WINTRUST FINANCIAL CORP

Item 1: Legal Proceedings

In accordance with applicable accounting principles, the Company establishes an accrued liability for litigation and threatened litigation actions and proceedings when those actions present loss contingencies, which are both probable and estimable. In actions for which a loss is reasonably possible in future periods, the Company determines whether it can estimate a loss or range of possible loss. To determine whether a possible loss is estimable, the Company reviews and evaluates its material litigation on an ongoing basis, in conjunction with any outside counsel handling the matter, in light of potentially relevant factual and legal developments. This review may include information learned through the discovery process, rulings on substantive or dispositive motions, and settlement discussions.

Wintrust Mortgage California PAGA Matter

On May 24, 2022, a former Wintrust Mortgage employee filed a California Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) suit, not individually, but as representative of all Wintrust Mortgage’s California hourly employees, against Wintrust Mortgage in the Superior Court of San Diego County, California. Plaintiff alleges Wintrust Mortgage failed to provide: (i) accurate sick leave accrual and pay; (ii) overtime wages; (iii) accurately itemized wage statements; (iv) meal breaks and meal premiums; (v) timely payment of earned wages; (vi) payment of all earned wages; and (vii) payment of all vested vacation hours. Wintrust Mortgage disputes the validity of Plaintiff’s claims and believes, to the extent there were defects in complying with California law governing the payment of compensation to Plaintiff, such errors would have been de minimis. Plaintiff also has an arbitration agreement with a collective and class action waiver and on January 19, 2023, Wintrust Mortgage moved to compel arbitration. The court has stayed litigation pending mediation, which will occur on May 13, 2024. We dispute plaintiff’s allegations and otherwise lack sufficient information to estimate the amount of any potential liability. We plan to vigorously defend ourselves against the claims brought by the plaintiff in this matter.

Wintrust Mortgage Fair Lending Matter

On May 25, 2022, a Wintrust Mortgage customer filed a putative class action and asserted individual claims against Wintrust Mortgage and Wintrust Financial Corporation in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Plaintiff alleges that Wintrust Mortgage discriminated against black/African American borrowers and brings class claims under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Sections 1981 and 1982 under Chapter 42 of the United States Code; and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Plaintiff also asserts individual claims under theories of promissory estoppel, fraudulent inducement, and breach of contract. On September 23, 2022, Wintrust filed a motion to dismiss the entire suit and the court granted that motion to dismiss on September 27, 2023, giving Plaintiff until October 20, 2023 to file an amended complaint. Plaintiff timely filed an amended complaint. On November 21, 2023, Wintrust filed its motion to dismiss the amended complaint. Wintrust vigorously disputes these allegations, and Wintrust otherwise lacks sufficient information to estimate the amount of any potential liability.

Wintrust Financial ERISA Matter

On July 29, 2022, a former Wintrust employee filed a class action in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois asserting claims under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) against Wintrust Financial Corporation. Plaintiff alleges Wintrust breached its fiduciary duty in the selection of BlackRock Target Date funds for inclusion in its 401(k) plan, that Wintrust failed to monitor the performance of those funds, and in the alternative, Wintrust should be liable for breach of trust. Plaintiff’s sole basis for the allegations is that BlackRock Target Date funds allegedly performed more poorly than two comparable funds over a three-year period. Wintrust is one of several public companies that were sued on identical grounds within the same week by the same plaintiff’s law firm. On November 8, 2022, Wintrust filed a motion to dismiss the entire complaint. On July 14, 2023, the District Court granted Wintrust’s motion to dismiss and gave Plaintiff until August 2, 2023 to file an amended complaint. Plaintiff timely filed an amended complaint which Wintrust moved to dismiss on September 14, 2023. Wintrust vigorously disputes plaintiff’s allegations, and otherwise lacks sufficient information to estimate the amount of any potential liability.

Other Matters

In addition, the Company and its subsidiaries, from time to time, are subject to pending and threatened legal action and proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business.

Based on information currently available and upon consultation with counsel, management believes that the eventual outcome of any pending or threatened legal actions and proceedings described above, including our ordinary course litigation, will not have a material adverse effect on the operations or financial condition of the Company. However, it is possible that the ultimate resolution of these matters, if unfavorable, may be material to the results of operations or financial condition for a particular period.