CENTRAL PACIFIC FINANCIAL CORP (CPF) Risk Factors
This page reproduces the company's own Item 1A Risk Factors text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Informational only - not investment advice. See Disclaimer.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Our business faces significant risks, including credit, market/liquidity, operational, legal/regulatory and strategic/reputation risks. The factors described below may not be the only risks we face and are not intended to serve as a comprehensive listing or be applicable only to the category of risk under which they are disclosed. The risks described below are generally applicable to more than one of the following categories of risks. Additional risks that we do not yet know of or that we currently think are immaterial may also impair our business operations. If any of the events or circumstances described in the following factors actually occurs, our business, financial condition and/or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Risk Factors Summary
This summary provides an overview of the risks we face. The following risks have been grouped by categories and are not in order of significance or probability of occurrence.
Risks Related to General Economic Conditions
•Difficult economic and market conditions in Hawaii would result in significant adverse effects on us because of the geographic concentration of our business.
•The fiscal, monetary and regulatory policies of the federal government and its agencies could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
•The financial services industry and broader economy may be subject to new or changing government policy, legislation and regulation, or the prolonged effects of a government shutdown.
•Negative developments in the global and U.S. economies could have an adverse effect on us.
•Negative developments affecting the banking industry, such as bank failures or concerns involving liquidity, may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s operations.
Risks Related to Credit
•Our real estate loan operations have a considerable effect on our results of operations.
•A large percentage of our loans are collateralized by real estate and deterioration in the real estate market may adversely affect our financial results.
•Provisions for credit losses and charge-offs of additional loans in the future, could adversely affect our results of operations.
•Our allowance for credit losses may not be sufficient to cover actual credit losses, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Additional credit losses may occur in the future and may occur at a rate greater than we have experienced to date.
•Our commercial and industrial, and commercial real estate loan portfolios expose us to risks that may be greater than the risks related to our other loans.
•We may incur future losses in connection with certain representations and warranties we have made with respect to mortgages that we have sold in the secondary market.
•Consumer protection initiatives related to the foreclosure process could materially affect our ability as a creditor to obtain remedies.
•Changes to, or limitations on our ability to participate in, the programs and guidelines of government-sponsored entities could adversely affect our mortgage origination and secondary‑market activities.
•Banking-as-a-Service ("BaaS") collaboration agreements that we may enter into may expose us to credit risk.
Risks Related to Interest Rates and Liquidity
•Our business is subject to interest rate risk and fluctuations in interest rates may adversely affect our earnings.
•If we are unable to effectively manage the composition and risk of our investment securities portfolio, which we expect will continue to comprise a significant portion of our earning assets, our net interest income and net interest margin could be adversely affected.
•The high interest rate environment has decreased the market value of the Company's fixed-rate investment securities and loan portfolios, and the Company would realize losses if we were required to sell such securities or loans to meet liquidity needs.
•Our ability to maintain adequate sources of funding and liquidity and required capital levels may be negatively impacted by uncertainty in the economic environment which may, among other things, impact our ability to satisfy our obligations.
•We rely on the mortgage secondary market for some of our revenue and liquidity.
•We are required to act as a source of financial and managerial strength for our Bank.
•We rely on dividends from our subsidiary for most of our revenue and liquidity.
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Risks Related to the Operation of Our Business
•Managing reputational risk is important to attracting and maintaining customers, investors and employees.
•Our deposit customers may pursue alternatives to deposits at our Bank or seek higher yielding deposits causing us to incur increased funding costs.
•Failure to manage our growth may adversely affect our performance.
•Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures could adversely affect our ability to report our financial condition and results of operations completely, accurately and timely.
•Changes in our accounting policies or in accounting standards could materially affect how we report our financial results and condition.
•Financial services companies depend on the accuracy and completeness of information about customers and counterparties.
•We operate in a highly competitive industry and market area.
•We are subject to environmental liability risk associated with our bank branches and any real estate collateral we acquire upon foreclosure.
•Our business could be adversely affected by unfavorable actions from rating agencies.
•Our operational risks include risks associated with third-party vendors and other financial institutions.
•Significant increases in residential home insurance premiums and overall challenges in obtaining homeowners insurance generally may negatively impact the residential real estate market.
Risks Related to Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Matters
•Governmental regulation and regulatory actions against us may impair our operations or restrict our growth.
•We face a risk of noncompliance and enforcement action with the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering statutes and regulations.
•Regulatory capital standards impose enhanced capital adequacy requirements on us.
•Costs of compliance with environmental laws and regulations are significant, and the cost of compliance with potential new environmental laws, including limitations on emissions relating to climate change, could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
•We are subject to various legal claims and litigation.
Risks Related to an Investment in the Company's Securities
•The market price of our common stock could decline.
•Anti-takeover provisions in our restated articles of incorporation and bylaws and applicable federal and state law may limit the ability of another party to acquire us or a significant block of common stock, which could cause our stock price to decline.
•Our common stock is equity and therefore is subordinate to our subsidiaries' indebtedness and preferred stock.
•There is a limited trading market for our common stock and as a result, shareholders may not be able to resell their shares at or above the price they pay for them or at the time they otherwise may desire.
•The soundness of other financial institutions could adversely affect us.
•Our common stock is not insured and shareholders could lose the value of their entire investment.
Risks Related to Technology
•We continually encounter technological change including developments in artificial intelligence.
•The occurrence of fraudulent activity, data privacy breaches, failures of our information security controls or cybersecurity-related incidents could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
General Risk Factors
•We are dependent on key personnel and the loss of one or more of those key personnel may materially and adversely affect our prospects.
•Natural disasters and other external events (including pandemic viruses or disease) could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
•Climate change could have a material adverse effect on us and our customers.
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Risks Related to General Economic Conditions
Difficult economic and market conditions in Hawaii would result in significant adverse effects on us because of the geographic concentration of our business.
Unlike larger national or other regional banks that are more geographically diversified, our business and operations are closely tied to the Hawaii market. The Hawaii economy relies on tourism, real estate, government and other service-based industries. Declines in tourism, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, increases in energy costs, the availability of affordable air transportation, adverse weather and natural disasters, and local budget issues impact consumer and corporate spending. As a result, such events may contribute to the deterioration in Hawaii's general economic condition, which could adversely impact us and our borrowers.
In addition, the high concentration of Hawaii real estate loans in our portfolio, combined with the deterioration in these sectors caused by an economic downturn, could have in the future a significantly more adverse impact on our operating results than many other banks across the nation. If our borrowers experience financial difficulty, or if property values securing our real estate loans decline, we will incur elevated credit costs due to the composition and concentration of our loan portfolio, which will have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
The fiscal, monetary and regulatory policies of the federal government and its agencies could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
The FRB regulates the supply of money and credit in the U.S. Its policies determine, in large part, the cost of funds for lending and investing, and the return earned on those loans and investments, both of which, affect the net interest margin. It also can materially decrease the value of financial assets we hold, such as debt securities.
Our net interest income and net interest margin may be negatively impacted during periods of rate tightening due to pressure on our funding costs, particularly if we are unable to realize higher rates on our assets at a pace that matches that of the funding. Additionally, during periods of rate easing, our asset yields are expected to decline and the pace at which we are able to reduce our funding costs may be impacted by competitive and liquidity pressures. Changes in the slope of the yield curve, which represents the spread between short-term and long-term interest rates, could also reduce our net interest income and net interest margin. Historically, the yield curve is upward sloping, meaning short-term rates are lower than long-term rates. When the yield curve flattens or inverts, our net interest income and net interest margin could decrease as our cost of funds increases relative to the yield we can earn on our assets.
In a high interest rate environment, as we are currently experiencing, there is potential for decreased demand for our loan products, an increase in our cost of funds, and the curtailment of economic recovery.
Changes in FRB policies and our regulatory environment are beyond our control, and we are unable to predict what changes may occur or the manner in which any future changes may affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.
The financial services industry and broader economy may be subject to new or changing government policy, legislation and regulation, or the prolonged effects of a government shutdown.
Our success depends, to a certain extent, upon local, national and global economic and political conditions, as well as governmental monetary, trade and interest rate policies. The current U.S. administration has and continues to implement significant and rapid changes in federal government operations and policies, including international trade policies, which may impact economic stability, the financial markets and the financial services industry broadly. In addition, the inability to successfully resolve budget disputes in Congress has led to federal government shutdowns, which could be prolonged. Conditions such as an economic recession, stagflation, rising unemployment, and the effects of tariffs, trade wars, government shutdowns, inflationary prices, tax law changes and other factors beyond our control may adversely affect the local and national economy, our asset quality, deposit levels, loan demand, demand for our products and services and the ability to manage costs associated with employees and vendors. The occurrence of any of the foregoing events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Negative developments in the global and U.S. economies could have an adverse effect on us.
Our business and operations are sensitive to business and economic conditions globally and domestically. Adverse economic and business conditions in the U.S. generally, and in our market areas, in particular, could reduce our growth rate, affect our borrowers' ability to repay their loans and, consequently, adversely affect our financial condition and performance. Other
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economic conditions that affect our financial performance include short-term and long-term interest rates, the prevailing yield curve, inflation (which we are currently experiencing) and price levels (particularly for real estate), monetary policy, unemployment and the strength of the domestic economy as a whole. Unfavorable market conditions can result in a deterioration in the credit quality of our borrowers and the demand for our products and services, an increase in the number of loan delinquencies, defaults and charge-offs, additional provisions for credit losses, adverse asset values and an overall material adverse effect on the quality of our loan portfolio. Unfavorable or uncertain economic and market conditions can be caused by declines in economic growth, business activity or investor or business confidence; limitations on the availability or increases in the cost of credit and capital; increases in inflation or interest rates; high unemployment; natural disasters; or a combination of these or other factors.
Negative developments affecting the banking industry, such as bank failures or concerns involving liquidity, may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s operations.
High-profile bank failures in the first half of 2023, and the resulting media coverage, caused general uncertainty and concern regarding the liquidity adequacy of the banking industry and in particular, regional and community banks like the Company. Uncertainty and concern may be compounded by the reach and depth of media attention, including social media, and its ability to disseminate concerns or rumors about these kinds of events or other similar risks, and may have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems and concerns from the Company's own customer base. These bank failures underscore the importance of maintaining diversified sources of funding as key measures to ensure the safety and soundness of a financial institution. As a result, market conditions and other external factors may impact the competitive landscape for deposits in the banking industry and could have a material, adverse impact on the Company's liquidity and results of operations. While the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC took steps to ensure that depositors of these recently failed banks would have access to their deposits, including uninsured deposit accounts, there is no guarantee that such actions will continue to be successful in restoring customer confidence in the banking industry.
Risks Related to Credit
Our real estate loan operations have a considerable effect on our results of operations.
The performance of our real estate loans depends on a number of factors, including the continued strength of the real estate markets in which we operate. The strength of the real estate market and the results of our operations could be negatively affected by an economic downturn.
In addition, declines in the market for commercial property could cause some of our borrowers to suffer losses on their projects, which would negatively affect our financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Declines in housing prices and the supply of existing houses for sale could cause residential developers who are our borrowers to suffer losses on their projects and encounter difficulty in repaying their loans. We cannot provide assurance that we will have an adequate allowance for credit losses to cover future losses. If we suffer greater losses than we are projecting, our financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
A large percentage of our loans are collateralized by real estate and deterioration in the real estate market may adversely affect our financial results.
Our results of operations have been, and will continue to be significantly impacted by the economy in Hawaii, and to a lesser extent, other markets we are exposed to including California. Approximately 80% of our loan portfolio as of December 31, 2025 was comprised of loans primarily collateralized by real estate, with the significant majority of these loans concentrated in Hawaii.
Deterioration of the economic environment in Hawaii, California or other markets we are exposed to, domestic or foreign, including a decline in the real estate market and single-family home resales or a material external shock, may significantly impair the value of our collateral and our ability to sell the collateral upon foreclosure. In the event of a default with respect to any of these loans, amounts received upon sale of the collateral may be insufficient to recover outstanding principal and interest on the loan.
Provisions for credit losses and charge-offs of additional loans in the future, could adversely affect our results of operations.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, we recorded $15.7 million in provision for credit losses. As a result of a variety of factors, including a decline in local, national or international economic conditions, it is possible that we may experience deterioration in credit quality and material credit losses and in turn, increases to our provision for credit losses. Because we
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have a significant amount of real estate loans, decreases in real estate values could adversely affect the value of property used as collateral for our loans. If that were to occur, we may have to record additional provisions for credit losses which would have an adverse impact on our net income, financial condition and capital ratios.
Our allowance for credit losses may not be sufficient to cover actual credit losses, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Additional credit losses may occur in the future and may occur at a rate greater than we have experienced to date.
As a lender, we are exposed to the risk that our loan customers may not repay their loans according to their terms and that the collateral or guarantees securing these loans may be insufficient to assure repayment. The underwriting and credit monitoring policies and procedures that we have adopted to address this risk may not prevent unexpected losses that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. We maintain an allowance for credit losses to provide for loan defaults and non-performance, which also includes increases for new loan growth. While we believe that our allowance for credit losses is appropriate to cover expected losses, we cannot provide assurance that we will not increase the allowance for credit losses further or that regulators will not require us to increase the allowance for credit losses which could have a material adverse effect on our net income and financial condition.
Management makes various assumptions and judgments about the collectability of our loan portfolio, which are regularly reevaluated and are based in part on:
•current and forecasted economic conditions and their estimated effects on specific borrowers;
•an evaluation of the existing relationships among loans, potential credit losses and the present level of the allowance for credit losses;
•results of examinations of our loan portfolios by regulatory agencies; and
•management's internal review of the loan portfolio.
In determining the size of the allowance for credit loss, we rely on an analysis of our loan portfolio, our experience and a third-party economic forecast. If our assumptions prove to be incorrect, our current allowance for credit losses may not be sufficient to cover the losses.
In addition, third parties, including our federal and state regulators, periodically evaluate the adequacy of our allowance for credit losses and may communicate with us concerning the methodology or judgments that we have raised in determining the allowance for credit losses. As a result of this input, we may be required to assign different grades to specific credits, increase our provision for credit losses, and/or recognize further loan charge offs which could have a material adverse effect on our net income and financial condition. See Note 1 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies to the Consolidated Financial Statements under "Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."
Our commercial and industrial, and commercial real estate loan portfolios expose us to risks that may be greater than the risks related to our other loans.
Our loan portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans and commercial real estate loans, which are secured by commercial real estate, including but not limited to, structures and facilities to support activities designated as multi-family residential properties, industrial, warehouse, general office, retail, health care and religious dwellings. Commercial and industrial and commercial real estate loans carry more risk as compared to other types of lending, because they typically involve larger loan balances often concentrated with a single borrower or groups of related borrowers. Accordingly, charge-offs on commercial and industrial and commercial real estate loans may be larger on a per loan basis than those incurred with our residential or consumer loan portfolios. In addition, these loans expose a lender to greater credit risk than loans secured by residential real estate. The payment experience on commercial real estate loans that are secured by income producing properties are typically dependent on the successful operation of the related real estate property and thus, may subject us to adverse conditions in the real estate market or to the general economy. The collateral securing these loans typically cannot be liquidated as easily as residential real estate. If we foreclose on these loans, our holding period for the collateral typically is longer than residential properties because there are fewer potential purchasers of the collateral.
Unexpected deterioration in the credit quality of our commercial or commercial real estate loan portfolios would require us to increase our provision for credit losses, which would reduce our profitability and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Furthermore, such deterioration could require us to raise additional capital.
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In addition, federal and state banking regulators may require banks with higher levels of commercial real estate loans to implement more stringent underwriting, internal controls, risk management policies and portfolio stress testing, as well as possibly higher levels of allowances for credit losses and capital levels as a result of commercial real estate lending growth and exposures.
We may incur future losses in connection with certain representations and warranties we have made with respect to mortgages that we have sold in the secondary market.
In connection with the sale of mortgage loans into the secondary market, we make representations and warranties, which, if breached, may require us to repurchase such loans, substitute other loans or indemnify the purchasers of such loans for actual losses incurred in respect to such loans. A substantial decline in residential real estate values in the markets in which we originated such loans could increase the risk of such consequences. While we currently believe our repurchase risk is low, it is possible that requests to repurchase loans could occur in the future and such requests may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Consumer protection initiatives related to the foreclosure process could materially affect our ability as a creditor to obtain remedies.
We generally use the judicial foreclosure process which can be very lengthy. Consumer protection initiatives or regulations on mortgage loan modification programs and loss mitigation practices could impact our foreclosure procedures, which in turn could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
Changes to, or limitations on our ability to participate in, the programs and guidelines of government-sponsored entities could adversely affect our mortgage origination and secondary‑market activities.
Our ability to originate and sell residential mortgage loans depends on maintaining approvals and eligibility with government-sponsored entities ("GSE"), as well as on the continued availability of their programs and secondary‑market liquidity. Changes in these entities’ roles, guidelines, guarantee structures, or pricing including modifications to credit standards, servicing requirements, or agency fees, could reduce demand for our mortgage products, increase our operational or compliance costs, or limit our ability to sell loans on acceptable terms. Any material reduction in access to these programs or adverse changes in their requirements could negatively affect our mortgage origination volume, secondary‑market execution, and related revenue.
Banking-as-a-Service ("BaaS") collaboration agreements that we may enter into may expose us to credit risk.
Future BaaS collaboration agreements may include loan or line of credit arrangements with our potential partners and may also include various loss sharing agreements, as they have in the past. We typically will require guarantees and/or collateral to protect the Bank against credit risk. However, there is a risk that our partners will be unable to meet their obligations under the agreements.
Losses associated with the loans or lines of credit accounts related to BaaS relationships that we may enter into, could have a material adverse effect on our net income, results of operations, and financial condition.
Risks Related to Interest Rates and Liquidity
Our business is subject to interest rate risk and fluctuations in interest rates may adversely affect our earnings.
The majority of our assets and liabilities are monetary in nature and subject to risk from changes in interest rates. Like most financial institutions, our earnings and profitability depend significantly on our net interest income, which is the difference between interest income on interest-earning assets, such as loans and investment securities, and interest expense on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings. We expect that we will periodically experience "gaps" in the interest rate sensitivity of our assets and liabilities, meaning that either our interest-bearing liabilities will be more sensitive to changes in market interest rates than our interest-earning assets, or vice versa. If market interest rates should move contrary to our position, this "gap" will work against us and our earnings may be negatively affected. We are unable to predict or control fluctuations of market interest rates, which are affected by many factors, including the following:
•inflation;
•recession;
•market conditions;
•changes in unemployment;
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•the money supply;
•international disorder and instability in domestic and foreign financial markets; and
•governmental actions.
Our asset/liability management strategy may not be able to control our risk from changes in market interest rates and it may not be able to prevent changes in interest rates from having a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. From time to time, we may reposition our assets and liabilities to reduce our net interest income volatility. Failure to perform in any of these areas could significantly weaken our competitive position, which could adversely affect our growth and profitability, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
If we are unable to effectively manage the composition and risk of our investment securities portfolio, which we expect will continue to comprise a significant portion of our earning assets, our net interest income and net interest margin could be adversely affected.
Our primary sources of interest income include interest on loans, as well as interest earned on investment securities. Interest earned on investment securities represented 13.3% of our interest income in the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to 11.7% of our interest income in the year ended December 31, 2024. Accordingly, effectively managing our investment securities portfolio to generate interest income while managing the composition and risks (including credit, interest rate and liquidity) associated with that portfolio, including the mix of government agency and non-agency securities, remains important. If we are unable to effectively manage our investment securities portfolio or if the interest income generated by our investment securities portfolio declines, our net interest income and net interest margin could be adversely affected.
The high interest rate environment has decreased the market value of the Company’s fixed-rate investment securities and loan portfolios, and the Company would realize losses if we were required to sell such securities or loans to meet liquidity needs.
As a result of inflationary pressures and the resulting rapid increases in interest rates initiated by the Federal Reserve, the market values of the Company's fixed-rate investment securities and loan portfolios have declined significantly. While the Company does not currently intend to sell these securities or loans to meet liquidity needs, if the Company were required to sell such securities or loans to meet liquidity needs, it could incur losses, which could impair the Company’s capital, financial condition, and results of operations, thereby negatively impacting our profitability. While the Company has taken actions to maximize its funding sources, there is no guarantee that such actions will be successful or sufficient in the event of sudden liquidity needs. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that government programs or the Company's other borrowing facilities will be effective in addressing the Company's liquidity needs as they arise.
Our ability to maintain adequate sources of funding and liquidity and required capital levels may be negatively impacted by uncertainty in the economic environment which may, among other things, impact our ability to satisfy our obligations.
Liquidity is essential to our business. An inability to raise funds through deposits, borrowings, the sale of investments or loans, and other sources would have a substantial negative effect on our liquidity which could affect or limit our ability to satisfy our obligations and our ability to grow profitability at the same rate. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance our activities on terms that are acceptable to us could be impaired by factors that affect us specifically, the financial services industry, or the economy in general. Factors that could detrimentally impact our access to liquidity sources include concerns regarding deterioration in our financial condition, increased regulatory actions against us and a decrease in the level of our business activity as a result of a downturn in the markets in which our loans or deposits are concentrated. Our ability to borrow could also be impaired by factors that are not specific to us, such as a disruption in the financial markets or negative views and expectations about the prospects for the financial industry in light of the past turmoil faced by banking organizations and the credit markets. In addition, our financial flexibility could be constrained if we are unable to maintain our access to funding or if adequate financing is not available to accommodate future growth at acceptable interest rates.
The management of liquidity risk is critical to the management of our business and our ability to service our customer base. In managing our balance sheet, our primary source of funding is customer deposits. Our ability to continue to attract these deposits and other funding sources is subject to variability based upon a number of factors including volume and volatility in the securities' markets, our financial condition, our credit rating and the relative interest rates that we are prepared to pay for these liabilities. The availability and level of deposits and other funding sources is highly dependent upon the perception of the liquidity and creditworthiness of the financial institution. Perception can change quickly in response to market conditions or circumstances unique to a particular company. Concerns about our past and future financial condition or concerns about our
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credit exposure to other parties could adversely impact our sources of liquidity, financial position, including regulatory capital ratios, results of operations and our business prospects.
If our level of deposits were to materially decrease, we would need to raise additional funds by increasing the interest that we pay on certificates of deposits or other depository accounts, seek other debt or equity financing or draw upon our available lines of credit. We rely on commercial and retail deposits, and to a lesser extent, advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines ("FHLB") and the Federal Reserve discount window, to fund our operations. Although we have historically been able to replace maturing deposits and advances as necessary, we might not be able to replace such funds in the future if, among other things, our results of operations or financial condition, or the results of operations or financial condition of the FHLB, were to change.
Our line of credit with the FHLB serves as a primary outside source of liquidity. The Federal Reserve discount window also serves as an additional outside source of liquidity. Borrowings under this arrangement are through the Federal Reserve's primary facility under the borrower-in-custody program. The duration of borrowings from the Federal Reserve discount window are generally for a very short period, usually overnight. In the event that these outside sources of liquidity become unavailable to us, we will need to seek additional sources of liquidity, including selling assets. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to sell assets at a level to allow us to repay borrowings or meet our liquidity needs.
We constantly monitor our activities with respect to liquidity, and evaluate our utilization of our cash assets closely; however, there can be no assurance that our liquidity or the cost of funds to us may not be materially and adversely impacted as a result of economic, market, or operational considerations that we may not be able to control.
We rely on the mortgage secondary market for some of our revenue and liquidity.
We originate and sell residential mortgage loans. We rely on Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac"), and other purchasers to purchase first mortgage loans in order to reduce our credit and interest rate risks, and provide funding for additional loans we desire to originate. We cannot provide assurance that these purchasers will not materially limit their purchases from us due to capital constraints or other factors, including, with respect to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a change in the criteria for conforming loans. In addition, various proposals have been made to reform the U.S. residential mortgage finance market, including the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The exact effects of any such reforms are not yet known, but may limit our ability to sell conforming loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. In addition, mortgage lending is highly regulated, and our inability to comply with all federal and state regulations, and investor guidelines regarding the origination, underwriting, documentation, and servicing of mortgage loans may also impact our ability to continue selling mortgage loans. If we are unable to continue to sell loans in the secondary market, our ability to fund, and thus originate, additional mortgage loans may be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
We are required to act as a source of financial and managerial strength for our Bank.
We are required to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to the Bank. We may be required to commit additional resources to the Bank at times when we may not be in a financial position to provide such resources or when it may not be in our, or our shareholders’ best interests to do so. Providing such support is more likely during times of financial stress for us and the Bank, which may make any capital we are required to raise to provide such support more expensive than it might otherwise be. In addition, any capital loans we make to the Bank are subordinate in right of payment to depositors and to certain other indebtedness of the Bank.
We rely on dividends from our subsidiary for most of our revenue and liquidity.
Because we are a holding company with no significant operations other than our Bank, we depend upon dividends from our Bank for a substantial portion of our revenue and our liquidity, including as the source of funds for payment of interest and principal on our holding company debt obligations.
Hawaii law only permits the Bank to pay dividends out of retained earnings as defined under Hawaii banking law ("Statutory Retained Earnings"), which differs from GAAP retained earnings. As of December 31, 2025, the Bank had Statutory Retained Earnings of $234.7 million. In addition, regulatory authorities could limit the ability of the Bank to pay dividends to CPF. The inability to receive dividends from the Bank could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
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Our ability to pay cash dividends to our shareholders is subject to restrictions under federal and Hawaii law, including restrictions imposed by the FRB and covenants set forth in various agreements we are a party to, including covenants set forth in our subordinated debentures. We cannot provide any assurance that we will continue to pay dividends to our shareholders.
Risks Related to the Operation of Our Business
Managing reputational risk is important to attracting and maintaining customers, investors and employees.
Threats to our reputation can come from many sources, including adverse sentiment about financial institutions generally, negative sentiment about our business, unethical practices, employee mistakes, misconduct or fraud, failure to deliver minimum standards of service or quality, failure of any product or service offered by us to meet our customers’ expectations, compliance deficiencies, government investigations, security breaches, litigation, and questionable, unlawful or fraudulent activities of our partners, contract counterparties, employees or customers. We have policies and procedures in place to protect our reputation and promote ethical conduct, but these policies and procedures may not be fully effective to address reputational threats in all circumstances. Negative publicity regarding our business, employees, partners, contracting counterparties, employees or customers, with or without merit, may result in the loss of customers, investors and employees, costly litigation, a decline in revenues and increased governmental scrutiny, and regulation.
Our deposit customers may pursue alternatives to deposits at our Bank or seek higher yielding deposits causing us to incur increased funding costs.
Checking and savings account balances and other forms of deposits can decrease when our deposit customers perceive alternative investments, such as the stock market or other non-depository investments, as providing superior expected returns or seek to spread their deposits over several banks to maximize FDIC insurance coverage. Furthermore, technology and other changes have made it more convenient for the Bank's customers to transfer funds into alternative investments including products offered by other financial institutions or non-bank service providers. Increases in short-term interest rates could increase transfers of deposits to higher yielding deposits. Efforts and initiatives that we undertake to retain and increase deposits, including deposit pricing, can increase our costs. When the Bank's customers move money out of bank deposits in favor of alternative investments, or into higher yielding deposits, or spread their accounts over several banks, we can lose a relatively inexpensive source of funds, thus increasing our funding costs.
Failure to manage our growth may adversely affect our performance.
Our financial performance and profitability depend on our ability to manage past and possible future growth. Continued organic growth and any future acquisitions or dispositions we may make or evaluate may result in additional expenses, and involve issues with operations, integration, regulatory, management and other issues that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures could adversely affect our ability to report our financial condition and results of operations completely, accurately, and timely.
A failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures could adversely affect our ability to report our financial results completely, accurately, and timely, which could result in a loss of investor confidence in our financial reporting or adversely affect our access to sources of liquidity. Furthermore, because of the inherent limitations of any system of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of human error, the circumvention or overriding of controls and fraud may not prevent or detect all misstatements, even with effective internal controls. Frequent or rapid changes in procedures, methodologies, systems, personnel and technology exacerbate the challenges of developing and maintaining a system of internal controls and can increase the cost and level of effort to develop and maintain such systems.
Changes in our accounting policies or in accounting standards could materially affect how we report our financial results and condition.
Periodically the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") and the SEC change the financial accounting and reporting standards that govern the preparation of our financial statements. As a result of changes to financial accounting or reporting standards, whether promulgated or required by the FASB or other regulators, we could be required to change certain assumptions or estimates that we have previously used in preparing our financial statements, which could adversely affect our
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business, financial condition, and results of operations. See Note 1 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies to the Consolidated Financial Statements under "Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."
Financial services companies depend on the accuracy and completeness of information about customers and counterparties.
In deciding whether to extend credit or enter into other transactions, we rely on information furnished by or on behalf of customers and counterparties, including financial statements, credit reports and other financial information. We may also rely on representations of those customers, counterparties or other third parties, such as independent auditors, as to the accuracy and completeness of that information. Reliance on inaccurate or misleading financial statements, credit reports or other financial information could have a material adverse impact on our business and, in turn, our financial condition, and results of operations.
We operate in a highly competitive industry and market area.
We face substantial competition in all areas of our operations from a variety of different competitors, many of which are larger and may have more financial resources. Such competitors primarily include national, regional, and community banks within the various markets in which we operate. Additionally, various out-of-state banks conduct business in our market areas. We also face competition from many other types of financial institutions, including without limitation, savings banks, credit unions, finance companies, and financial service providers, such as mortgage providers and brokers, operating via the internet and other technology platforms, brokerage firms, insurance companies, factoring companies, and other financial intermediaries.
Many of our competitors are significantly larger than we are in terms of total assets and capitalization and have greater access to capital markets. In addition, some competitors are subject to less regulatory oversight than we are, which may enable them to price loans and deposits more aggressively. We expect competitive pressures to remain intense, driven primarily by technological advances and continued consolidation within the financial services industry.
The rapid growth of digital wallets, fintech payment platforms, and alternative payment systems may disintermediate our banking relationships with customers, reduce our transaction‑based revenue, and increase operational risks. Technological developments have also lowered barriers to entry in our local market by enabling banks to expand their geographic reach through internet‑based services and allowing non‑depository institutions, including fintech companies, to offer products and services that have traditionally been provided by banks. We seek to remain competitive across our service areas by offering competitive interest rates on deposit products and loans.
The financial services industry could become even more competitive as a result of legislative, regulatory, and technological changes, as well as continued consolidation. Banks, securities firms, and insurance companies may merge under the umbrella of a financial holding company, enabling them to offer a broad array of financial services, including banking, securities underwriting, insurance (both agency and underwriting), and merchant banking. Technology has lowered barriers to entry and made it possible for non-banks to offer products and services traditionally provided by banks, such as automatic transfer and automatic payment systems. Many of our competitors have fewer regulatory constraints and may have lower cost structures. Additionally, due to their size, many competitors may be able to achieve economies of scale and, as a result, offer a broader range of products and services, as well as more favorable pricing, than we can.
Our ability to compete successfully depends on a number of factors, including, among others:
•the ability to develop, maintain, and build upon long-term customer relationships based on top-quality service, high ethical standards, and safe, sound assets;
•the ability to expand our market position;
•the scope, relevance, and pricing of products and services offered to meet customer needs and demands;
•the rate at which we introduce new products and services relative to our competitors;
•customer satisfaction with our level of service; and
•industry and general economic trends.
Failure to perform in any of these areas could significantly weaken our competitive position and adversely affect our growth and profitability, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, the soundness of our financial condition may affect our competitiveness. Customers may decide not to do business with the Bank if they perceive our financial condition to be less favorable that that of our competitors.
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We are subject to environmental liability risk associated with our bank branches and any real estate collateral we acquire upon foreclosure.
During the ordinary course of business, we may foreclose on and take title to properties securing certain loans that we have originated or acquired. We also own several of our branch locations and are building new branch locations in the State of Hawaii. For any real property that we may possess, there is a risk that hazardous or toxic substances could be found on these properties. If hazardous or toxic substances are found, we may be liable for remediation costs, as well as for personal injury and property damage and costs of complying with applicable environmental regulatory requirements. Failure to comply with such requirements can result in penalties. Environmental laws may require us to incur substantial expenses and may materially reduce the affected property's value or limit our ability to use, sell, or lease the affected property. In addition, future laws or more stringent interpretations or enforcement policies with respect to existing laws may increase our exposure to environmental liability. The remediation costs and any other financial liabilities associated with an environmental hazard could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our business could be adversely affected by unfavorable actions from rating agencies.
Credit ratings assigned by ratings agencies to us, our affiliates, or our securities, may impact the decision of certain customers, or institutions in particular, to do business with us. A rating downgrade or a negative rating could adversely affect our deposits, our ability to access the capital markets on favorable terms and our business relationships.
Our operational risks include risks associated with third-party vendors and other financial institutions.
We rely upon certain third-party vendors to provide products and services necessary to maintain our day-to-day operations, including, providing the core processing system that services the Bank, as well as data processing and storage, online and mobile banking interfaces and services, internet connections, telecommunications, and network access. Accordingly, our operations are exposed to the risk that these vendors might not perform in accordance with applicable contractual arrangements or service level agreements, as the vendors may experience service outages, cybersecurity attacks, data breaches, or other events that may impair their ability to provide fully functioning systems or other services. The failure of an external vendor to perform in accordance with applicable contractual arrangements or service level agreements could be disruptive to our operations and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations, and/or damage our reputation. Further, third-party vendor risk management continues to be an area of high regulatory focus. Failure to follow applicable regulatory guidance in this area could expose us to regulatory actions.
The ongoing operation of many financial institutions may be closely interrelated as a result of credit, trading, execution of transactions, or other relationships between the institutions. As a result, concerns about, or a default or threatened default by, one institution could lead to significant market-wide liquidity and credit problems, losses or defaults by other institutions. This risk may adversely affect financial intermediaries, such as clearing agencies, clearing houses, banks, securities firms and exchanges with which we interact on a daily basis, and, therefore, could adversely affect us. Any of these operational or other risks could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Significant increases in residential home insurance premiums and overall challenges in obtaining homeowners insurance generally may negatively impact the residential real estate market.
We originate a significant amount of residential mortgage loans. Recent natural disasters locally and nationally, including fires in Maui and California, as well as flooding in other parts of the United States, have caused home insurers to significantly increase their premiums on homeowner’s insurance and/or eliminate or limit the availability of certain insurance products, including homeowners and condo insurance. If prospective or existing customers are unable to obtain homeowners insurance or the cost of such insurance becomes prohibitively expensive, the market for our residential mortgage loans and real estate valuations will be reduced, therefore loan-to-value ratios could be negatively impacted and our financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Matters
Governmental regulation and regulatory actions against us may impair our operations or restrict our growth.
As a regulated financial institution, we are subject to significant governmental supervision and regulation. These regulations affect our lending practices, capital structure, investment practices, partnerships, dividend policy and growth, among other things. Statutes and regulations affecting our business as well as the interpretation of these statutes and regulations by
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examining authorities may be subject to change at any time. In addition, regulations may be adopted that increase expenses associated with running our business and adversely affect our earnings.
There can be no assurance that such statutes and regulations, any changes thereto or to their interpretation will not adversely affect our business. In particular, these statutes and regulations, and any changes thereto, could subject us to additional costs (including legal and compliance costs), limit the types of financial services and products we may offer and/or increase the ability of non-banks to offer competing financial services and products, among other things. In addition to governmental supervision and regulation, we are subject to changes in other federal and state laws, including changes in tax laws, which could materially affect us and generally affect the banking industry. We are subject to the rules and regulations of the FRB, the FDIC and the DFI, and certain rules and regulations promulgated by the CFPB. In addition, we are subject to the rules and regulation of the NYSE and the SEC, and are subject to enforcement actions and other punitive actions by these agencies. If we fail to comply with federal and state regulations, the regulators may limit our activities or growth, impose fines on us or in the case of our regulators, ultimately require our Bank to cease its operations. Bank regulations can hinder our ability to compete with financial services companies that are not regulated in the same manner or are less regulated. Federal and state bank regulatory agencies regulate many aspects of our operations. These areas may include:
•capital that must be maintained;
•types of activities that can be engaged in;
•types and amounts of investments that can be made;
•locations of offices;
•insurance of deposits and the premiums that must be paid for this insurance;
•procedures and policies;
•conditions and restrictions on our executive compensation; and
•how much cash must be set aside as reserves.
In addition, bank regulatory authorities may bring enforcement actions against banks and bank holding companies, including the Company and the Bank, for unsafe or unsound practices in the conduct of their businesses or for violations of any law, rule or regulation. Enforcement actions against us, including any condition imposed in writing by the appropriate bank regulatory agency or any written agreement with the authority, could include a federal conservatorship or receivership for the Bank, the issuance of additional orders that could be judicially enforced, the imposition of civil monetary penalties, the issuance of directives to enter into a strategic transaction, whether by merger or otherwise, with a third-party, the termination of insurance of deposits, the issuance of removal and prohibition orders against institution-affiliated parties, and the enforcement of such actions through injunctions or restraining orders. In addition, as we approach, and if we were to exceed $10 billion in assets, we may be subject to enhanced CFPB examination and our compliance costs would increase.
We face a risk of noncompliance and enforcement action with the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering statutes and regulations.
The Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, and other laws and regulations require financial institutions, among other duties, to institute and maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and file suspicious activity and currency transaction reports as appropriate. The federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is authorized to impose significant civil money penalties for violations of those requirements and has engaged in coordinated enforcement efforts with the individual federal banking regulators, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Internal Revenue Service. We are also subject to increased scrutiny of compliance with the rules enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. If our policies, procedures and systems are deemed deficient, we would be subject to liability, including fines and regulatory actions, which may include restrictions on our ability to pay dividends and the necessity to obtain regulatory approvals to proceed with certain aspects of our business plan. Failure to maintain and implement adequate programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing could also have serious reputational consequences for us. Any of these results could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Regulatory capital standards impose enhanced capital adequacy requirements on us.
Federal banking regulators adopted regulatory capital standards that impose additional capital requirements on us, and increase our associated compliance costs. The administration of existing capital adequacy laws as well as the adoption of new laws and regulations relating to capital adequacy, or more expansive or aggressive interpretations of existing laws and regulations, could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations and could substantially restrict our ability to pay dividends, repurchase our capital stock, or pay executive bonuses. In addition, increased regulatory
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capital requirements as well as our financial condition could require us to raise additional capital, which could dilute our existing shareholders at the time of such capital issuance.
Costs of compliance with environmental laws and regulations are significant, and the cost of compliance with potential new environmental laws, including limitations on emissions relating to climate change and disclosure requirements, could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Our operations are subject to extensive federal, state and local environmental statutes, rules and regulations. Compliance with these legal requirements could require us to incur costs for, installation and operation of pollution control equipment, emissions monitoring and fees, remediation and permitting at our branches and other facilities, among other things. These expenditures and other costs associated with compliance have been significant in the past and may increase in the future, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to various legal claims and litigation.
From time to time, customers, employees and others whom we do business with, or are regulated by, as well as our shareholders, can make claims and take legal action against us. Regardless of whether these claims and legal actions are founded or unfounded, if such claims and legal actions are not resolved in a manner favorable to us, they may result in significant financial liability and/or adversely affect the market perception of us and our products and services, as well as impact customer demand for our products and services. Any financial liability or reputational damage could have a material adverse effect on our business and in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Even if these claims and legal actions do not result in a financial liability or reputational damage, defending these claims and actions have resulted in, and will continue to result in, increased legal and professional services costs, which adds to our noninterest expense and negatively impacts our results of operations.
Risks Related to an Investment in the Company's Securities
The market price of our common stock could decline.
The trading price of our common stock may fluctuate widely as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside our control. In addition, the stock market is subject to fluctuations in the share prices and trading volumes that affect the market prices of the shares of many companies. These broad market fluctuations could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Among the factors that could affect our stock price are:
•failure to comply with all of the requirements of any governmental orders or agreements we may become subject to and the possibility of resulting action by the regulators;
•deterioration of asset quality;
•the incurrence of losses;
•actual or anticipated quarterly fluctuations in our operating results and financial condition;
•changes in revenue or earnings/losses estimates or publication of research reports and recommendations by financial analysts;
•failure to meet analysts' revenue or earnings/losses estimates;
•speculation in the press or investment community;
•strategic actions by us or our competitors, such as mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, changes in products or markets, or public offerings;
•additions or departures of key personnel;
•actions by institutional shareholders;
•fluctuations in the stock price and operating results of our competitors;
•future sales of other equity or debt securities, including our common stock;
•general market conditions and, in particular, developments related to market conditions for the financial services industry;
•proposed or adopted regulatory changes or developments;
•breaches in our security systems and loss of customer data;
•anticipated or pending investigations, proceedings or litigation that involve or affect us; or
•domestic and international economic factors unrelated to our performance.
The stock market generally may experience significant volatility. In addition, the trading volume in our common stock may fluctuate more than usual and cause significant price variations to occur. Accordingly, the common stock that is purchased by individual shareholders may trade at a price lower than when they were purchased. Volatility in the market price of our
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common stock may prevent individual shareholders from being able to sell their shares when they want or at prices they find attractive.
A significant decline in our stock price could result in substantial losses for shareholders and could lead to costly and disruptive securities litigation.
Anti-takeover provisions in our restated articles of incorporation and bylaws and applicable federal and state law may limit the ability of another party to acquire us or a significant block of common stock, which could cause our stock price to decline.
Various provisions of our restated articles of incorporation and bylaws and certain other actions we have taken could delay or prevent a third-party from acquiring us, even if doing so might be beneficial to our shareholders. This includes the authorization to issue "blank check" preferred stock by action of the Board of Directors acting alone without obtaining shareholder approval, among other things. In addition, applicable provisions of federal and state law require regulatory approval in connection with certain acquisitions of our common stock and super-majority voting provisions in connection with certain transactions. In particular, both federal and state law limit the ownership acquisition for certain percentage thresholds of our common stock without providing prior notice to the regulatory agencies, obtaining prior regulatory approval or non-objection, or being able to rely on an exemption from such acquisition. See the "Supervision and Regulation" section. We are also subject to the provisions of the Hawaii Control Share Acquisitions Act, which prohibits the consummation of a “control share acquisition” (with threshold ranges starting at 10% and set at 10% intervals up to a majority) unless approved by our shareholders or otherwise exempt. Unless approved or otherwise exempt, for a period of one year after acquisition, the shares acquired by a person in a control share acquisition will be (i) denied voting rights, (ii) be non-transferable, and (iii) be subject to redemption at our option. Collectively, these provisions of our restated articles of incorporation and bylaws in addition to applicable federal and state law may prevent a merger or acquisition that would be attractive to shareholders, limit the ability of another party to acquire a significant block of our common stock, and could limit the price investors would be willing to pay in the future for our common stock.
Our common stock is equity and therefore is subordinate to our subsidiaries' indebtedness and preferred stock.
Our common stock constitutes equity interests and does not constitute indebtedness. As such, common stock will rank junior to all current and future indebtedness and other non-equity claims on us with respect to assets available to satisfy claims against us, including in the event of our liquidation. CPF, the Bank, and our other subsidiaries may incur additional indebtedness from time to time and may increase our aggregate level of outstanding indebtedness. As of December 31, 2025, we had (i) $50.0 million in face amount of trust preferred securities outstanding with accrued and unpaid dividends thereon of $0.2 million and (ii) $25.0 million in FHLB long-term advances outstanding with accrued and unpaid dividends thereon of $3 thousand. Additionally, common stock holders are subject to the prior dividend and liquidation rights of any preferred stock holders that may be outstanding from time to time. The Board of Directors is authorized to cause us to issue additional classes or series of preferred stock without any action on the part of our stockholders. If we issue preferred shares in the future that have a preference over our common stock with respect to the payment of dividends or upon liquidation, or if we issue preferred shares with voting rights that dilute the voting power of the common stock, then the rights of holders of our common stock or the market price of our common stock could be adversely affected.
There is a limited trading market for our common stock and as a result, shareholders may not be able to resell their shares at or above the price they pay for them or at the time they otherwise may desire.
Although our common stock is listed for trading on the NYSE, the volume of trading in our common shares is lower than many other companies listed on the NYSE. A public trading market with depth, liquidity and orderliness depends on the presence in the market of willing buyers and sellers of our common shares at any given time. This presence depends on the individual decisions of investors and general economic and market conditions over which we have no control. As a result, shareholders may not be able to resell their common stock at or above the price they pay or at the time they otherwise may desire.
The soundness of other financial institutions could adversely affect us.
Our ability to engage in routine funding transactions could be adversely affected by the actions and commercial soundness of other financial institutions. Defaults by, or even rumors or questions about, one or more financial services institutions, or the financial services industry have generally led to market-wide liquidity problems and could lead to losses or defaults by us or by other institutions. There is no assurance that any such losses would not materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
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Our common stock is not insured and shareholders could lose the value of their entire investment.
An investment in our common stock is not a deposit and is not insured against loss by the government or any governmental
agency.
Risks Related to Technology
We continually encounter technological change including developments in artificial intelligence.
The financial services industry is continually undergoing rapid technological change with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. The effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables financial institutions to better serve customers and to reduce costs. Our future success depends, in part, upon our ability to address the needs of our customers by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy customer demands, as well as to create additional efficiencies in our operations. We may not be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers. In addition, there are a limited number of qualified persons in our local marketplace with the knowledge and experience required to effectively maintain our information technology systems and implement our technology initiatives. Failure to successfully attract and retain qualified personnel, or keep pace with technological change affecting the financial services industry could have a material adverse impact on our business and, in turn, our financial condition and results of operations.
We or our third-party vendors, clients or counterparties may develop or incorporate artificial intelligence ("AI") technology in certain business processes, services or products. AI is a relatively new technology that is rapidly evolving and there remains many uncertainties. The development and use of AI presents a number of risks and challenges to our business, including legal and regulatory, compliance, operational, information security, fraud and reputational risks. The financial services industry in general is exposed to risks arising from the use of AI technologies by bad actors to commit fraud, misappropriate funds and facilitate cyberattacks.
Statistical and quantitative models and other quantitatively-based analyses, both built internally and from third-party vendors, is increasingly being used in our operations, decision making, and risk management framework. While these quantitative techniques and approaches improve our decision-making, they also create the possibility that faulty data or flawed quantitative approaches could yield adverse outcomes or regulatory scrutiny. Additionally, because of the complexity inherent in these approaches, misunderstanding or misuse of their outputs could similarly result in suboptimal decision-making.
The occurrence of fraudulent activity, data privacy breaches, failures of our information security controls or cybersecurity-related incidents could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As a financial institution, we are susceptible to fraudulent activity, information security breaches and cybersecurity-related incidents that may be committed against us, our customers or our business partners (including by our own employees and consultants), which may result in financial losses or increased costs to us or our customers or our business partners, disclosure or misuse of our information or our client information, misappropriation of assets, privacy breaches against our clients, litigation, or damage to our reputation. Such fraudulent activity may take many forms, including: check fraud, electronic fraud, wire fraud, phishing, social engineering, and other dishonest acts. Information security breaches and cybersecurity-related incidents may include fraudulent or unauthorized access to systems used by us, our vendors, or our clients, denial or degradation of service attacks, and malware or other cyberattacks. The techniques used in cyberattacks change rapidly and are increasingly sophisticated, including the use of generative artificial intelligence and deepfakes, and potential future use of quantum computing, and as a result, cyberattacks or data security breaches may be more difficult to anticipate.
In recent periods, there continues to be a rise in electronic fraudulent activity, security breaches, and cyberattacks within the financial services industry, including the commercial banking sector due to cyber criminals targeting commercial bank accounts. Consistent with industry trends, we have also experienced an increase in attempted electronic fraudulent activity. Moreover, in recent periods, several large corporations, including other financial institutions and retail companies, have suffered major data breaches, in some cases exposing not only confidential and proprietary corporate information, but also sensitive financial and other personal information of their customers and employees and subjecting them to potential fraudulent activity. Some of our clients may have been affected by these breaches, which increase their risks of identity theft, credit card fraud and other fraudulent activity that may involve their accounts with us.
We use automation and technology tools to help reduce some risks of human error. Nonetheless, we continue to also rely on many manual processes to conduct our business and manage our risks. In addition, use of automation tools does not eliminate the need for effective design and monitoring of their operation to ensure they operate as intended. Enhanced use of automation
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may present its own risks. Automated systems may themselves experience outages or problems. Some tools are dependent on the quality of the data used by the tool to learn and enhance the process for which it is responsible. Bad, missing or anomalous data can adversely affect the functioning of such tools.
Information pertaining to us and our clients is maintained, and transactions are executed, on the networks and systems of us, our clients and certain of our third-party partners, such as our online banking or reporting systems. The secure maintenance and transmission of confidential information, as well as execution of transactions over these systems, are essential to protect us and our clients against fraud and security breaches and to maintain our clients' confidence. Breaches of information security also may occur through intentional or unintentional acts by those having access to our systems or our clients' or counterparties' confidential information, including employees. In addition, increases in criminal activity levels and sophistication, advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries, vulnerabilities in third-party technologies (including browsers and operating systems) or other developments could result in a compromise or breach of the technology, processes and controls that we use to prevent fraudulent transactions and to protect data about us, our clients and underlying transactions, as well as the technology used by our clients to access our systems. Although we have developed, and continue to invest in, systems and processes that are designed to detect and prevent data security breaches and cyberattacks and periodically test our security, we may fail to anticipate or adequately mitigate breaches of security or experience data privacy breaches that could result in loss of business to us and/or our clients, damage to our reputation, incurrence of additional expenses, disruption to our business, our inability to grow our online services or other businesses, additional regulatory scrutiny or penalties, including resulting violations of law (whether federal or in one or more states) or our exposure to civil litigation and possible financial liability — any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and, results of operations.
More generally, publicized information concerning security and cyber-related problems and other data privacy breaches could inhibit the use or growth of digital or web-based applications or solutions as a means of conducting commercial or retail transactions. Such publicity may also cause damage to our reputation as a financial institution, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. See "Cybersecurity" under Part I, Item 1C for a further discussion of cybersecurity risk management, strategy and governance.
General Risk Factors
We are dependent on key personnel and the loss of one or more of those key personnel may materially and adversely affect our prospects.
Competition for qualified employees and personnel in the banking industry is intense and there is a limited number of qualified persons with knowledge of, and experience in, the regional banking industry, especially in the Hawaii market. The process of recruiting personnel with the combination of skills and attributes required to carry out our strategies is often lengthy. Our success depends to a significant degree upon our ability to attract and retain qualified management, loan origination, finance, administrative, marketing, and technical personnel, and upon the continued contributions of our management and personnel. In particular, our success has been and continues to be highly dependent upon the abilities of key executives, including members of our Executive Committee, and our other executive officers and certain other employees.
Natural disasters and other external events (including pandemic viruses or disease) could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Our branch offices as well as a substantial majority of our loan portfolio is in the State of Hawaii. As a result, natural disasters and other severe weather occurrences such as tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, wildfires and earthquakes and other adverse external events, including the effects of any pandemic viruses or diseases (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), could have a significant effect on our ability to conduct our business and adversely affect the tourism and visitor industry in the State of Hawaii. Such events could affect the ability of our borrowers to repay their outstanding loans, impair the value of collateral securing our loans, cause significant property damage, result in loss of revenue, adversely impact our deposit base and/or cause us to incur additional expenses. Accordingly, the occurrence of any such natural disasters, severe weather events, or other occurrences over which we have no control could have a material adverse effect on our business, which, in turn, could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Climate change could have a material adverse effect on us and our customers.
Our business, as well as the operations and activities of our customers, could be negatively impacted by climate change. Climate change presents both immediate and long-term risks to us and our clients, and these risks are expected to increase over time. Climate change presents multi-faceted risks, including: operational risk from the physical effects of climate events on our Bank and our customers’ facilities and other assets; credit risk from borrowers with significant exposure to climate risk;
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transition risks associated with the transition to a less carbon-dependent economy; and reputational risk from stakeholder concerns about our practices related to climate change, our carbon footprint, and our business relationships with clients who operate in carbon-intensive industries.
Hawaii, where our business is located, and where a substantial portion of our customers and loan collateral is located, could be impacted by the effects of climate change, including increased frequency or severity of storms, hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, and rising sea levels. These effects can disrupt business operations, damage property, devalue assets and change consumer and business preferences, which may adversely affect borrowers, increase credit risk and reduce demand for our products and services. At this time, we have not experienced material losses from climate change; however, we are aware that its impact may increase in the future. Climate change, its effects and the resulting, unknown impacts could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Given that climate change could impose systemic risks on the financial sector, either through disruptions in economic activity resulting from the physical impacts of climate change or through changes in policies as the economy transitions to a less carbon-intensive environment, we may face increased regulatory focus on our resilience to climate-related risks, including in the context of climate-related stress testing. Ongoing legislative or regulatory uncertainty and changes related to climate risk management and practices may result in higher regulatory, compliance, credit, and reputational risks and costs.
With the increased importance and focus on climate change, we continue to monitor climate change-related risks and integrate climate considerations into our risk governance framework as appropriate. Nonetheless, the risks associated with climate change are rapidly changing and evolving in an escalating fashion, making them difficult to assess due to limited data and other uncertainties. We could experience increased expenses resulting from strategic planning, litigation, and technology and market changes, and reputational harm as a result of negative public sentiment, regulatory scrutiny, and reduced investor and stakeholder confidence due to our response to climate change and our climate change strategy, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.