SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2025
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES	NOTE 1. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Nature of Operations First Busey Corporation, a Nevada corporation organized in 1980, is an $18.92 billion financial holding company headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. Busey’s common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BUSE” and Busey’s Depositary shares, each representing a 1/40th interest in a share of Busey Series B Preferred Stock is traded under the symbol “BUSEP.” Busey operates and reports its business in three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and FirsTech. •The Banking operating segment provides a full range of banking services to individual and corporate customers through its banking center network in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. •The Wealth Management operating segment provides a full range of asset management, investment, brokerage, fiduciary, philanthropic advisory, tax preparation, and farm management services to individuals, businesses, and foundations. •The FirsTech operating segment provides comprehensive and innovative payment technology solutions including online, mobile, and voice-recognition bill payments; money management and credit card networks; direct debit services; lockbox remittance processing for payments made by mail; and walk-in payments. FirsTech also provides additional tools to help clients with billing, reconciliation, bill reminders, and treasury services. For additional information about Busey's operating segments, see “Note 16. Operating Segments and Related Information.” Busey conducts its Banking and Wealth Management services through Busey Bank, and provides payment technology solutions through Busey Bank’s wholly owned subsidiary, FirsTech. Busey also has various other subsidiaries that are not significant to the consolidated entity. Basis of Financial Statement Presentation These unaudited consolidated financial statements and related notes should be read together with the audited consolidated financial statements included in Busey's 2024 Annual Report. These interim unaudited consolidated financial statements serve to update Busey’s 2024 Annual Report and may not include all information and notes necessary to constitute a complete set of financial statements. Busey’s unaudited consolidated financial statements are prepared in conformity with GAAP, and reflect the elimination of intercompany accounts and transactions. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. These reclassifications did not have a material impact on Busey’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations. In the opinion of Busey’s management, the unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all normal, recurring adjustments needed to present fairly Busey’s results for the interim periods. The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year or any other interim period. Use of Estimates In preparing the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP, Busey’s management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and the disclosures provided. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Material estimates which are particularly susceptible to significant change in the near term relate to the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations, goodwill, income taxes, and the determination of the ACL. Cash and Cash Equivalents Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand, cash items in process of collection, amounts due from other banks, and interest-bearing deposits held with other financial institutions. The carrying amount of these instruments is considered a reasonable estimate of fair value. At June 30, 2025, cash and cash equivalents included $13.6 million contractually restricted by a third-party service provider, $24.8 million pledged to secure obligations under derivative contracts, and $68.0 million of reserved cash subject to call by the Federal Reserve Bank, as a member of the Federal Reserve System. Income Taxes Busey is subject to income taxes in U.S. federal and various state jurisdictions. First Busey Corporation and its subsidiaries file consolidated federal and state income tax returns with each subsidiary computing its taxes on a separate entity basis. Tax regulations within each jurisdiction are subject to the interpretation of the related tax laws and regulations, which requires significant judgment. On July 4, 2025, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" was enacted, introducing several amendments to federal tax legislation. Key provisions of the act include the restoration of immediate expensing of domestic research and development expenditures, reinstatement of 100% bonus depreciation, and more favorable rules for determining the limitation on business interest expense. Busey is currently evaluating the impact of this legislation for future periods. As of June 30, 2025, Busey Bank was under examination by the Florida Department of Revenue for its 2020 to 2022 corporate income tax filings. Busey Bank accrued $0.1 million related to potential assessment adjustments and interest. Busey had no accruals for payments of interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions at June 30, 2025 or 2024. As of June 30, 2025, Busey was also under examination by the Illinois Department of Revenue for M&M’s tax filings for the tax years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023. Preferred Stock On March 1, 2025, in connection with the CrossFirst acquisition, Busey issued 7,750 shares of Busey Series A Preferred Stock, which were issued to holders of shares of CrossFirst Series A Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock. The Busey Series A Preferred Stock bears a dividend rate of 8.00% per annum on the liquidation preference of $1,000 per share. Quarterly dividend payments commenced on June 13, 2025. The Busey Series A Preferred Stock is not subject to any mandatory redemption, sinking fund, or similar provision. Busey may redeem the Busey Series A Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, on or after March 1, 2030, subject to the approval of the appropriate federal banking agency, at a redemption price of $1,000 per share, plus any declared and unpaid dividends, without accumulation of any undeclared dividends, to, but excluding, the date of redemption. Additional information about the Busey Series A Preferred Stock can be found in Busey ’s Form 8-K filed with the SEC on August 2 7, 2024, and the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated August 26, 2024, by and between First Busey Corporation and CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. filed therewith. On May 20, 2025, Busey issued 8,600,000 depositary shares (the “Depositary Shares,”), which are traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BUSEP.” Each Depositary Share represents a 1/40th interest in a share of Busey Series B Preferred Stock. The Series B Preferred Stock has a liquidation preference of $1,000 per share (equivalent to $25 per Depositary Share). Quarterly dividend payments for the Series B Preferred Stock are expected to commence on September 1, 2025. The Series B Preferred Stock is not subject to any mandatory redemption, sinking fund, or similar provision. Busey may redeem the Series B Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, at its option, on any dividend payment date on or after June 1, 2030, subject to the approval of the appropriate federal banking agency, at a redemption price of $1,000 per share (equivalent to $25 per Depositary Share) plus any declared and unpaid dividends to, but excluding, the date of redemption. Additional information about the Depositary Shares and the Series B Preferred Stock can be found in Busey’s Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 20, 2025, and the exhibits filed therewith. Impact of Recently Adopted Accounting Standards In March 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-01 “Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope Application of Profits Interest and Similar Awards” to clarify that certain “profits interests” are within the scope of Topic 718 by amending the language and providing illustrative examples on how the scope guidance in paragraph 718-10-15-3 should be applied. This update is intended to improve clarity of the accounting standards codification, not to change the guidance. This update was adopted on a prospective basis for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2025. Busey does not currently have any Profit Interest and Similar Awards, so adoption of this ASU did not have any impact on its financial position and results of operations. In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023‑07 “Segment Reporting (Topic 820): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures” requiring enhanced disclosures related to significant segment expenses. This standard was adopted on a retrospective basis beginning with the annual reporting period ending December 31, 2024, and for interim reporting periods within fiscal years starting January 1, 2025. Adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on Busey’s financial position or results of operations, but resulted in enhanced disclosures. Recently Issued Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted In July 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-05 “Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses for Accounts Receivable and Contract Assets,” providing a practical expedient which, if elected, permits an entity to assume that current conditions as of the balance sheet date will remain static for the remaining life of the assets, removing the requirement to consider reasonable, supportable forecasts. The amendments in this update are to be applied prospectively, and will be effective for Busey for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2026. Early adoption is permitted. Busey is currently evaluating the effect this ASU may have on its financial position and results of operations. In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-04 “Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20): Induced Conversions of Convertible Debt Instruments” to clarify when certain settlements of convertible debt instruments should be accounted for as an induced conversion. The amendments in this update may be applied on either a prospective or retrospective basis and will be effective for Busey for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2026. Because Busey does not currently have any convertible debt, the Company does not expect adoption of this ASU to have any impact on its financial position or results of operations. In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03 “Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses” to require additional disclosures within the notes to the financial statements about certain expense items. Specifically, disaggregation of income statement captions that contain expenses within the following five categories is required: (1) purchases of inventory, (2) employee compensation, (3) depreciation, (4) intangible asset amortization, and (5) depreciation, depletion, and amortization (“DD&A”) costs recognized as part of oil- and gas-producing activities or other amounts of depletion expense. Further, this update requires disclosure of the total amount of selling expenses and the entity’s definition of selling expenses. This update provides a practical expedient for banks and bank holding companies to continue presenting salaries and employee benefits in conformity with SEC Rule 210.9-04 instead of requiring those entities to apply the employee compensation definition included in Subtopic 220-40. The amendments in this update may be applied on either a prospective or retrospective basis and will be effective for Busey beginning with the annual reporting period ending December 31, 2027, and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2028. Early adoption is permitted. Because this update relates only to disclosure, Busey does not expect adoption of this ASU to have any impact on its financial position or results of operations. In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023‑09 “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures,” which requires more detailed disclosures of income taxes paid net of refunds received, income from continuing operations before income tax expense or benefit, and income tax expense from continuing operations. This standard is to be applied on a prospective basis, with retrospective application permitted, and will be effective for Busey for annual reporting periods beginning with the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025. Busey does not expect adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on its financial position or results of operations. In October 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023‑06 “Disclosure Improvements: Codification Amendments in Response to the SEC’s Disclosure Update and Simplification Initiative” which aligns certain GAAP disclosure requirements with the SEC’s disclosure requirements, in order to better facilitate comparisons between entities that are subject to the SEC’s existing disclosures with entities that were not previously subject to the SEC’s requirements. Amendments in this update should be applied prospectively, and the effective date for Busey for each amendment in this ASU will be the date on which the SEC removes the related disclosure from Regulation S‑X or Regulation S‑K. Early adoption is prohibited. If the SEC has not removed the related disclosures from Regulation S‑X or Regulation S‑K by June 30, 2027, the pending content of this update will be removed from the ASC and will not become effective for any entity. Busey does not expect adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on its financial position or results of operations. Subsequent Events Busey has evaluated subsequent events for potential recognition and/or disclosure through the date the unaudited consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report were issued. On July 2, 2025, Busey received a notice of hearing from the Illinois Secretary of State indicating that an administrative hearing has been scheduled to “ascertain” an amount of franchise taxes, penalties, interest, fees, and charges purportedly due from Busey to the Illinois Secretary of State. On July 31, 2025, First Busey filed a special appearance with the Illinois Secretary of State’s Department of Administrative Hearings solely for the limited purpose of contesting the jurisdiction of the Illinois Secretary of State to initiate and conduct the administrative hearing. Additional information is provided in “Note 11. Outstanding Commitments and Contingent Liabilities” under the heading “Franchise Tax Matter.” Other than these events, there were no significant events subsequent to the quarter ended June 30, 2025, through the filing date of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.

First Busey Corporation, a Nevada corporation organized in 1980, is an $18.92 billion financial holding company headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. Busey’s common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BUSE” and Busey’s Depositary shares, each representing a 1/40th interest in a share of Busey Series B Preferred Stock is traded under the symbol “BUSEP.”

•The FirsTech operating segment provides comprehensive and innovative payment technology solutions including online, mobile, and voice-recognition bill payments; money management and credit card networks; direct debit services; lockbox remittance processing for payments made by mail; and walk-in payments. FirsTech also provides additional tools to help clients with billing, reconciliation, bill reminders, and treasury services.

These unaudited consolidated financial statements and related notes should be read together with the audited consolidated financial statements included in Busey's 2024 Annual Report. These interim unaudited consolidated financial statements serve to update Busey’s 2024 Annual Report and may not include all information and notes necessary to constitute a complete set of financial statements.

Busey’s unaudited consolidated financial statements are prepared in conformity with GAAP, and reflect the elimination of intercompany accounts and transactions. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. These reclassifications did not have a material impact on Busey’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

In the opinion of Busey’s management, the unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all normal, recurring adjustments needed to present fairly Busey’s results for the interim periods. The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year or any other interim period.

In preparing the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP, Busey’s management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and the disclosures provided. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Material estimates which are particularly susceptible to significant change in the near term relate to the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations, goodwill, income taxes, and the determination of the ACL.

Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand, cash items in process of collection, amounts due from other banks, and interest-bearing deposits held with other financial institutions. The carrying amount of these instruments is considered a reasonable estimate of fair value. At June 30, 2025, cash and cash equivalents included $13.6 million contractually restricted by a third-party service provider, $24.8 million pledged to secure obligations under derivative contracts, and $68.0 million of reserved cash subject to call by the Federal Reserve Bank, as a member of the Federal Reserve System.

Busey is subject to income taxes in U.S. federal and various state jurisdictions. First Busey Corporation and its subsidiaries file consolidated federal and state income tax returns with each subsidiary computing its taxes on a separate entity basis. Tax regulations within each jurisdiction are subject to the interpretation of the related tax laws and regulations, which requires significant judgment.

On July 4, 2025, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" was enacted, introducing several amendments to federal tax legislation. Key provisions of the act include the restoration of immediate expensing of domestic research and development expenditures, reinstatement of 100% bonus depreciation, and more favorable rules for determining the limitation on business interest expense. Busey is currently evaluating the impact of this legislation for future periods.

As of June 30, 2025, Busey Bank was under examination by the Florida Department of Revenue for its 2020 to 2022 corporate income tax filings. Busey Bank accrued $0.1 million related to potential assessment adjustments and interest. Busey had no accruals for payments of interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions at June 30, 2025 or 2024.

On March 1, 2025, in connection with the CrossFirst acquisition, Busey issued 7,750 shares of Busey Series A Preferred Stock, which were issued to holders of shares of CrossFirst Series A Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock. The Busey Series A Preferred Stock bears a dividend rate of 8.00% per annum on the liquidation preference of $1,000 per share. Quarterly dividend payments commenced on June 13, 2025. The Busey Series A Preferred Stock is not subject to any mandatory redemption, sinking fund, or similar provision. Busey may redeem the Busey Series A Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, on or after March 1, 2030, subject to the approval of the appropriate federal banking agency, at a redemption price of $1,000 per share, plus any declared and unpaid dividends, without accumulation of any undeclared dividends, to, but excluding, the date of redemption. Additional information about the Busey Series A Preferred Stock can be found in Busey ’s Form 8-K filed with the SEC on August 2 7, 2024, and the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated August 26, 2024, by and between First Busey Corporation and CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. filed therewith.

On May 20, 2025, Busey issued 8,600,000 depositary shares (the “Depositary Shares,”), which are traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BUSEP.” Each Depositary Share represents a 1/40th interest in a share of Busey Series B Preferred Stock. The Series B Preferred Stock has a liquidation preference of $1,000 per share (equivalent to $25 per Depositary Share). Quarterly dividend payments for the Series B Preferred Stock are expected to commence on September 1, 2025. The Series B Preferred Stock is not subject to any mandatory redemption, sinking fund, or similar provision. Busey may redeem the Series B Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, at its option, on any dividend payment date on or after June 1, 2030, subject to the approval of the appropriate federal banking agency, at a redemption price of $1,000 per share (equivalent to $25 per Depositary Share) plus any declared and unpaid dividends to, but excluding, the date of redemption. Additional information about the Depositary Shares and the Series B Preferred Stock can be found in Busey’s Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 20, 2025, and the exhibits filed therewith.

In March 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-01 “Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope Application of Profits Interest and Similar Awards” to clarify that certain “profits interests” are within the scope of Topic 718 by amending the language and providing illustrative examples on how the scope guidance in paragraph 718-10-15-3 should be applied. This update is intended to improve clarity of the accounting standards codification, not to change the guidance. This update was adopted on a prospective basis for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2025. Busey does not currently have any Profit Interest and Similar Awards, so adoption of this ASU did not have any impact on its financial position and results of operations.

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023‑07 “Segment Reporting (Topic 820): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures” requiring enhanced disclosures related to significant segment expenses. This standard was adopted on a retrospective basis beginning with the annual reporting period ending December 31, 2024, and for interim reporting periods within fiscal years starting January 1, 2025. Adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on Busey’s financial position or results of operations, but resulted in enhanced disclosures.

In July 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-05 “Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses for Accounts Receivable and Contract Assets,” providing a practical expedient which, if elected, permits an entity to assume that current conditions as of the balance sheet date will remain static for the remaining life of the assets, removing the requirement to consider reasonable, supportable forecasts. The amendments in this update are to be applied prospectively, and will be effective for Busey for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2026. Early adoption is permitted. Busey is currently evaluating the effect this ASU may have on its financial position and results of operations.

In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-04 “Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20): Induced Conversions of Convertible Debt Instruments” to clarify when certain settlements of convertible debt instruments should be accounted for as an induced conversion. The amendments in this update may be applied on either a prospective or retrospective basis and will be effective for Busey for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2026. Because Busey does not currently have any convertible debt, the Company does not expect adoption of this ASU to have any impact on its financial position or results of operations.

In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03 “Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses” to require additional disclosures within the notes to the financial statements about certain expense items. Specifically, disaggregation of income statement captions that contain expenses within the following five categories is required: (1) purchases of inventory, (2) employee compensation, (3) depreciation, (4) intangible asset amortization, and (5) depreciation, depletion, and amortization (“DD&A”) costs recognized as part of oil- and gas-producing activities or other amounts of depletion expense. Further, this update requires disclosure of the total amount of selling expenses and the entity’s definition of selling expenses. This update provides a practical expedient for banks and bank holding companies to continue presenting salaries and employee benefits in conformity with SEC Rule 210.9-04 instead of requiring those entities to apply the employee compensation definition included in Subtopic 220-40. The amendments in this update may be applied on either a prospective or retrospective basis and will be effective for Busey beginning with the annual reporting period ending December 31, 2027, and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2028. Early adoption is permitted. Because this update relates only to disclosure, Busey does not expect adoption of this ASU to have any impact on its financial position or results of operations.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023‑09 “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures,” which requires more detailed disclosures of income taxes paid net of refunds received, income from continuing operations before income tax expense or benefit, and income tax expense from continuing operations. This standard is to be applied on a prospective basis, with retrospective application permitted, and will be effective for Busey for annual reporting periods beginning with the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025. Busey does not expect adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on its financial position or results of operations.

In October 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023‑06 “Disclosure Improvements: Codification Amendments in Response to the SEC’s Disclosure Update and Simplification Initiative” which aligns certain GAAP disclosure requirements with the SEC’s disclosure requirements, in order to better facilitate comparisons between entities that are subject to the SEC’s existing disclosures with entities that were not previously subject to the SEC’s requirements. Amendments in this update should be applied prospectively, and the effective date for Busey for each amendment in this ASU will be the date on which the SEC removes the related disclosure from Regulation S‑X or Regulation S‑K. Early adoption is prohibited. If the SEC has not removed the related disclosures from Regulation S‑X or Regulation S‑K by June 30, 2027, the pending content of this update will be removed from the ASC and will not become effective for any entity. Busey does not expect adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on its financial position or results of operations.

Busey has evaluated subsequent events for potential recognition and/or disclosure through the date the unaudited consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report were issued. On July 2, 2025, Busey received a notice of hearing from the Illinois Secretary of State indicating that an administrative hearing has been scheduled to “ascertain” an amount of franchise taxes, penalties, interest, fees, and charges purportedly due from Busey to the Illinois Secretary of State. On July 31, 2025, First Busey filed a special appearance with the Illinois Secretary of State’s Department of Administrative Hearings solely for the limited purpose of contesting the jurisdiction of the Illinois Secretary of State to initiate and conduct the administrative hearing. Additional information is provided in “Note 11. Outstanding Commitments and Contingent Liabilities” under the heading “Franchise Tax Matter.” Other than these events, there were no significant events subsequent to the quarter ended June 30, 2025, through the filing date of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.