Regulatory Matters

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Broker-Dealer, Net Capital Requirement, SEC Regulation [Abstract]

Regulatory Matters

Regulatory Matters

Capital Requirements

United and the Bank 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 action by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on United. Under capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, United and the Bank must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of the Bank’s assets, liabilities, and certain off-balance sheet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. The capital amounts and classification are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, risk weightings, and other factors. Quantitative measures (as defined) established by regulation to ensure capital adequacy require United and the Bank to maintain minimum amounts and ratios of total capital, Tier 1 capital, and common equity Tier 1 capital (“CET1”) to risk-weighted assets, and of Tier 1 capital to average assets.

United and the Bank are also subject to a “capital conservation buffer,” which is designed to absorb losses during periods of economic stress. Banking organizations with a ratio of CET1 to risk-weighted assets above the minimum but below the conservation buffer (or below the combined capital conservation buffer and countercyclical capital buffer, when the latter is applied) will face constraints on dividends, equity repurchases and discretionary bonus compensation based on the amount of the shortfall.

As of December 31, 2019, United and the Bank were categorized as well-capitalized under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action in effect at such time. To be categorized as well-capitalized at December 31, 2019, United and the Bank must have exceeded the well-capitalized guideline ratios in effect at such time, as set forth in the table below and have met certain other requirements. Management believes that United and the Bank exceeded all well-capitalized requirements at December 31, 2019, and there have been no conditions or events since year-end that would change the status of well-capitalized.

Regulatory capital ratios at December 31, 2019 and 2018, along with the minimum amounts required for capital adequacy purposes and to be well-capitalized under prompt corrective action provisions in effect at such times are presented below for United and the Bank (dollars in thousands):

	Basel III Guidelines				United Community Banks, Inc. (consolidated)						United Community Bank
	Minimum (1)		Well Capitalized		2019			2018			2019			2018
Risk-based ratios:
Common equity tier 1 capital	4.5	%	6.5	%	12.97		%	12.16		%	14.87		%	12.91		%
Tier 1 capital	6.0		8.0		13.21			12.42			14.87			12.91
Total capital	8.0		10.0		15.01			14.29			15.54			13.60
Tier 1 leverage ratio	4.0		5.0		10.34			9.61			11.63			9.98
Common equity tier 1 capital					$	1,275,148		$	1,148,355		$	1,458,720		$	1,216,449
Tier 1 capital					1,299,398			1,172,605			1,458,720			1,216,449
Total capital					1,476,302			1,348,843			1,524,267			1,281,062
Risk-weighted assets					9,834,051			9,441,622			9,810,477			9,421,009
Average total assets					12,568,563			12,207,986			12,545,254			12,183,341

⁽¹⁾ As of December 31, 2019 and 2018 the additional capital conservation buffer in effect was 2.50% and 1.87%

Cash, Dividend, Loan and Other Restrictions

At December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Bank did not have a required reserve balance at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Federal and state banking regulations place certain restrictions on dividends paid by the Bank to the Holding Company. During 2018, the Bank received regulatory approval to pay cash dividends to the Holding Company of $162 million. No cash dividends were paid by the Bank to the Holding Company in 2019.

The Federal Reserve Act requires that extensions of credit by the Bank to certain affiliates, including the Holding Company, be secured by specific collateral, that the extension of credit to any one affiliate be limited to 10% of capital and surplus (as defined), and that extensions of credit to all such affiliates be limited to 20% of capital and surplus.

The Bank is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of their customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and letters of credit. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk in excess of the amount recognized in the consolidated balance sheets. The contract amounts of these instruments reflect the extent of involvement the Bank has in particular classes of financial instruments.

The exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit and letters of credit written is represented by the contractual amount of these instruments. United uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it uses for underwriting on-balance sheet instruments. In most cases, collateral or other security is required to support financial instruments with credit risk.