Eastern Bankshares Inc

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark one)

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2023

Or

Commission File Number 001-39610

Eastern Bankshares, Inc.

(Exact name of the registrant as specified in its charter)

(800)327-8376

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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 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 and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted 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 and post such files).☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting 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 issued its audit report.☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Securities Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b).☐

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

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the last sale price as of June 30, 2023 of $12.27, as reported by the Nasdaq Global Select Market, was $1,882,518,640.

176,426,993 shares of the Registrant’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, were issued and outstanding as of February 22, 2024.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant's definitive proxy statement relating to its 2024 annual meeting of shareholders (the “2024 Proxy Statement”) are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. The 2024 Proxy Statement will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this report relates.

Index

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

When we use the terms “we”, “us”, “our,” and the “Company,” we mean Eastern Bankshares, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries, taken as a whole, unless the context otherwise indicates.

Certain statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K that are not historical facts may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, which are based on certain current assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of the words “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “plan,” “potential,” “estimate,” “project,” “believe,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “target” and similar expressions.

Forward-looking statements are based on the current assumptions and beliefs of management and are only expectations of future results. The Company’s actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of, among others, factors:

•changes in regional, national or international macroeconomic conditions, including changes in inflation, recessionary pressures or interest rates in the United States;

•the possibility that future credit losses, loan defaults and charge-off rates are higher than expected due to changes in economic assumptions or adverse economic developments;

•general business and economic conditions on a national basis and in the local markets in which we operate, including those impacting credit quality;

•turbulence in the capital and debt markets and within the banking industry;

•decreases in the value of securities and other assets;

•decreases in deposit levels necessitating increased borrowing to fund loans, investments and other needs;

•competitive pressures from other financial institutions;

•operational risks including, but not limited to, cybersecurity incidents, fraud, natural disasters and future pandemics, including COVID-19;

•changes in regulation, legislation, accounting standards and practices, and fiscal monetary policy;

•the risk that goodwill and intangibles recorded in our financial statements will become impaired;

•risks related to the implementation of acquisitions, dispositions, and restructurings, including the pending merger with Cambridge Bancorp and Cambridge Trust Company, which is further described in Part I, Item 1 in this Annual Report on Form 10-K under “Recent Acquisitions – Bank Acquisitions,” including the risk that acquisitions may not be timely completed or at all and may not produce results at levels or within time frames originally anticipated, including due to delays in obtaining regulatory approvals or to the conditions associated with such approvals;

•risks related to the potential integration of Cambridge Bancorp and Cambridge Trust Company, including that revenue and expense synergies or other expected benefits may not materialize or may be more costly to achieve than anticipated and that the combined businesses may not perform as expected;

•the risk that we may not be successful in the implementation of our business strategy;

•changes in assumptions used in making such forward-looking statements; and

•other risks and uncertainties detailed in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.