FIRST COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL CORP /PA/ (FCF) Business

ITEM 1.    Business

Overview

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (“First Commonwealth,” the “Company” or “we”) is a financial holding company headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania. First Commonwealth's operating subsidiaries include First Commonwealth Bank ("FCB" or the "Bank"), First Commonwealth Insurance Agency, Inc. ("FCIA") and FRAMAL. We provide a diversified array of consumer and commercial banking services through our bank subsidiary, FCB. We also provide trust and wealth management services through FCB and offer insurance products through FCIA. At December 31, 2025, we had total assets of $12.3 billion, total loans of $9.8 billion, total deposits of $10.3 billion and shareholders’ equity of $1.6 billion. Our principal executive office is located at 601 Philadelphia Street, Indiana, Pennsylvania 15701, and our telephone number is (724) 349-7220.

FCB is a Pennsylvania bank and trust company. At December 31, 2025, the Bank operated 126 community banking offices in 30 counties throughout western and central Pennsylvania and throughout Ohio, as well as commercial lending operations in Business Centers in Canfield, Canton, Hudson, Independence and Lewis Center, Ohio and Pittsburgh and Berwyn Pennsylvania. The Bank also operates a network of 132 automated teller machines, or ATMs, at various branch offices and offsite locations. All of our ATMs are part of the NYCE and MasterCard/Cirrus networks, both of which operate nationwide. The Bank is also a member of the Allpoint ATM network, which allows surcharge-free access to over 55,000 ATMs and the “Freedom ATM Alliance,” which affords cardholders surcharge-free access to a network of over 350 ATMs in over 50 counties in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, and Ohio.

Historical and Recent Developments

FCB began in 1934 as First National Bank of Indiana. First National Bank of Indiana changed its name to National Bank of the Commonwealth in 1971 and became a subsidiary of First Commonwealth in 1983.

Since the formation of the holding company in 1983, we have grown steadily through the acquisition of smaller banks and thrifts in our market area, including Deposit Bank in 1984, Dale National Bank and First National Bank of Leechburg in 1985, Citizens National Bank of Windber in 1986, Peoples Bank and Trust Company in 1990, Central Bank in 1992, Peoples Bank of Western Pennsylvania in 1993, and Unitas National Bank and Reliable Savings Bank in 1994. In 1995, we merged all of our banking subsidiaries (other than Reliable Savings Bank) into Deposit Bank and renamed the resulting institution “First Commonwealth Bank.” We then merged Reliable Savings Bank into FCB in 1997. We acquired Southwest Bank in 1998 and merged it into FCB in 2002.

We expanded our presence in the Pittsburgh market through the acquisitions of Pittsburgh Savings Bank (dba BankPittsburgh) in 2003, Great American Federal in 2004 and Laurel Savings Bank in 2006. These acquisitions added 27 branches in Allegheny and Butler Counties.

In 2015, we expanded into central Ohio through the acquisition of First Community Bank with four branches in the Columbus area. In 2016, we acquired 13 branches from FirstMerit Bank, National Association, in Canton-Massillon and Ashtabula, Ohio and in 2017, we acquired DCB Financial Corp., and its banking subsidiary The Delaware County Bank and Trust Company with nine full-service banking offices in the Columbus, Ohio MSA. In 2018, we acquired Garfield Acquisition Corp., and its banking subsidiary Foundation Bank with five full-service banking offices in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. Additionally, since 2014, we have expanded our presence in the Ohio market by opening a corporate loan production office in Columbus, Canton and Cleveland, Ohio, and mortgage loan offices in Hudson, Canfield and Lewis Center, Ohio.

In 2019, we expanded our Pennsylvania markets into State College, Lock Haven, Williamsport and Lewisburg through the acquisition of 14 branches from Santander Bank, N.A.

In January 2023, we acquired Centric Financial Corporation ("Centric") and its banking subsidiary Centric Bank, which operated branches located in the Harrisburg and Lancaster markets.

In April 2025, we acquired CenterGroup Financial Inc. ("Center") and its banking subsidiary, CenterBank, which operated three full-service branches, a loan production office and a mortgage office in the Cincinnati market.

We have also focused on organic growth, improving the reach of our franchise and the breadth of our product offering.

In the first quarter of 2022, we entered the equipment leasing and finance business with a division based in the suburban Philadelphia area.

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Our operating objectives include expansion, diversification within our markets, growth of our fee-based income, and growth organically and through acquisitions of financial institutions, branches, and financial services businesses. We generally seek merger or acquisition partners that are culturally similar, have experienced management and possess either significant market presence or have potential for improved profitability through financial management, economies of scale and expanded services. We regularly evaluate merger and acquisition opportunities and, from time to time, conduct due diligence activities related to possible transactions with other financial institutions and financial services companies. As a result, merger or acquisition discussions and, in some cases, negotiations, may take place and future merger acquisitions involving cash, debt or equity securities may occur. Acquisitions typically involve the payment of a premium over book and market values, and, therefore, some dilution of First Commonwealth’s tangible book value and net income per common share may occur in connection with any future transaction. Our ability to engage in certain merger or acquisition transactions, whether or not any regulatory approval is required, will be dependent upon our bank regulators’ views at the time as to our capital levels, quality of management and our overall condition and their assessment of a variety of other factors. Certain merger or acquisition transactions, including those involving the acquisition of a depository institution or the assumption of the deposits of any depository institution, require formal approval from various bank regulatory authorities, which will be subject to a variety of factors and considerations.

Loan Portfolio

The Company’s loan portfolio includes several categories of loans that are discussed in detail below.

Commercial, Financial, Agricultural and Other

Commercial, financial, agricultural and other loans represent term loans used to acquire business assets or revolving lines of credit used to finance working capital. These loans are generally secured by a first lien position on the borrower’s business assets as a secondary source of repayment. The type and amount of the collateral varies depending on the amount and terms of the loan, but generally may include accounts receivable, inventory, equipment or other assets. Loans also may be supported by personal guarantees from the principals of the commercial loan borrowers.

Commercial loans are underwritten for credit-worthiness based on the borrowers’ financial information, cash flow, net worth, prior loan performance, existing debt levels, type of business and the industry in which it operates. Advance rates on commercial loans are generally collateral-dependent and are determined based on the type of equipment, the mix of inventory and the quality of receivables.

Credit risk for commercial loans can arise from a borrower’s inability or unwillingness to repay the loan, and in the case of secured loans, from a shortfall in the collateral value in relation to the outstanding loan balance in the event of a default and subsequent liquidation of collateral. The Company’s Credit Policy establishes loan concentration limits by borrower, geography and industry.

Commercial Real Estate

Commercial real estate loans represent term loans secured by owner-occupied and non-owner occupied properties. Commercial real estate loans are underwritten based on an evaluation of each borrower’s cash flow as the principal source of loan repayment, and are generally secured by a first lien on the property as a secondary source of repayment. Our underwriting process for non-owner occupied properties evaluates the history of occupancy, quality of tenants, lease terms, operating expenses and cash flow. Commercial real estate loans are subject to the same credit evaluation as previously described for commercial loans. Approximately 24%, by principal amount, of our commercial real estate loans involve owner-occupied properties.

For loans secured by commercial real estate, at origination the Company obtains current and independent appraisals from licensed or certified appraisers to assess the value of the underlying collateral. The Company’s general policy for commercial real estate loans is to limit the terms of the loans to not more than seven years with loan-to-value ratios not exceeding 80% on owner-occupied and income producing properties. For non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans, the loan terms are generally aligned with the property’s lease terms and are generally underwritten with a loan-to-value ratio not exceeding 75%.

Credit risk for commercial real estate loans can arise from economic conditions that could impact market demand, rental rates, property vacancy rates and declines in the collateral value in relation to the outstanding loan balance in the event of a default and subsequent liquidation of collateral.

Real Estate Construction

Real estate construction represents financing for real estate development.  The underwriting process for these loans is designed to confirm that the project will be economically feasible and financially viable upon completion and is generally conducted as

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though the Company would be providing permanent financing for the project. Development and construction loans are secured by the properties under development or construction, and personal guarantees are typically obtained as a secondary repayment source. The Company considers the financial condition and reputation of the borrower and any guarantors and generally requires a global cash flow analysis in order to assess the overall financial position of the developer.

Construction loans to residential builders are generally made for the construction of residential homes for which a binding sales contract exists and for which the prospective buyers have been pre-qualified for permanent mortgage financing by either third-party lenders or the Company.  These loans are generally for a period of time sufficient to complete construction.

Residential construction loans to individuals generally provide for the payment of interest only during the construction phase. At the end of the construction phase, substantially all of our loans automatically convert to permanent mortgage loans and can either be retained in our loan portfolio or sold on the secondary market.

Credit risk for real estate construction loans can arise from construction delays, cost overruns, failure of the contractor to complete the project to specifications and economic conditions that could impact demand for or supply of the property being constructed.

Residential Real Estate

Residential real estate loans include first lien mortgages used by the borrower to purchase or refinance a principal residence and home equity loans and lines of credit secured by residential real estate. The Company’s underwriting process for these loans determines credit-worthiness based upon debt-to-income ratios, collateral values and other relevant factors.

Credit risk for residential real estate loans can arise from a borrower’s inability or unwillingness to repay the loan or a shortfall in the value of the residential real estate in relation to the outstanding loan balance in the event of a default and subsequent liquidation of the real estate collateral.

The residential real estate portfolio includes both conforming and non-conforming mortgage loans. Conforming mortgage loans represent loans originated in accordance with underwriting standards set forth by the government-sponsored entities, including the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the Government National Mortgage Association, which serve as the primary purchasers of loans sold in the secondary mortgage market by mortgage lenders. These loans are generally collateralized by one-to-four-family residential real estate, have loan-to-collateral value ratios of 80% or less (or have mortgage insurance to insure down to 80%), and are made to borrowers in good credit standing.  Non-conforming mortgage loans represent loans that generally are not saleable in the secondary market to the government-sponsored entities due to factors such as the credit characteristics of the borrower, the underlying documentation, the loan-to-value ratio, or the size of the loan. The Company does not offer “subprime,” “interest-only” or “negative amortization” mortgages.

Home equity lines of credit and other home equity loans are originated by the Company for typically up to 90% of the appraised value, less the amount of any existing prior liens on the property. Additionally, the Company’s credit policy requires borrower FICO scores of not less than 680 and a debt-to-income ratio of not more than 45%.

Loans to Individuals

The loans to individuals category includes consumer installment loans, personal lines of credit, consumer credit cards and indirect automobile and recreational vehicle loans. Credit risk for consumer loans can arise from a borrower’s inability or unwillingness to repay the loan, and in the case of secured loans, by a shortfall in the value of the collateral in relation to the outstanding loan balance in the event of a default and subsequent liquidation of collateral.

The underwriting criteria for automobile loans generally allows for such loans to be made for up to 100% of the purchase price or the retail value of the vehicle as listed by the National Automobile Dealers Association. The terms of the loan are determined by the age and condition of the collateral, and range from 36 to 84 months. Collision insurance policies are required on all automobile loans. The Company also makes other consumer loans, which may or may not be secured. The terms of secured consumer loans generally depend upon the nature of the underlying collateral. Unsecured consumer loans and consumer credit cards usually do not exceed $25 thousand. Unsecured consumer loans usually have a term of no longer than 36 months.

Deposits

Deposits are our primary source of funds to support our revenue-generating assets. We offer traditional deposit products to businesses and other customers with a variety of rates and terms. Deposits at our bank are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the "FDIC") up to statutory limits. We price our deposit products with a view to maximizing our share of each customer’s financial services business and prudently managing our cost of funds. At December 31, 2025, we held $10.3 billion of total deposits, which consisted of $2.4 billion, or 23%, in non-interest bearing checking accounts, $6.0 billion, or

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59%, in interest-bearing checking accounts, money market and savings accounts, and $1.8 billion, or 18%, in CDs and IRAs. At December 31, 2025, uninsured deposits totaled 29% of the total deposit portfolio.

Competition

The banking and financial services industry is extremely competitive in our market area. We face vigorous competition for customers, loans and deposits from many companies, including commercial banks, savings and loan associations, finance companies, credit unions, trust companies, mortgage companies, money market mutual funds, insurance companies, and brokerage and investment firms. Many of these competitors are significantly larger than us, have greater resources, higher lending limits and larger branch systems and offer a wider array of financial services than us. In addition, some of these competitors, such as credit unions, are subject to a lesser degree of regulation or taxation than banks.

Human Capital Resources

Workforce Composition and Demographics

At December 31, 2025, First Commonwealth and its subsidiaries employed 1,522 full-time employees and 55 part-time employees with 741 exempt and 836 non-exempt employees. The average age of the workforce is 44.3 years and the average tenure is 8.0 years. Our workforce is 65% female.

Supporting Inclusion

First Commonwealth fosters an inclusive culture by valuing the diverse backgrounds, life experiences, perspectives, points of view, talents and capabilities of our employees.

Senior leadership, in collaboration with our Regional Community Impact Officers and Community Engagement Manager, play key roles in ensuring the culture thrives. They strengthen connections between the Company and communities it serves, reinforcing commitment to both employees' well-being and meaningful community engagement.

As of December 31, 2025, people of color comprised 9.4% of our workforce. People of color and women comprised 4.4% and 48.8%, respectively, of those in leadership positions (defined by corporate title Assistant Vice President and higher). Women, including one person of color, hold three seats on our Board of Directors.

Talent Attraction and Retention

Our employees are key to the success of delivering our mission as an organization and achieving our financial targets. We are committed to attracting, retaining and promoting top quality talent regardless of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, marital status, military status, genetic information or any other category protected by federal, state and local laws. We strive to identify and select the best candidates for all open positions based on qualifying factors for each job. We are dedicated to providing a workplace environment and culture for our employees that is inclusive, supportive, and free of any form of discrimination or harassment; rewarding and recognizing our employees based on their individual results and performance; and recognizing and respecting all of the characteristics and differences that make each of our employees unique.

Talent Development

Guided by executive leadership, our Strategic and Inspired Leadership ("SAIL") program serves to strengthen our strategic focus and leadership culture through opportunities for information sharing, collaboration, and learning. Approximately 260 senior and sales leaders participate in forums and regional meetings throughout the year focused on topics like our strategic plan, recruiting and retaining talent, leadership development and employee engagement. In 2025, we held a strategic retreat, where all SAIL leaders came together for leadership sessions, presentations, and networking.

Since 2009, we have supported a mentorship program that is open to all employees. The program provides 1:1 mentorship pairings, group development sessions, along with networking and volunteer opportunities. In 2025, a total of 286 participants participated in the program, including 189 women and 27 people of color.

Within our retail unit, we provide training for entry-level employees to help them achieve success in their role and prepare them for positions of increased opportunity. Leaders are given industry-specific training as well as development opportunities to understand their strengths and improve coaching and execution skills. We invested in the talent development of 34 employees through attendance at banking schools and 48 employees through attendance at banking conferences. Lastly, we invest in an established, industry-specific course library from which all employees benefit.

Our talent strategy prioritizes fostering the development of internal talent and providing career advancement opportunities to our employees. In 2025, we promoted 202 employees, of whom 66% were female and 7% were self-identified people of color.

Our employment turnover for 2025 was 25.9%, which was an increase of 2.5% from 2024 and is within the range of what we have historically experienced.

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Compensation and Benefits

At First Commonwealth, we seek to attract, develop, retain and reward the most talented financial professionals in our markets. To do so, we leverage a total rewards strategy that leverages cash and non-cash components. The compensation components of First Commonwealth’s total rewards are designed to provide competitive pay that aligns with individual and company performance as well as stakeholder interests.

Employee benefits plans support employees with insurance, retirement and work/life plans. Our health plan is structured with a tiered premium approach in which 26% of plan participants are in the lowest tier and pay a lower monthly premium than the other two higher paying tiers. Our 401k plan offers an employer match on employee contributions of up to 5% of eligible earnings starting in January 2025. We offer a variety of other benefits, including employer paid life insurance and disability plans, a generous paid-time off policy and a wide array of voluntary plan options.

Health and Safety

We continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of our employees, customers, partners and communities through healthy workplace practices and consistent communication reminders and updates.

We support our employees by offering several resources. An employee assistance program connects employees with resources to help them in certain life situations, such as personal counselling, legal services, and adoption.

We partner with a wellness vendor to provide our healthcare members with personal access to their own Health Advisor to coordinate care, and to have free access to nutrition counseling, fitness and financial coaching, mental and emotional health specialists, and condition management services. They receive healthy living emails and resources with helpful wellness tips, success stories, and inspirations to guide them on their own wellness journeys. A Concierge Care program is available to help healthcare members navigate the complexities of healthcare. They work to coordinate care needs with doctors, caregivers and pharmacists. We also offer an interest-free advance up to the healthcare member's deductible and out-of-pocket limits with payroll deduction payback options.

We offer a paid maternity leave benefit that provides ten weeks and our paid parental leave that provides three weeks of fully paid leave for full-time employees with more than one year of service. We also provide a structure for employees with less tenure and for part-time employees. In addition to providing the paid maternity leave for birth mothers, the parental leave is extended to biological, foster, or adoptive mothers or fathers; legal spouses or domestic partners of the birth, foster, or adoptive parent; or appointed legal guardians.

Lastly, our employees support each other through Hearts2Hands, an employee-funded program that provides financial assistance to employees who experience hardships.

Culture and Engagement

Our mission is to improve the financial lives of our neighbors and their businesses. This mission is supported by five core values: accountability, customer focus, integrity, excellence and inclusion. We have additional leadership points that help define how the leaders of our company will lead us forward. We practice a Customer Service Promise of five critical behaviors that we encourage every one of our employees to demonstrate at every customer interaction – internal or external – with the intent of creating an extraordinary customer experience, as measured by our customer satisfaction scores. In 2025, we sustained industry high scores in both Customer Satisfaction Score (91.3) and Net Promoter Score (71.3), exceeding our own targets and industry standards.

We listen and learn from our employees through our annual employee engagement survey. In 2025, 82.5% of our employees completed the annual engagement survey. Our overall rating was aligned with the financial services industry and exceeded all companies that utilize our survey provider in the USA. The survey reflected that employees have fulfillment in working for a community bank and making a difference. They are satisfied with their jobs and First Commonwealth as a whole. We also have two feedback channels, called Better and Better Together, that are always available for employees to share feedback through. These channels encourage employees to submit any suggestions that they have for things we could be doing better or ways we could be working better together between departments. In 2025, we received 221 Better submissions and 22 Better Together submissions, all of which were addressed or acted upon to make us better.

While we teach and practice the cultural belief of working to get better every day, we recognize that there is great value when our achievements are recognized. We are proud of the many recognitions that we were selected for in 2025, including top workplace in the Pittsburgh region for the seventh consecutive year, a top SBA lender in all of our regions, and S&P Global Top 50 Public Banks $10B and Forbes' lists of Best in State banks and America's Best Banks.

In 2025, First Commonwealth supported our communities with more than $2.1 million in community giving. More than 43% of that giving is Community Reinvestment Act ("CRA") eligible, which means that it is directed to low to moderate income communities where we anticipate it is needed the most.

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We provide corporate support for the United Way, including an employee campaign with a dollar-for-dollar company match. In 2025, we set a stretch goal of raising $100,000 in employee donations and we exceeded that goal. When combined with the bank’s match, a total of $201,894 was donated to local United Way agencies throughout our footprint.

Our employees volunteered for more than 18 thousand service hours in 2025, which includes a record-high 1,269 financial education hours, a 191% increase over 2024, with 92% of those hours being CRA eligible. We are also proud to host financial education programs for our employees through our Confidence Cash program, now in its 8th year, where employees receive a chance to win randomly selected cash prizes when they complete financial education session. In 2025, we had 567 employees participate, which is an increase of 5% over 2024.

The year 2024 was the second year for our Community Commitment Hours program, which allows for eight hours of paid time off that employees can use toward eligible volunteer opportunities. We had 206 of our employees use 1,146.75 Community Commitment hours, an 18% increase over 2024.

To recognize employees who go above and beyond in their volunteerism and community engagement, we present a quarterly “Golden Tower” award which includes $1,000 for the recipient to give to a charitable organization of their choice.

Supervision and Regulation

The following discussion sets forth the material elements of the regulatory framework applicable to financial holding companies, such as First Commonwealth, and their subsidiaries. The regulatory framework is intended primarily for the protection of depositors, other customers and the federal deposit insurance fund and not for the protection of security holders. The rules governing the regulation of financial institutions and their holding companies are very detailed and technical. Accordingly, the following discussion is general in nature and is not intended to be complete or to describe all the laws and regulations that apply to First Commonwealth and its subsidiaries. A change in applicable statutes, regulations or regulatory policies may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Bank Holding Company Regulation

First Commonwealth is registered as a financial holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “BHC Act”), and is subject to supervision and regulation by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “FRB”).

Acquisitions. Under the BHC Act, First Commonwealth is required to obtain the prior approval of the FRB before it can merge or consolidate with any other bank holding company or acquire all or substantially all of the assets of any bank that is not already majority owned by it, or acquire direct or indirect ownership, or control of, any voting shares of any bank that is not already majority owned by it, if after such acquisition it would directly or indirectly own or control more than 5% of the voting shares of such bank. In reviewing applications seeking approval of merger and acquisition transactions, the bank regulatory authorities will consider, among other things, the competitive effect and public benefits of the transactions, the financial (including capital) position of the combined organization, the risks to the stability of the U.S. banking or financial system, the applicant's performance record under CRA and its compliance with fair housing and other consumer protection laws and the effectiveness of the subject organizations in combating money laundering activities.

Banking Holding Company Activities. In general, the BHC Act limits the business of bank holding companies to banking, managing or controlling banks and other activities that the FRB has determined to be so closely related to banking as to be a proper incident thereto. In addition, bank holding companies that qualify and elect to be financial holding companies, such as First Commonwealth, may engage in any activity, or acquire and retain the shares of a company engaged in any activity, that is either (i) financial in nature or incidental to such financial activity or (ii) complementary to a financial activity and does not pose a substantial risk to the safety and soundness of depository institutions or the financial system generally, without in either case the prior approval of the FRB. Activities that are financial in nature include securities underwriting and dealing, insurance agency activities and making merchant banking investments.

To maintain financial holding company status, a financial holding company and all of its depository institution subsidiaries must be well capitalized and well managed. A depository institution subsidiary is considered to be well capitalized if it satisfies the requirements for this status discussed in the section below captioned "Prompt Corrective Action." A depository institution subsidiary is considered well managed if it received a composite rating and management rating of at least satisfactory in its most recent examination. A financial holding company’s status will also depend upon maintaining its status as well capitalized and well managed under applicable FRB regulations. If a financial holding company ceases to meet these capital and management requirements, the FRB’s regulations provide that the financial holding company must enter into an agreement with the FRB to comply with all applicable capital and management requirements. Until the financial holding company returns to compliance, the FRB may impose limitations or conditions on the conduct of its activities, and the company may not commence any of the broader financial activities permissible for financial holding companies or acquire a company engaged in such financial activities without prior approval of the FRB. If the company does not return to compliance within 180 days, the FRB may require divestiture of the holding company’s depository institutions.

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In order for a financial holding company to commence any new activity permitted by the BHC Act or to acquire a company engaged in any new activity permitted by the BHC Act, each insured depository institution subsidiary of the financial holding company must have received a rating of at least satisfactory in its most recent CRA performance evaluation.

The FRB has the power to order any bank holding company or its subsidiaries to terminate any activity or to terminate its ownership or control of any subsidiary when the FRB has reasonable grounds to believe that continuation of such activity or such ownership or control constitutes a serious risk to the financial soundness, safety or stability of any bank subsidiary of the bank holding company.

Reporting. Under the BHC Act, First Commonwealth is subject to examination by the FRB and is required to file periodic reports and other information of its operations with the FRB.

Source of Strength Doctrine. FRB policy and federal law require bank holding companies to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to their subsidiary banks. First Commonwealth is expected to commit resources to support FCB, including at times when First Commonwealth may not be in a financial position to provide such resources. Any capital loans by a bank holding company to any of its subsidiary banks are subordinate in right of payment to deposits and to certain other indebtedness of such subsidiary banks. In the event of a bank holding company’s bankruptcy, any commitment by the bank holding company to a federal bank regulatory agency to maintain the capital of a subsidiary bank will be assumed by the bankruptcy trustee and entitled to priority of payment.

Affiliate Transactions. Transactions between FCB, on the one hand, and First Commonwealth Financial Corporation and its other subsidiaries, on the other hand, are regulated under federal banking laws. The Federal Reserve Act imposes quantitative and qualitative requirements and collateral requirements on covered transactions by FCB with, or for the benefit of, its affiliates, and generally requires those transactions to be on terms at least as favorable to FCB as if the transaction were conducted with an unaffiliated third party. Covered transactions are defined by statute to include a loan or extension of credit, as well as a purchase of securities issued by an affiliate, a purchase of assets (unless otherwise exempted by the FRB) from the affiliate, certain derivative transactions that create a credit exposure to an affiliate, the acceptance of securities issued by the affiliate as collateral for a loan, and the issuance of a guarantee, acceptance or letter of credit on behalf of an affiliate. In general, any such transaction by FCB (or its subsidiaries) must be limited to certain thresholds on an individual and aggregate basis and, for credit transactions with any affiliate, must be secured by designated amounts of specified collateral.

SEC Regulations. First Commonwealth is also under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and various state securities commissions for matters relating to the offer and sale of its securities and is subject to the SEC rules and regulations relating to periodic reporting, proxy solicitation and insider trading.

Bank Regulation

FCB is a state bank chartered under the Pennsylvania Banking Code and is not a member of the FRB. As such, FCB is subject to the supervision of, and is regularly examined by, both the FDIC and the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities and is required to furnish quarterly reports to both agencies. The approval of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities and the FDIC is also required for FCB to establish additional branch offices or merge with or acquire another banking institution.

Dividends. First Commonwealth is a legal entity separate and distinct from its banking and other subsidiaries. As a bank holding company, First Commonwealth is subject to certain restrictions on its ability to pay dividends under applicable banking laws and regulations. Federal bank regulators are authorized to determine under certain circumstances relating to the financial condition of a bank holding company or a bank that the payment of dividends would be an unsafe or unsound practice and to prohibit payment thereof. In particular, federal bank regulators have stated that paying dividends that deplete a banking organization’s capital base to an inadequate level would be an unsafe and unsound banking practice and that banking organizations should generally pay dividends only out of current operating earnings.

A significant portion of our income comes from dividends from our bank, which is also the primary source of our liquidity. In addition to the restrictions discussed above, our bank is subject to limitations under Pennsylvania law regarding the level of dividends that it may pay to us. In general, dividends may be declared and paid only out of accumulated net earnings and may not be declared or paid unless surplus is at least equal to capital. Dividends may not reduce surplus without the prior consent of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities. FCB has not reduced its surplus through the payment of dividends. As of December 31, 2025, FCB could pay dividends to First Commonwealth of $348.0 million without reducing its capital levels below "well capitalized" levels and without the approval of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities.

Community Reinvestment. Under CRA a bank has a continuing and affirmative obligation, consistent with its safe and sound operation, to help meet the credit needs of its entire community, including low and moderate income neighborhoods. The CRA does not establish specific lending requirements or programs for financial institutions nor does it limit an institution’s discretion

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to develop the types of products and services that it believes are best suited to its particular community, consistent with the CRA. The CRA requires the applicable regulatory agency to assess an institution’s record of meeting the credit needs of its community. The CRA requires public disclosure of an institution’s CRA rating and requires that the applicable regulatory agency provide a written evaluation of an institution’s CRA performance utilizing a four-tiered descriptive rating system. An institution’s CRA rating is considered in determining whether to grant charters, branches and other deposit facilities, relocations, mergers, consolidations and acquisitions. Performance that is less than satisfactory may be the basis for denying an application. For its most recent performance evaluation, FCB received a “satisfactory” rating.

In October 2023, the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued a joint rule to modernize regulations implementing the CRA ("CRA Modernization Rule"). Under the CRA Modernization Rule, the agencies would have evaluated bank performance across the varied activities they conduct and communities in which they operate. This included evaluating lending outside traditional assessment areas generated by the growth of non-branch delivery systems, such as online and mobile banking, branchless banking, and hybrid models. The CRA Modernization Rule adopted a new metrics-based approach to evaluating bank retail lending and community development financing, using benchmarks based on peer and demographic data, and would have clarified eligible CRA activities, such as affordable housing, that are focused on low- and moderate-income, underserved, native, and rural communities. In March 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an order enjoining the Federal banking agencies from enforcing the CRA Modernization Rule. In July 2025, the Federal banking agencies issued a joint rule proposing to rescind the CRA Modernization Rule and replace it with the prior CRA regulations that were originally adopted by the agencies in 1995. Pending the rescission of the CRA Modernization Rule, the Federal banking agencies are evaluating CRA performance under the 1995 rules.

Consumer Financial Protection. We are subject to a number of federal and state consumer protection laws that extensively govern our relationship with our customers. These laws include the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Truth in Savings Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Expedited Funds Availability Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Service Members Civil Relief Act and these laws’ respective state-law counterparts, as well as state usury laws and laws regarding unfair and deceptive acts and practices. These and other federal laws, among other things, require disclosures of the cost of credit and terms of deposit accounts, provide substantive consumer rights, prohibit discrimination in credit transactions, regulate the use of credit report information, provide financial privacy protections, prohibit unfair, deceptive and abusive practices, restrict our ability to raise interest rates and subject us to substantial regulatory oversight. Violations of applicable consumer protection laws can result in significant potential liability from litigation brought by customers, including actual damages, restitution and attorneys’ fees. Federal bank regulators, state attorneys general and state and local consumer protection agencies may also seek to enforce consumer protection requirements and obtain these and other remedies, including regulatory sanctions, customer rescission rights, action by the state and local attorneys general in each jurisdiction in which we operate and civil money penalties. Failure to comply with consumer protection requirements may also result in our failure to obtain any required bank regulatory approval for merger or acquisition transactions that we may wish to pursue or our prohibition from engaging in such transactions even if approval is not required.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") has broad rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement powers under various federal consumer financial protection laws. Although all institutions are subject to rules adopted by the CFPB and examination by the CFPB in conjunction with examinations by the institution’s primary federal regulator, the CFPB has primary examination and enforcement authority over institutions with assets of $10 billion or more, including FCB. State authorities are responsible for monitoring our compliance with all state consumer laws. The CFPB has broad rulemaking authority for a wide range of consumer financial laws that apply to all banks, including, among other things, laws relating to fair lending and the authority to prohibit “unfair, deceptive or abusive” acts and practices. Abusive acts or practices are defined as those that materially interfere with a consumer’s ability to understand a term or condition of a consumer financial product or service or take unreasonable advantage of a consumer’s (i) lack of financial savvy, (ii) inability to protect himself or herself in the selection or use of consumer financial products or services, or (iii) reasonable reliance on a covered entity to act in the consumer’s interests. The CFPB can issue cease-and-desist orders against banks and other entities that violate consumer financial laws. The CFPB may also institute a civil action against an entity in violation of federal consumer financial law in order to impose a civil penalty or injunction. The CFPB has examination and enforcement authority over all banks with more than $10 billion in assets, as well as their affiliates. Banking regulators take into account compliance with consumer protection laws when considering approval of a proposed transaction.

In October 2024, the CFPB issued a final rule implementing Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act that would have required a provider of payment accounts or products, such as a bank, to make data available to consumers upon request regarding the products or services they obtain from the provider. The rule was intended to give consumers control over their financial data, including with whom it is shared, and encourage competition in the provision of consumer financial products or services. FCB would have been required to comply with this rule beginning April 1, 2027. In July 2025, at the request of the CFPB, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued an order staying compliance with the rule. In September 2025, the

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CFPB published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comments in anticipation of adopting new rules to implement Section 1033.

In December 2024, the CFPB issued a final rule that classified overdrafts as extensions of credit for purposes of the Truth in Lending Act and its implementing regulations (Regulation Z) for banks, including FCB, with total assets greater than $10 billion. The final rule defined overdraft credit as generally including consumer credit extended by a financial institution to pay a transaction from a checking or other transaction account (other than a prepaid account) held at the financial institution when the consumer has insufficient or unavailable funds in that account. The final rule would have required that extensions of overdraft credit adhere to consumer protections required of similarly situated products, unless the overdraft fee is at or below the institution's costs and losses as determined by (i) calculating its own costs and losses using a standard set forth in the rule; or (ii) relying on a benchmark flat fee of five dollars. In May 2025, Congress rescinded the rule pursuant to the Congressional Review Act.

Deposit Insurance. Deposits at FCB are insured up to applicable limits by the FDIC and are subject to deposit insurance assessments to maintain the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”). Deposit insurance assessments are based upon average total assets minus average total equity. The insurance assessments are based upon a matrix that takes into account a bank’s capital level and supervisory rating. The FDIC may terminate deposit insurance upon a finding that the institution has engaged in unsafe and unsound practices, is in an unsafe or unsound condition to continue operations, or has violated any applicable law, regulation, rule, order or condition imposed by the FDIC. Having crossed the $10 billion asset threshold in 2023, beginning in 2024 our assessment rates are calculated using a scorecard that combines the supervisory risk ratings of the institution with certain forward-looking financial measures. These assessment rates are subject to adjustments based upon the insured depository institution’s ratio of long-term unsecured debt to the assessment base, its ratio of long-term unsecured debt issued by other insured depository institutions to the assessment base, and its ratio of brokered deposits to the assessment base. However, the adjustments based on the ratio of brokered deposits to the assessment base will not apply so long as the institution is well capitalized and has a composite CAMELS rating of 1 or 2. The CAMELS rating system is a bank rating system where bank supervisory authorities rate institutions according to six factors: capital adequacy, asset quality, management quality, earnings, liquidity and sensitivity to market risk. The FDIC may make additional discretionary assessment rate adjustments.

In October 2022, the FDIC adopted a final rule to increase the initial base deposit insurance assessment rate schedules uniformly by two basis points beginning with the first quarterly assessment period of 2023. The increased assessment is expected to improve the likelihood that the DIF reserve ratio would reach the statutory minimum of 1.35% by the statutory deadline prescribed under the FDIC's amended restoration plan.

In November 2023, the FDIC issued a final rule to implement a special assessment to recover losses to the DIF incurred as a result of several bank failures and the FDIC's use of the systemic risk exception to cover certain deposits that were otherwise uninsured. The special assessment was based on estimated uninsured deposits as of December 31, 2022 (excluding the first $5.0 billion) and assessed at a quarterly rate of 3.36 basis points over eight quarterly assessment periods, beginning in the first quarter of 2024. Under the final rule, the estimated loss pursuant to the systemic risk determination will be periodically adjusted, and the FDIC has retained the ability to cease collection early, extend the special assessment collection period and impose a final shortfall special assessment on a one-time basis. In December 2025, the FDIC proposed lowering the assessment rate for the eighth collection quarter from 3.36 to 2.97 basis points to better match updated loss estimates and avoid overcollection. FCB’s uninsured deposits at December 31, 2022 were $2.1 billion; therefore, we are not subject to the special assessment.

Capital Requirements

First Commonwealth and FCB are each required to comply with applicable capital adequacy standards established by the FRB. The current standards are known as the "Basel III Capital Rules." These rules require First Commonwealth and FCB to maintain the following:

•A minimum ratio of Common Equity Tier 1 (“CET1”) to risk-weighted assets of at least 4.5%, plus a 2.5% “capital conservation buffer” (resulting in a minimum ratio of CET1 to risk-weighted assets of 7.0%);

•A minimum ratio of Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 6.0%, plus the capital conservation buffer (resulting in a minimum Tier 1 capital ratio of 8.5%);

•A minimum ratio of total capital (Tier 1 capital plus Tier 2 capital) to risk-weighted assets of at least 8.0%, plus the capital conservation buffer (resulting in a minimum total capital ratio of 10.5%); and

•A minimum leverage ratio of 4.0%, calculated as the ratio of Tier 1 capital to average consolidated assets as reported on consolidated financial statements (known as the “leverage ratio”).

Banking institutions that fail to meet the effective minimum ratios once the capital conservation buffer is taken into account, as detailed above, will be subject to constraints on capital distributions, including dividends and share repurchases, and certain

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discretionary executive compensation. The severity of the constraints depends on the amount of the shortfall and the institution’s “eligible retained income” (that is, four quarter trailing net income, net of distributions and tax effects not reflected in net income).

The Basel III Capital Rules provide for a number of deductions from and adjustments to CET1. These include, for example, the requirement that mortgage servicing rights, deferred tax assets arising from temporary differences that could not be realized through net operating loss carrybacks and significant investments in non-consolidated financial entities be deducted from CET1 to the extent that any one such category exceeds 10% of CET1 or all such categories in the aggregate exceed 15% of CET1. During 2015, First Commonwealth and FCB made a one-time permanent election, as permitted under Basel III Capital Rules, to exclude the effects of accumulated other comprehensive income items for the purposes of determining regulatory capital ratios.

With respect to FCB, the Basel III Capital Rules also revise the “prompt corrective action” regulations pursuant to Section 38 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as discussed below under “Prompt Corrective Action.” The Basel III Capital Rules prescribe a standardized approach for risk weightings that expand the risk-weighting categories from the general risk-based capital rules to a much larger and more risk-sensitive number of categories, depending on the nature of the assets, generally ranging from 0% for U.S. government and agency securities, to 600% for certain equity exposures, and resulting in higher risk weights for a variety of asset categories.

In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) was enacted. Among other things, the IRA imposes a 1% excise tax on the fair market value of stock repurchased after December 31, 2022 by publicly traded U.S. corporations. With certain exceptions, the value of stock repurchased is determined net of stock issued in the year, including shares issued pursuant to compensatory arrangements.

Liquidity Requirements

The Basel III liquidity framework requires banks and bank holding companies to measure their liquidity against specific liquidity tests. One test, referred to as the liquidity coverage ratio (“LCR”), is designed to ensure that the banking entity maintains an adequate level of unencumbered high-quality liquid assets equal to the entity’s expected net cash outflow for a 30-day time horizon (or, if greater, 25% of its expected total cash outflow) under an acute liquidity stress scenario. The other test, referred to as the net stable funding ratio (“NSFR”), is designed to promote more medium- and long-term funding of the assets and activities of banking entities over a one-year time horizon. Rules applicable to certain large banking organizations have been implemented for LCR and proposed for NSFR; however, based on our asset size, these rules do not currently apply to First Commonwealth and FCB.

Prompt Corrective Action

The Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as amended (“FDIA”), requires, among other things, the federal banking agencies to take “prompt corrective action” in respect of depository institutions that do not meet minimum capital requirements. The FDIA includes the following five capital tiers: “well capitalized,” “adequately capitalized,” “undercapitalized,” “significantly undercapitalized” and “critically undercapitalized.” A depository institution’s capital tier will depend upon how its capital levels compare with various relevant capital measures and certain other factors, as established by regulation. The relevant capital measures are the total capital ratio, the CET1 capital ratio (an additional ratio requirement under the Basel III Capital Rules), the Tier 1 capital ratio and the leverage ratio.

A bank will be (i) “well capitalized” if the institution has a total risk-based capital ratio of 10.0% or greater, a CET1 capital ratio of 6.5% or greater, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 8.0% or greater, and a leverage ratio of 5.0% or greater, and is not subject to any order or written directive by any such regulatory authority to meet and maintain a specific capital level for any capital measure; (ii) “adequately capitalized” if the institution has a total risk-based capital ratio of 8.0% or greater, a CET1 capital ratio of 4.5% or greater, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 6.0% or greater, and a leverage ratio of 4.0% or greater and is not “well capitalized”; (iii) “undercapitalized” if the institution has a total risk-based capital ratio that is less than 8.0%, a CET1 capital ratio less than 4.5%, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of less than 6.0% or a leverage ratio of less than 4.0%; (iv) “significantly undercapitalized” if the institution has a total risk-based capital ratio of less than 6.0%, a CET1 capital ratio less than 3.0%, a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of less than 4.0% or a leverage ratio of less than 3.0%; and (v) “critically undercapitalized” if the institution’s tangible equity is equal to or less than 2.0% of average quarterly tangible assets. An institution may be downgraded to, or deemed to be in, a capital category that is lower than indicated by its capital ratios if it is determined to be in an unsafe or unsound condition or if it receives an unsatisfactory examination rating with respect to certain matters. A bank’s capital category is determined solely for the purpose of applying prompt corrective action regulations, and the capital category may not constitute an accurate representation of the bank’s overall financial condition or prospects for other purposes.

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The FDIA generally prohibits a depository institution from making any capital distributions (including payment of a dividend) or paying any management fee to its parent holding company if the depository institution would thereafter be “undercapitalized.” “Undercapitalized” institutions are subject to growth limitations and are required to submit a capital restoration plan. The agencies may not accept such a plan without determining, among other things, that the plan is based on realistic assumptions and is likely to succeed in restoring the depository institution’s capital. In addition, for a capital restoration plan to be acceptable, the depository institution’s parent holding company must guarantee that the institution will comply with such capital restoration plan and must also provide appropriate assurances of performance. The aggregate liability of the parent holding company is limited to the lesser of (i) an amount equal to 5.0% of the depository institution’s total assets at the time it became undercapitalized and (ii) the amount which is necessary (or would have been necessary) to bring the institution into compliance with all capital standards applicable with respect to such institution as of the time it fails to comply with the plan. If a depository institution fails to submit an acceptable plan, it is treated as if it is “significantly undercapitalized.”

In addition, the FDIA prohibits an insured depository institution from accepting brokered deposits or offering interest rates on any deposits significantly higher than the prevailing rate in the bank's normal market area or nationally (depending upon where the deposits are solicited), unless it is well capitalized or is adequately capitalized and receives a waiver from the FDIC. A depository institution that is adequately capitalized and accepts brokered deposits under a waiver from the FDIC may not pay an interest rate on any deposit in excess of 75 basis points over certain prevailing market rates.

“Significantly undercapitalized” depository institutions may be subject to a number of requirements and restrictions, including orders to sell sufficient voting stock to become “adequately capitalized,” requirements to reduce total assets, and cessation of receipt of deposits from correspondent banks. “Critically undercapitalized” institutions are subject to the appointment of a receiver or conservator.

The appropriate federal banking agency may, under certain circumstances, reclassify a well-capitalized insured depository institution as adequately capitalized. The FDIA provides that an institution may be reclassified if the appropriate federal banking agency determines (after notice and opportunity for hearing) that the institution is in an unsafe or unsound condition or deems the institution to be engaging in an unsafe or unsound practice.

The appropriate agency is also permitted to require an adequately capitalized or undercapitalized institution to comply with the supervisory provisions as if the institution were in the next lower category (but not treat a significantly undercapitalized institution as critically undercapitalized) based on supervisory information other than the capital levels of the institution.

First Commonwealth believes that, as of December 31, 2025, FCB was a “well-capitalized” bank as defined by the FDIA. See Note 25 “Regulatory Restrictions and Capital Adequacy” of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, contained in Item 8, for a table that provides a comparison of First Commonwealth’s and FCB’s risk-based capital ratios and the leverage ratio to minimum regulatory requirements.

The Volcker Rule

The Dodd-Frank Act prohibits banks and their affiliates from engaging in proprietary trading and investing in and sponsoring hedge funds and private equity funds (so called "covered funds"). The statutory provision is commonly called the “Volcker Rule.” Banks with less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets are exempt from the Volcker Rule. FCB's total assets exceeded $10 billion as of December 31, 2023. FCB was no longer exempt from the Volcker Rule beginning January 1, 2024, however this does not significantly impact our operations, as we do not participate in the businesses prohibited by the Volcker Rule.

Depositor Preference

Under federal law, depositors (including the FDIC with respect to the subrogated claims of insured depositors) and certain claims for administrative expenses of the FDIC as receiver would be afforded a priority over other general unsecured claims against such an institution in the liquidation or other resolution of such an institution by any receiver.

Interchange Fees

Under the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act, the FRB adopted rules establishing standards for assessing whether the interchange fees that may be charged with respect to certain electronic debit transactions are “reasonable and proportional” to the costs incurred by issuers for processing such transactions. Interchange fees, or “swipe” fees, are charges that merchants pay to us and other card-issuing banks for processing electronic payment transactions. Under the final rules, the maximum permissible interchange fee is equal to no more than 21 cents plus 5 basis points of the transaction value for many types of debit interchange transactions. The FRB also adopted a rule to allow a debit card issuer to recover 1 cent per transaction for fraud prevention purposes if the issuer complies with certain fraud-related requirements required by the FRB. The FRB also has rules governing routing and exclusivity that require issuers to offer two unaffiliated networks for routing transactions on each debit or

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prepaid product. In August 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota ruled to vacate the Federal Reserve's current interchange rule but simultaneously stayed its own order pending appeal to the circuit court. The outcome of this litigation could significantly and adversely affect the fees banks can charge on debit card transactions. In October 2023, the Federal Reserve issued a proposal under which the maximum permissible interchange fee for an electronic debit transaction would be the sum of 14.4 cents per transaction and 4 basis points multiplied by the value of the transaction. Furthermore, the fraud-prevention adjustment would increase from a maximum of 1 cent to 1.3 cents per debit card transaction. The proposal would adopt an approach for future adjustments to the interchange fee cap, which would occur every other year based on issuer cost data gathered by the Federal Reserve from large debit card issuers. The comment period for this proposal ended in May 2024. The extent to which any such proposed changes in permissible interchange fees will impact our future revenues is currently uncertain.

The Dodd-Frank Act contained an exemption from the interchange fee cap for any debit card issuer that, together with its affiliates, has total assets of less than $10 billion as of the end of the previous calendar year. As of December 31, 2023, our total assets exceeded $10.0 billion; therefore, as of July 1, 2024, we no longer qualify for this exemption.

Financial Privacy

The federal banking regulators adopted rules that limit the ability of banks and other financial institutions to disclose non-public information about consumers to nonaffiliated third parties. These limitations require disclosure of privacy policies to consumers and, in some circumstances, allow consumers to prevent disclosure of certain personal information to a nonaffiliated third party. These regulations affect how consumer information is transmitted through diversified financial companies and conveyed to outside vendors.

Anti-Money Laundering and the USA Patriot Act

A major focus of governmental policy on financial institutions in recent years has been aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (the “USA Patriot Act”) substantially broadened the scope of United States anti-money laundering laws and regulations by imposing significant new compliance and due diligence obligations, creating new crimes and penalties and expanding the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the United States. Financial institutions are also prohibited from entering into specified financial transactions and account relationships and must use enhanced due diligence procedures in their dealings with certain types of high-risk customers and implement a written customer identification program. Financial institutions must take certain steps to assist government agencies in detecting and preventing money laundering and report certain types of suspicious transactions. Regulatory authorities routinely examine financial institutions for compliance with these obligations, and failure of a financial institution to maintain and implement adequate programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, or to comply with all of the relevant laws or regulations, could have serious legal and reputational consequences for the institution, including causing applicable bank regulatory authorities not to approve merger or acquisition transactions when regulatory approval is required or to prohibit such transactions even if approval is not required. Regulatory authorities have imposed cease and desist orders and civil money penalties against institutions found to be violating these obligations.

Office of Foreign Assets Control Regulation

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions against targeted foreign countries and regimes, under authority of various laws, including designated foreign countries, nationals and others. OFAC publishes lists of specially designated targets and countries. First Commonwealth is responsible for, among other things, blocking accounts of, and transactions with, such targets and countries, prohibiting unlicensed trade and financial transactions with them and reporting blocked transactions after their occurrence. Failure to comply with these sanctions could have serious legal and reputational consequences, including causing applicable bank regulatory authorities not to approve merger or acquisition transactions when regulatory approval is required or to prohibit such transactions even if approval is not required.

Incentive Compensation

In June 2010, the Federal Reserve Board, OCC and FDIC issued comprehensive final guidance on incentive compensation policies intended to ensure that the incentive compensation policies of banking organizations do not undermine the safety and soundness of such organizations by encouraging excessive risk-taking. The guidance, which covers all employees that have the ability to materially affect the risk profile of an organization, either individually or as part of a group, is based upon the key principles that a banking organization’s incentive compensation arrangements should (i) provide incentives that do not encourage risk-taking beyond the organization’s ability to effectively identify and manage risks, (ii) be compatible with

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effective internal controls and risk management, and (iii) be supported by strong corporate governance, including active and effective oversight by the organization’s board of directors.

In 2016, the U.S. financial regulators, including the Federal Reserve Board and the SEC, proposed revised rules on incentive-based payment arrangements at specified regulated entities having at least $1 billion in total assets (including First Commonwealth and FCB), but these proposed rules have not been finalized.

In October 2022, the SEC adopted a final rule directing national securities exchanges and associations, including the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") to implement listing standards that require listed companies to adopt policies mandating the recovery or “clawback” of excess incentive-based compensation earned by a current or former executive officer during the three fiscal years preceding the date the listed company is required to prepare an accounting restatement, including to correct an error that would result in a material misstatement if the error were corrected in the current period or left uncorrected in the current period. The NYSE's listing standards pursuant to the SEC's rule became effective on October 2, 2023. We adopted a compensation recovery policy pursuant to the NYSE listing standards on October 24, 2023. The policy is included as Exhibit 97.1 to this Form 10-K.

Cybersecurity

In March 2015, federal regulators issued two related statements regarding cybersecurity. One statement indicates that financial institutions should design multiple layers of security controls to establish lines of defense and to ensure that their risk management processes also address the risk posed by compromised customer credentials, including security measures to reliably authenticate customers accessing internet-based services of the financial institution. The other statement indicates that a financial institution’s management is expected to maintain sufficient business continuity planning processes to ensure the rapid recovery, resumption and maintenance of the institution’s operations after a cyber-attack involving destructive malware. A financial institution is also expected to develop appropriate processes to enable recovery of data and business operations and address rebuilding network capabilities and restoring data if the institution or its critical service providers fall victim to this type of cyber-attack. If we fail to observe the regulatory guidance, we could be subject to various regulatory sanctions, including financial penalties.

State regulators have also been increasingly active in implementing privacy and cybersecurity standards and regulations. Recently, several states have adopted regulations requiring certain financial institutions to implement cybersecurity programs and provide detailed requirements with respect to these programs, including data encryption requirements. Many states have also recently implemented or modified their data breach notification and data privacy requirements. We expect this trend of state-level activity in those areas to continue, and are continually monitoring developments in the states in which our customers are located.

In the ordinary course of business, we rely on electronic communications and information systems to conduct our operations and to store sensitive data. We employ an in-depth, layered, defensive approach that leverages people, processes and technology to manage and maintain cybersecurity controls. We employ a variety of preventative and detective tools to monitor, block, and provide alerts regarding suspicious activity, as well as to report on any suspected advanced persistent threats. Notwithstanding the strength of our defensive measures, the threat from cyber-attacks is severe, attacks are sophisticated and increasing in volume, and attackers respond rapidly to changes in defensive measures. While to date we have not experienced a significant compromise, a significant data loss or any material financial losses related to cybersecurity attacks, our systems and those of our customers and third-party service providers are under constant threat and it is possible that we could experience a significant event in the future. Risks and exposures related to cybersecurity attacks are expected to remain high for the foreseeable future due to the rapidly evolving nature and sophistication of these threats, as well as due to the expanding use of internet banking, mobile banking and other technology-based products and services by us and our customers. See Item 1A. Risk Factors for a further discussion of risks related to cybersecurity and Item 1C. Cybersecurity for a further discussion of risk management strategies and governance processes related to cybersecurity.

Climate-Related and Other ESG Developments

In recent years, federal, state and international lawmakers and regulators have increased their focus on financial institutions' and other companies' risk oversight, disclosures and practices in connection with climate change and other environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) matters. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the impact of future regulatory actions related to ESG matters.

Future Legislation and Regulation

Congress may enact legislation from time to time that affects the regulation of the financial services industry, and state legislatures may enact legislation from time to time affecting the regulation of financial institutions chartered by or operating in

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those states. Federal and state regulatory agencies also periodically propose and adopt changes to their regulations or change the manner in which existing regulations are applied. The substance or impact of pending or future legislation or regulation, or the application thereof, cannot be predicted, although enactment of any proposed legislation could impact the regulatory structure under which we operate and may significantly increase our costs, impede the efficiency of our internal business processes, require us to increase our regulatory capital and modify our business strategy, and limit our ability to pursue business opportunities in an efficient manner. Our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects may be adversely affected, perhaps materially, as a result.

Availability of Financial Information

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Our SEC filings are also available to the public on the SEC website at www.sec.gov and on our website at www.fcbanking.com.

We also make available on our website, www.fcbanking.com, and in print to any shareholder who requests them, our Corporate Governance Guidelines, the charters for our Audit, Risk, Compensation and Human Resources, and Governance Committees, and the Code of Conduct and Ethics that applies to all of our directors, officers and employees.

Our Chief Executive Officer has certified to the NYSE that, as of the date of the certification, he was not aware of any violation by First Commonwealth of NYSE’s corporate governance listing standards. In addition, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have made certain certifications concerning the information contained in this report pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Section 302 certifications appear as Exhibits 31.1 and 31.2 to this annual report on Form 10-K.