Regions Financial 10-Q 2021-09-30

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

or

Commission File Number: 001-34034

(800) 734-4667

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ý Yes ¨ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). ý Yes ¨ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one): Large

accelerated filer ý Accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer ☐ Smaller reporting company ☐ Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). ☐ Yes ý No

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

As of November 2, 2021 there were 953,282,623 shares of the issuer's common stock, par value $.01 per share, outstanding.

REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION

FORM 10-Q

INDEX

Glossary of Defined Terms

Agencies - collectively, FNMA and GNMA.

ACL - Allowance for credit losses.

ALCO - Asset/Liability Management Committee.

ALLL - Allowance for loan and lease losses.

Allowance - Allowance for credit losses.

AMERIBOR - American Interbank Offered Rate.

AOCI - Accumulated other comprehensive income.

ARRC - Alternative Reference Rates Committee.

Ascentium - Ascentium Capital, LLC., an equipment finance entity acquired April 1, 2020.

ASU - Accounting Standards Update.

ATM - Automated teller machine.

Bank - Regions Bank.

Basel III Rules - Final capital rules adopting the Basel III capital framework approved by U.S. federal

regulators in 2013.

Basel Committee - Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

BHC - Bank Holding Company.

BITS - Technology policy division of the Bank Policy Institute.

Board - The Company’s Board of Directors.

BSBY - Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield index.

CAP - Customer Assistance Program.

CARES Act - Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act

CCAR - Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review.

CECL - Accounting Standards Update 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments ("Current

Expected Credit Losses")

CET1 - Common Equity Tier 1.

CFPB - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Company - Regions Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries.

COVID-19 - Coronavirus Disease 2019.

CPI - Consumer price index.

CPR - Constant (or Conditional) prepayment rate.

Dodd-Frank Act - The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

DFAST - Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test.

DPD - Days past due.

DUS - Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting & Servicing.

E&P - Extraction and production.

EnerBank - EnerBank USA, a consumer lending institution acquired October 1, 2021.

FASB - Financial Accounting Standards Board.

FCA - Financial Conduct Authority.

FDIC - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Federal Reserve - The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

FHA - Federal Housing Administration.

FHLB - Federal Home Loan Bank.

FICO - The Financing Corporation, established by the Competitive Equality Banking Act of.1987.

FICO scores - Personal credit scores based on the model introduced by the Fair Isaac Corporation.

Fintechs - Financial Technology Companies.

FOMC - Federal Open Market Committee.

FRB - Federal Reserve Bank.

GAAP - Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States.

GDP - Gross domestic product.

GNMA - Government National Mortgage Association.

HPI - Housing price index.

IRE - Investor real estate portfolio segment.

IRS - Internal Revenue Service.

LIBOR - London InterBank Offered Rate.

LROC - Liquidity Risk Oversight Committee.

LTV - Loan to value.

MBS - Mortgage-backed securities.

MSAs - Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

MSR - Mortgage servicing right.

NM - Not meaningful.

OAS - Option-adjusted spread.

OCC - Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

OCI - Other comprehensive income.

PCD - Purchased credit deteriorated.

PD - Probability of default.

PPP - Paycheck Protection Program.

R&S - Reasonable and supportable.

S&P 500 - a stock market index that measures the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.

Sabal - Sabal Capital Partners, LLC, a diversified financial services firm pending acquisition and expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approval.

SBA - Small Business Administration.

SBIC - Small Business Investment Company.

SCB - Stress Capital Buffer.

SEC - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOFR - Secured Overnight Financing Rate.

TDR - Troubled debt restructuring.

U.S. - United States.

U.S. Treasury - The United States Department of the Treasury.

USD - United States dollar.

UTB - Unrecognized tax benefits.

VIE - Variable interest entity.

Visa - The Visa, U.S.A. Inc. card association or its affiliates, collectively.

Forward-Looking Statements

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, other periodic reports filed by Regions Financial Corporation under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and any other written or oral statements made by us or on our behalf to analysts, investors, the media and others, may include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

The terms “Regions,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” as used herein mean collectively Regions Financial Corporation, a Delaware corporation, together with its subsidiaries when or where appropriate. The words “future,” “anticipates,” “assumes,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “objectives,” “estimates,” “expects,” “targets,” “projects,” “outlook,” “forecast,” “would,” “will,” “may,” “might,” “could,” “should,” “can,” and similar terms and expressions often signify forward-looking statements. Further, statements about the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our businesses, operations, and financial results and conditions may constitute forward-looking statements and are subject to the risk that the actual effects may differ, possibly materially, from what is reflected in those forward-looking statements due to factors and future developments that are uncertain, unpredictable and in many cases beyond our control, including the scope and duration of the pandemic (including any resurgences), actions taken by governmental authorities in response to the pandemic and their success, the effectiveness and acceptance of any vaccines, and the direct and indirect impact of the pandemic on our customers, third parties and us. Forward-looking statements are not based on historical information, but rather are related to future operations, strategies, financial results or other developments. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations as well as certain assumptions and estimates made by, and information available to, management at the time the statements are made. Those statements are based on general assumptions and are subject to various risks, and because they also relate to the future they are likewise subject to inherent uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the views, beliefs and projections expressed in such statements. Therefore, we caution you against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, those described below:

• Current and future economic and market conditions in the United States generally or in the communities we serve (in particular the Southeastern United States), including the effects of possible declines in property values, increases in unemployment rates, financial market disruptions and potential reductions of economic growth, which may adversely affect our lending and other businesses and our financial results and conditions.

• Possible changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies of, and other activities undertaken by, governments, agencies, central banks and similar organizations, which could have a material adverse effect on our earnings.

• Possible changes in market interest rates or capital markets could adversely affect our revenue and expense, the value of assets and obligations, and the availability and cost of capital and liquidity.

• The impact of pandemics, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, on our businesses, operations, and financial results and conditions. The duration and severity of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted the global economy, has and could continue to adversely affect our capital and liquidity position, impair the ability of borrowers to repay outstanding loans and increase our allowance for credit losses, impair collateral values, and result in lost revenue or additional expenses. The pandemic could also result in goodwill impairment charges and the impairment of other financial and nonfinancial assets, and increase our cost of capital.

• Any impairment of our goodwill or other intangibles, any repricing of assets, or any adjustment of valuation allowances on our deferred tax assets due to changes in tax law, adverse changes in the economic environment, declining operations of the reporting unit or other factors.

• The effect of new tax legislation and/or interpretation of existing tax law, which may impact our earnings, capital ratios, and our ability to return capital to shareholders.

• Possible changes in the creditworthiness of customers and the possible impairment of the collectability of loans and leases, including operating leases.

• Changes in the speed of loan prepayments, loan origination and sale volumes, charge-offs, credit loss provisions or actual credit losses where our allowance for credit losses may not be adequate to cover our eventual losses.

• Possible acceleration of prepayments on mortgage-backed securities due to low interest rates, and the related acceleration of premium amortization on those securities.

• Loss of customer checking and savings account deposits as customers pursue other, higher-yield investments, which could increase our funding costs.

• Possible changes in consumer and business spending and saving habits and the related effect on our ability to increase assets and to attract deposits, which could adversely affect our net income.

• Our ability to effectively compete with other traditional and non-traditional financial services companies, including fintechs, some of whom possess greater financial resources than we do or are subject to different regulatory standards than we are.

• Our inability to develop and gain acceptance from current and prospective customers for new products and services and the enhancement of existing products and services to meet customers’ needs and respond to emerging technological trends in a timely manner could have a negative impact on our revenue.

• Our inability to keep pace with technological changes, including those related to the offering of digital banking and financial services, could result in losing business to competitors.

• Changes in laws and regulations affecting our businesses, including legislation and regulations relating to bank products and services, as well as changes in the enforcement and interpretation of such laws and regulations by applicable governmental and self-regulatory agencies, including as a result of the recent change in U.S. presidential administration and control of the U.S. Congress, which could require us to change certain business practices, increase compliance risk, reduce our revenue, impose additional costs on us, or otherwise negatively affect our businesses.

• Our capital actions, including dividend payments, common stock repurchases, or redemptions of preferred stock or other regulatory capital instruments, must not cause us to fall below minimum capital ratio requirements, with applicable buffers taken into account, and must comply with other requirements and restrictions under law or imposed by our regulators, which may impact our ability to return capital to shareholders.

• Our ability to comply with stress testing and capital planning requirements (as part of the CCAR process or otherwise) may continue to require a significant investment of our managerial resources due to the importance of such tests and requirements.

• Our ability to comply with applicable capital and liquidity requirements (including, among other things, the Basel III capital standards), including our ability to generate capital internally or raise capital on favorable terms, and if we fail to meet requirements, our financial condition and market perceptions of us could be negatively impacted.

• The effects of any developments, changes or actions relating to any litigation or regulatory proceedings brought against us or any of our subsidiaries.

• The costs, including possibly incurring fines, penalties, or other negative effects (including reputational harm) of any adverse judicial, administrative, or arbitral rulings or proceedings, regulatory enforcement actions, or other legal actions to which we or any of our subsidiaries are a party, and which may adversely affect our results.

• Our ability to manage fluctuations in the value of assets and liabilities and off-balance sheet exposure so as to maintain sufficient capital and liquidity to support our businesses.

• Our ability to execute on our strategic and operational plans, including our ability to fully realize the financial and nonfinancial benefits relating to our strategic initiatives.

• The risks and uncertainties related to our acquisition or divestiture of businesses, including our recently completed acquisition of EnerBank and risks related to such acquisition, including that the expected synergies, cost savings and other financial or other benefits may not be realized within the expected timeframes, or might be less than projected; difficulties in integrating the business; and the inability of Regions to effectively cross-sell products to EnerBank’s customers; as well as our pending acquisition of Sabal and risks related to such acquisition, including delays in closing the transaction; that the expected synergies, cost savings, and other financial or other benefits of the transaction might not be realized within the expected timeframes, or might be less than projected; and difficulties in integrating Sabal’s business.

• The success of our marketing efforts in attracting and retaining customers.

• Our ability to recruit and retain talented and experienced personnel to assist in the development, management and operation of our products and services may be affected by changes in laws and regulations in effect from time to time.

• Fraud or misconduct by our customers, employees or business partners.

• Any inaccurate or incomplete information provided to us by our customers or counterparties.

• Inability of our framework to manage risks associated with our businesses, such as credit risk and operational risk, including third-party vendors and other service providers, which could, among other things, result in a breach of operating or security systems as a result of a cyber attack or similar act or failure to deliver our services effectively.

• Dependence on key suppliers or vendors to obtain equipment and other supplies for our businesses on acceptable terms.

• The inability of our internal controls and procedures to prevent, detect or mitigate any material errors or fraudulent acts.

• The effects of geopolitical instability, including wars, conflicts, civil unrest, and terrorist attacks and the potential impact, directly or indirectly, on our businesses.

• The effects of man-made and natural disasters, including fires, floods, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, and environmental damage (specifically in the Southeastern United States), which may negatively affect our operations and/or our loan portfolios and increase our cost of conducting business. The severity and impact of future earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods and other weather-related events are difficult to predict and may be exacerbated by global climate change.

• Changes in commodity market prices and conditions could adversely affect the cash flows of our borrowers operating in industries that are impacted by changes in commodity prices (including businesses indirectly impacted by commodities prices such as businesses that transport commodities or manufacture equipment used in the production of commodities), which could impair their ability to service any loans outstanding to them and/or reduce demand for loans in those industries.

• Our ability to identify and address cyber-security risks such as data security breaches, malware, ransomware, “denial of service” attacks, “hacking” and identity theft, including account take-overs, a failure of which could disrupt our businesses and result in the disclosure of and/or misuse or misappropriation of confidential or proprietary information, disruption or damage to our systems, increased costs, losses, or adverse effects to our reputation.

• Our ability to achieve our expense management initiatives.

• Market replacement of LIBOR and the related effect on our LIBOR-based financial products and contracts, including, but not limited to, derivative products, debt obligations, deposits, investments, and loans.

• Possible downgrades in our credit ratings or outlook could, among other negative impacts, increase the costs of funding from capital markets.

• The effects of a possible downgrade in the U.S. government’s sovereign credit rating or outlook, which could result in risks to us and general economic conditions that we are not able to predict.

• The effects of problems encountered by other financial institutions that adversely affect us or the banking industry generally could require us to change certain business practices, reduce our revenue, impose additional costs on us, or otherwise negatively affect our businesses.

• The effects of the failure of any component of our business infrastructure provided by a third party could disrupt our businesses, result in the disclosure of and/or misuse of confidential information or proprietary information, increase our costs, negatively affect our reputation, and cause losses.

• Our ability to receive dividends from our subsidiaries, in particular Regions Bank, could affect our liquidity and ability to pay dividends to shareholders.

• Changes in accounting policies or procedures as may be required by the FASB or other regulatory agencies could materially affect our financial statements and how we report those results, and expectations and preliminary analyses relating to how such changes will affect our financial results could prove incorrect.

• Other risks identified from time to time in reports that we file with the SEC.

• Fluctuations in the price of our common stock and inability to complete stock repurchases in the time frame and/or on the terms anticipated.

• The effects of any damage to our reputation resulting from developments related to any of the items identified above.

You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all of them. We assume no obligation and do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements that are made from time to time, either as a result of future developments, new information or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

See also the reports filed with the SEC, including the discussion under the “Risk Factors” section of Regions’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, as filed with the SEC and available on its website at www.sec.gov.

PART I

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

See notes to consolidated financial statements.

REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

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INTRODUCTION

The following discussion and analysis is part of Regions Financial Corporation’s (“Regions” or the “Company”) Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC and updates Regions’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, which was previously filed with the SEC. This financial information is presented to aid in understanding Regions’ financial position and results of operations and should be read together with the financial information contained in Regions’ Annual Report on Form 10-K. See Note 1 "Basis of Presentation" and Note 12 "Recent Accounting Pronouncements" to the consolidated financial statements for further detail. The emphasis of this discussion will be on the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 for the consolidated statements of income. For the consolidated balance sheets, the emphasis of this discussion will be the balances as of September 30, 2021 compared to December 31, 2020.

This discussion and analysis contains statements that may be considered “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. See pages 7 through 9 for additional information regarding forward-looking statements.

CORPORATE PROFILE

Regions is a financial holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that operates in the South, Midwest and Texas. Regions provides traditional commercial, retail and mortgage banking services, as well as other financial services in the fields of asset management, wealth management, securities brokerage, trust services, merger and acquisition advisory services and other specialty financing.

Regions conducts its banking operations through Regions Bank, an Alabama state-chartered commercial bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System. At September 30, 2021, Regions operated 1,310 total branch outlets. Regions carries out its strategies and derives its profitability from three reportable business segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management, with the remainder in Other. See Note 10 "Business Segment Information" to the consolidated financial statements for more information regarding Regions’ segment reporting structure.

Regions’ business strategy is focused on providing a competitive mix of products and services, delivering quality customer service, and continuing to develop and optimize distribution channels that include a branch distribution network with offices in convenient locations, as well as electronic and mobile banking.

Regions’ profitability, like that of many other financial institutions, is dependent on its ability to generate revenue from net interest income as well as non-interest income sources. Net interest income is primarily the difference between the interest income Regions receives on interest-earning assets, such as loans and securities, and the interest expense Regions pays on interest-bearing liabilities, principally deposits and borrowings. Regions’ net interest income is impacted by the size and mix of its balance sheet components and the interest rate spread between interest earned on its assets and interest paid on its liabilities. Non-interest income includes fees from service charges on deposit accounts, card and ATM fees, mortgage servicing and secondary marketing, investment management and trust activities, capital markets and other customer services which Regions provides. Results of operations are also affected by the provision for credit losses and non-interest expenses such as salaries and employee benefits, occupancy, professional, legal and regulatory expenses, FDIC insurance assessments, and other operating expenses, as well as income taxes.

Economic conditions, competition, new legislation and related rules impacting regulation of the financial services industry and the monetary and fiscal policies of the Federal government significantly affect most, if not all, financial institutions, including Regions. Lending and deposit activities and fee income generation are influenced by levels of business spending and investment, consumer income, consumer spending and savings, capital market activities, and competition among financial institutions, as well as customer preferences, interest rate conditions and prevailing market rates on competing products in Regions’ market areas.

On February 27, 2020, Regions announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Ascentium Capital LLC, an independent equipment financing company headquartered in Kingwood, Texas. The transaction closed on April 1, 2020, and included approximately $1.9 billion in loans and leases to small businesses. Refer to the "Ascentium Acquisition" section for more detail.

On June 8, 2021, Regions entered into an agreement to acquire EnerBank USA, a consumer lending institution specializing in home improvement lending headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The transaction closed on October 1, 2021, and resulted in the addition of approximately $3.1 billion in loans to consumers.

On October 4, 2021, Regions entered into an agreement to acquire Sabal Capital Partners, LLC, a diversified financial services firm that facilitates lending in the small-balance commercial real estate market headquartered in Irvine, California. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approval.

THIRD QUARTER OVERVIEW

Economic Environment in Regions’ Banking Markets

One of the primary factors influencing the credit performance of Regions’ loan portfolio is the overall economic environment in the U.S. and the primary markets in which it operates. The October 2021 baseline forecast anticipates real GDP growth of 5.5 percent in 2021, 4.6 percent in 2022, and 2.9 percent in 2023. While the downside risks posed by the COVID-19 virus have not been eliminated, they nonetheless have diminished with further progress on the vaccination front, but global supply chain and logistics bottlenecks remain a constraint on growth. Ample liquidity in the household and corporate sectors along with accommodative monetary and fiscal policy will be supportive of growth. That said, Regions expects that by mid-2023 the economy will be back on the path of growth around 2.0 percent that prevailed prior to the pandemic. As has been the case since the onset of the pandemic, there remains a heightened degree of uncertainty around economic forecasts being made at present.

The dominant theme in the economic data over recent months is the growing imbalance between the supply side of the economy and the demand side. Due to an unprecedented degree of fiscal and monetary policy support, greater numbers of people being vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, and further easing of restrictions on economic activity, the demand side of the economy is notably robust. The supply side of the economy, however, is simply unable to keep pace. Shortages of labor and non-labor inputs and shipping bottlenecks have driven up costs to producers and acted as drags on output growth. Moreover, the extent to which they have been drawn down over recent months means inventories are no longer providing a meaningful buffer between demand and supply. The growing imbalance between demand and supply has contributed to the sharp acceleration in inflation over recent months.

Supply/demand imbalances remain evident in the labor market data. As of September, the level of nonfarm employment was 4.97 million jobs below the pre-pandemic peak, while there are over three million fewer people in the labor force than was the case prior to the pandemic. Yet, there are over ten million open jobs waiting to be filled, and it seems clear that firms would be hiring more workers if they were available. While it had been expected that labor supply constraints would begin easing in the fall months, there is little evidence thus far showing that to be the case. The supply/demand im

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The information presented in the "Market Risk" section of Part 1, Item 2 is incorporated herein by reference.

Based on an evaluation, as of the end of the period covered by this Form 10-Q, under the supervision and with the participation of Regions’ management, including its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that Regions’ disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) are effective. During the quarter ended September 30, 2021, there have been no changes in Regions’ internal control over financial reporting that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, Regions’ internal control over financial reporting.

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

Information required by this item is set forth in Note 11, "Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees" in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited) in Part I. Item 1. of this report, which is incorporated by reference.

There are no material changes to the risk factors set forth in Regions' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020**.**

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

As part of the Company's capital plan, on April 21, 2021, Regions announced the Board's authorization of the repurchase of up to $2.5 billion of the Company's common stock, permitting purchases from the second quarter of 2021 through the first quarter of 2022. Regions did not repurchase any outstanding common stock during the three month period ended September 30, 2021 due to a temporary pause in share repurchases until the EnerBank closing on October 1, 2021.

The following is a list of exhibits including items incorporated by reference

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.