INDEPENDENT BANK CORP

Capital Resources On June 20, 2024 the Company’s Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.57 per share to shareholders of record as of the close of business on July 1, 2024. This dividend was paid on July 8, 2024.

The Company and the Bank are subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by the federal banking agencies. Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on the Company’s financial statements. Under capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, the Company and the Bank must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of the Company’s and the Bank’s assets, liabilities and certain off-balance sheet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. The capital amounts and classifications are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, risk weightings and other factors.

Quantitative measures established by regulation to ensure capital adequacy require the Company and the Bank to maintain minimum amounts and ratios (set forth in the table below) of Total, Tier 1 Capital and Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (as defined for regulatory purposes) to risk weighted assets (as defined for regulatory purposes) and Tier 1 Capital to average assets (as defined for regulatory purposes). At June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company and the Bank exceeded the minimum requirements for all applicable ratios that were in effect during the respective periods. The Company’s and the Bank’s capital amounts and ratios are presented in the following table, along with the applicable minimum requirements as of each date indicated:

Table 8 - Company and Bank's Capital Amounts and Ratios

In addition to the minimum risk-based capital requirements outlined in the table above, the Company is required to maintain a minimum capital conservation buffer, in the form of common equity, in order to avoid restrictions on capital distributions and discretionary bonuses. The required amount of the capital conservation buffer is 2.5%. At June 30, 2024, the Company's capital levels exceeded the buffer.

Dividend Restrictions The Company is subject to capital and dividend requirements administered by federal and state bank regulators, and the Company will not declare a cash dividend that would cause the Company to violate regulatory requirements. The Company is, in the ordinary course of business, dependent upon the receipt of cash dividends from the Bank to pay cash dividends to shareholders and satisfy the Company’s other cash needs. Federal and state law impose limits on capital distributions by the Bank. Massachusetts-chartered banks, such as the Bank, may declare from net profits cash dividends not more frequently than quarterly and non-cash dividends at any time. No dividends may be declared, credited, or paid if the Bank’s capital stock would be impaired. Massachusetts Bank Commissioner approval is required if the total of all dividends declared by the Bank in any calendar year would exceed the total of its net profits for that year combined with its retained net profits of the preceding two years, less any required transfer to surplus or a fund for the retirement of any preferred stock. Dividends paid by the Bank to the Company totaled $45.3 million and $55.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively and totaled $93.2 million and $122.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Trust Preferred Securities In accordance with the applicable accounting standard related to variable interest entities, the common stock of trusts which have issued trust preferred securities has not been included in the consolidated financial statements of the Company. At both June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023 there were $61.0 million in trust preferred securities included in the Tier 2 capital of the Company for regulatory reporting purposes pursuant to the Federal Reserve's capital adequacy guidelines.