About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for United Community Bank (the bank) that provides various financial products and services to the commercial, retail, governmental, educational, energy, health care and real estate sectors. The company is a bank holding company under the BHC Act and a financial holding company under the GLB Act. The company provides diversified financial services primarily through its principal subsidiary, United Community Bank. The company has grown through a combination of acquisitions and strategic growth throughout Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and Alabama as well as nationally through its SBA/USDA lending and equipment finance businesses. On January 3, 2023, the company completed the acquisition of Progress Financial Corporation (Progress), which operates branches in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. On July 1, 2023, the company completed the acquisition of First Miami Bancorp, Inc. (First Miami), which operates offices in the Miami metropolitan area. In addition, the First Miami acquisition enhanced the company's offerings of non-traditional bank products - private banking, trust and wealth management. Principal Businesses and Services The company provides various deposit products, secured and unsecured loans, mortgage loans, payment and commerce solutions, equipment finance services, wealth management, trust services, private banking, investment advisory services, insurance services, and other related financial services. These products and services are delivered through a variety of channels, including its branches, other offices, the internet, and mobile applications. The company's business model combines the commitment to exceptional customer service of a local bank with the products and expertise of a larger institution. The company has a strong culture focused on what it calls The Golden Rule of Banking - treating each other and its customers the way it would want to be treated. The company operates as a locally-focused community bank, supplemented by experienced, centralized support to deliver products and services to its larger, more sophisticated, customers. Lending Activities The company offers a full range of lending services, including real estate, consumer and commercial loans, to individuals, small businesses, mid-sized commercial businesses and non-profit organizations. The company also originates loans partially guaranteed by the SBA and to a lesser extent by the USDA loan programs. The most significant categories of the company's loans are those to finance owner occupied real estate, commercial income property, commercial and industrial equipment and operating loans, and consumer loans secured by personal residences. A majority of the company's loans are made on a secured basis. The majority of the company's loans are to customers located in the immediate market areas of its banking locations in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and Alabama, including customers who have a seasonal residence in its market areas. The company originates a significant portion of its SBA/USDA and equipment finance loans on a national basis, to customers outside of its immediate market areas. The company's full-service retail mortgage lending division, UCMS, is approved as a seller/servicer for the Fannie Mae and the Freddie Mac and provides fixed and adjustable-rate home mortgages. During 2023, the company originated $903 million in residential mortgage loans for the purchase of homes and to refinance existing mortgage debt. Approximately 50% of these mortgages were sold into the secondary market without recourse to the company, other than for breaches of warranties. The company has retained the servicing on most of its mortgage loans sold. Deposit Activities Deposits are the major source of the company's funds for lending and other investment activities. The company offers its customers a variety of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and other deposit accounts. The company generates the majority of its deposits from customers in its local markets. Investments The company uses its investment portfolio to provide for the investment of excess funds at acceptable risk levels while providing liquidity to fund loan demand or to offset fluctuations in deposits. The company's portfolio consists primarily of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. agency and municipal obligations. Wealth Management, Trust, and Insurance Through its Wealth Management division, the company provides financial planning services, customized portfolio management and investment advice utilizing an open architecture approach to the selection of asset managers. The company also offers trust services to manage fiduciary assets. Seaside Capital Management, Inc. and FinTrust Capital Advisors, LLC are registered investment advisors that offer investment advisory services for clients who wish to utilize an independent custodian. FinTrust Insurance and Benefits, Inc. operates as an independent insurance agency for its clients. The company also operates FinTrust Brokerage Services, LLC, a registered broker dealer. Through its United Community Advisory Services division, the company generates fee revenue through the sale of non-deposit investment products and insurance products, including life insurance, long-term care insurance and tax-deferred annuities, to its customers. The company has an affiliation with a third party broker/dealer, LPL Financial, to facilitate this line of business. Reinsurance and Merchant Services The company owns a captive insurance subsidiary, NLFC Reinsurance Corp., which provides reinsurance on a property insurance contract covering equipment financed by its equipment financing division. The company provides payment processing services for its commercial and small business customers through UCPS. UCPS is a joint venture between the bank and Clover, a merchant services provider and subsidiary of Fiserv, Inc. Subsidiaries The bank is supervised and regulated as described in Supervision and Regulation in this Item below. FinTrust Capital Advisors, LLC and Seaside Capital Management, Inc. are registered with the SEC as investment advisers. Seaside Capital Management, Inc. is registered with the State of Florida as an investment adviser. FinTrust Brokerage Services, LLC is registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and all states in which it conducts business for which registration is required and is a Member FINRA/SIPC. FinTrust Insurance and Benefits, Inc. is licensed as an insurance agency in all states in which it conducts business for which licensing is required. Strategic Transactions - Acquisitions and Expansion An element of its business strategy is to consider opportunities to expand into or enhance the company's presence in attractive markets in which it is operating model will be successful. The company has entered new markets and expanded its product offerings both by establishing new branches and service locations and also by selective acquisitions of existing market participants. The company has developed a number of commercial lending businesses organically, which provide local commercial real estate, middle market, senior living, renewable energy, builder finance and asset-based lending services. The company generally seeks acquisition partners that share a similar culture and commitment to customer service. Acquisitions typically involve the payment of a premium over book and market values and, therefore, some dilution to its book value may occur with any future transactions. Calendar-Year Seasonality The company experiences seasonal variation in certain business efforts that affect its income and its asset and liability balances. The company's mortgage business tends to be seasonally strong in the second and third quarters correlating with home buying trends. The company's commercial lending businesses (including SBA and Navitas Credit Corp.) tend to be seasonally weaker in the first quarter and seasonally stronger in the fourth quarter. In addition, the company's government deposit balances tend to be strongest in the third and fourth quarters (year ended December 31, 2023) correlating with their tax receipts. Supervision and Regulation The Holding Company is a bank holding company and financial holding company within the meaning of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (BHC Act) and is registered with the Federal Reserve. The company is subject to the regulation and supervision of, and to examination by, the Federal Reserve (under the BHC Act). The company is required to file with the Federal Reserve annual reports and such additional information as the Federal Reserve may require pursuant to the BHC Act. The Holding Company is an affiliate of the bank under the Federal Reserve Act, which imposes certain restrictions on loans by the Bank to the Holding Company, investments in the stock or securities of the Holding Company by the bank, the Bank taking the stock or securities of an affiliate as collateral for loans by the bank to a borrower and the purchase of assets from the Holding Company by the bank. Effective July 1, 2021, the Holding Company elected to become a financial holding company, which allows for engagement in a broader range of financial activities. A bank holding company that is not a financial holding company is limited to engaging in banking and activities found by the Federal Reserve to be closely related to banking. United Community Bank, the company's most significant subsidiary, is a South Carolina state-chartered bank subject to the regulation and supervision of, and to examination by, the SCBFI. Effective July 1, 2021, the bank moved its headquarters from Blairsville, Georgia to Greenville, South Carolina and became a South Carolina state-chartered bank subject to examination and reporting requirements of the SCBFI. Prior to that date, the bank was a Georgia state-chartered bank subject to examination and reporting requirements of the GADBF. In addition to general supervision and examination powers, the SCBFI has the power to approve mergers with the bank, the bank's issuance of preferred stock or capital notes, the establishment of branches, and many other corporate actions. The company must receive the SCBFI's approval prior to engaging in the acquisition of a South Carolina state-chartered bank or another South Carolina bank holding company. The bank is subject to examination and reporting requirements of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the South Carolina Board of Financial Institutions (SCBFI) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The financial statements and information contained herein have not been reviewed, or confirmed for accuracy or relevance, by the FDIC or any other regulator. The bank is insured by, and subject to regulation by, the FDIC and is subject to regulation in certain respects by the CFPB. The bank is also subject to various requirements and restrictions under federal and state law, including requirements to maintain reserves against deposits, restrictions on the types and amounts of loans that may be made and the interest that may be charged, limitations on the types of investments that may be made, activities that may be engaged in, and types of services that may be offered. Various consumer laws and regulations also affect the operations of the bank. As a South Carolina state-chartered bank, the bank is permitted to pay a dividend of up to 100% of its current year earnings without requesting approval of the SCBFI, provided certain conditions are met. All other cash dividends require approval of the SCBFI. In connection with its lending activities, the bank is subject to a number of federal and state laws designed to protect borrowers and promote lending to various sectors of the economy and population. These laws include the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act and their respective state law counterparts. The bank's deposits are insured by the FDIC up to $250,000 per depositor subject to applicable limitations through the Deposit Insurance Fund. As a result, the bank must pay deposit insurance assessments to the FDIC. The FDIC imposes a risk-based deposit premium assessment system to determine assessments based on a number of factors to measure the risk each institution poses to the Deposit Insurance Fund. The company is subject to regulations that severely cap interchange fees which the bank may charge merchants for debit card transactions. These restrictions were required by a statutory provision known as the Durbin Amendment of the Dodd-Frank Act. The Federal Reserve's final rules implementing the Durbin Amendment capped interchange fees for debit card transactions at $0.21 plus five basis points in order to be eligible for a safe harbor such that the fee is conclusively determined to be reasonable and proportionate. The company is subject to federal laws that are designed to combat terrorist financing, money laundering and transactions with persons, companies or foreign governments sanctioned by the United States. These include the Bank Secrecy Act, the Money Laundering Control Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act, as administered by the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. These regulations obligate depositary institutions and broker-dealers to verify the identity of their customers, conduct customer due diligence, report on suspicious activity, file reports of transactions in currency and conduct enhanced due diligence on certain accounts. They also prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with certain designated restricted countries and persons. Depository institutions and broker-dealers are required by their federal regulators to maintain robust policies and procedures in order to ensure compliance with these obligations. History United Community Banks, Inc. was founded in 1950. The company was incorporated in 1987 under the laws of Georgia.