ORGANIZATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Organization

Dynex Capital, Inc., ("Company”) was incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia on December 18, 1987 and commenced operations in February 1988. The Company primarily earns income from investing on a leveraged basis in mortgage-backed securities ("MBS") that are issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or U.S. Government sponsored agencies ("Agency MBS") and MBS issued by others ("non-Agency MBS").

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements of Dynex Capital, Inc. and its subsidiaries (together, “Dynex” or, as appropriate, the “Company”) have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) the instructions to the Annual Report on Form 10-K and Article 3 of Regulation S-X promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

Reclassifications

Certain items in the prior periods' consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current period's presentation. The Company's equity in income of limited partnership for the year ended December 31, 2015 is now included within "other income, net" on the Company's consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss). The Company has reclassified amortization of stock issuance costs which was previously recorded in "proceeds from issuance of common stock, net of issuance costs" in the financing activities section of the Company's consolidated statements of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014. Amortization of stock issuance costs is now presented within "other operating activities" in the operating activities section of the Company's consolidated statements of cash flows. These presentation changes have no effect on reported financial condition or results of operations, and did not have a material impact on cash flows from operating or financing activities.

Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and the accounts of its majority owned subsidiaries and variable interest entities ("VIE") for which it is the primary beneficiary. As a primary beneficiary, the Company has both the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIE and a right to receive benefits or absorb losses of the entity that could be potentially significant to the VIE. The Company is required to reconsider its evaluation of whether to consolidate a VIE each reporting period, based upon changes in the facts and circumstances pertaining to the VIE. The Company consolidates certain trusts through which it has securitized mortgage loans as a result of not meeting the sale criteria under GAAP at the time the financial assets were transferred to the trust. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements as well as the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reported period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The most significant estimates used by management include, but are not limited to, amortization of premiums and discounts, fair value measurements of its investments, and other-than-temporary impairments. These items are discussed further below within this note to the consolidated financial statements.

Income Taxes

The Company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the corresponding provisions of state law. To qualify as a REIT, the Company must meet certain tests including investing in primarily real estate-related assets and the required distribution of at least 90% of its annual REIT taxable income to stockholders after consideration of its net operating loss ("NOL") carryforward and not including taxable income retained in its taxable subsidiaries. As a REIT, the Company generally will not be subject to federal income tax on the amount of its income or capital gains that is distributed as dividends to shareholders.

The Company assesses its tax positions for all open tax years and determines whether the Company has any material unrecognized liabilities in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 740. The Company records these liabilities, if any, to the extent they are deemed more likely than not to have been incurred.

Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share

The Company calculates basic net income (loss) per common share by dividing net income (loss) to common shareholders for the period by weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding for that period. The Company did not have any potentially dilutive securities outstanding during the years ended December 31, 2016, December 31, 2015, or December 31, 2014.

Holders of unvested shares of the Company's issued and outstanding restricted common stock are eligible to receive non-forfeitable dividends. As such, these unvested shares are considered participating securities as per ASC Topic 260-10 and therefore are included in the computation of basic net income (loss) per common share using the two-class method. Upon vesting, restrictions on transfer expire on each share of restricted stock, and each such share of restricted stock represents one unrestricted share of common stock.

Because the Company's 8.50% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (the “Series A Preferred Stock”) and 7.625% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (the “Series B Preferred Stock”) are redeemable at the Company's option for cash only and may convert into shares of common stock only upon a change of control of the Company, the effect of those shares and their related dividends is excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per common share.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand and highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash consists of cash the Company has pledged to cover initial and variation margin with its financing and derivative counterparties.

Mortgage-Backed Securities

The Company invests in Agency and non-Agency RMBS, CMBS and CMBS IO securities, all of which are designated as available-for-sale ("AFS"). All of the Company’s MBS are recorded at fair value on the consolidated balance sheet. Changes in unrealized gain (loss) on the Company's MBS are reported in other comprehensive income ("OCI") until each security is collected, disposed of, or determined to be other than temporarily impaired. Although the Company generally intends to hold its AFS securities until maturity, it may sell any of these securities as part of the overall management of its business. Upon the sale of an AFS security, any unrealized gain or loss is reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI") into net income as a realized "gain (loss) on sale of investments, net" using the specific identification method.

The Company’s MBS pledged as collateral against repurchase agreements and derivative instruments are included in MBS on the consolidated balance sheets with the fair value of the MBS pledged disclosed parenthetically.

Interest Income, Premium Amortization, and Discount Accretion. Interest income on MBS is accrued based on the outstanding principal balance (or notional balance in the case of interest-only, or "IO", securities) and their contractual terms. Premiums and discounts on Agency MBS as well as any non-Agency MBS rated 'AA' and higher at the time of purchase are amortized into interest income over the expected life of such securities using the effective yield method and adjustments to premium amortization are made for actual cash payments as well as changes in projected future cash payments. The Company's projections of future cash payments are based on input and analysis received from external sources and internal models, and include assumptions about the amount and timing of loan prepayment rates, fluctuations in interest rates, credit losses, and other factors. On at least a quarterly basis, the Company reviews and makes any necessary adjustments to its cash flow projections and updates the yield recognized on these assets.

The Company holds certain non-Agency MBS that had credit ratings of less than 'AA' at the time of purchase or were not rated by any of the nationally recognized credit rating agencies. A portion of these non-Agency MBS were purchased at discounts to their par value, which management does not believe to be substantial. The discount is accreted into income over the security's expected life, which reflects management's estimate of the security's projected cash flows. Future changes in the timing of projected cash flows or differences arising between projected cash flows and actual cash flows received may result in a prospective change in the effective yield on those securities.

Determination of MBS Fair Value. The Company estimates the fair value of the majority of its MBS based upon prices obtained from third-party pricing services and broker quotes. The remainder of the Company's MBS are valued by discounting the estimated future cash flows derived from cash flow models that utilize information such as the security's coupon rate, estimated prepayment speeds, expected weighted average life, collateral composition, estimated future interest rates, expected losses, and credit enhancements as well as certain other relevant information. Refer to Note 7 for further discussion of MBS fair value measurements.

Other-than-Temporary Impairment. MBS is considered impaired when its fair value is less than its amortized cost. The Company evaluates all of its impaired MBS for other-than-temporary impairments ("OTTI") on at least a quarterly basis. An impairment is considered other-than-temporary if: (1) the Company intends to sell the MBS; (2) it is more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the MBS before its fair value recovers; or (3) the Company does not expect to recover the full amortized cost basis of the MBS. If either of the first two conditions is met, the entire amount of the impairment is recognized in earnings. If the impairment is solely due to the inability to fully recover the amortized cost basis, the security is further analyzed to quantify any credit loss, which is the difference between the present value of cash flows expected to be collected on the MBS and its amortized cost. The credit loss, if any, is then recognized in earnings, while the balance of impairment related to other factors is recognized in other comprehensive income.

Following the recognition of an OTTI through earnings, a new cost basis is established for the security. Any subsequent recoveries in fair value may be accreted back into the amortized cost basis of the MBS on a prospective basis through interest income. Please see Note 2 for additional information related to the Company's evaluation for OTTI.

Secured Borrowings

The Company's repurchase agreements which are used to finance its purchases of MBS, are accounted for, and Federal Home Loan Bank (or "FHLB") advances, which were previously used to finance the Company’s purchase of MBS, were accounted for as secured borrowings under which the Company pledges its securities as collateral to secure a loan, which is equal in value to a specified percentage of the estimated fair value of the pledged collateral. The Company retains beneficial ownership of the pledged collateral. At the maturity of a repurchase agreement, the Company is required to repay the loan and concurrently receives back its pledged collateral from the lender or, with the consent of the lender, the Company may renew the agreement at the then prevailing financing rate. A repurchase agreement lender may require the Company to pledge additional collateral in the event of a decline in the fair value of the collateral pledged. Repurchase agreement financing is recourse to the Company and the assets pledged. Most of the Company’s repurchase agreements are based on the September 1996 version of the Bond Market Association Master Repurchase Agreement, which generally provides that the lender, as buyer, is responsible for obtaining collateral valuations from a generally recognized source agreed to by both the Company and the lender, or, in an instance when such source is not available, the value determination is made by the lender.

Derivative Instruments

The Company's derivative instruments are accounted for at fair value. Derivative instruments in a gain position are reported as derivative assets and derivative instruments in a loss position are reported as derivative liabilities on the Company's consolidated balance sheet. All periodic interest costs and changes in fair value of derivative instruments, including gains and losses realized upon termination or maturity, are recorded in "gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net" on the Company's consolidated statement of comprehensive income. Cash receipts and payments related to derivative instruments are classified in the investing activities section of our consolidated statements of cash flows in accordance with the underlying nature or purpose of the derivative transactions. Please refer to Note 5 for additional information regarding the Company's accounting for its derivative instruments.

Although MBS have characteristics that meet the definition of a derivative instrument, ASC Topic 815 specifically excludes these instruments from its scope because they are accounted for as debt securities under ASC Topic 320.

Share-Based Compensation

Pursuant to the Company’s 2009 Stock and Incentive Plan, the Company may grant share-based compensation to eligible employees, directors or consultants or advisers to the Company, including stock awards, stock options, stock appreciation rights, dividend equivalent rights, performance shares, and restricted stock units. The Company's restricted stock currently issued and outstanding under this plan may be settled only in shares of its common stock, and therefore are treated as equity awards with their fair value measured at the grant date and recognized as compensation cost over the requisite service period with a corresponding credit to shareholders' equity. The requisite service period is the period during which an employee is required to provide service in exchange for an award, which is equivalent to the vesting period specified in the terms of the time-based restricted stock award. None of the Company's restricted stock awards have performance based conditions. The Company does not currently have any share-based compensation issued or outstanding other than restricted stock.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

The Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which is a comprehensive revenue recognition standard that supersedes virtually all existing revenue guidance under U.S. GAAP. The standard’s core principle is that an entity will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods and services. Revenue recognition with respect to financial instruments is not within the scope of ASU 2014-09, and, therefore, the Company does not expect this ASU will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. The Company will continue to assess the impact of ASU 2014-09, which is effective on January 1, 2018.

The FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases, which includes the following amendments:


•	for operating and finance leases, a lessee is required to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments in its consolidated balance sheet;


•	for finance leases, a lessee is required to recognize interest on the lease liability separately from amortization of the right-of-use asset in the statement of comprehensive income;


•	for finance leases, a lessee is required to classify repayments of the principal portion of the lease liability within financing activities and payments of interest on the lease liability and variable lease payments within operating activities in the statement of cash flows;


•	for operating leases, a lessee is required to recognize a single lease cost, calculated so that the cost of the lease is allocated over the lease term on a generally straight-line basis in the statement of comprehensive income; and


•	for operating leases, a lessee is required to classify all cash payments within operating activities in the statement of cash flows.

Under the new guidance, lessor accounting is largely unchanged. ASU No. 2016-02 is effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect this ASU to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements because the Company does not currently have any material lease agreements.

The FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation, which simplifies several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment award transactions, including income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement cash flows. The amendments are effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and early adoption is permitted. The Company has adopted the amendments in this ASU, and it did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

The FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses, which replaces the incurred loss impairment methodology in current GAAP with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. For assets measured at amortized cost, the amendments in this ASU eliminate the probable initial recognition threshold in current GAAP and broaden the information that an entity must consider in developing its expected credit loss estimate to include the use of forecasted information. For assets classified as available-for-sale with changes in fair value recorded in other comprehensive income, measurement of credit losses will be similar to current GAAP. However, the amendments in this ASU require that credit losses be presented as an allowance rather than as a write-down, which is referred to in current GAAP as an other-than-temporary impairment. An entity will be able to record reversals of credit losses, if credit loss estimates decline, in net income for the current period. The amendments in this ASU will not permit an entity to use the length of time a debt security has been in an unrealized loss position to avoid recording a credit loss and removes the requirements to consider historical and implied volatility of the fair value of a security as well as recoveries or declines in fair value after the balance sheet date. The amendments in this ASU will affect an entity by varying degrees depending on the credit quality of the assets held by the entity, their duration, and how the entity applies current GAAP. These amendments will become effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years, and early adoption will be permitted as of the fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. An entity will apply the amendments in this ASU through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective. Based on the credit quality of the Company's investments as of December 31, 2016, the Company does not currently anticipate this ASU having a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. The Company continuously monitors for credit losses on its investments and will adopt the changes in this ASU as deemed applicable in the future.

The FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) - Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, in order to provide guidance for eight cash flow classification issues which are either unclear or do not have specific guidance under current GAAP. The issues identified are as follows:


•	debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs;


•	settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing;


•	contingent consideration payments made after a business combination;


•	proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims;


•	proceeds from settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies;


•	distributions received from equity method investees;


•	beneficial interests in securitization transactions; and


•	separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle.

The amendments in this ASU will become effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years, and early adoption is permitted. The amendments in this ASU should be applied using a retrospective transition method to each period presented. This ASU does not change accounting principles and only impacts presentation requirements on the statement of cash flows. As such, the Company does not expect this ASU to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

The FASB issued ASU No. 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) - Restricted Cash, which requires amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents to be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning of period and end of period total amounts shown on statement of cash flows. This amendment will become effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years, and early adoption is permitted. This ASU does not change accounting principles and only impacts presentation requirements on the statement of cash flows. As such, the Company does not expect this ASU to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.