CHFC 2018 Annual Report

States government securities, the discount rate at which banks may borrow from the FRB, and the reserve requirements on deposits. We cannot predict the nature and timing of any changes in such policies and their impact on our business. 18 Item 1A. Risk Factors. There are risks, many beyond our control, which could cause our results to differ significantly from management’s expectations. Some of these significant risks and uncertainties are described below. Any factor described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K could, by itself or together with one or more other factors, adversely affect our business, results of operations and/ or financial condition, and the market price of our common stock could decline significantly. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently consider to not be material also may materially and adversely affect us. In assessing these risks, you should also refer to other information disclosed in our SEC filings, including the financial statements and notes thereto. The risks discussed below also include forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ substantially from those discussed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Risks Related to our Business If we fail to effectively manage credit risk, our business and financial condition will suffer. We must effectively manage credit risk. As a lender, we are exposed to the risk that our borrowers will be unable to repay their loans according to their terms, and that the collateral securing repayment of their loans, if any, may not be sufficient to ensure repayment. In addition, there are risks inherent in making any loan, including risks relating to proper loan underwriting, risks resulting from changes in economic and industry conditions and risks inherent in dealing with individual borrowers, including the risk that a borrower may not provide information to us about its business in a timely manner, and/or may present inaccurate or incomplete information to us, and risks relating to the value of collateral. Collateral values are adversely affected by changes in prevailing economic, environmental and other conditions, including declines in the value of real estate, changes in interest rates, changes inmonetary and fiscal policies of the federal government, terrorist activity, environmental contamination and other external events. In order to manage credit risk successfully, we must, among other things, maintain disciplined and prudent underwriting standards and ensure that our lenders follow those standards. The weakening of these standards for any reason, such as an attempt to attract higher yielding loans, a lack of discipline or diligence by our employees in underwriting and monitoring loans, the inability of our employees to adequately adapt policies and procedures to changes in economic or any other conditions affecting borrowers and the quality of our loan portfolio, may result in loan defaults, foreclosures and additional charge-offs and may necessitate that we significantly increase our allowance for loan losses, each of which could adversely affect our net income. As a result, our inability to successfully manage credit risk could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Our allowance for loan losses, and fair value adjustments with respect to loans acquired in our acquisitions, may prove to be insufficient to absorb actual losses in our loan portfolio, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We maintain an allowance for loan losses, which is a reserve established through a provision for loan losses charged to net income that represents management's estimate of probable losses that have been incurred within our existing loan portfolio. The level of the allowance for loan losses reflects management's continuing evaluation of specific credit risks, loan loss experience, current loan portfolio quality, the value of real estate, present economic, political and regulatory conditions and unidentified losses inherent in the current loan portfolio. The determination of the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses inherently involves a high degree of subjectivity and requires us to make significant estimates of current credit risks and future trends, all of which may undergo material changes. Deterioration in economic conditions and declines in real estate values affecting borrowers, new information regarding existing loans, identification of additional problem loans and other factors, both within and outside of our control, may require an increase in the allowance for loan losses. The application of the purchase method of accounting in our acquisitions (and any future acquisitions) will impact our allowance for loan losses. Under the purchase method of accounting, all acquired loans were recorded in our Consolidated Financial Statements at their estimated fair value at the time of acquisition and any related allowance for loan loss was eliminated because credit quality, among other factors, was considered in the determination of fair value. To the extent that our estimates of fair value are too high, we will incur losses associated with the acquired loans. The allowance associated with our purchased credit impaired loans reflects deterioration in cash flows since acquisition resulting from our quarterly re-estimation of cash flows which involves complex cash flow projections and significant judgment on timing of loan resolution.