Junior Subordinated Debentures

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Junior Subordinated Debentures

Junior Subordinated Debentures

(12) Junior Subordinated Debentures

As of June 30, 2011, the Company owned 100% of the common securities of nine trusts, Wintrust Capital Trust III, Wintrust Statutory Trust IV, Wintrust Statutory Trust V, Wintrust Capital Trust VII, Wintrust Capital Trust VIII, Wintrust Capital Trust IX, Northview Capital Trust I, Town Bankshares Capital Trust I, and First Northwest Capital Trust I (the "Trusts") set up to provide long-term financing. The Northview, Town and First Northwest capital trusts were acquired as part of the acquisitions of Northview Financial Corporation, Town Bankshares, Ltd., and First Northwest Bancorp, Inc., respectively. The Trusts were formed for purposes of issuing trust preferred securities to third-party investors and investing the proceeds from the issuance of the trust preferred securities and common securities solely in junior subordinated debentures issued by the Company (or assumed by the Company in connection with an acquisition), with the same maturities and interest rates as the trust preferred securities. The junior subordinated debentures are the sole assets of the Trusts. In each Trust, the common securities represent approximately 3% of the junior subordinated debentures and the trust preferred securities represent approximately 97% of the junior subordinated debentures.

The Trusts are reported in the Company's consolidated financial statements as unconsolidated subsidiaries. Accordingly, in the Consolidated Statements of Condition, the junior subordinated debentures issued by the Company to the Trusts are reported as liabilities and the common securities of the Trusts, all of which are owned by the Company, are included in available-for-sale securities.

The following table provides a summary of the Company's junior subordinated debentures as of June 30, 2011. The junior subordinated debentures represent the par value of the obligations owed to the Trusts.

(Dollars in thousands)	Common Securities		Trust Preferred Securities		Junior Subordinated Debentures		Rate Structure		Contractual rate at 6/30/11			Issue Date		Maturity Date		Earliest Redemption Date
Wintrust Capital Trust III	$	774	$	25,000	$	25,774		L+3.25		3.53	%		04/2003		04/2033		04/2008
Wintrust Statutory Trust IV		619		20,000		20,619		L+2.80		3.05	%		12/2003		12/2033		12/2008
Wintrust Statutory Trust V		1,238		40,000		41,238		L+2.60		2.85	%		05/2004		05/2034		06/2009
Wintrust Capital Trust VII		1,550		50,000		51,550		L+1.95		2.20	%		12/2004		03/2035		03/2010
Wintrust Capital Trust VIII		1,238		40,000		41,238		L+1.45		1.70	%		08/2005		09/2035		09/2010
Wintrust Captial Trust IX		1,547		50,000		51,547		Fixed		6.84	%		09/2006		09/2036		09/2011
Northview Capital Trust I		186		6,000		6,186		L+3.00		3.27	%		08/2003		11/2033		08/2008
Town Bankshares Capital Trust I		186		6,000		6,186		L+3.00		3.27	%		08/2003		11/2033		08/2008
First Northwest Capital Trust I		155		5,000		5,155		L+3.00		3.25	%		05/2004		05/2034		05/2009
Total					$	249,493				3.46	%

The junior subordinated debentures totaled $249.5 million at June 30, 2011, December 31, 2010 and June 30, 2010.

The interest rates on the variable rate junior subordinated debentures are based on the three-month LIBOR rate and reset on a quarterly basis. The interest rate on the Wintrust Capital Trust IX junior subordinated debentures, currently fixed at 6.84%, changes to a variable rate equal to three-month LIBOR plus 1.63% effective September 15, 2011. At June 30, 2011, the weighted average contractual interest rate on the junior subordinated debentures was 3.46%. The Company entered into $175 million of interest rate swaps to hedge the variable cash flows on certain junior subordinated debentures. The hedge-adjusted rate on the junior subordinated debentures on June 30, 2011, was 6.99%. Distributions on the common and preferred securities issued by the Trusts are payable quarterly at a rate per annum equal to the interest rates being earned by the Trusts on the junior subordinated debentures. Interest expense on the junior subordinated debentures is deductible for income tax purposes.

The Company has guaranteed the payment of distributions and payments upon liquidation or redemption of the trust preferred securities, in each case to the extent of funds held by the Trusts. The Company and the Trusts believe that, taken together, the obligations of the Company under the guarantees, the junior subordinated debentures, and other related agreements provide, in the aggregate, a full, irrevocable and unconditional guarantee, on a subordinated basis, of all of the obligations of the Trusts under the trust preferred securities. Subject to certain limitations, the Company has the right to defer the payment of interest on the junior subordinated debentures at any time, or from time to time, for a period not to exceed 20 consecutive quarters. The trust preferred securities are subject to mandatory redemption, in whole or in part, upon repayment of the junior subordinated debentures at maturity or their earlier redemption. The junior subordinated debentures are redeemable in whole or in part prior to maturity at any time after the earliest redemption dates shown in the table, and earlier at the discretion of the Company if certain conditions are met, and, in any event, only after the Company has obtained Federal Reserve approval, if then required under applicable guidelines or regulations.

The junior subordinated debentures, subject to certain limitations, qualify as Tier 1 capital of the Company for regulatory purposes. The amount of junior subordinated debentures and certain other capital elements in excess of those certain limitations could be included in Tier 2 capital, subject to restrictions. At June 30, 2011, all of the junior subordinated debentures, net of the Common Securities, were included in the Company's Tier 1 regulatory capital.