Regulatory matters

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Banking and Thrift [Abstract]

Regulatory matters

23.    Regulatory matters

Payment of dividends by M&T’s banking subsidiaries is restricted by various legal and regulatory limitations. Dividends from any banking subsidiary to M&T are limited by the amount of earnings of the banking subsidiary in the current year and the preceding two years. For purposes of this test, at December 31, 2014, approximately $1.5 billion was available for payment of dividends to M&T from banking subsidiaries. Additionally, the Federal Reserve Board requires bank holding companies with $50 billion or more of total consolidated assets to submit annual capital plans. Such bank holding companies may pay dividends and repurchase stock only in accordance with a capital plan which the Federal Reserve Board has not objected to.

Banking regulations prohibit extensions of credit by the subsidiary banks to M&T unless appropriately secured by assets. Securities of affiliates are not eligible as collateral for this purpose.

The bank subsidiaries are required to maintain reserves against certain deposit liabilities. During the maintenance periods that included December 31, 2014 and 2013, cash and due from banks and interest-earning deposits at banks included a daily average of $555,575,000 and $595,593,000, respectively, for such purpose.

Federal regulators have adopted capital adequacy guidelines for bank holding companies and banks. Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can result in certain mandatory, and possibly additional discretionary, actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements. Under the capital adequacy guidelines in effect through December 31, 2014, the so-called “Tier 1 capital” and “Total capital” as a percentage of risk-weighted assets and certain off-balance sheet financial instruments were required to be at least 4% and 8%, respectively. In addition to these risk-based measures, regulators also required banking institutions that met certain qualitative criteria to maintain a minimum “leverage” ratio of “Tier 1 capital” to average total assets, adjusted for goodwill and certain other items. As of December 31, 2014, M&T and each of its banking subsidiaries exceeded all applicable capital adequacy requirements. To be considered “well capitalized” under that regulatory framework, a banking institution had to maintain Tier 1 risk-based capital, total risk-based capital and leverage ratios of at least 6%, 10% and 5%, respectively.

The capital ratios and amounts of the Company and its banking subsidiaries as of December 31, 2014 and 2013 are presented below:

	M&T (Consolidated)			M&T Bank			Wilmington Trust,  N.A.
	(Dollars in thousands)
December 31, 2014:
Tier 1 capital
Amount	$	9,644,765		$	8,043,185		$	435,558
Ratio(a)		12.47	%		10.46	%		57.22	%
Minimum required amount(b)		3,093,874			3,077,101			30,447
Total capital
Amount		11,767,308			10,048,277			439,867
Ratio(a)		15.21	%		13.06	%		57.79	%
Minimum required amount(b)		6,187,747			6,154,201			60,893
Leverage
Amount		9,644,765			8,043,185			435,558
Ratio(c)		10.17	%		8.56	%		9.98	%
Minimum required amount(b)		3,793,836			3,760,364			174,613
December 31, 2013:
Tier 1 capital
Amount	$	8,792,035		$	7,341,506		$	420,330
Ratio(a)		12.00	%		10.08	%		73.79	%
Minimum required amount(b)		2,930,925			2,914,246			22,786
Total capital
Amount		11,045,589			9,445,770			424,975
Ratio(a)		15.07	%		12.96	%		74.60	%
Minimum required amount(b)		5,861,849			5,828,491			45,573
Leverage
Amount		8,792,035			7,341,506			420,330
Ratio(c)		10.78	%		9.09	%		19.80	%
Minimum required amount(b)		2,446,476			2,422,096			63,678

(a) The ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets, as defined by regulation.

(b) Minimum amount of capital to be considered adequately capitalized, as defined by regulation.

(c) The ratio of capital to average assets, as defined by regulation.

Beginning in 2015, new regulatory capital rules became effective. The new rules substantially revise the risk-based capital requirements applicable to bank holding companies and banks. M&T and its subsidiary banks expect to be able to comply with the revised capital adequacy requirements.