Regulatory Matters

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Regulatory Matters

Regulatory Matters

Note 5:   Regulatory Matters

The Company, Merchants Bank, and FMBI 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 federal and state banking 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, Merchants Bank, and FMBI must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of the Company’s, Merchants Bank’s, and FMBI’s assets, liabilities and certain off-balance-sheet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. The Company’s, Merchants Bank’s, and FMBI’s capital amounts and classification are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, and other factors. Furthermore, the Company’s, Merchants Bank’s, and FMBI’s regulators could require adjustments to regulatory capital not reflected in these financial statements.

Quantitative measures established by regulation to ensure capital adequacy require the Company, Merchants Bank, and FMBI to maintain minimum amounts and ratios (set forth in the table below). Management believes, as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, that the Company, Merchants Bank, and FMBI met all capital adequacy requirements to which they were subject.

As of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the most recent notifications from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Federal Reserve”) categorized the Company as well capitalized and most recent notifications from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) categorized Merchants Bank and FMBI as well capitalized under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action. There are no conditions or events since that notification that management believes have changed the Company’s, Merchants Bank’s, or FMBI’s category.

On November 13, 2019, the federal regulators finalized and adopted a regulatory capital rule establishing a new community bank leverage ratio (“CBLR”), which became effective on January 1, 2020. The intent of CBLR is to provide a simple alternative measure of capital adequacy for electing qualifying depository institutions and depository institution holding companies, as directed under the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. Under CBLR, if a qualifying depository institution or depository institution holding company elects to use such measure, such institution or holding company will be considered well capitalized if its ratio of Tier 1 capital to average total consolidated assets (i.e., leverage ratio) exceeds 9%, subject to a limited two quarter grace period, during which the leverage ratio cannot go 100 basis points below the then applicable threshold, and will not be required to calculate and report risk-based capital ratios. In April 2020, under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act”), the 9% leverage ratio threshold was temporarily reduced to 8% in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The threshold will increase to 8.5% in 2021 and return to 9% in 2022.  The Company, Merchants Bank, and FMBI elected to begin using CBLR for the first quarter of 2020.

The Company’s, Merchants Bank’s, and FMBI’s actual capital amounts and ratios are presented in the following tables.

					Minimum Amount
					To Be Well
	Actual				Capitalized(1)
	Amount		Ratio		Amount		Ratio
	(Dollars in thousands)
March 31, 2020
Tier 1 capital(1) (to average assets)
(i.e., leverage ratio)
Company	$	652,781	9.9	%	$	592,662	> 9	%
Merchants Bank		642,891	10.1	%		574,263	> 9	%
FMBI		21,969	10.7	%		18,397	> 9	%

					Minimum				Minimum
					Amount Required				Amount To Be
					for Adequately				Well
	Actual				Capitalized(1)				Capitalized(1)
	Amount		Ratio		Amount		Ratio		Amount		Ratio
	(Dollars in thousands)
December 31, 2019
Total capital(1) (to risk-weighted assets)
Company	$	637,472	11.6	%	$	440,063	8.0	%	$	—	N/A
Merchants Bank		639,104	12.0	%		426,748	8.0	%		533,435	10.0	%
FMBI		21,726	13.1	%		13,306	8.0	%		16,632	10.0	%
Tier 1 capital(1) (to risk-weighted assets)
Company		621,630	11.3	%		330,047	6.0	%		—	N/A
Merchants Bank		623,716	11.7	%		320,061	6.0	%		426,748	8.0	%
FMBI		21,272	12.8	%		9,979	6.0	%		13,306	8.0	%
Common Equity Tier 1 capital(1) (to risk-weighted assets)
Company		408,984	7.4	%		247,536	4.5	%		—	N/A
Merchants Bank		623,716	11.7	%		240,046	4.5	%		346,733	6.5	%
FMBI		21,272	12.8	%		7,484	4.5	%		10,811	6.5	%
Tier 1 capital(1) (to average assets)
Company		621,630	9.4	%		264,324	4.0	%		—	N/A
Merchants Bank		623,716	9.7	%		257,487	4.0	%		321,859	5.0	%
FMBI		21,272	11.7	%		7,302	4.0	%		9,128	5.0	%

1 As defined by regulatory agencies.

Failure to exceed the leverage ratio thresholds required under CBLR in the future, subject to any applicable grace period, would require the Company, Merchants Bank, and/or FMBI to return to the risk-based capital ratio thresholds previously utilized under the fully phased-in Basel III Capital Rules to determine capital adequacy.