This Annual Report includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this Annual Report that address results or developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future, and statements that are preceded by, followed by or include, words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “goal,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “probable,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “target,” “view” or “would” or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases, including such things as our business strategy, our financial condition, our revenue, our liquidity and sources of funding, market trends, operations and business, taxes, information technology expenses, cybersecurity incidents, capital levels, mortgage servicing rights (“MSR”) assets, stock repurchases, dividend payments, expectations concerning mortgage loan origination volume, servicer advances and interest rate compression, expected levels of refinancing as a percentage of total loan origination volume, projected losses on mortgage loans originated, total expenses, the effects of government regulation applicable to our operations, the appropriateness of, and changes in, our allowance for credit losses and provision for (reversal of) credit losses, expected future benchmarks rates, anticipated investment yields, our expectations regarding accretion of discount on loans in future periods, the collectability of loans, and the outcome of litigation are forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future performance taking into account all information currently available to us. These beliefs, assumptions and expectations are subject to risks and uncertainties and can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to us. If an event occurs, our business, business plan, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ include, among others:
| ● | the credit risks of lending activities, including our ability to estimate credit losses and the allowance for credit losses, as well as the effects of changes in the level of, and trends in, loan delinquencies and write-offs; |
| ● | effectiveness of our data security controls in the face of cyber attacks and any legal, reputational and financial and financial risks following a cybersecurity incident; |
| ● | changes in general economic, market and business conditions in areas or markets where we compete, including changes in the price of crude oil; |
| ● | changes in the interest rate environment; |
| ● | risks associated with our concentration in real estate related loans; |
| ● | the effects of our indebtedness on our ability to manage our business successfully, including the restrictions imposed by the indenture governing our indebtedness; |
| ● | disruptions to the economy and financial services industry, risks associated with uninsured deposits and responsive measures by federal or state governments or banking regulators, including increases in the cost of our deposit insurance assessments; |
| ● | cost and availability of capital; |
| ● | changes in state and federal laws, regulations or policies affecting one or more of our business segments, including changes in policies under the new Presidential administration, changes in regulatory fees, deposit insurance premiums, capital requirements and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”); |
| ● | changes in key management; |
| ● | competition in our banking, broker-dealer, and mortgage origination segments from other banks and financial institutions as well as investment banking and financial advisory firms, mortgage bankers, asset-based non-bank lenders and government agencies; |
| ● | legal and regulatory proceedings; |
| ● | risks associated with merger and acquisition integration; and |
| ● | our ability to use excess capital in an effective manner. |
For a more detailed discussion of these and other factors that may affect our business and that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, see Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” and Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” herein. We caution that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive, and new factors may emerge, or changes to the foregoing factors may occur, that could impact our business. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning our business attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. We do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, relating to the matters discussed in this Annual Report except to the extent required by federal securities laws.
