronym that refers to the five components of a bank’s condition that are addressed:  capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, and liquidity) ratings and specified forward-looking financial measures to determine each institution’s risk to the DIF.  The Dodd-Frank Act also requires the FDIC, in setting assessments, to offset the effect of increasing its reserve for the DIF on institutions with consolidated assets of less than $10 billion. The result of this revised approach to deposit-insurance assessments is generally an increase in costs, on an absolute or relative basis, for institutions with consolidated assets of $10 billion or more.

If an insured depository institution such as the Bank were to become insolvent or if other specified events were to occur relating to its financial condition or the propriety of its actions, the FDIC may be appointed as

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conservator or receiver for the institution. In that capacity, the FDIC would have the power to (1) transfer assets and liabilities of the institution to another person or entity without the approval of the institution’s creditors, (2) require that its claims process be followed and to enforce statutory or other limits on damages claimed by the institution’s creditors, (3) enforce the institution’s contracts or leases according to their terms, (4) repudiate or disaffirm the institution’s contracts or leases, (5) seek to reclaim, recover, or recharacterize transfers of the institution’s assets or to exercise control over assets in which the institution may claim an interest, (6) enforce statutory or other injunctions, and (7) exercise a wide range of other rights, powers, and authorities, including those that could impair the rights and interests of all or some of the institution’s creditors. In addition, the administrative expenses of the conservator or receiver could be afforded priority over all or some of the claims of the institution’s creditors, and under the FDIA, the claims of depositors (including the FDIC as subrogee of depositors) would enjoy priority over the claims of the institution’s unsecured creditors.

The FDIA also provides that an insured depository institution can be held liable for any loss incurred or expected to be incurred by the FDIC in connection with another commonly controlled insured depository institution that is in default or in danger of default. This cross-guarantee liability is generally superior in right of payment to claims of the institution’s holding company and its affiliates.  

Other Regulatory and Supervisory Matters

As a public company, the Company is subject to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and other federal and State securities laws. In addition, because the Company’s common stock is listed with The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (NASDAQ), the Company is subject to the listing rules of that exchange.

The Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970 (commonly known as the Bank Secrecy Act), the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, and related laws require all financial institutions, including banks and broker-dealers, to establish a risk-based system of internal controls reasonably designed to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism. These laws include a variety of recordkeeping and reporting requirements (such as currency and suspicious activity reporting) as well as know-your-customer and due-diligence rules.

Under the CRA, the Bank has a continuing and affirmative obligation to help meet the credit needs of its local communities—including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods—consistent with safe and sound banking practices. The CRA does not create specific lending programs but does establish the framework and criteria by which the OCC regularly assesses the Bank’s record in meeting these credit needs. The Bank’s ratings under the CRA are taken into account by the FRB and the OCC when considering merger or other specified applications that the Company or the Bank may submit from time to time.

The Bank is subject as well to a vast array of consumer-protection laws, such as qualified-mortgage and other mortgage-related rules under the jurisdiction of the CFPB. Lending limits, restrictions on tying arrangements, limits on permissible interest-rate charges, and other laws governing the conduct of banking or fiduciary activities are also applicable to the Bank. In addition, the GLBA imposes on the Company and its subsidiaries a number of obligations relating to financial privacy.

Statistical Disclosure

The information required by Guide 3, “Statistical Disclosure by Bank Holding Companies,” has been included in Part II, Items 7 and 7A, pages 23 through 57, of this report.

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Executive Officers of the Registrant.  The following are the executive officers of the Company, each of whom is appointed annually, and there are no arrangements or understandings between any of the executive officers and any other person pursuant to which such person was elected as an executive officer.

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The Company makes available free of charge on its website at www.umb.com/investor, its annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, proxy statements, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to such reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after it electronically files or furnishes such material with or to the SEC.  These reports can also be found on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.  

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Financial-services companies routinely encounter and address risks and uncertainties. In the following paragraphs, the Company describes some of the principal risks and uncertainties that could adversely affect its business, results of operations, financial condition (including capital and liquidity), or prospects or the value of or return on an investment in the Company. These risks and uncertainties, however, are not the only ones faced by the Company. Other risks and uncertainties that are not presently known to the Company that it has failed to identify, or that it currently considers immaterial may adversely affect the Company as well. Except where otherwise noted, the risk factors address risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company as well as its subsidiaries. These risk factors should be read in conjunction with Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (which can be found in Part II, Item 7 of this report beginning on page 23) and the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (which can be found in Part II, Item 8 of this report beginning on page 58).

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the Company and its customers, counterparties, employees, and third-party service providers, and the continued impacts on its business, financial position, results of operations, and prospects could potentially be significant. The spread of COVID-19 has created a global public-health crisis that has resulted in widespread volatility and deteriorations in household, business, economic, and market conditions. The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s capital, liquidity, and other financial positions and on its business, results of operations, and prospects will depend on a number of evolving factors, including:

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We are unable to estimate the impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s business and operations at this time. The COVID-19 pandemic could cause the Company to experience higher credit losses in our lending portfolio, impairment of our goodwill and other financial assets, further reduced demand for its products and services, and other negative impacts on its financial position, results of operations, and prospects. Sustained adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may also prevent the Company from satisfying our minimum regulatory capital ratios and other supervisory requirements, failing to be able to sustain the paying of dividends to its shareholders, or result in downgrades in its credit ratings.  

Because of current expected credit loss (CECL), the Company’s financial results may be negatively affected as soon as weak or deteriorating economic conditions are forecasted and alter our expectations for credit losses. In addition, due to the expansion of the time horizon over which it is required to estimate future credit losses under CECL, the Company may experience increased volatility in its future provisions for credit losses. As a result, factoring in COVID-19, the Company incurred significant provision expense for credit losses in 2020 and may incur significant provision expense for credit losses in future periods as well.

The levels of, or changes in, interest rates could affect the Company’s business or performance. The Company’s business, results of operations, and financial condition are highly dependent on net interest income, which is the difference between interest income on earning assets (such as loans and investments) and interest expense on deposits and borrowings. Net interest income is significantly affected by market interest rates, which in turn are influenced by monetary and fiscal policies, general economic conditions, the regulatory environment, competitive pressures, and expectations about future changes in interest rates. The policies and regulations of the federal government, in general, and the FRB, in particular, have a substantial impact on market interest rates. See “Government Monetary and Fiscal Policies” in Part I, Item 1 of this report beginning on page 5, which is incorporated by reference herein. Additionally, the Company has a significant number of loans, derivative contracts, borrowings and other financial instruments with attributes that are either directly or indirectly dependent on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). In 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced that LIBOR is to be transitioned to alternative rates during the next four years. U.S. regulatory authorities have voiced similar support for phasing out LIBOR.  The transition from LIBOR could create considerable costs and additional risk. Since proposed alternative rates are calculated differently, payments under contracts referencing new rates will differ from those referencing LIBOR. Although we are currently unable to assess what the ultimate impact of the transition from LIBOR will be, failure to adequately manage the transition could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Company may be adversely affected by policies, regulations, or events that have the effect of altering the difference between long-term and short-term interest rates (commonly known as the yield curve), depressing the interest rates associated with its earning assets to levels near the rates associated with its interest expense, or changing the spreads among different interest-rate indices. In addition, a rapid change in interest rates could result in interest expense increasing faster than interest income because of differences in the maturities of the Company’s

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assets and liabilities. Further, if laws impacting taxation and interest rates materially change, or if new laws are enacted, certain of the Company’s services and products, including municipal bonds, may be subject to less favorable tax treatment or otherwise adversely impacted.  The level of, and changes in, market interest rates—and, as a result, these risks and uncertainties—are beyond the Company’s control. The dynamics among these risks and uncertainties are also challenging to assess and manage. For example, while the highly accommodative monetary policy currently adopted by the FRB may benefit the Company to some degree by spurring economic activity among its customers, such a policy may ultimately cause the Company more harm by inhibiting its ability to grow or sustain net interest income. 

The Company’s customers and counterparties also may be negatively impacted by the levels of, or changes in, interest rates, which could increase the risk of delinquency or default on obligations to the Company. The levels of, or changes in, interest rates, moreover, may have an adverse effect on the value of the Company’s investment portfolio, which includes long-term municipal bonds with fixed interest rates, and other financial instruments, the return on or demand for loans, the prepayment speed of loans (including, without limitation, the pace of pay-downs expected or forecasted for commercial real estate and construction loans), the cost or availability of deposits or other funding sources, or the purchase or sale of investment securities.

See “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk—Interest Rate Risk” in Part II, Item 7A of this report beginning on page 51 for a discussion of how the Company monitors and manages interest-rate risk.

Weak or deteriorating economic conditions, more liberal origination or underwriting standards, or financial or systemic shocks could increase the Company’s credit risk and adversely affect its lending or other banking businesses and the value of its loans or investment securities. The Company’s business and results of operations depend significantly on general economic conditions. When those conditions are weak or deteriorating in any of the markets or regions where the Company operates, its business or performance could be adversely affected. The Company’s lending and other banking businesses, in particular, are susceptible to weak or deteriorating economic conditions, which could result in reduced loan demand or utilization rates and at the same time increased delinquencies or defaults. These kinds of conditions also could dampen the demand for products and other services in the Company’s investment-management, asset-servicing, insurance, brokerage, or related businesses. Increased delinquencies or defaults could result as well from the Company adopting—for strategic, competitive, or other reasons—more liberal origination or underwriting standards for extensions of credit or other dealings with its customers or counterparties. If delinquencies or defaults on the Company’s loans or investment securities increase, their value and the income derived from them could be adversely affected, and the Company could incur administrative and other costs in seeking a recovery on its claims and any collateral. Weak or deteriorating economic conditions also may negatively impact the market value and liquidity of the Company’s investment securities, and the Company may be required to record additional impairment charges if investment securities suffer a decline in value that is determined to have resulted from a credit loss.  In addition, to the extent that loan charge-offs exceed estimates, an increase to the amount of provision expense related to the allowance for credit losses would reduce the Company’s income. See “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk—Credit Risk Management” in Part II, Item 7A of this report beginning on page 54 for a discussion of how the Company monitors and manages credit risk. A financial or systemic shock and a failure of a significant counterparty or a significant group of counterparties could negatively impact the Company, possibly to a severe degree, due to its role as a financial intermediary and the interconnectedness of the financial system.

A meaningful part of the Company’s loan portfolio is secured by real estate and, as a result, could be negatively impacted by deteriorating or volatile real-estate markets or associated environmental liabilities. At December 31, 2020, 48.8% of the Company’s aggregate loan portfolio—comprised of commercial real-estate loans (representing 36.7% of the aggregate loan portfolio) and consumer real-estate loans (representing 12.1% of the aggregate loan portfolio)—was primarily secured by interests in real estate located in the States where the Company operates. Other credit extended by the Company may be secured in part by real estate as well.  Real-estate values in the markets where this collateral is located may be different from, and in some instances worse than, real-estate values in other markets or in the United States as a whole and may be affected by general economic conditions and a variety of other factors outside of the control of the Company or its customers. Any deterioration or volatility in these real-estate markets could result in increased delinquencies or defaults, could adversely affect the value of the loans and the income to be derived from them, could give rise to unreimbursed recovery costs, and could reduce the demand for new or additional credit and related banking products and other services, all to the detriment of the Company’s business and performance. In addition, if hazardous or toxic substances were found on any real estate that the Company acquires in foreclosure or otherwise, the Company may incur substantial liability for compliance and remediation costs, personal injury, or property damage.

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Challenging business, economic, or market conditions could adversely affect the Company’s fee-based banking, investment-management, asset-servicing, or other businesses. The Company’s fee-based banking, investment-management, asset-servicing, and other businesses are driven by wealth creation in the economy, robust market activity, monetary and fiscal stability, and positive investor, business, and consumer sentiment. Economic downturns, market disruptions, high unemployment or underemployment, unsustainable debt levels, depressed real-estate markets, industry consolidations, or other challenging business, economic, or market conditions could adversely affect these businesses and their results. If the funds or other groups that are clients of UMBFS were to encounter similar difficulties, UMBFS’s revenue could suffer. The Company’s bank-card revenue is driven primarily by transaction volumes in business, healthcare, and consumer spending that generate interchange fees, and any of these conditions could dampen those volumes. Other fee-based banking businesses that could be adversely affected include trading, asset management, custody, trust, and cash and treasury management.

The Company’s investment-management and asset-servicing businesses could be negatively impacted by declines in assets under management or administration or by shifts in the mix of assets under management or administration.  The revenues of the Company’s investment-management businesses are highly dependent on advisory fee income.  These businesses generally earn higher fees on equity-based or alternative investments and strategies and lower fees on fixed income investments and strategies. Advisory-fee income may be negatively impacted by an absolute decline in assets under management or by a shift in the mix of assets under management from equities or alternatives to fixed income. Such a decline or shift could be caused or influenced by any number of factors, such as underperformance in absolute or relative terms, loss of key advisers or other talent, changes in investing preferences or trends, market downturns or volatility, drops in investor confidence, reputational damage, increased competition, or general economic conditions. Any of these factors also could affect clients of UMBFS, and if this were to cause a decline in assets under administration at UMBFS or an adverse shift in the mix of those assets, the performance of UMBFS could suffer.

To the extent that the Company continues to maintain a sizeable portfolio of available-for-sale investment securities, its income may be adversely affected and its reported equity more volatile. As of December 31, 2020, the Company’s securities portfolio totaled approximately $10.6 billion, which represented approximately 32.1% of its total assets.  Regulatory restrictions and the Company’s investment policies generally result in the acquisition of securities with lower yields than loans.  For the year-ended December 31, 2020, the weighted average yield of the Company’s securities portfolio was 2.5% as compared to 3.9% for its loan portfolio.  Accordingly, to the extent that the Company is unable to effectively deploy its funds to originate or acquire loans or other assets with higher yields than those of its investment securities, the Company’s income may be negatively impacted.  Additionally, approximately $9.3 billion, or 87.4%, of the Company’s investment securities are classified as available for sale and reported at fair value. Unrealized gains or losses on these securities are excluded from earnings and reported in other comprehensive income, which in turn affects the Company’s reported equity.  As a result, to the extent that the Company continues to maintain a significant portfolio of available-for-sale securities, its reported equity may experience greater volatility.  

Cyber incidents and other security breaches at the Company, at the Company’s service providers or counterparties, or in the business community or markets may negatively impact the Company’s business or performance. In the ordinary course of its business, the Company collects, stores, and transmits sensitive, confidential, or proprietary data and other information, including intellectual property, business information, funds-transfer instructions, and the personally identifiable information of its customers and employees. The secure processing, storage, maintenance, and transmission of this information is critical to the Company’s operations and reputation, and if any of this information were mishandled, misused, improperly accessed, lost, or stolen or if the Company’s operations were disrupted, the Company could suffer significant financial, business, reputational, regulatory, or other damage.  For example, despite security measures, the Company’s information technology and infrastructure may be breached through cyber-attacks, computer viruses or malware, pretext calls, electronic phishing, or other means. These risks and uncertainties are rapidly evolving and increasing in complexity, and the Company’s failure to effectively mitigate them could negatively impact its business and operations.

Service providers and counterparties also present a source of risk to the Company if their own security measures or other systems or infrastructure were to be breached or otherwise fail. Likewise, a cyber-attack or other security breach affecting the business community, the markets, or parts of them may cycle or cascade through the financial system and adversely affect the Company or its service providers or counterparties. Many of these risks and uncertainties are beyond the Company’s control.  

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Even when an attempted cyber incident or other security breach is successfully avoided or thwarted, the Company may need to expend substantial resources in doing so, may be required to take actions that could adversely affect customer satisfaction or behavior, and may be exposed to reputational damage. If a breach were to occur, moreover, the Company could be exposed to contractual claims, regulatory actions, and litigation by private plaintiffs, and would additionally suffer reputational harm.  Despite the Company’s efforts to safeguard the integrity of systems and controls and to manage third-party risk, the Company may not be able to anticipate or implement effective measures to prevent all security breaches or all risks to the sensitive, confidential, or proprietary information that it or its service providers or counterparties collect, store, or transmit.

The trading volume in the Company’s common stock at times may be low, which could adversely affect liquidity and stock price. Although the Company’s common stock is listed for trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, the trading volume in the stock may at times be low and, in relative terms, less than that of other financial-services companies.  A public trading market that is deep, liquid, and orderly depends on the presence in the marketplace of a large number of willing buyers and sellers and narrow bid-ask spreads.  These market features, in turn, depend on a number of factors, such as the individual decisions of investors and general economic and market conditions, over which the Company has no control.  During any period of lower trading volume in the Company’s common stock, the stock price could be more volatile, and the liquidity of the stock could suffer.

The Company operates in a highly regulated industry, and its business or performance could be adversely affected by the legal, regulatory and supervisory frameworks applicable to it, changes in those frameworks, and other legal and regulatory risks and uncertainties. The Company is subject to expansive legal and regulatory frameworks in the United States—at the federal, State, and local levels—and in the foreign jurisdictions where its business segments operate.  In addition, the Company is subject to the direct supervision of government authorities charged with overseeing the taxation of domestic companies and the kinds of financial activities conducted by the Company in its business segments.  These legal, regulatory, and supervisory frameworks are often designed to protect public or private interests that differ from the interests of the Company’s shareholders or non-deposit creditors. See “Government Monetary and Fiscal Policies” and “Regulation and Supervision” in Part I, Item 1 of this report beginning on page 5, which is incorporated by reference herein.  We believe that government scrutiny of all financial-services companies has increased, fundamental changes have been made to the banking, securities, and other laws that govern financial services (with the Dodd-Frank Act and Basel III being two of the more prominent examples), and a host of related business practices have been reexamined and reshaped. As a result, the Company expects to continue devoting increased time and resources to risk management, compliance, and regulatory change management. Risks also exist that government authorities could judge the Company’s business or other practices as unsafe, unsound, or otherwise unadvisable and bring formal or informal corrective or enforcement actions against it, including fines or other penalties and directives to change its products or other services.  For practical or other reasons, the Company may not be able to effectively defend itself against these actions, and they in turn could give rise to litigation by private plaintiffs.  Further, if the laws, rules, and regulations materially adversely affect the Company, including any changes that would negatively impact the tax treatment of the Company, the Company’s products and services or the Company’s shareholders, the Company may be adversely impacted.  All of these and other regulatory risks and uncertainties could adversely affect the Company’s reputation, business, results of operations, financial condition, or prospects.

Regulatory or supervisory requirements, future growth, operating results, or strategic plans may prompt the Company to raise additional capital, but that capital may not be available at all or on favorable terms and, if raised, may be dilutive. The Company is subject to safety-and-soundness and capital-adequacy standards under applicable law and to the direct supervision of government authorities. See “Regulation and Supervision” in Part I, Item 1 of this report beginning on page 5. If the Company is not or is at risk of not satisfying these standards or applicable supervisory requirements—whether due to inadequate operating results that erode capital, future growth that outpaces the accumulation of capital through earnings, or otherwise—the Company may be required to raise capital, restrict dividends, or limit originations of certain types of commercial and mortgage loans. If the Company is required to limit originations of certain types of commercial and mortgage loans, it would thereby reduce the amount of credit available to borrowers and limit opportunities to earn interest income from the loan portfolio.  The Company also may be compelled to raise capital if regulatory or supervisory requirements change. In addition, the Company may elect to raise capital for strategic reasons even when it is not required to do so. The Company’s ability to raise capital on favorable terms or at all will depend on general economic and market conditions, which are outside of its control, and on the Company’s operating and financial performance.  Accordingly, the Company cannot be assured of its ability to raise capital when needed or on favorable terms.  An inability to raise capital when needed or on favorable terms could damage the performance and value of its business, prompt regulatory intervention, and harm its reputation, and if the condition were to persist for any appreciable

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period of time, its viability as a going concern could be threatened. If the Company is able to raise capital and does so by issuing common stock or convertible securities, the ownership interest of our existing stockholders could be diluted, and the market price of our common stock could decline.

The market price of the Company’s common stock could be adversely impacted by banking, antitrust, or corporate laws that have or are perceived as having an anti-takeover effect. Banking and antitrust laws, including associated regulatory-approval requirements, impose significant restrictions on the acquisition of direct or indirect control over any bank holding company, including the Company. Acquisition of ten percent or more of any class of voting stock of a bank holding company or depository institution, including shares of our common stock, generally creates a rebuttable presumption that the acquirer “controls” the bank holding company or depository institution. Also, a bank holding company must obtain the prior approval of the Federal Reserve before, among other things, acquiring direct or indirect ownership or control of more than 5 percent of the voting shares of any bank, including our bank.

In addition, a non-negotiated acquisition of control over the Company may be inhibited by provisions of the Company’s restated articles of incorporation and bylaws that have been adopted in conformance with applicable corporate law, such as the ability to issue shares of preferred stock and to determine the rights, terms, conditions and privileges of such preferred stock without stockholder approval. If any of these restrictions were to operate or be perceived as operating to hinder or deter a potential acquirer for the Company, the market price of the Company’s common stock could suffer.  

The Company’s business relies on systems, employees, service providers, and counterparties, and failures or errors by any of them or other operational risks could adversely affect the Company. The Company engages in a variety of businesses in diverse markets and relies on systems, employees, service providers, and counterparties to properly oversee, administer, and process a high volume of transactions. This gives rise to meaningful operational risk—including the risk of fraud by employees or outside parties, unauthorized access to its premises or systems, errors in processing, failures of technology, breaches of internal controls or compliance safeguards, inadequate integration of acquisitions, human error, and breakdowns in business continuity plans.  Significant financial, business, reputational, regulatory, or other harm could come to the Company as a result of these or related risks and uncertainties. For example, the Company could be negatively impacted if financial, accounting, data-processing, or other systems were to fail or not fully perform their functions. The Company also could be adversely affected if key personnel or a significant number of employees were to become unavailable due to a pandemic, natural disaster, war, act of terrorism, accident, or other reason. These same risks arise as well in connection with the systems and employees of the service providers and counterparties on whom the Company depends as well as their own third-party service providers and counterparties. See “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk—Operational Risk” in Part II, Item 7A of this report beginning on page 57 for a discussion of how the Company monitors and manages operational risk.

The soundness of other financial institutions could adversely affect us. The soundness of other financial institutions could adversely affect us. Financial services institutions are interrelated because of trading, clearing, counterparty and other relationships. We routinely execute transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry, including brokers and dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, payment processors, and other institutional clients, which may result in payment obligations to us or to our clients due to products we have arranged. Many of these transactions expose us to credit and market risk that may cause our counterparty or client to default. In addition, we are exposed to market risk when the collateral we hold cannot be realized or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount of the secured obligation. Any losses arising from such occurrences could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

The Company is heavily reliant on technology, and a failure or delay in effectively implementing technology initiatives or anticipating future technology needs or demands could adversely affect the Company’s business or performance. Like most financial-services companies, the Company significantly depends on technology to deliver its products and other services and to otherwise conduct business. To remain technologically competitive and operationally efficient, the Company invests in system upgrades, new solutions, and other technology initiatives, including for both internally and externally hosted solutions.  Many of these initiatives are of significant duration, are tied to critical systems, and require substantial internal and external resources. Although the Company takes steps to mitigate the risks and uncertainties associated with these initiatives, there is no guarantee that they will be implemented on time, within budget, or without negative operational or customer impact. The Company also may not succeed in anticipating its future technology needs, the technology demands of its

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customers, or the competitive landscape for technology. In addition, the Company relies upon the expertise and support of service providers to help implement, maintain and/or service certain of its core technology solutions.  If the Company cannot effectively manage these service providers, the service parties fail to materially perform, or the Company was to falter in any of the other noted areas, its business or performance could be negatively impacted.

Negative publicity outside of the Company’s control, or its failure to successfully manage issues arising from its conduct or in connection with the financial-services industry generally, could damage the Company’s reputation and adversely affect its business or performance. The performance and value of the Company’s business could be negatively impacted by any reputational harm that it may suffer. This harm could arise from negative publicity outside of its control or its failure to adequately address issues arising from its conduct or in connection with the financial-services industry generally.  Risks to the Company’s reputation could arise in any number of contexts—for example, cyber incidents and other security breaches, mergers and acquisitions, lending or investment-management practices, actual or potential conflicts of interest, failures to prevent money laundering, corporate governance, and unethical behavior and practices committed by competitors in the financial services industry.

The Company faces intense competition from other financial-services and financial-services technology companies, and competitive pressures could adversely affect the Company’s business or performance. The Company faces intense competition in each of its business segments and in all of its markets and geographic regions, and the Company expects competitive pressures to intensify in the future—especially in light of recent legislative and regulatory initiatives, technological innovations that alter the barriers to entry, current economic and market conditions, and government monetary and fiscal policies.  Competition with financial-services technology companies, or technology companies partnering with financial-services companies, may be particularly intense, due to, among other things, differing regulatory environments. See “Competition” in Part I, Item 1 of this report beginning on page 4. Competitive pressures may drive the Company to take actions that the Company might otherwise eschew, such as lowering the interest rates or fees on loans or raising the interest rates on deposits in order to keep or attract high-quality customers. These pressures also may accelerate actions that the Company might otherwise elect to defer, such as substantial investments in technology or infrastructure. The Company has certain businesses that utilize wholesale models which can lead to customer concentrations for those businesses that, if negatively impacted by new entrants, competitive pressures, or consolidations, could affect the Company’s fee income. Whatever the reason, actions that the Company takes in response to competition may adversely affect its results of operations and financial condition. These consequences could be exacerbated if the Company is not successful in introducing new products and other services, achieving market acceptance of its products and other services, developing and maintaining a strong customer base, or prudently managing expenses.

The Company’s risk-management and compliance programs or functions may not be effective in mitigating risk and loss. The Company maintains an enterprise risk-management program that is designed to identify, quantify, monitor, report, and control the risks that it faces. These include interest-rate risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, market risk, operational risk, reputational risk, and compliance risk. The Company also maintains a compliance program to identify, measure, assess, and report on its adherence to applicable law, policies, and procedures. While the Company assesses and improves these programs on an ongoing basis, there can be no assurance that its frameworks or models for risk management, compliance, and related controls will effectively mitigate risk and limit losses in its business. If conditions or circumstances arise that expose flaws or gaps in the Company’s risk-management or compliance programs or if its controls break down, the performance and value of the Company’s business could be adversely affected. The Company could be negatively impacted as well if, despite adequate programs being in place, its risk-management or compliance personnel are ineffective in executing them and mitigating risk and loss.

Liquidity is essential to the Company and its business or performance could be adversely affected by constraints in, or increased costs for, funding. The Company defines liquidity as the ability to fund increases in assets and meet obligations as they come due, all without incurring unacceptable losses.   Banks are especially vulnerable to liquidity risk because of their role in the maturity transformation of demand or short-term deposits into longer-term loans or other extensions of credit.  The Company, like other financial-services companies, relies to a significant extent on external sources of funding (such as deposits and borrowings) for the liquidity needed to conduct its business. A number of factors beyond the Company’s control, however, could have a detrimental impact on the availability or cost of that funding and thus on its liquidity. These factors include market disruptions, changes in its credit ratings or the sentiment of its investors, the state of the regulatory environment and monetary and fiscal policies, declines in the value of its investment securities, the loss of substantial deposits or customer relationships, financial or systemic shocks, significant counterparty failures, and reputational damage. Unexpected declines or limits on the

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dividends declared and paid by the Company’s subsidiaries also could adversely affect its liquidity position. While the Company’s policies and controls are designed to ensure that it maintains adequate liquidity to conduct its business in the ordinary course even in a stressed environment, there can be no assurance that its liquidity position will never become compromised. In such an event, the Company may be required to sell assets at a loss in order to continue its operations. This could damage the performance and value of its business, prompt regulatory intervention, and harm its reputation, and if the condition were to persist for any appreciable period of time, its viability as a going concern could be threatened. See “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk—Liquidity Risk” in Part II, Item 7A of this report beginning on page 56 for a discussion of how the Company monitors and manages liquidity risk.

If the Company’s subsidiaries are unable to make dividend payments or distributions to the Company, it may be unable to satisfy its obligations to counterparties or creditors or make dividend payments to its stockholders. The Company is a legal entity separate and distinct from its bank and nonbank subsidiaries and depends on dividend payments and distributions from those subsidiaries to fund its obligations to counterparties and creditors and its dividend payments to stockholders. See “Regulation and Supervision—Requirements Affecting the Relationships among the Company, Its Subsidiaries, and Other Affiliates” in Part I, Item 1 of this report beginning on page 7. Any of the Company’s subsidiaries, however, may be unable to make dividend payments or distributions to the Company, including as a result of a deterioration in the subsidiary’s performance, investments in the subsidiary’s own future growth, or regulatory or supervisory requirements. If any subsidiary were unable to remain viable as a going concern, moreover, the Company’s right to participate in a distribution of assets would be subject to the prior claims of the subsidiary’s creditors (including, in the case of the Bank, its depositors and the FDIC).

An inability to attract, retain, or motivate qualified employees could adversely affect the Company’s business or performance.  Skilled employees are the Company’s most important resource, and competition for talented people is intense.  Even though compensation is among the Company’s highest expenses, it may not be able to locate and hire the best people, keep them with the Company, or properly motivate them to perform at a high level. Recent scrutiny of compensation practices, especially in the financial-services industry, has made this only more difficult. In addition, some parts of the Company’s business are particularly dependent on key personnel, including investment management, asset servicing, and commercial lending. If the Company were to lose and find itself unable to replace these personnel or other skilled employees or if the competition for talent drove its compensation costs to unsustainable levels, the Company’s business, results of operations, and financial condition could be negatively impacted.

The Company is subject to a variety of litigation and other proceedings, which could adversely affect its business or performance. The Company is involved from time to time in a variety of judicial, alternative-dispute, and other proceedings arising out of its business or operations. The Company establishes reserves for claims when appropriate under generally accepted accounting principles, but costs often can be incurred in connection with a matter before any reserve has been created. The Company also maintains insurance policies to mitigate the cost of litigation and other proceedings, but these policies have deductibles, limits, and exclusions that may diminish their value or efficacy. Despite the Company’s efforts to appropriately reserve for claims and insure its business and operations, the actual costs associated with resolving a claim may be substantially higher than amounts reserved or covered. Substantial legal claims, even if not meritorious, could have a detrimental impact on the Company’s business, results of operations, and financial condition and could cause reputational harm.

Changes in accounting standards could impact the Company’s financial statements and reported earnings. Accounting standard-setting bodies, such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board, periodically change the financial accounting and reporting standards that affect the preparation of the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. These changes are beyond the Company’s control and could have a meaningful impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements.

The Company’s selection of accounting methods, assumptions, and estimates could impact its financial statements and reported earnings. To comply with generally accepted accounting principles, management must sometimes exercise judgment in selecting, determining, and applying accounting methods, assumptions, and estimates. This can arise, for example, in the determination of the allowance for credit losses or the determination of the fair value of assets or liabilities. Furthermore, accounting methods, assumptions and estimates are part of acquisition purchase accounting and the calculation of the fair value of assets and liabilities that have been purchased, including credit-impaired loans.  The judgments required of management can involve difficult, subjective, or complex matters with a high degree of uncertainty, and several different judgments could be reasonable under the circumstances and yet result in significantly different results being reported. See “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” in Part II, Item 7 of this report beginning on page 49. If management’s

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judgments are later determined to have been inaccurate, the Company may experience unexpected losses that could be substantial.

The Company’s ability to successfully make opportunistic mergers and acquisitions is subject to significant risks, including the risk that government authorities will not provide the requisite approvals, the risk that integrating acquisitions may be more difficult, costly, or time consuming than expected, and the risk that the value of acquisitions may be less than anticipated. The Company may make opportunistic acquisitions of other financial-services companies or businesses from time to time. These acquisitions may be subject to regulatory approval, and there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to obtain that approval in a timely manner or at all. Even when the Company is able to obtain regulatory approval, the failure of other closing conditions to be satisfied or waived could delay the completion of an acquisition for a significant period of time or prevent it from occurring altogether.  Any failure or delay in closing an acquisition could adversely affect the Company’s reputation, business, results of operations, financial condition, or prospects.

Additionally, acquisitions involve numerous risks and uncertainties, including lower-than-expected performance or higher-than-expected costs, difficulties related to integration, diversion of management’s attention from other business activities, changes in relationships with customers or counterparties, and the potential loss of key employees. An acquisition also could be dilutive to the Company’s current stockholders if preferred stock, common stock, or securities convertible into preferred stock or common stock were issued to fully or partially pay or fund the purchase price. The Company, moreover, may not be successful in identifying acquisition candidates, integrating acquired companies or businesses, or realizing the expected value from acquisitions. There is significant competition for valuable acquisition targets, and the Company may not be able to acquire other companies or businesses on attractive terms or at all.  There can be no assurance that the Company will pursue future acquisitions, and the Company’s ability to grow and successfully compete in its markets and regions may be impaired if it chooses not to pursue, or is unable to successfully complete, acquisitions.

We face risks in connection with our strategic undertakings and new business initiatives. We are engaged, and may in the future engage, in strategic activities including acquisitions, joint ventures, partnerships, investments or other business growth initiatives or undertakings. There can be no assurance that we will successfully identify appropriate opportunities, that we will be able to negotiate or finance such activities or that such activities, if undertaken, will be successful. We are focused on our long-term growth and have undertaken various strategic activities and business initiatives, some of which may involve activities that are new to us. For example, in the future we may engage in or focus on new lines of business, financial technologies, and other activities that are outside of our current product offerings. These new initiatives may subject us to, among other risks, increased business, reputational and operational risk, as well as more complex legal, regulatory and compliance costs and risks. Our ability to execute strategic activities and new business initiatives successfully will depend on a variety of factors. These factors likely will vary based on the nature of the activity but may include our success in integrating an acquired company or a new internally-developed growth initiative into our business, operations, services, products, personnel and systems, operating effectively with any partner with whom we elect to do business, meeting applicable regulatory requirements and obtaining applicable regulatory licenses or other approvals, hiring or retaining key employees, achieving anticipated synergies, meeting management's expectations, actually realizing the anticipated benefits of the activities, and overall general market conditions. Our ability to address these matters successfully cannot be assured. In addition, our strategic efforts may divert resources or management's attention from ongoing business operations and may subject us to additional regulatory scrutiny and potential liability. If we do not successfully execute a strategic undertaking, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation or growth prospects.

Climate change and related legislative and regulatory initiatives may result in operational changes and expenditures that could significantly impact the Company’s business. The current and anticipated effects of climate change are creating an increasing level of concern for the state of the global environment. As a result, political and social attention to the issue of climate change has increased. In recent years, governments across the world have entered into international agreements to attempt to reduce global temperatures, in part by limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The United States Congress, state legislatures and federal and state regulatory agencies have continued to propose and advance numerous legislative and regulatory initiatives seeking to mitigate the effects of climate change. These agreements and measures may result in the imposition of taxes and fees, the required purchase of emission credits, and the implementation of significant operational changes, each of which may require the Company to expend significant capital and incur compliance, operating, maintenance and remediation costs. Given the lack of empirical data on the credit and other financial risks posed by climate change, it is impossible to predict how climate change may impact the Company’s financial condition and operations; however, as a banking

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organization, the physical effects of climate change may present certain unique risks to the Company. For example, weather disasters, shifts in local climates and other disruptions related to climate change may adversely affect the value of real properties securing the Company’s loans, which could diminish the value of the Company’s loan portfolio. Such events may also cause reductions in regional and local economic activity that may have an adverse effect on the Company’s customers, which could limit the Company’s ability to raise and invest capital in these areas and communities, each of which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

There are no unresolved comments from the staff of the SEC required to be disclosed herein as of the date of this report.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

The Company's headquarters building is located at 1010 Grand Boulevard in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.  The building opened in July 1986 and all 250,000 square feet are occupied by departments and customer service functions of the Bank, as well as administrative offices for the Company.  

Other main facilities of the Bank in downtown Kansas City, Missouri are located at 928 Grand Boulevard (185,000 square feet); and 1008 Oak Street (180,000 square feet). The 928 Grand building houses administrative support functions for the Bank.  The 928 Grand building is connected to the 1010 Grand building by an enclosed elevated pedestrian walkway.  The 1008 Oak building, which opened during the second quarter of 1999, houses the Company’s operations and data processing functions.  

The Bank leases 49,400 square feet in the Hertz Building located at 2 South Broadway in the heart of the commercial sector of downtown St. Louis, Missouri.  This location has a full-service banking center and is home to administrative support functions for the Bank.

The Bank also leases 34,681 square feet on the first, second, and fifth floors of the 1670 Broadway building located in the financial district of downtown Denver, Colorado.  The location has a full-service banking center and is home to operational and administrative support functions for the Bank.  

As of December 31, 2020, the Bank operated a total of 91 banking centers.

UMBFS leases 88,944 square feet at 235 West Galena Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for its fund services operations.  Additionally, UMBFS leases 37,300 square feet at 2225 Washington Boulevard in Ogden, Utah, and 13,689 square feet at 223 Wilmington West Chester Pike in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.

Additional information with respect to properties, premises and equipment is presented in Note 1, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” and Note 8, “Premises, Equipment, and Leases,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8, pages 68 and 97 of this report, and is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

In the normal course of business, the Company and its subsidiaries are named defendants in various legal proceedings.  In the opinion of management, after consultation with legal counsel, none of these proceedings are expected to have a material effect on the financial position, results of operations, or cash flows of the Company.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

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PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

The Company's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Stock Market under the symbol "UMBF." As of February 19, 2021, the Company had 1,978 shareholders of record.  

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

The following table provides information about common stock repurchase activity by the Company during the quarter ended December 31, 2020:

ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

On April 28, 2020, the Company’s Board of Directors (the Board) authorized the repurchase of up to two million shares of the Company’s common stock, which will terminate on April 27, 2021 (a Repurchase Authorization).  The Company has not made any repurchases other than through this Repurchase Authorization. The Company is not currently engaging in repurchase.  In the future, it may determine to resume repurchases.  All share purchases pursuant to a Repurchase Authorization are intended to be within the scope of Rule 10b-18 promulgated under the Exchange Act.  Rule 10b-18 provides a safe harbor for purchases in a given day if the Company satisfies the manner, timing and volume conditions of the rule when purchasing its own shares of common stock.  

Performance Graph

The performance graph below compares the cumulative total shareholder return on UMB Financial Corporation Common Stock with the cumulative total return on the equity securities of companies included in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index and the SNL U.S. Bank Index, measured at the last trading day of each year shown. The graph assumes an investment of $100 on December 31, 2015 and reinvestment of dividends. The performance graph represents past performance and should not be considered to be an indication of future performance.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Management’s Discussion and Analysis

This Management’s Discussion and Analysis highlights the material changes in the results of operations and changes in financial condition for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020.  It should be read in conjunction with the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, and other financial statistics appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Results of operations for the periods included in this review are not necessarily indicative of results to be attained during any future period.

CAUTIONARY NOTICE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

From time to time the Company has made, and in the future will make, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements often use words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “project,” “outlook,” “forecast,” “target,” “trend,” “plan,” “goal,” or other words of comparable meaning or future-tense or conditional verbs such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” or “could.” Forward-looking statements convey the Company’s expectations, intentions, or forecasts about future events, circumstances, results, or aspirations.

This report, including any information incorporated by reference in this report, contains forward-looking statements. The Company also may make forward-looking statements in other documents that are filed or furnished with the SEC. In addition, the Company may make forward-looking statements orally or in writing to investors, analysts, members of the media, or others.

All forward-looking statements, by their nature, are subject to assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, which may change over time and many of which are beyond the Company’s control. You should not rely on any forward-looking statement as a prediction or guarantee about the future.  Actual future objectives, strategies, plans, prospects, performance, conditions, or results may differ materially from those set forth in any forward-looking statement. While no list of assumptions, risks, or uncertainties could be complete, some of the factors that may cause actual results or other future events, circumstances, or aspirations to differ from those in forward-looking statements include:

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Any forward-looking statement made by the Company or on its behalf speaks only as of the date that it was made. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the impact of events, circumstances, or results that arise after the date that the statement was made, except as required by applicable securities laws. You, however, should consult further disclosures (including disclosures of a forward-looking nature) that the Company may make in any subsequent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, or Current Report on Form 8-K.

Results of Operations

Overview

During the first quarter of 2020, the global economy began experiencing a downturn related to the impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic.  Such impacts have included significant volatility in the global stock and fixed income markets, a 150-basis-point reduction in the target federal funds rate, the enactment of the CARES Act, including the PPP administered by the Small Business Administration, and a variety of rulings from the Company’s banking regulators.  

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The Company continues to actively monitor developments related to COVID-19 and its impact to its business, customers, employees, counterparties, vendors, and service providers. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company’s results of operations included building of the allowance for credit losses (ACL) and monitoring key macroeconomic variables utilized in the econometric models under the CECL accounting standard adopted on January 1, 2020 and $6.9 million of nonrecurring COVID-19 specific expenses.  Additionally, the Company continued to see impacts of the volatile equity and debt markets and low interest rate environment in its fee-based businesses.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company formed a Pandemic Taskforce and a steering group comprised of associates across multiple lines of business and support functions and has taken several actions to offer various forms of support to our customers, employees, and communities that have experienced impacts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. As of December 31, 2020, approximately 65% of the Company’s associates are working remotely.  The Company has also increased purchases of computer hardware to support a remote workforce, as well as incurred additional cleaning and janitorial expense to disinfect branch and office locations.  In addition, the Company is actively working with customers impacted by the economic downturn by offering payment deferrals and other loan modifications where appropriate.  See further details under “Credit Risk Management” within “Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.”  Additionally, the Company has recorded over 5,000 loans totaling $1.5 billion under the PPP.  

In light of volatility in the capital markets and economic disruptions, the Company continues to carefully monitor its capital and liquidity position. In March 2020, the U.S. banking agencies issued an interim final rule that provides banking organizations with an alternative option to delay for two years an estimate of CECL's effect on regulatory capital, relative to the incurred loss methodology’s effect on regulatory capital, followed by a three-year transition period. The Company elected this alternative in the first quarter of 2020.  The Company continues to anticipate that it will have sufficient capital levels to meet all applicable regulatory capital requirements.

The COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home and similar mandates have also necessitated certain actions related to the way the Company operates its business. As noted above, the Company transitioned most of its workforce off-site or to work-from-home to help mitigate health risks. The Company is also carefully monitoring the activities of its vendors and other third-party service providers to mitigate the risks associated with any potential service disruptions. The length of time it may be required to operate under such circumstances and future degrees of disruption remain uncertain. While the Company has not experienced material adverse disruptions to its internal operations due to the pandemic, it continues to review evolving risks and developments.

The Company focuses on the following four core financial objectives.  Management believes these objectives will guide its efforts to achieve its vision, to deliver the Unparalleled Customer Experience, all while seeking to improve net income and strengthen the balance sheet while undertaking prudent risk management.

The first financial objective is to continuously improve operating efficiencies. The Company has focused on identifying efficiencies that simplify our organizational and reporting structures, streamline back office functions and take advantage of synergies and newer technologies among various platforms and distribution networks. The Company has identified and expects to continue identifying ongoing efficiencies through the normal course of business that, when combined with increased revenue, will contribute to improved operating leverage.  For 2020, total revenue increased 17.6%, and noninterest expense also increased 5.5%, as compared to the previous year.  The Company continues to invest in technological advances that it believes will help management drive operating leverage in the future through improved data analysis and automation. The Company also continues to evaluate core systems and will invest in enhancements that it believes will yield operating efficiencies.

The second financial objective is to increase net interest income through profitable loan and deposit growth and the optimization of the balance sheet.  For 2020, net interest income increased $60.3 million, or 9.0%, as compared to the previous year. The Company has shown increased net interest income through the effects of increased volume and mix of average earning assets. Loans recorded under the PPP increased loan interest income by $29.5 million in 2020.  The additional increase in interest income was driven by an increase of $1.3 billion in PPP loans. These increases were offset by the recent interest rate reductions related to the pandemic.  Average loan balances increased $2.4 billion, or 18.5%, from prior year. Average PPP loans account for $1.0 billion of this increase. The funding for these assets was driven primarily by a 17.4% increase in average interest-bearing liabilities.  Net interest margin, on a tax-equivalent basis, decreased 31 basis points compared to the same period in 2019.

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The third financial objective is to grow the Company’s revenue from noninterest sources.  The Company seeks to grow noninterest revenues throughout all economic and interest rate cycles, while positioning itself to benefit in periods of economic growth.  Noninterest income increased $133.4 million, or 31.3%, to $560.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.  This increase was primarily attributable to an increase of $118.4 million in Investment securities gains, net, principally driven by the $108.8 million gain on the Company’s investment in Tattooed Chef, Inc., as well as increased fund serving income, and trading and investment banking income.  These changes are discussed in greater detail below under Noninterest income. As of December 31, 2020, noninterest income represented 43.4% of total revenues, as compared to 38.9% for 2019.

The fourth financial objective is effective capital management.  The Company places a significant emphasis on maintaining a strong capital position, which management believes promotes investor confidence, provides access to funding sources under favorable terms, and enhances the Company’s ability to capitalize on business growth and acquisition opportunities. The Company continues to maximize shareholder value through a mix of reinvesting in organic growth, evaluating acquisition opportunities that complement the Company’s strategies, increasing dividends over time, and appropriately utilizing a share repurchase program.  At December 31, 2020, the Company had a total risk-based capital ratio of 14.26% and $3.0 billion in total shareholders’ equity, an increase of $410.5 million, or 15.7%, compared to total shareholders’ equity at December 31, 2019. The Company repurchased 1.2 million shares of common stock at an average price of $53.27 per share during 2020 and declared $60.7 million in dividends, which represents a 1.8% increase compared to dividends declared during 2019.

Earnings Summary

The Company recorded consolidated income from continuing operations of $286.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020.  This represents a 17.6% increase over 2019.  Income from continuing operations for 2019 was $243.6 million, or an increase of 24.1% compared to 2018.  Basic earnings per share from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2020, were $5.95 per share compared to $4.99 per share in 2019, an increase of 19.2%.  Basic earnings per share from continuing operations were $3.98 per share in 2018, or an increase of 25.4% from 2018 to 2019. Fully diluted earnings per share from continuing operations increased 19.6% from 2019 to 2020 and increased 25.9% from 2018 to 2019.  

The Company’s net interest income increased to $731.2 million in 2020 compared to $670.9 million in 2019 and $610.4 million in 2018.  In total, a favorable volume variance, partially offset by an unfavorable rate variance, resulted in a $60.3 million increase in net interest income in 2020, compared to 2019.  See Table 2 on page 30.  The favorable volume variance on earning assets was predominantly driven by the increase in average loan balances of $2.4 billion, or 18.5%, for 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.  Net interest margin, on a tax-equivalent basis, decreased to 2.81% for 2020, compared to 3.12% for the same period in 2019, as the asset yields and the cost of interest-bearing liabilities decreased, coupled with an increased balance sheet.  This created significant margin compression.  The Company has seen a decrease in the benefit from interest-free funds as compared to 2019 driven by the lower rate environment.  The impact of this benefit decreased 28 basis points compared to 2019 and is illustrated on Table 3 on page 31.  The magnitude and duration of this impact will be largely dependent upon the FRB’s policy decisions and market movements. See Table 20 in Item 7A on page 52 for an illustration of the impact of an interest rate increase or decrease on net interest income as of December 31, 2020.

The provision for credit losses totaled $130.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, which is an increase of $97.7 million, or 297.3%, compared to the same period in 2019.  This change is the result of the adoption of the CECL standard and applying this methodology for computing the allowance for credit losses, coupled with the impacts of the current and forecasted economic environment related to the COVID-19 pandemic. See further discussion in “Provision and Allowance for Credit Losses” on page 31.  

The Company had an increase of $133.4 million, or 31.3%, in noninterest income in 2020, as compared to 2019, and an increase of $25.1 million, or 6.2%, in 2019, compared to 2018.  The increase in 2020 is primarily attributable to an increase of $118.4 million in Investment securities gains, net, primarily driven by the $108.8 million gain on the Company’s investment in Tattooed Chef, Inc., as well as increased fund serving income, and trading and investment banking income.  These are offset by decreases in brokerage and bankcard income.  The change in noninterest income in 2020 from 2019, and 2019 from 2018 is illustrated in Table 6 on page 35.

Noninterest expense increased in 2020 by $43.1 million, or 5.5%, compared to 2019 and increased by $61.1 million, or 8.5%, in 2019 compared to 2018.  The increase in 2020 is primarily driven by increases in salary and employee benefits expense, operating losses, and equipment expense.  These increases were offset by a decrease in

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marketing and business development expense.  The increase in noninterest expense in 2020 from 2019, and 2019 from 2018 is illustrated in Table 7 on page 36.

Net Interest Income

Net interest income is a significant source of the Company’s earnings and represents the amount by which interest income on earning assets exceeds the interest expense paid on liabilities.  The volume of interest earning assets and the related funding sources, the overall mix of these assets and liabilities, and the interest rates paid on each affect net interest income.  Table 2 summarizes the change in net interest income resulting from changes in volume and rates for 2020, 2019 and 2018.  

Net interest margin, presented in Table 1 on page 28, is calculated as net interest income on a fully tax- equivalent basis (FTE) as a percentage of average earning assets.  Net interest income is presented on a tax-equivalent basis to adjust for the tax-exempt status of earnings from certain loans and investments, which are primarily obligations of state and local governments.  A critical component of net interest income and related net interest margin is the percentage of earning assets funded by interest-free sources.  Table 3 analyzes net interest margin for the three years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018.  Net interest income, average balance sheet amounts and the corresponding yields earned and rates paid for the years 2018 through 2020 are presented in Table 1 below.

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The following table presents, for the periods indicated, the average earning assets and resulting yields, as well as the average interest-bearing liabilities and resulting yields, expressed in both dollars and rates.

Table 1

THREE YEAR AVERAGE BALANCE SHEETS/YIELDS AND RATES (tax-equivalent basis)

(in millions) 

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THREE YEAR AVERAGE BALANCE SHEETS/YIELDS AND RATES (tax-equivalent basis)

(in millions)  

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Table 2

RATE-VOLUME ANALYSIS (in thousands)

This analysis attributes changes in net interest income either to changes in average balances or to changes in average interest rates for earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities.  The change in net interest income that is due to both volume and interest rate has been allocated to volume and interest rate in proportion to the relationship of the absolute dollar amount of the change in each.  All interest rates are presented on a tax-equivalent basis and give effect to tax-exempt interest income net of the disallowance of interest expense for federal income tax purposes, related to certain tax-free assets.  The loan average balances and rates include nonaccrual loans.

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Table 3

ANALYSIS OF NET INTEREST MARGIN (in thousands)

The Company experienced an increase in net interest income of $60.3 million, or 9.0%, for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to 2019.  This follows an increase of $60.5 million, or 9.9%, for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to 2018.  Average earning assets for the year ended December 31, 2020 increased by $4.7 billion, or 21.1%, compared to the same period in 2019.  Net interest margin, on a tax-equivalent basis, decreased to 2.81% for 2020 compared to 3.12% in 2019.    

The Company funds a significant portion of its balance sheet with noninterest-bearing demand deposits.  Noninterest-bearing demand deposits represented 36.5%, 32.1% and 34.6% of total outstanding deposits at December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.  As illustrated in Table 3, the impact from these interest-free funds was 15 basis points in 2020, as compared to 43 basis points in 2019 and 33 basis points in 2018.

The Company has experienced an increase in net interest income during 2020 due to a volume variance of $115.8 million, offset by a negative rate variance of $55.5 million.  The average rate on earning assets during 2020 has decreased by 88 basis points, while the average rate on interest-bearing liabilities decreased by 85 basis points, resulting in a three basis-point decrease in spread.  The volume of loans has increased from an average of $12.8 billion in 2019 to an average of $15.1 billion in 2020 driven both by organic loan growth and participation in the PPP loan program.  The volume of interest-bearing liabilities increased from $14.9 billion in 2019 to $17.5 billion in 2020.  The Company expects to see continued volatility in the economic markets and government responses to these changes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  These changing conditions and governmental responses could have impacts on the balance sheet and income statement of the Company in 2021.  Loan-related earning assets tend to generate a higher spread than those earned in the Company’s investment portfolio.  By design, the Company’s investment portfolio is moderate in duration and liquid in its composition of assets.    

During 2021, approximately $1.8 billion of available-for-sale securities are expected to have principal repayments.  This includes approximately $592 million which will have principal repayments during the first quarter of 2021.  The available-for-sale investment portfolio had an average life of 70.1 months, 70.9 months, and 56.8 months as of December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively. 

Provision and Allowance for Credit Losses

The ACL represents management’s judgment of total expected losses included in the Company’s loan portfolio as of the balance sheet date.  The Company’s process for recording the ACL is based on the evaluation of the Company’s lifetime historical loss experience, management’s understanding of the credit quality inherent in the loan portfolio, and the impact of the current economic environment, coupled with reasonable and supportable economic forecasts.

A mathematical calculation of an estimate is made to assist in determining the adequacy and reasonableness of management’s recorded ACL.  To develop the estimate, the Company follows the guidelines in Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 326, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (ASC 326).  The estimate reserves for assets held at amortized cost and any related credit deterioration in the Company’s available-for-sale debt security portfolio.  Assets held at amortized cost include the Company’s loan book and held-to-maturity security portfolio.

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The process involves the consideration of quantitative and qualitative factors relevant to the specific segmentation of loans.  These factors have been established over decades of financial institution experience and include economic observation and loan loss characteristics.  This process is designed to produce a lifetime estimate of the losses, at a reporting date, that includes evaluation of historical loss experience, current economic conditions, reasonable and supportable forecasts, and the qualitative framework outlined by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the published 2020 Interagency Policy Statement.  This process allows management to take a holistic view of the recorded ACL reserve and ensure that all significant and pertinent information is considered.

The Company considers a variety of factors to ensure the safety and soundness of its estimate including a strong internal control framework, extensive methodology documentation, credit underwriting standards which encompass the Company’s desired risk profile, model validation, and ratio analysis.  If the Company’s total ACL estimate, as determined in accordance with the approved ACL methodology, is either outside a reasonable range based on review of economic indicators or by comparison of historical ratio analysis, the ACL estimate is an outlier and management will investigate the underlying reason(s).  Based on that investigation, issues or factors that previously had not been considered may be identified in the estimation process, which may warrant adjustments to estimated credit losses.

The ending result of this process is a recorded consolidated ACL that represents management’s best estimate of the total expected losses included in the loan portfolio, held-to-maturity securities, and credit deterioration in available-for-sale securities.

Table 4 presents the components of the allowance by loan portfolio segment.  The Company manages the ACL against the risk in the entire loan portfolio and therefore, the allocation of the ACL to a particular loan segment may change in the future.  Management of the Company believes the present ACL is adequate considering the Company’s loss experience, delinquency trends and current economic conditions.  Future economic conditions and borrowers’ ability to meet their obligations, however, are uncertainties which could affect the Company’s ACL and/or need to change its current level of provision.  For more information on loan portfolio segments and ACL methodology refer to Note 3, “Loans and Allowance for Credit Losses,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Table 4

ALLOCATION OF ALLOWANCE FOR CREDIT LOSSES (in thousands)

This table presents an allocation of the allowance for credit losses by loan portfolio segment, which represents the total expected losses derived by both quantitative and qualitative methods. The amounts presented are not necessarily indicative of actual future charge-offs in any particular category and are subject to change.  The disclosure as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 are presented based on the loan classes upon adoption of ASC 326, while prior period amounts continue to be presented in accordance with the loan classes under previously applicable GAAP.

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Table 5 presents a five-year summary of the Company’s ACL.  Also, please see “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk – Credit Risk Management” on page 54 in this report for information relating to nonaccrual, past due, restructured loans, and other credit risk matters.  For more information on loan portfolio segments and ACL methodology refer to Note 3, “Loans and Allowance for Credit Losses,” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

As illustrated in Table 5 below, the ACL increased as a percentage of total loans to 1.34% as of December 31, 2020, compared to 0.76% as of December 31, 2019.  The provision for credit losses, including provision for off-balance sheet credit exposures, totaled $130.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, which is an increase of $97.7 million, or 297.3%, compared to the same period in 2019.  This increase is the result of the adoption of the CECL standard and applying this methodology for computing the allowance for credit losses, coupled with the impacts of the current and forecasted economic environment related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The provision for loan losses totaled $32.9 million and $70.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

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Table 5

ANALYSIS OF ALLOWANCE FOR CREDIT LOSSES (in thousands)