Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The information contained in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 24, 2023, should be referenced when reading these unaudited consolidated financial statements. Unless otherwise mentioned or unless the context requires otherwise, references herein to “SouthState,” the “Company” “we,” “us,” “our” or similar references mean SouthState Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries. References to the “Bank” or “SouthState Bank” means SouthState Corporation’s wholly owned subsidiary, South State Bank, National Association, a national banking association.

Loans

Loans that management has originated and has the intent and ability to hold for the foreseeable future or until maturity or pay off generally are reported at their unpaid principal balances, less unearned income and net of any deferred loan fees and costs, including unamortized fair value discount or premium. Unearned income on installment loans is recognized as income over the terms of the loans by methods that generally approximate the interest method. Interest on other loans is calculated by using the simple interest method on daily balances of the principal amount outstanding. If the loan is prepaid, the remaining unamortized fees and costs are charged or credited to interest income. Amortization ceases for non-accrual loans.

We place non-acquired loans and acquired loans on nonaccrual once reasonable doubt exists about the collectability of all principal and interest due. Generally, this occurs when principal or interest is 90 days or more past due, unless the loan is well secured and in the process of collection and excludes factored receivables. For factored receivables, which are commercial trade credits rather than promissory notes, the Company’s practice, in most cases, is to charge-off unpaid recourse receivables when they become 90 days past due from the invoice due date and the non-recourse receivables when they become 120 days past due from the statement due date. Past due status is based on the contractual terms of the loan. In all cases, loans are placed on non-accrual or charged-off at an earlier date if collection of principal or interest is considered doubtful.

A loan is evaluated individually for loss when it is on nonaccrual and has a net book balance over $1 million. Large pools of homogeneous loans are collectively evaluated for loss and reserved at the pool level. Loans that experience insignificant payment delays and payment shortfalls generally are not classified as nonaccrual, provided that management expects to collect all amounts due, including interest accrued at the contractual interest rate for the period of delay.

Allowance for Credit Losses (“ACL”) – Investment Securities

Management monitors the held to maturity portfolio to determine whether a valuation account should be recorded. Management evaluates impairment where there has been a decline in fair value below the amortized cost basis of a security to determine whether there is a credit loss associated with the decline in fair value at least quarterly, and more frequently when economic or market concerns warrant such evaluation. The Company’s methodology on how ACL is calculated is disclosed in Note 1 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, under the “ACL – Investment Securities” section, of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. As of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Company had $2.5 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively, of held to maturity securities and no related valuation account.

The Company follows its nonaccrual policy by reversing interest income in the income statement when the Company determines the interest for held to maturity securities is uncollectible. Therefore, management excludes the accrued interest receivable balance from the amortized cost basis in measuring expected credit losses on the investment securities and does not record an allowance for credit losses on accrued interest receivable. As of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the accrued interest receivables for all investment securities recorded in Other Assets were $25.6 million and $28.2 million, respectively.

ACL – Loans and Certain Off-Balance-Sheet Credit Exposures

The ACL for loans held for investment reflects management’s estimate of credit losses that will result from the inability of our borrowers to make required loan payments. The Company makes adjustments to the ACL by recording a provision for or recovery of credit losses through earnings. Loans charged off are recorded as reductions to the ACL on the balance sheet and subsequent recoveries of loan charge-offs are recorded as increases to the ACL when they are received.

Management uses systematic methodologies to determine its ACL for loans held for investment and certain off-balance-sheet credit exposures. The ACL is a valuation account that is deducted from the amortized cost basis to present the net amount expected to be collected on the loan portfolio. Management considers the effects of past events, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts on the collectability of the loan portfolio. The Company’s estimate of its ACL involves a high degree of judgment; therefore, management’s process for determining expected credit losses may result in a range of expected credit losses. The Company’s ACL recorded in the balance sheet reflects management’s best estimate within the range of expected credit losses. The Company recognizes in net income the amount needed to adjust the ACL for management’s current estimate of expected credit losses.

The Company’s ACL is calculated using collectively evaluated and individually evaluated loans. The Company’s methodology on how ACL is calculated is disclosed in Note 1 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, under the “ACL – Loans” section, of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.

As of January 1, 2023, the Company adopted and applied prospectively ASU No. 2022-02, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures, that requires the elimination of designation of loans as TDRs. Management measures expected credit losses over the contractual term of a loan. When determining the contractual term, the Company considers expected prepayments but is precluded from considering expected extensions, renewals, or modifications. Longstanding TDR accounting rules were replaced as of January 1, 2023 with ASU No. 2022-02, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures (See Note 3 — Recent Accounting and Regulatory Pronouncements). In accordance with the adoption of ASU 2022-02, any loans modified to a borrower experiencing financial difficulty are reviewed by the Bank to determine if an interest rate reduction, a term extension, an other-than-insignificant payment delay, a principal forgiveness, or any combination of these has occurred.

Effective January 1, 2023, the ACL includes expected losses from modifications of receivables to borrowers experiencing financial difficulty. Losses on modifications of non-accrual loans over $1 million to borrowers experiencing financial difficulty are estimated on an individual basis. Because the effect of the remainder of modifications made to borrowers experiencing financial difficulty is already incorporated into the measurement methodologies used to estimate the allowance, they are accounted for as pooled loans. The effects of reasonably expected TDRs are no longer considered in the measurement of expected credit losses. Prior to the adoption of ASU No. 2022-02, when determining the contractual term, the Company considered expected prepayments but was precluded from considering expected extensions, renewals, or modifications, unless the Company reasonably expected it would execute a TDR with a borrower. In the event of a reasonably expected TDR, the Company factored the reasonably-expected TDR into the expected credit losses estimate. For consumer loans, the point at which a TDR was reasonably expected was when the Company approved the borrower’s application for a modification (i.e., the borrower qualifies for the TDR) or when the Credit Administration department approved loan concessions on substandard loans. For commercial loans, the point at which a TDR was reasonably expected was when the Company approved the loan for modification or when the Credit Administration department approved loan concessions on substandard loans. The Company used a discounted cash flow methodology for a TDR to calculate the effect of the concession provided to the borrower within the ACL.

For purchased credit-deteriorated, otherwise referred to herein as PCD, assets are defined as acquired individual financial assets (or acquired groups of financial assets with similar risk characteristics) that, as of the date of acquisition, have experienced a more-than-insignificant deterioration in credit quality since origination, as determined by the Company’s assessment. The Company records acquired PCD loans by adding the expected credit losses (i.e., allowance for credit losses) to the purchase price of the financial assets rather than recording through the provision for credit losses in the income statement. The expected credit loss, as of the acquisition day, of a PCD loan is added to the allowance for credit losses. The non-credit discount or premium is the difference between the unpaid principal balance and the amortized cost basis as of the acquisition date. Subsequent to the acquisition date, the change in the ACL on PCD loans is recognized through the Provision for Credit Losses in the Consolidated Statements of Net Income. The non-credit discount or premium is accreted or amortized, respectively, into interest income over the remaining life of the PCD loan on a level-yield basis.

The Company follows its nonaccrual policy by reversing contractual interest income in the income statement when the Company places a loan on nonaccrual status. Therefore, management excludes the accrued interest receivable balance from the amortized cost basis in measuring expected credit losses on the portfolio and does not record an allowance for credit losses on accrued interest receivable. As of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the accrued interest receivables for loans recorded in Other Assets were $123.1 million and $105.4 million, respectively.

The Company has a variety of assets that have a component that qualifies as an off-balance sheet exposure. These primarily include undrawn portions of revolving lines of credit and standby letters of credit. The expected losses associated with these exposures within the unfunded portion of the expected credit loss are recorded as a liability on the balance sheet. Management has determined that a majority of the Company’s off-balance sheet credit exposures are not unconditionally cancellable. Management completes funding studies based on historical data to estimate the percentage of unfunded loan commitments that will ultimately be funded to calculate the reserve for unfunded commitments. Management applies this funding rate, along with the loss factor rate determined for each pooled loan segment, to unfunded loan commitments, excluding unconditionally cancellable exposures and letters of credit, to arrive at the reserve for unfunded loan commitments. As of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the liabilities recorded for expected credit losses on unfunded commitments were $62.3 million and $67.2 million, respectively. The current adjustment to the ACL for unfunded commitments is recognized through the Provision for Credit Losses in the Consolidated Statements of Net Income.

Reclassification and Correction

Certain amounts previously reported have been reclassified to conform to the current quarter’s presentation. Such reclassifications had no effect on net income and shareholders’ equity.

During 2022, the Company determined the variation margin payments for its interest rate swaps centrally cleared through London Clearing House (“LCH”) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”) meet the legal characteristics of daily settlements of the derivatives (settle-to-market) rather than collateral (collateralize-to-market). As a result, the variation margin payment and the related derivative instruments centrally cleared through LCH and CME are considered a single unit of account for accounting and financial reporting purposes. Depending on the net position, the fair value is reported in Derivative Assets or Derivative Liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, as opposed to interest-earning deposits (restricted cash) within Cash and Cash Equivalents or interest-bearing deposits within Total Deposits. In addition, the expense or income attributable to the variation margin payments for the centrally cleared swaps is reported in Noninterest Income, specifically within Correspondent and Capital Markets Income, as opposed to Interest Income or Interest Expense. The daily settlement of the derivative exposure does not change or reset the contractual terms of the instrument. As a result of the correction from collateralize-to-market accounting treatment previously applied by the Company to settle-to-market accounting treatment, the prior periods presented herein have been corrected, for what management has concluded to be an immaterial correction.

The table below discloses the net change (increase or (decrease)) included in all the Consolidated Statements of Net Income line items in this Form 10-Q, as a result of the change in accounting treatment. There was no impact to Net Income or Shareholders’ Equity as previously reported.

(Dollars in thousands)	Three Months Ended		Nine Months Ended
INCOME STATEMENT	September 30, 2022		September 30, 2022
Interest income:
Effect to interest income on federal funds sold and interest-earning
deposits with banks	$	1,522	$	2,203
Net effect to interest income		1,522		2,203
Effect to interest expense on deposits		(2,603)		(3,502)
Net effect to interest expense		(2,603)		(3,502)
Net effect to net interest income	$	4,125	$	5,705
Noninterest Income:
Effect to correspondent banking and capital markets income	$	(4,125)	$	(5,705)
Net effect to noninterest income	$	(4,125)	$	(5,705)
Net effect to net income	$	—	$	—