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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

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For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

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For the transition period from              to

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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (404) 995-6050

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Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐  No  ☒

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐  No  ☒

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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 and 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.   Yes ☒  No  ☐

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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 (Section 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒  No  ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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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. ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

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

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As of June 30, 2020 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $209.1 million based upon the closing sale price as reported on Nasdaq. See Part II, Item 5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

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Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

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The registrant has incorporated by reference into Part III of this report certain portions of its Proxy Statement for its 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which is expected to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days after the end of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.

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Atlantic Capital Bancshares, Inc.

Form 10-K

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Glossary of Defined Terms

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Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

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Background

Atlantic Capital Bancshares, Inc. (“we,” “us,” “Atlantic Capital,” or the “Company”), a Georgia corporation organized in 2006 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is the parent of Atlantic Capital Bank, N.A. (the “Bank”). We were founded by a team of senior bankers that recognized a market opportunity to bring large bank expertise and capabilities to small and middle market companies in the Atlanta market. The entrepreneurial spirit that promoted Atlantic Capital to seize the market opportunity is still woven into the Bank’s culture.

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In 2015, we became a publicly held company through our acquisition of First Security, a $1.14 billion financial institution headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 2019, we completed our exit of the Tennessee and northwest Georgia markets with the sale of 14 branches located in those markets and the residential mortgage banking business associated with those branches. This sale had a positive impact on our financial results, including long-term cost savings, the reallocation of resources to the Atlanta market and in high-growth businesses, improved capital to support our strategic initiatives, and improved profitability.

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The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 presented unique and unprecedented organizational and economic challenges. Our risk management philosophy served us well during the pandemic. Strong capital levels along with prudent liquidity and risk management allowed us to not only quickly address internal issues, but also help our customers and the communities we serve navigate the pandemic.  

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In the first half of 2020, we concentrated on providing assistance to our borrowers, including delivering PPP loans. We funded $234 million loans in PPP loans to over 800 borrowers. Every qualified client that applied for a PPP loan with our company received funding. In the latter portion of the year, our clients had modified their business models to operate in the pandemic. We saw a meaningful increase in financings and other activity leading to strong growth in our commercial banking efforts, including commercial real estate. Our fintech and payments business was also very active as these customers were able to continue to grow their businesses during the pandemic.

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Our Business Strategy

Our objective is to fuel the prosperity of entrepreneurs and businesses in the markets that we serve.  

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We are a team of talented, experienced and entrepreneurial bankers focused on serving commercial and not-for-profit enterprises, fintech and other processing companies, commercial real estate developers and individual clients that value high-touch relationships and deep expertise. Atlanta is our hometown and we are here for our Atlanta clients. In addition, our products and service capabilities and our focus on entrepreneurs are effective in targeted businesses nationally where our flexibility and expertise are highly valued and sought after.

We believe our strengths differentiate us from our competitors and allow us to address the financial needs of our clients. We also believe that these clients will present us with opportunities to originate loans and utilize our treasury management expertise. We will continue to focus on maintaining industry diversity in our target client base to mitigate our loan portfolio risk, increase market presence and leverage the broad industry experience of our commercial and business banking teams.

We recognize that the success of our franchise depends upon the success of our bankers. We are focused on hiring and retaining experienced bankers, providing them with the business development and client service tools they need to build and maintain long-term banking relationships through a deep understanding of each client’s business. We also construct client service teams with the range of expertise necessary to provide collaborative and seamless high-touch service across product lines. We are committed to continued investment through recruiting and employee development as well as product innovation, primarily in our core commercial banking business and our deposit-based and payment processing businesses. We continually evaluate our product offerings, and we rely heavily on input from our bankers as we refine our products to provide creative financial solutions tailored to the changing needs of our clients.

To support our strategic initiatives, we focus on maintaining a balance sheet with strong capital levels, high liquidity, and excellent credit quality, which we believe enable us to not only nimbly expand our teams of service providers as hiring opportunities arise, but also to originate larger loans, invest in new business lines, and attract deposits from high transaction volume payments and financial technology businesses.

We regularly evaluate the profitability and viability of our existing lines of business, the strategic advantages associated with investment in the organic development or acquisition of lines of business that better serve our core banking customers, and the termination of under-used or unprofitable lines of business.

Commercial and Not-for-Profit Banking

We offer a full range of commercial and business banking products to fund our Georgia-based clients’ strategic growth, capital expenditures, working capital requirements and strategic corporate finance activities. Our solutions include working capital and equipment loans, loans supported by owner-occupied real estate and strategic financing funded through both revolving lines of credit and term loans. We also offer outstanding cash and treasury management services with exceptional client service.

We focus on banking small businesses with revenues up to $10 million and middle market companies primarily based in Georgia. We also participate in syndicated loans to larger borrowers, generally located in the Southeast. In addition to customary commercial loans, we offer SBA loans and franchise finance loans to small businesses across a wide range of industries in the Southeast and nationally through a dedicated team of bankers with expertise in these specialized forms of lending. We offer SBA loans under the 7a program as well as the 504 program and periodically offer loans guaranteed by the United States Department of Agriculture.

The terms of our commercial, not-for-profit and business banking loans vary by purpose and by the underlying collateral. The vast majority of these loans are secured by assets of the borrower; however, we periodically make unsecured loans to our most creditworthy clients when circumstances support such activity. Loans to support working capital typically have terms not exceeding one year and are usually fully-secured by accounts receivable and inventory, as well as by personal guarantees of the principals or owners of the business. For loans secured by accounts receivable or inventory, the principal balance is repaid as the assets securing the loan are converted into cash. For loans secured with other types of collateral, the principal balance generally amortizes over the term of the loan. The quality of the commercial borrower’s management and its ability to both properly evaluate and respond to changes affecting its business operations and operating environment are significant factors we evaluate with respect to a commercial borrower’s creditworthiness. In addition to analyzing the

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creditworthiness of franchisee borrowers, we also perform analysis on the franchisors to ensure these franchisees have adequate support from a financially sound franchisor.

Fintech and Payments Businesses

Through our highly experienced Fintech, Payments and Treasury Services teams, we provide an array of high volume payment processing solutions, treasury management and deposit services to companies located throughout the United States.

Our payment technologies and treasury services capabilities are tailored to the needs of clients located across the country in particular industries, such as financial technology, payroll service bureaus and business service clients relying upon high volume funds transfer solutions. Our Fintech and Payments teams assist high transaction volume clients with payment processing through the Automated Clearing House and FedWire systems as well as with transaction compliance, risk monitoring and management. We offer an array of corporate treasury management services designed to improve our clients’ financial efficiency through effective collection and disbursement of funds as well as real time online execution and reporting capabilities.

Commercial Real Estate Finance

Through our commercial real estate team, we offer a full range of treasury management services and a wide variety of loan products, including secured construction loans, secured mini permanent loans and, less frequently, secured or unsecured lines of credit. A large majority of our commercial real estate loan portfolio is secured by a first mortgage security interest in the property financed. Our primary focus is providing loans for our core commercial real estate property types: multifamily (primarily for-rent) housing, office, industrial and retail properties. We occasionally extend unsecured credit to certain commercial real estate clients, which we believe to have exceptional credit quality. The majority of our commercial real estate customers and the largest proportion of our commercial real estate collateral are located in the Atlanta area. We have occasionally extended credit to select clients outside our primary markets, and expect to continue to do so in certain circumstances.  

The majority of our commercial real estate loans finance stabilized income producing assets. We also extend loans for construction and development purposes and lines of credit. We seek to actively manage and balance our commercial real estate loan portfolio across various property types and industries to assure appropriate diversification and to manage our exposure to market conditions. We have arranged and participated in syndicated commercial real estate loans to diversify and mitigate our client concentration risk and to support our loan growth goals, and we may continue both in the future.

Private Banking

Through our private banking business team, we offer personal credit products, an array of checking and savings products and online and mobile banking services.

Our private banking credit products include loans to individuals and professional services businesses for personal and investment purposes, such as secured installment and term loans and home equity lines of credit. Repayment of these loans is often primarily dependent upon the borrower’s financial profile and is more likely to be adversely affected by personal hardships as compared to other types of loans. Credit decisions are based on a review of a borrower’s credit and debt history, past income levels and cash flow to assess the ability of the borrower to make future payments. Home equity lines of credit are underwritten based upon our assessment of the borrower’s credit profile and ability to repay the entirety of the obligation.

Competition

We face substantial competition in all areas of our operations from a variety of competitors, many of which are larger and may have more financial resources than we do. Such competitors primarily include national and regional banks  within the various markets in which we operate. We also face competition from many other types of financial institutions, including,

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without limitation, savings and loan associations, credit unions, finance companies, brokerage firms, insurance companies, and other financial intermediaries.

The financial services industry could become even more competitive as a result of legislative, regulatory, and technological changes and continued consolidation. In particular, recent consolidations and disruption in our Atlanta market could result in increased competition as both established institutions and new market entrants position themselves to attract new customers and employees. Banks, securities firms, and insurance companies can merge under the umbrella of a financial holding company, which can offer virtually any type of financial service, including banking, securities underwriting, insurance agency and underwriting, and merchant banking. Also, technology has lowered barriers to entry and made it possible for non-banks to offer products and services traditionally provided by banks. Many of our non-bank competitors have fewer regulatory constraints and may have lower cost structures. Additionally, due to their size, many competitors may be able to achieve economies of scale and, as a result, may offer a broader range of products and services as well as better pricing for those products and services than we can.

As of June 30, 2020, according to the FDIC, there were approximately 77 banks and thrifts with operations in metropolitan Atlanta. Large national, super-regional and regional banks may lack the consistency of decision making authority and local focus necessary to provide superior service to our target clients. Conversely, smaller community banks typically lack the sophisticated products, capital and management experience to provide the level of service that our target clients demand. We believe that our product offerings are more robust than those offered by community banks and more tailored to suit our clients’ needs than those offered by large regional and national competitors. In addition, we believe that our collaborative team approach, the decision-making authority vested in our seasoned bankers and our streamlined credit approval process allow us to provide high-touch service at a level not offered by our competitors.

Human Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2020, we employed 201 full-time equivalent individuals. All of our employees are only employees of the Bank. We are not a party to a collective bargaining agreement, and we consider our relations with employees to be good.

Our business strategy relies heavily on professional relationships and the quality of expertise and service provided by our employees. Accordingly, we strive to recruit and retain talented, high-caliber employees who share our values and support our strategic objectives. We offer a comprehensive benefits program to our employees and have designed our compensation programs to attract, retain, and reward employees, mitigate undue risk, and to align with company performance and shareholder value.

Our employment practices are designed to encourage an inclusive, respectful and rewarding workplace, with opportunities for our employees to grow and develop their careers. We provide equal opportunity for all in recruitment, career development, promotion and compensation without regard to age, color, non-disqualifying disability, gender, national origin, race, marital status, veteran status, religion or any other basis that is protected under applicable law. These policies are consistent with, and are an extension of, our existing Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and reflect our commitment to sustainability, diversity and accountability.

We believe that diversity and inclusion are critical to our success and are committed to fostering an environment that encourages diverse viewpoints, backgrounds and experiences. With the support of our management and Board of Directors, we continue to explore additional diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts.

Additional Information

Our principal internet address is www.atlanticcapitalbank.com. The information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We have included our website address as a factual reference and do not intend it as an active link to our website. We provide our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports, free of charge on www.atlanticcapitalbank.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC.

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Supervision and Regulation

Bank holding companies and national banks are extensively regulated under both federal and state law. The following is a brief summary of certain statutes and rules and regulations that affect or will affect us. This summary is not intended to be an exhaustive description of the statutes or regulations applicable to their respective businesses. Supervision, regulation and examination of us by regulatory agencies are intended primarily for the protection of depositors rather than of our shareholders. We cannot predict whether or in what form any proposed statute or regulation will be adopted or the extent to which our business may be affected by a statute or regulation. The discussion is qualified in its entirety by reference to applicable laws and regulations. Changes in such laws and regulations may have a material effect on our business and prospects.

Atlantic Capital Bancshares, Inc.

As a bank holding company, we are subject to regulation under the BHCA, as amended and to the regulation, supervision, and examination by the Federal Reserve.

Acquisitions

The BHCA requires every bank holding company to obtain the Federal Reserve’s prior approval before (1) acquiring direct or indirect ownership or control of more than 5% of the voting shares of any bank that it does not already control; (2) acquiring all or substantially all of the assets of a bank; and (3) subject to certain exceptions, merging or consolidating with any other bank holding company. In addition, a bank holding company is generally prohibited from engaging in, or acquiring a direct or indirect interest in or control of more than 5% of the voting shares of any company engaged in, non-banking activities. This prohibition does not apply to activities listed in the BHCA or found by the Federal Reserve, by order or regulation, to be closely related to banking or managing or controlling banks as to be a proper incident thereto.

The BHCA further provides that the Federal Reserve may not approve any transaction that would result in a monopoly or that would substantially lessen competition in the banking business, unless the public interest in meeting the needs of the communities to be served outweighs the anti-competitive effects. The Federal Reserve is also required to consider the financial and managerial resources and future prospects of the bank holding companies and banks involved and the convenience and needs of the communities to be served. Consideration of financial resources generally focuses on capital adequacy and consideration of convenience and needs issues, which focuses, in part, on the performance under the CRA.

Change in Bank Control

Subject to various exceptions, the BHCA and the Change in Bank Control Act, together with related regulations, require Federal Reserve approval prior to any person or company acquiring “control” of a bank holding company. Control is conclusively presumed to exist if an individual or company acquires 25% or more of any class of voting securities of a bank holding company. Control is also presumed to exist, although rebuttable, if a person or company acquires 10% or more, but less than 25%, of any class of voting securities and the bank holding company has registered securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act.

Permitted Activities

Except in certain situations prescribed by statute (including exemptions for financial holding companies), the BHCA generally prohibits a bank holding company from engaging in, or acquiring 5% or more of the voting stock of a company that is not a bank holding company or a bank, and from engaging in activities other than banking; managing or controlling banks or other permissible subsidiaries and performing servicing activities for subsidiaries; and engaging in any activities other than activities that the Federal Reserve has determined by order or regulation are so closely related to banking as to be a proper incident included thereto under the BHCA. In determining whether a particular activity is permissible, the Federal Reserve considers whether performing the activity can be expected to produce benefits to the public that outweigh possible adverse effects, such as undue concentration of resources, decreased or unfair competition, conflicts of interest or unsound banking practices. The Federal Reserve has the power to order a bank holding company or its subsidiaries to

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terminate any activity or control of any subsidiary when the continuation of the activity or control constitutes a serious risk to the financial safety, soundness or stability of any bank subsidiary of that bank holding company.

Under the BHCA, a bank holding company may file an election with the Federal Reserve to be treated as a financial holding company and engage in additional financial activities. The election must be accompanied by a certification that the Company’s insured depository institution subsidiary is “well capitalized” and “well managed.” Additionally, the CRA rating of each subsidiary bank must be satisfactory or better. We have not elected to be treated as a financial holding company.

Support of Bank Subsidiaries

We are required to act as a source of financial and managerial strength for the Bank and to commit resources to support the Bank. This support may be required at times when it would not be in the best interests of our shareholders or creditors to provide it. In addition, any capital loans made by us to the Bank will be repaid only after the Bank’s deposits and various other obligations are repaid in full.

Atlantic Capital Bank, N.A.

The Bank is chartered by the OCC and thus is subject to regulation, supervision and examination by the OCC.

Bank Merger Act

Section 18(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, commonly known as the “Bank Merger Act,” requires the prior written approval of the OCC before any national bank may (i) merge or consolidate with, (ii) purchase or otherwise acquire the assets of, or (iii) assume the deposit liabilities of, another bank if the resulting institution is to be a national bank.

The Bank Merger Act prohibits the OCC from approving any proposed merger transaction that would result in a monopoly or would further a combination or conspiracy to monopolize or to attempt to monopolize the business of banking in any part of the United States. Similarly, the Bank Merger Act prohibits the OCC from approving a proposed merger transaction whose effect in any section of the country may be to lessen competition substantially, or to tend to create a monopoly, or which in any other manner would be in restraint of trade. An exception may be made in the case of a merger transaction whose effect would be to substantially lessen competition, tend to create a monopoly, or otherwise restrain trade, if the OCC finds that the anticompetitive effects of the proposed transaction are clearly outweighed by the probable effect of the transaction in meeting the convenience and needs of the community to be served.

In every proposed merger transaction, the OCC must also consider the financial and managerial resources and future prospects of the existing and resulting institutions, the convenience and needs of the communities to be served, and the effectiveness of each insured depository institution involved in the proposed merger transaction in combating money-laundering activities, including in overseas branches.

Capital Adequacy

The final rule adopted by the federal banking regulators implementing the capital reforms published by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in Basel III established prompt corrective action requirements for all banks and includes a CET1 risk-based capital measure. CET1 consists of common stock and paid in capital and retained earnings. CET1 is reduced by goodwill, certain intangible assets, net of associated deferred tax liabilities, deferred tax assets that arise from tax credit and net operating loss carryforwards, net of any valuation allowance, and certain other items specified in the Basel III capital rules. The capital rules also provide for a number of adjustments to CET1. These include the requirement that mortgage servicing rights, certain 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 such items exceed 10% of CET1 individually or 15% of CET1 in the aggregate.

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The risk-based capital and leverage capital requirements under the final rule are set forth in the table that follows.

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The final rule also established a “capital conservation buffer” of 2.5% (which was fully phased in as of January 1, 2019), consisting of CET1 capital, above the regulatory minimum capital ratios. Accordingly, an institution will be subject to limitations on capital distributions, dividend payments, share repurchases and payment of discretionary bonuses to executive officers if the institution’s capital falls below the following minimum ratios: (i) total risk-based capital ratio of 10.5%, (ii) Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 8.5%, and (iii) a CET1 risk-based capital ratio of 7.0%.

The final rule includes comprehensive guidance with respect to the measurement of risk-weighted assets. For residential mortgages, Basel III retains the risk-weights contained in the current capital rules which assign a risk-weight of 50% to most first-lien exposures and 100% to other residential mortgage exposures. The final rule increased the risk-weights associated with certain on-balance sheet assets, including 150% for high volatility commercial real estate acquisition, development and construction loans, and for the unsecured portion of non-residential mortgage loans that are more than 90 days past due or in nonaccrual status. Capital requirements were also increased for equity exposures, securities lending transactions, OTC derivatives and loan commitments with an original maturity of one year or less.

Under the final rule, certain banking organizations, including the Company and the Bank, are permitted to make a one-time election to continue the current treatment of excluding from regulatory capital most AOCI components, including amounts relating to unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale debt securities and amounts attributable to defined benefit post-retirement plans. Institutions that elect to exclude most AOCI components from regulatory capital under Basel III will be able to avoid volatility that would otherwise be caused by things such as the impact of fluctuations in interest rates on the fair value of available-for-sale debt securities. The Company and the Bank elected to exclude AOCI components from regulatory capital under Basel III.

In December 2017, the Basel Committee published an update of Basel III (“Basel IV”). The Basel Committee stated that a key objective of Basel IV is to reduce excessive variability of risk-weighted assets in order to enhance comparability of financial institutions’ capital ratios; constrain the use of internally modeled approaches; and complement the risk-weighted capital ratio with a finalized leverage ratio and a revised minimum capital requirement. The federal banking agencies are considering how to appropriately apply the Basel IV standards to institutions in the United States. It is uncertain which of the Basel IV standards will be incorporated into the capital regulations and what effect those standards might have on the Company or the Bank.

On October 29, 2019, the federal banking regulators adopted a final rule, which was effective as of January 1, 2020, to simplify the regulatory capital requirements for certain community banks and holding companies that opt into the CBLR framework. In order to be eligible to opt in to the CBLR framework, an institution must have less than $10 billion in average consolidated assets and a leverage ratio of at least 9.0%, and meet certain other asset-related requirements. If the election is made, the institution would be considered to have satisfied the capital requirements of Basel III adopted by the federal banking regulators, and would be able to satisfy the regulatory capital requirements by calculating and reporting a single leverage ratio, reducing the time associated with risk-weighting assets for capital ratio reporting purposes. An eligible institution may opt in to the CBLR framework in connection with any regulatory financial report, and may opt out of the CBLR framework at any time by completing the Basel III capital ratio calculations in connection with any regulatory financial report. The rule establishes a two-quarter grace period for institutions whose leverage ratio falls below 9.0% but remains above 8.0%. The Company and the Bank have not opted in to the CBLR framework.

Failure to meet capital guidelines could subject a bank to a variety of enforcement remedies, including issuance of a capital directive, the termination of deposit insurance by the FDIC, ineligibility for expedited treatment of regulatory applications, restrictions on certain acquisitions, a prohibition on accepting brokered deposits and certain other restrictions on its

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business. An institution may be downgraded to, or deemed to be in, a capital category that is lower than is 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.

The FDI Act requires the federal regulatory agencies to take “prompt corrective action” if a depository institution does not meet minimum capital requirements as set forth above. Generally, a receiver or conservator for a bank that is “critically undercapitalized” must be appointed within specific time frames. The regulations also provide that a capital restoration plan must be filed within 45 days of the date a bank is deemed to have received notice that it is “undercapitalized,” “significantly undercapitalized” or “critically undercapitalized.” Any holding company for a bank required to submit a capital restoration plan must guarantee the lesser of (i) an amount equal to 5% of the bank’s assets at the time it was notified or deemed to be undercapitalized by regulator, or (ii) the amount necessary to restore the bank to adequately capitalized status. This guarantee remains in place until the bank is notified that it has maintained adequately capitalized status for specified time periods. Additional measures with respect to undercapitalized institutions include a prohibition on capital distributions, growth limits and restrictions on activities.

The FDI Act generally prohibits an FDIC-insured bank from making a capital distribution (including payment of a dividend) or paying any management fee to its holding company if the bank would thereafter be “undercapitalized.” “Undercapitalized” banks are subject to growth limitations and are required to submit a capital restoration plan. The federal regulators may not accept a capital plan without determining, among other things, that the plan is based on realistic assumptions and is likely to succeed in restoring the bank’s capital. In addition, for a capital restoration plan to be acceptable to regulators, the bank’s parent holding company must guarantee that the institution will comply with such capital restoration plan. The aggregate liability of the parent holding company is limited to the lesser of: (i) an amount equal to 5% of the bank’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 bank fails to submit an acceptable plan, it is treated as if it is “significantly undercapitalized.”

“Significantly undercapitalized” insured banks 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 the cessation of receipt of deposits from correspondent banks. “Critically undercapitalized” institutions are subject to the appointment of a receiver or conservator. A bank that is not “well capitalized” is also subject to certain limitations relating to brokered deposits.

As of December 31, 2020, the Bank had capital levels that qualify as “well capitalized” and that meet the “capital conservation buffer” requirements under applicable regulations.

For further detail on capital and capital ratios, see the discussion under “Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources” and Note 17 – Regulatory Matters, to the consolidated financial statements.

FDIC Insurance Assessments

The FDIC, through the DIF, insures the deposits of the Bank up to prescribed limits for each depositor (currently, $250,000 per depositor). The assessment paid by each DIF member institution is based on its relative risk of default as measured by regulatory capital ratios and other factors. Specifically, the assessment rate is based on the institution’s capitalization risk category and supervisory subgroup category. The deposit insurance assessment is calculated on the average total consolidated assets of insured depository institutions during the assessment period, less the average tangible equity of the institution during the assessment period as opposed to solely bank deposits at an institution. An institution’s capitalization risk category is based on the FDIC’s determination of whether the institution is well capitalized, adequately capitalized or less than adequately capitalized. The Bank’s insurance assessments during 2020, 2019, and 2018 were $629,000, $275,000, and $745,000, respectively.

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Insurance of deposits may be terminated by the FDIC upon a finding that an institution has engaged in unsafe or 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.

Payment of Dividends

The Company is a legal entity that is separate and distinct from the Bank. While there are various legal and regulatory limitations under federal and state law governing the extent to which banks can pay dividends or otherwise supply funds to holding companies, the principal source of cash revenues for the Company are dividends from the Bank. The relevant federal regulatory agencies also have authority to prohibit a national bank or bank holding company from engaging in conduct that, in the opinion of such regulatory agency, constitutes an unsafe or unsound practice in conducting its business. The payment of dividends could, depending upon the financial condition of a bank, be deemed to constitute an unsafe or unsound practice in conducting its business.

Insured depository institutions, such as the Bank, are prohibited from making capital distributions, including the payment of dividends, if, after making such distribution, the institution would become “undercapitalized” (as such term is defined in the applicable law and regulations). In addition, capital rules limit capital distributions, including dividends, if the depository institution does not have a “capital conservation buffer.” See further details above under “—Capital Adequacy.”

National banks are required by federal law to obtain the prior approval of the OCC in order to declare and pay dividends if the total of all dividends declared in any calendar year would exceed the total of (1) such bank’s net profits (as defined and interpreted by regulation) for that year plus (2) its retained net profits (as defined and interpreted by regulation) for the preceding two calendar years, less any required transfers to surplus. In addition, these banks may only pay dividends to the extent that retained net profits (including the portion transferred to surplus) exceed bad debts (as defined by regulation).

The Federal Reserve has issued a policy statement that a bank holding company should pay cash dividends only to the extent that the holding company’s net income for the past year is sufficient to cover both the cash dividends and a rate of earning retention that is consistent with the holding company’s capital needs, asset quality and overall financial condition. The Federal Reserve also indicated that it would be inappropriate for a holding company experiencing serious financial problems to borrow funds to pay dividends. Furthermore, under the prompt corrective action regulations adopted by the Federal Reserve, the Federal Reserve may prohibit a bank holding company from paying any dividends if one or more of the holding company’s bank subsidiaries are classified as undercapitalized.

Stock Repurchases

A bank holding company is required to give the Federal Reserve prior written notice of any purchase or redemption of its outstanding equity securities if the gross consideration for the purchase or redemption, when combined with the net consideration paid for all such purchases or redemptions during the preceding 12 months, is equal to 10% or more of its consolidated net worth. The Federal Reserve may disapprove such a purchase or redemption if it determines that the proposal would constitute an unsafe or unsound practice or would violate any law, regulation, Federal Reserve order or any condition imposed by, or written agreement with, the Federal Reserve. In addition, the Federal Reserve has indicated that bank holding companies should review their dividend policies, and has discouraged dividend payment ratios that are at maximum allowable levels unless both asset quality and capital levels are strong.

Transactions with Affiliates

Federal laws strictly limit the ability of banks to engage in transactions with their affiliates, including their bank holding companies. Regulations promulgated by the Federal Reserve limit the types and amounts of these transactions (including extensions of credit to affiliates, investment in affiliates, the purchase of assets from affiliates, and lending that results in credit exposure to affiliates) that may take place and generally require those transactions to be on an arm’s-length basis. In general, these regulations require that any “covered transactions” between a subsidiary bank and its parent company or the nonbank subsidiaries of the bank holding company be limited to 10% of the bank subsidiary’s capital and surplus and, with respect to such parent company and all such nonbank subsidiaries, to an aggregate of 20% of the bank subsidiary’s

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capital and surplus. Further, loans and extensions of credit to affiliates generally are required to be secured by eligible collateral in specified amounts.

Interstate Banking and Branching

The Dodd-Frank Act relaxed previous restrictions on interstate branching and national banks and state banks are able to establish branches in any state if that state would permit the establishment of the branch by a state bank chartered in that state. The FDIA requires that the OCC review (1) any merger with an insured bank into a national bank, or (2) any establishment of branches by an insured bank.  See “—Bank Merger Act.”

Loans to Directors, Executive Officers and Principal Shareholders

The authority of the Bank to extend credit to its directors, executive officers and principal shareholders, including their immediate family members, corporations and other entities that they control, is subject to substantial restrictions and requirements under the Federal Reserve Act and Regulation O promulgated thereunder, as well as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. These statutes and regulations impose specific limits on the amount of loans that the Bank may make to directors and other insiders, and specified approval procedures must be followed in making loans that exceed certain amounts. In addition, all loans the Bank makes to directors and other insiders must satisfy the following requirements:

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Furthermore, the Bank must periodically report all loans made to directors and other insiders to the bank regulators, and these loans are closely scrutinized by the regulators for compliance with Sections 22(g) and 22(h) of the Federal Reserve Act and Regulation O. Each loan to a director or other insider must be pre-approved by the Bank’s board of directors with the interested director abstaining from voting.

Community Reinvestment Act

The CRA requires the federal bank regulatory agencies to encourage financial institutions to meet the credit needs of low and moderate-income areas. An institution’s size and business strategy determines the type of examination that it will receive. Large, retail-oriented institutions are examined using a performance-based lending, investment and service test. Small institutions are examined using a streamlined approach. All institutions may opt to be evaluated under a strategic plan formulated with community input and pre-approved by the bank regulatory agency.

The CRA regulations provide for certain disclosure obligations. Each institution must post a notice advising the public of its right to comment to the institution and its regulator on the institution’s CRA performance and to review the institution’s CRA public file. Each lending institution must maintain for public inspection a file that includes a listing of branch locations and services, a summary of lending activity, a map of its communities and any written comments from the public on its performance in meeting community credit needs. The CRA requires public disclosure of a financial institution’s written CRA evaluations. This requirement promotes enforcement of CRA principles by providing the public with the status of a particular institution’s community reinvestment record.

The GLBA made various changes to the CRA. Among other changes, CRA agreements with private parties must be disclosed. A bank holding company will not be permitted to become a financial holding company and no new activities authorized under the GLBA may be commenced by a holding company or by a bank financial subsidiary if any of its bank subsidiaries received less than a satisfactory CRA rating in its latest examination.  In April 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued a memorandum to the federal banking regulators with recommended changes to the CRA’s implementing regulations to reduce their complexity and associated burden on banks. Subsequently, in December 2019, the OCC and FDIC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking intended to update and modernize the CRA's implementing regulations. On

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May 20, 2020, the OCC finalized its rule while the FDIC, which had joined the OCC’s proposed rulemaking, did not proceed with a final rule. The Federal Reserve, which did not join the OCC and FDIC’s proposal, in October 2020 put forth its own advance notice of proposed rulemaking focused on CRA modernization. We will continue to evaluate the impact of any changes to the regulations implementing the CRA. In late 2020, the OCC approved the our CRA strategic plan, which covers 2021 and 2022 and will be a basis for subsequent CRA examinations. In its last CRA examination, the Bank received a “Satisfactory” rating.

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Consumer Laws and Regulations

The Bank is also subject to certain consumer laws and regulations that are designed to protect consumers in transactions with banks. While the following list is not exhaustive, these laws and regulations include the Truth in Lending Act, the Truth in Savings Act, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, the Expedited Funds Availability Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Fair Housing Act, among others. These laws and regulations, among other things, prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, gender or other designated characteristics and mandate various disclosure requirements and regulate the manner in which financial institutions must deal with customers when taking deposits or making loans to such customers. These and other laws also limit finance charges or other fees or charges earned in the Bank’s activities.

In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act created the CFPB, which has broad rulemaking and enforcement authority, with respect to a wide range of consumer financial laws, including the authority to prohibit “unfair, deceptive, or abusive” acts and practices. The CFPB has the authority to investigate potential violations of consumer protection laws, issue cease-and-desist orders, and institute civil proceedings in order to impose civil money penalties or injunctions.

Technology Risk Management and Consumer Privacy

Banks are generally expected to prudently manage technology-related risks as part of their comprehensive risk management policies by identifying, measuring, monitoring and controlling risks associated with the use of technology. Under Section 501 of the GLBA, the federal banking agencies have established appropriate standards for financial institutions regarding the implementation of safeguards to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer records and information, protection against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such records and protection against unauthorized access to or use of such records or information in a way that could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to a customer. Among other matters, the rules require each bank to implement a comprehensive written information security program that includes administrative, technical and physical safeguards relating to customer information, as well as processes to enable recovery of data and business operations, rebuild network capabilities and restore data.

Under the GLBA, a financial institution must also provide its customers with a notice of privacy policies and practices and may not disclose nonpublic personal information about a customer to nonaffiliated third parties unless the institution satisfies various notice and opt-out requirements and the customer has not elected to opt out of the disclosure. All banks are also required to develop initial and annual privacy notices which describe in general terms the bank’s information sharing practices. Banks that share nonpublic personal information about customers with nonaffiliated third parties must also provide customers with an opt-out notice and a reasonable period of time for the customer to opt out of any such disclosure (with certain exceptions). Limitations are placed on the extent to which a bank can disclose an account number or access code for credit card, deposit or transaction accounts to any nonaffiliated third party for use in marketing.

In addition, on December 18, 2020, the federal banking regulators proposed a new cybersecurity-related notification rule that would require banking organizations, including the Company and the Bank, to notify their primary federal regulator promptly of the occurrence of certain significant computer-security incidents. The proposed rule would also impose requirements on bank service providers to notify their affected banking organization customers of certain computer-security incidents.

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

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programs and providing 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.

UDAP and UDAAP

Banking regulatory agencies have increasingly used a general consumer protection statute to address “unethical” or otherwise “bad” business practices that may not necessarily fall directly under the purview of a specific banking or consumer finance law. The law of choice for enforcement against such business practices has been Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, referred to as the FTC Act, which is the primary federal law that prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices, referred to as UDAP, and unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce. “Unjustified consumer injury” is the principal focus of the FTC Act. Prior to the Dodd-Frank Act, there was little formal guidance to provide insight to the parameters for compliance with UDAP laws and regulations. However, UDAP laws and regulations have been expanded under the Dodd-Frank Act to apply to “unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices,” referred to as UDAAP.

Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Money Laundering Reporting

Under the BSA, financial institutions are required to monitor and report unusual or suspicious account activity that might signify money laundering, tax evasion or other criminal activities, as well as transactions involving the transfer or withdrawal of amounts in excess of prescribed limits. The BSA is sometimes referred to as an AML law. Several AML statutes, including provisions in Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, have been enacted to amend the BSA. Under the USA PATRIOT Act, financial institutions are subject to prohibitions against specified financial transactions and account relationships as well as enhanced due diligence and “know your customer” standards in their dealings with financial institutions and foreign customers. Under the USA PATRIOT Act, financial institutions are also required to establish anti-money laundering programs. The USA PATRIOT Act sets forth minimum standards for these programs, including:

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In addition, under the USA PATRIOT Act, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, has adopted rules addressing a number of related issues, including increasing the cooperation and information sharing between financial institutions, regulators, and law enforcement authorities regarding individuals, entities and organizations engaged in, or reasonably suspected based on credible evidence of engaging in, terrorist acts or money laundering activities. Any financial institution complying with these rules will not be deemed to violate the privacy provisions of the GLBA that are discussed below. Finally, under the regulations of OFAC, we are required to monitor and block transactions with certain “specially designated nationals” who OFAC has determined pose a risk to U.S. national security.

Response to COVID-19

As the pandemic affected all areas of economic and social life, we responded with measures to protect the health of our community, customers and employees. We implemented work-from-home initiatives for employees when possible and ceased non-essential business related travel.

Additionally, we have taken the following steps to assist customers during these challenging times, consistent with sound banking practice:

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Annual Disclosure Statement

This Annual Report on Form 10-K also serves as the annual disclosure statement of Atlantic Capital pursuant to Part 350 of the FDIC’s rules and regulations. This statement has not been reviewed or confirmed for accuracy or relevance by the FDIC.

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We are subject to risks associated with geographic and customer concentration in our lending operations, which could negatively impact our asset quality.

A majority our loan portfolio involves borrowers or collateral located in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and our business strategy is to continue to focus on commercial customers located in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Our relatively small geographic footprint limits our ability to diversify macro-economic risk, so we are less able to spread the risk of unfavorable local economic conditions than larger financial institutions. Accordingly, in the event of adverse changes affecting the Atlanta market generally, or affecting Atlanta to a greater degree than a broader regional or national market as a whole, we will be exposed to risks related to increases in loan delinquencies among Atlanta-based borrowers, increases in problem assets and foreclosures, decreases in the demand for our products and services, decreases in the value of collateral for loans, especially real estate, located in Atlanta, and related decreases in customers’ borrowing power. In addition, because of our commercial lending focus, we may be dependent on a smaller number of larger loan relationships, in which case our credit quality would be disproportionately impacted by deterioration of one or more large individual credit exposures. Adverse changes in the Atlanta market or impacting large loan relationships could require us to record increased allowance for loan losses, restructure loans or foreclose on and sell collateral. Even an increased allowance may be inadequate to cover loan losses, the terms of restructured loans may contain terms less favorable to us, borrowers under restructured loans may continue to be delinquent, and we may not be able to sell foreclosed collateral on favorable terms, any of which would cause us to suffer credit losses. In addition, a significant increase in classified assets or credit losses could result in our regulators imposing restrictions on our operations, which could limit our ability to execute our business strategy. Any of these occurrences would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to risks associated with customer concentration in our deposit base, which could negatively impact our liquidity.

Our strategy involves continued solicitation of and reliance on larger deposits from our business customers. Accordingly, a significant deterioration of financial condition of relatively few of our depositors could cause those depositors to maintain lower balances, which would have an adverse impact on the Bank’s liquidity and profitability. As a result, we may be required to raise interest rates on deposits in an effort to attract deposits and thus incur increased interest expense, or to seek liquidity funding from borrowings or other sources on terms less favorable than current deposit rates. Any of these occurrences could have a material adverse impact on our operating results and financial condition.

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A key focus of our strategy is originating commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans. Because our loan portfolio consists largely of these types of loans, our portfolio carries a higher degree of risk than would a portfolio with larger amounts of other types of loans. These loans involve credit risks that could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We offer commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans, and as of December 31, 2020, we had $909.1million of commercial real estate loans and $952.8 million of commercial and industrial loans outstanding, representing 40% and 42%, respectively, of our total loan portfolio. These types of loans have historically driven the growth in our loan portfolio, and we intend to continue our lending efforts for commercial real estate and commercial and industrial products.

Commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans may present a greater risk of non-payment by a borrower than other types of loans. They typically involve larger loan balances and are particularly sensitive to economic conditions. Unlike residential mortgage loans, which generally are made on the basis of the borrowers’ ability to make repayment from their employment and other income and which are secured by real property whose value tends to be more easily ascertainable, commercial loans typically are made on the basis of the borrowers’ ability to make repayment from the cash flow of the related commercial venture. If the cash flow from business operations is reduced, the borrower’s ability to repay the loan may be impaired. Due to the larger average size of a commercial loan in comparison to other loans such as residential loans, as well as the collateral which is generally less readily-marketable, losses incurred on a small number of commercial loans could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, commercial loan customers often have the ability to fund current interest payments through additional borrowings, and as a result the actual credit risk associated with these customers may be worse than anticipated. In addition, some of our commercial borrowers have more than one loan outstanding with us, which means that an adverse development with respect to one loan or one credit relationship can expose us to significantly greater risk of loss. In the case of commercial

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and industrial loans, collateral often consists of accounts receivable, inventory and equipment, which may not yield substantial recovery of principal losses incurred, and is susceptible to deterioration or other loss in advance of liquidation of such collateral. These loans may lack standardized terms and may include a balloon payment feature. The ability of a borrower to make or refinance a balloon payment may be affected by a number of factors, including the financial condition of the borrower, prevailing economic conditions and prevailing interest rates.

We offer land acquisition and development and construction loans for builders and developers, and as of December 31, 2020, we had $145.6 million in such loans outstanding, representing 6% of total loans outstanding. Similar to commercial and industrial and commercial real estate loans, land acquisition and development and construction loans are riskier than other types of loans. The primary credit risks associated with land acquisition and development and construction lending are underwriting and project risks. Project risks include cost overruns, borrower credit risk, project completion risk, general contractor credit risk, and environmental and other hazard risks. Market risks are risks associated with rental or sale of the completed projects. They include affordability risk, which means the risk that borrowers cannot obtain affordable financing or that renters cannot afford rents at the projects, product design risk, and risks posed by competing projects.

Because of the risks associated with commercial real estate, commercial and industrial and acquisition and development and construction loans, we may experience higher rates of default than a portfolio more heavily weighted towards smaller or residential mortgage loans. Losses in our commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, or construction and land loan portfolio could exceed our reserves, which would adversely impact our capital and earnings.

Lending to small businesses, franchisees and high-growth businesses may expose us to additional risks not present in lending to larger business customers.

We focus on lending to small businesses, including franchise businesses and customers in certain high-growth industries. Small business customers generally have fewer financial resources and are more vulnerable to declines in economic conditions than larger, better capitalized businesses with longer operating histories. Businesses in high-growth industries such as financial technology require ongoing capital to support their growth, invest in product development, and attract and retain highly skilled employees. These businesses may not generate income sufficient to provide that capital, and may not be able to raise required levels of capital, which may result in them increasing debt financing. Franchisee borrowers may incur greater costs than other small businesses as a result of complying with operational or other requirements imposed by franchisors, and may not have the ability to respond to local market forces to the same extent as independently operated small businesses or larger businesses. Franchisees in the retail industry are susceptible to changes in labor costs and generally do not have significant amounts of collateral to secure loans. In addition, the success of franchise businesses is highly dependent on the reputation of the franchisor compared to the franchisor’s competitors. Franchisors may not provide financial support to franchisees, so franchise businesses may be more susceptible to downturns in the local or national economy than larger businesses supported by a parent organization. Conversely, where franchisors do provide financial support, events negatively impacting the franchisor globally or nationally will impact otherwise successful individual franchisees. In addition, franchisors may grant a number of franchise licenses that exceeds market demand for their products or services in a particular geographic area, and may revoke franchise license of franchisees for poor performance or other reasons. The occurrence of any of these or other events impacting our franchise and high-growth business customers could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

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SBA lending is an important part of our business. Our SBA lending program is dependent on the federal government and our status as an SBA Preferred Lender, and we face risks associated with originating and selling SBA loans.

Our SBA lending program is dependent upon the policies and oversight of the U.S. federal government. As an approved participant in the SBA Preferred Lender’s Program (an “SBA Preferred Lender”), we enable our clients to obtain SBA loans more efficiently. The SBA periodically reviews our lending operations to assess, among other things, whether we comply with program rules and whether we exhibit prudent risk management. If the SBA were to identify weakness in our procedures or our risk management policies, the SBA may request corrective actions or impose enforcement actions, including revocation of our SBA Preferred Lender status. In addition, the federal government may make changes to the SBA program, including but not limited to changes to the level of guarantee provided by the federal government on SBA loans, changes to program specific rules impacting eligibility under the guarantee program, limits on fees lenders may

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impose, and changes to the program amounts authorized by Congress or funding for the SBA program. In addition, any default by the federal government on its obligations or any prolonged government shutdown could impede our ability to originate SBA loans, sell such loans in the secondary market, or collect under SBA loan guarantees. We cannot predict the effects of these changes on our business and profitability.

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We generally sell the guaranteed portion of loans that we originate under the SBA’s 7(a) Loan Program in the secondary market and retain the servicing rights to the loans that we sell. These sales result in premium income for us at the time of sale and create a stream of future servicing income. For any of the reasons noted above, we may be unable to continue originating these loans or selling them in the secondary market, and premiums may decline due to economic and competitive factors. In addition, we incur credit risk on the non-guaranteed portion of these loans, and if a customer defaults on a loan, we share any loss and recovery related to the loan pro-rata with the SBA. If the SBA establishes that a loss on an SBA guaranteed loan is attributable to significant technical deficiencies in the manner in which we originated, funded or serviced the loan, the SBA may seek recovery of the principal loss related to the deficiency from us. Claims of this sort could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

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We have originated a significant number of loans under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, which may result in a large number of such loans remaining on our consolidated balance sheets at a very low yield for an extended period of time.

The SBA PPP, originally established under the CARES Act and extended under the Economic Aid Act, authorizes financial institutions to make federally-guaranteed loans to qualifying small businesses and non-profit organizations. These loans carry an interest rate of 1% per annum and a maturity of two years for loans originated prior to June 5, 2020 and five years for loans originated on or after June 5, 2020.

Under the SBA’s PPP, such loans may be forgiven if the borrowers meet certain requirements with respect to their employees and payroll and the use of the loan proceeds. The initial phase of the PPP was extended multiple times by Congress and eventually expired on August 8, 2020. On January 11, 2021, the SBA reopened the PPP for First Draw PPP loans to small businesses and non-profit organizations that did not receive a loan through the initial PPP phase. Further, on January 13, 2021, the SBA reopened the PPP for Second Draw loans to small businesses and non-profit organizations that did receive a loan through the initial PPP phase. At least $25 billion has been set aside for Second Draw PPP loans to eligible borrowers with a maximum of 10 employees or for loans of $250,000 or less to eligible borrowers in low or moderate income neighborhoods. Generally speaking, business with more than 300 employees and/or less than a 25 percent reduction in gross receipts between comparable quarters in 2019 and 2020 are not eligible for Second Draw loans. Further, maximum loan amounts have been increased for accommodation and food service businesses.

As of December 31, 2020, we had PPP loans with outstanding balances of $192.2 million. Due to the short timeframe between the passing of the CARES Act and the beginning of the PPP, there is some ambiguity in the laws, rules and guidance regarding the operation of the PPP. Because of this, the loans under this program may present potential fraud risk, increasing the risk that loan forgiveness may not be obtained by the borrowers and that the guarantee by SBA may not be honored. Additionally, because the loan forgiveness requires the borrower to meet certain criteria for the use of the proceeds after the loan is originated, there is a risk the borrowers may not qualify for the loan forgiveness due to the borrower’s conduct after the loan origination. Further, although the SBA has recently streamlined the loan forgiveness process for loans $50,000 or less, it has taken longer than initially anticipated for the SBA to finalize the forgiveness processes. On January 19, 2021, the SBA increased the streamlined loan forgiveness process to loans $150,000 or less. Thus, absent regulatory relief, extended forbearance waiting times due to SBA-related delays are likely. These factors may result in us having to hold a significant amount of these low-yield loans on our books for a significant period of time. Additionally, the PPP loans are not secured by an interest in a borrower's assets or otherwise backed by personal guarantees. We will continue to face increased operational demands and pressures as we monitor and service our book of PPP loans, process applications for loan forgiveness and pursue recourse under the SBA guarantees and against borrowers for PPP loan defaults.

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Our growing deposit and processing focused business may expose us to additional risks not associated with the provision of core banking products and services.

One of our areas of strategic focus is investing in the growth of our deposit and processing focused business, particularly financial technology, payment processing and treasury management services. Because some of our products and services are delivered to customers through selective partnerships with financial technology companies, developments that negatively impact our partners will indirectly impact us. These industries are subject to rapid technological advancements, including the development of enhanced products and services by our competitors, which include both established financial institutions and newer specialized service providers; internalization of certain functions by our customers; and the development of industry-wide solutions and standards, which may render any product or service obsolete and which will require us and our partners to continually refine our product and services offerings. The competitive landscape for our customers and partners in these industries changes rapidly due to consolidation and changes in relationships between companies providing complimentary services. Moreover, the needs and preferences of our customers will change as their businesses evolve and as they adopt new and more varied technology for business uses. We are committed to growing this aspect of our business; however, unforeseen increases in transaction volume resulting from industry consolidation, changes in the competitive landscape for our customers and other changes in our customers’ businesses could result in growth that we are unable to manage effectively. In addition, the regulations and standards applicable to these industries are evolving, and new regulations or standards may negatively impact the efficiency or utility of the products and services we offer, or require us to invest additional resources to adapt our products and services to be compliant with those regulations and standards. In particular, customers in certain industries, such as payment processing, pose heightened compliance risks with respect to anti-money laundering and similar regulations and regulations related to information security. The failure by us or our partners to anticipate or respond to changes in these industries, comply with applicable regulations, or protect customer information could result in our customers responding negatively to the products and services that we offer, reputational damage, loss of competitive advantages, increased expenses associated with lawsuits and remediation efforts, or the imposition by our regulators of fines or restrictions on our ability to conduct these businesses, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Regulatory changes related to widely used reference interest rates could adversely affect our revenue, expenses, the value of our loans and other financial instruments, and our interest rate risk.

LIBOR and certain other “benchmarks” are the subject of recent national, international, and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. These reforms may cause such benchmarks to perform differently than in the past or have other consequences which cannot be predicted. Although alternative reference rates have been proposed, the scope of acceptance of any such reference rate and the impact on calculated rates, pricing and the ability to manage risk, including through derivatives, remain uncertain. We have a significant number of floating rate obligations, loans, deposits, derivatives and other financial instruments that are directly or indirectly dependent on LIBOR. If LIBOR ceases to exist, if the methods of calculating LIBOR change from current methods or if we are required to utilize alternative reference rates, interest rates on, and revenue and expenses associated with, those financial instruments may be adversely affected. Additionally, timing differences and different definitions of any new benchmark could create mismatches which would negatively impact interest income, interest rate risk management and liquidity.

On November 30, 2020 the administrator of LIBOR announced it will consult on its intention to cease publication of the one-week and two-month settings immediately following the LIBOR publication on December 31, 2021, and the remaining U.S. dollar LIBOR settings immediately following the LIBOR publication on June 30, 2023. While there is no consensus on what rate or rates may become accepted alternatives to LIBOR, a group of market participants convened by the FRB, the Alternative Reference Rate Committee, has selected SOFR as its recommended alternative to U.S. dollar LIBOR.

The U.S. federal banking agencies issued a statement in November 2020 encouraging banks to transition away from U.S. dollar LIBOR as soon as practicable and to stop entering into new contracts that use U.S. dollar LIBOR by December 31, 2021. SOFR or other alternative reference rates may perform differently than LIBOR in response to changing market conditions. For example, SOFR could experience greater decreases during times of economic stress, which could require us to lend at lower rates at times when our borrowing costs are increasing.

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Our management of the transition from LIBOR may prompt changes in accounting treatment, risk and pricing models, valuation tools, hedging strategy and product design and offerings, all of which could cause us to incur significant expense. Reliance on “fallback” provisions also could result in customer uncertainty and disputes regarding how variable rates should be calculated, and negotiations with customers and counterparties regarding the calculation of interest will cause us to incur significant expense. If we are unable to successfully negotiate calculations, amend loans on terms that are satisfactory to our customers, or are unable to adequately hedge risks related to certain customers, we could experience a loss of customers and reputational damage. Any of these risks, and our failure to adequately manage the transition from LIBOR generally, could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

An economic downturn in the commercial loan market, the commercial real estate industry, and/or in our markets generally could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

If the communities in which the Bank operates do not grow, or if prevailing economic conditions locally or nationally are unfavorable, our business may not succeed. The economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an increase in delinquencies and loans on non-accrual status across all of our loan portfolios, particularly our commercial loan portfolio and commercial real estate portfolio, as certain industries have been particularly hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has adversely affected the ability of many of our borrowers to repay their loans. As of December 31, 2020, our commercial loan portfolio includes $204.7 of outstanding balances, representing 9% of total loans, to borrowers in key industries which may see elevated risk as a result of the current economic conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

An economic recession over a prolonged period or other economic problems in our market areas could have a material adverse impact on the quality of the loan portfolio and the demand for our products and services. Future adverse changes in the economies in our market areas may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Further, the banking industry is affected by general economic conditions such as inflation, recession, unemployment and other factors beyond our control. If market conditions deteriorate, our non-performing assets may increase and we may need to take valuation adjustments on our loan portfolios and real estate owned.

Our allowance for loan losses may not be adequate to cover actual losses, and we may be required to materially increase our allowance, which may adversely affect our capital, 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 expenses that represents management’s best estimate of expected credit losses within the existing portfolio of loans. The allowance for loan losses and our methodology for calculating the allowance are fully described in Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 under “Allowance for Loan Losses,” and in the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Critical Accounting Policies-Allowance for Loan Losses” section. In general, an increase in the allowance for loan losses results in a decrease in net income, and possibly risk-based capital, and may have a material adverse effect on our capital, financial condition and results of operations.

The allowance, in the judgment of management, is established to reserve for estimated loan losses and risks inherent in the loan portfolio. The determination of the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses involves a high degree of subjectivity and requires us to make significant estimates of current credit risks using existing qualitative and quantitative information, all of which may undergo material changes. Changes in economic conditions 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. In addition, bank regulatory agencies periodically review our allowance for loan losses and may require an increase in the provision for loan losses or the recognition of additional loan charge-offs, based on judgments that are different than those of management. As we are continually adjusting our loan portfolio and underwriting standards to reflect current market conditions, we can provide no assurance that our methodology will not change, which could result in a charge to earnings.

We continually reassess the creditworthiness of our borrowers and the sufficiency of our allowance for loan losses as part of the Bank’s credit functions. Any significant amount of additional non-performing assets, loan charge-offs, increases in the provision for loan losses or any inability by us to realize the full value of underlying collateral in the event of a loan

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default, will negatively affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Our allowance for loan losses may not be sufficient to cover future credit losses.

Changes in our accounting policies or in accounting standards could materially affect how we report our financial results and condition.

From time to time, the FASB and SEC change the financial accounting and reporting standards that govern the preparation of our financial statements. These changes can be difficult to predict and can materially impact how we record and report our financial condition and results of operations. In some cases, we could be required to apply a new or revised standard retroactively, resulting in changes to previously reported financial results, or a cumulative charge to retained earnings. In addition, management is required to use certain assumptions and estimates in preparing our financial statements, including determining the fair value of certain assets and liabilities, among other items. Incorrect assumptions or estimates may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

For example, the FASB’s CECL accounting standard became effective on January 1, 2020 and substantially changed the accounting for credit losses on loans and other financial assets held by banks, financial institutions and other organizations. The standard removes the existing “probable” threshold in GAAP for recognizing credit losses and instead requires companies to reflect their estimate of credit losses over the life of the financial assets. Companies must consider all relevant information when estimating expected credit losses, including details about past events, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts.

In March 2020, the federal banking agencies released an interim final rule, subsequently adopted as a final rule in August 2020, which allows an addback to regulatory capital for the impacts of CECL for a two-year period and at the end of the two years the impact is then phased in over the following three years. Under the rule, during 2020 and 2021, the adjustment to CET1 capital reflects the change in retained earnings upon initial adoption of CECL on January 1, 2020, plus 25% of the increase in the allowance for credit losses since January 1, 2020. Then beginning January 2022, the impact is phased in over the following three years. We did not elect to apply this phase-in.

The adoption of CECL may also impact our ongoing earnings, perhaps materially, due in part to changes in loan portfolio composition, changes in credit metrics, and changes in the macroeconomic forecast. Our ability to accurately forecast the future economic environment could result in volatility in the provision as a result of the new accounting standard. See Note 1 “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” to the consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for disclosure on the impact to the allowance at adoption.

We depend on the accuracy and completeness of information about customers and counterparties.

In deciding whether to extend credit or enter into other transactions with customers and counterparties, we rely on information furnished to us by or on behalf of customers and counterparties, including financial statements and other financial information. We also rely on representations of customers and counterparties as to the accuracy and completeness of that information and, with respect to financial statements, on reports of independent auditors. For example, in deciding whether to extend credit to customers, we may assume that a customer’s audited financial statements conform to GAAP, and present fairly, in all material respects, the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the customer. Our earnings and our financial condition could be negatively impacted to the extent the information furnished to us by and on behalf of borrowers is not correct or complete or is noncompliant with GAAP.

Changes in the policies of monetary authorities and other government action could materially adversely affect our profitability.

The Bank’s results of operations are affected by policies of the Federal Reserve. The instruments of monetary policy employed by the Federal Reserve include open market operations in U.S. government securities, changes in the discount rate or the federal funds rate on bank borrowings and changes in reserve requirements against bank deposits. In view of changing conditions in the national economy and in the money markets and the economic and political situations in certain parts of the world, we cannot predict with certainty possible future changes in interest rates, deposit levels, loan demand or our business and earnings. Furthermore, the actions of the U.S. government and other governments in responding to

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terrorist attacks or events in these or other regions may result in currency fluctuations, exchange controls, market disruption and other adverse effects.

Fluctuations in interest rates could reduce our profitability.

Our earnings are significantly dependent on our net interest income, as we realize income primarily from the difference between interest earned on loans and investments and the interest paid on deposits and borrowings. We are unable to predict future fluctuations in interest rates, which are affected by many factors, including inflation, economic growth, employment rates, fiscal and monetary policy and disorder and instability in domestic and foreign financial markets. Our net interest income is affected not only by the level and direction of interest rates, but also by the shape of the yield curve and relationships between interest sensitive instruments and key interest driver rates, as well as balance sheet growth, customer loan and deposit preferences and the timing of changes in these variables. Our net interest income also may decline based on our exposure to a difference in short-term and long-term interest rates. A relatively high cost for securing deposits, combined with lower interest rates that can be charged on customer loans, will place downward pressure on our net interest income. Our asset-liability management strategy may not be effective in preventing changes in interest rates from having a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to risks in the event of certain borrower defaults, which could have an adverse impact on our liquidity position and results of operations.

We may be required to repurchase mortgage loans or indemnify mortgage loan purchasers as a result of certain borrower defaults, which could adversely affect our liquidity position, results of operations, and financial condition. Prior to the exit of our mortgage banking business in connection with the Branch Sale, when we sold mortgage loans, we were required to make customary representations and warranties to the purchaser about the mortgage loans and the manner in which the loans were originated. In the event of a breach of any of the representations and warranties related to a loan sold, we could be liable for damages to the investor up to and including a “make whole” demand that involves, at the investor’s option, either reimbursing the investor for actual losses incurred on the loan or repurchasing the loan in full. Our maximum exposure to credit loss in the event of a make whole loan repurchase claim would be the unpaid principal balance of the loan to be repurchased along with any premium paid by the investor when the loan was purchased and other collection cost reimbursements. If repurchase demands increase, our liquidity position, results of operations, and financial condition could be adversely affected.

Atlantic Capital may need to rely on the financial markets to provide needed capital.

Our common stock is listed and traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “ACBI”. Although we anticipate that our capital resources will be adequate for the foreseeable future to meet our capital requirements, at times we may depend on the liquidity of the Nasdaq market to raise equity capital. If the market should fail to operate, or if conditions in the capital markets are adverse, we may be constrained in raising capital. Downgrades in the opinions of the analysts that follow us may cause our stock price to fall and significantly limit our ability to access the markets for additional capital requirements. Should these risks materialize, our ability to further expand our operations through internal growth or acquisition may be limited.

Negative publicity about financial institutions, generally, or about the Company or the Bank, specifically, could damage our reputation and adversely impact our liquidity, business operations or financial results.

Reputation risk, or the risk to our business from negative publicity, is inherent in our business. Negative publicity can result from the actual or alleged conduct of financial institutions, generally, or our Company or the Bank, specifically, in any number of activities, including leasing and lending practices, corporate governance, and actions taken by government regulators in response to those activities. Negative publicity can adversely affect our ability to keep and attract customers and can expose us to litigation and regulatory action, any of which could negatively affect our liquidity, business operations or financial results.

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Certain changes in interest rates, inflation, deflation or the financial markets could affect demand for our products and our results of operations and cash flows.

Loan originations, and potentially loan revenues, could be materially adversely impacted by sharply rising interest rates. Conversely, sharply falling rates could increase prepayments within our securities portfolio and fixed rate loans lowering interest earnings. An unanticipated increase in inflation could cause our operating costs related to salaries and benefits, technology and supplies to increase at a faster pace than revenues.

The fair market value of our securities portfolio and the investment income from these securities also fluctuate depending on general economic and market conditions. In addition, actual net investment income and/or cash flows from investments that carry prepayment risk, such as mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities, may differ from those anticipated at the time of investment as a result of interest rate fluctuations.

Interest rate increases often result in larger payment requirements for our borrowers, which increase the potential for default and could result in a decrease in the demand for loans. At the same time, the marketability of the property securing a loan may be adversely affected by any reduced demand resulting from higher interest rates. In a declining interest rate environment, there may be an increase in prepayments on loans as borrowers refinance their loans at lower rates. In addition, in a low interest rate environment, loan customers often pursue long-term fixed rate credits, which could adversely affect our earnings and net interest margin if rates increase. Changes in interest rates also can affect the value of our loans and other assets. An increase in interest rates that adversely affects the ability of borrowers to pay the principal or interest on loans may lead to increases in nonperforming assets, charge-offs and delinquencies, further increases to the allowance for loan losses, and a reduction of income recognized, among others, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows.

Liquidity risk could impair our ability to fund operations and jeopardize our financial condition.

Liquidity is essential to the orderly function of our business. An inability to raise funds through deposits, borrowings and other sources could have a substantial negative effect on our liquidity. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance our activities on terms that are acceptable to us could be impaired by factors that affect us specifically or the financial services industry or economy in general. Factors that could negatively impact our access to liquidity sources include a decrease in the level of our business activity as a result of an economic downturn in the markets in which our loans are concentrated, adverse regulatory action against us, or our inability to attract and retain deposits. Our ability to borrow could be impaired by factors that are not specific to us or our region, such as a disruption in the financial markets or negative views and expectations about the prospects for the financial services industry.

We face strong competition from larger, more established competitors that may inhibit our ability to compete. The Atlanta market area has experienced consolidation and disruption that may increase competition from both existing competitors and new market entrants.

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The banking business is highly competitive, and we experience strong competition from many other financial institutions. We compete with commercial banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, mortgage banking firms, consumer finance companies, securities brokerage firms, insurance companies, money market funds and other financial institutions, which operate in our primary market areas and elsewhere.

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We compete with these institutions in attracting deposits and making loans. In addition, we primarily have to attract our customer base from other existing financial institutions and from new residents. We also compete with these institutions in recruiting employees who are critical to our success. Many of our competitors are well-established and much larger financial institutions. Many of our competitors have fewer regulatory constraints and may have lower cost structures. We may face a competitive disadvantage as a result of our smaller size and relative lack of geographic diversification.

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The Atlanta market area has experienced significant consolidation and disruption in recent periods. This could result in increased competition as both established institutions and new market entrants position themselves to attract new customers and quality employees. Because we operate exclusively in the Atlanta metropolitan market and surrounding areas, increases in competition in our market area will impact us to a greater degree than if we were more geographically

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diversified. In addition, because we focus on small and medium sized commercial enterprises, increases in competition for those types of customers will impact us to a greater degree than if we were focused on providing banking services to larger more established business customers engaged in a broader range of commercial endeavors. Finally, because we are not as large as some of our current and potential competitors, we may not be able to successfully compete with other institutions in our market in attracting and retaining the numbers of employees with the skill sets or business relationships necessary to support our planned growth.

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Unpredictable economic conditions, public health emergencies, political crises, extreme weather conditions, natural disasters, or other catastrophic events may have a material adverse effect on our financial performance.

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Certain events that are beyond our control, such as an overall economic downturn, public health emergency (such as the coronavirus pandemic), terrorist attack, political crisis, economic policies (such as trade restrictions, trade agreements and tariffs), extreme weather, or natural disaster, whether occurring in our markets or globally, could adversely impact our customers and therefore our operations and profitability. For example, our construction and development borrowers could be impacted by shortages or price increases of building materials, our commercial and industrial borrowers could be impacted by reduced demand for their products or by interruptions in global, national or regional supply chains critical to their operations, and our local retail borrowers could be impacted by reduced foot traffic. In addition, our partners who provide certain services related to our financial technology, payment processing and treasury management services may have national or global operations that expose them to the impact of such events occurring outside of our market area. Any negative impact on our customers or our partners could result in interruption in delivery of our services, reduced demand for our products and services, increased loan delinquencies, declines in the value of collateral, and decreases in the levels and duration of customer deposits. Furthermore, because our customers and the collateral securing our loans are concentrated in the Atlanta metropolitan area, any event that is specific to Atlanta or the southeastern United States, or that has a disparate impact on our market areas, may affect us and our profitability to a greater degree than our more geographically diversified competitors. The impact of any of these events on our customers or on us directly would negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The soundness of other financial institutions with which we do business could adversely affect us.

Our ability to engage in routine funding transactions could be adversely affected by the actions and commercial soundness of other financial institutions. Financial services institutions are interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, counterparty or other relationships. We have exposure to many different industries and counterparties, including counterparties in the financial industry, such as commercial banks and other institutional clients. As a result, defaults by, or even rumors or questions about, one or more financial services institutions, or the financial services industry generally, have led to market-wide liquidity problems and could lead to losses or defaults by us or by other institutions. Many of these transactions will expose us to credit risk in the event of default of a counterparty or client. In addition, this credit risk may be exacerbated when the collateral we hold cannot be realized upon liquidation or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount of the financial instrument exposure due to us. There is no assurance that any such losses would not materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

Environmental liability associated with lending activities could result in losses.

In the course of our business, we may foreclose on and take title to properties securing our loans. If hazardous substances are discovered on any of these properties, we may be liable to governmental entities or third parties for the costs of remediation of the hazard, as well as for personal injury and property damage. Many environmental laws impose liability regardless of whether we knew of, or were responsible for, the contamination. In addition, if we arrange for the disposal of hazardous or toxic substances at another site, we may be liable for the costs of cleaning up and removing those substances from the site, even if we neither own nor operate the disposal site. Environmental laws may require us to incur substantial expenses and may materially limit the use of properties that we acquire through foreclosure, reduce their value or limit our ability to sell them in the event of a default on the loans they secure. In addition, future laws or more stringent interpretations or enforcement policies with respect to existing laws may increase our exposure to environmental liability.

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Our loan policies requiring certain due diligence of high risk industries and properties may not be effective in reducing the risks of environmental liability resulting from non-performing loan and/or foreclosed property.

We may not be able to retain, attract and motivate qualified individuals.

Our success depends on our ability to retain, attract and motivate qualified individuals in key positions throughout the organization. Competition for qualified individuals in most activities in which we are engaged can be intense, and we may not be able to hire or retain the people we want and/or need. Although we have entered into employment agreements with certain key employees, and have incentive compensation plans aimed, in part, at long-term employee retention, the unexpected loss of services of one or more of our key personnel could still occur, and such events may have a material adverse impact on our business because of the loss of the employee’s skills, knowledge of our market, and years of industry experience and the difficulty of promptly finding qualified replacement personnel. If we are unable to retain, attract and motivate qualified individuals in key positions, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

A failure in or breach of our operational or security systems, or those of our third party service providers, including as a result of cyber-attacks, could disrupt our business, result in unintentional disclosure or misuse of confidential or proprietary information, or damage our reputation.

As a financial institution, our operations rely heavily on the secure processing, storage and transmission of confidential and other information on our computer systems and networks. Any failure, interruption or breach in security or operational integrity of these systems could result in failures or disruptions in our Internet banking system, treasury management products, check and document imaging, remote deposit capture systems, general ledger, deposit, loan and other systems.

There has been an increase in the number and sophistication of criminal cyber-security attacks against companies where customer and other sensitive information has been compromised. The financial services industry has experienced an increase in the number and severity of cyber-attacks, including efforts to hack or breach security measures in order to access, obtain or misuse information, misappropriate financial assets, corrupt or destroy data, disrupt operations, or install viruses, “ransomware” or other malware. Although we devote significant resources to maintaining the integrity of our systems, we are not able to anticipate or implement effective preventive measures against all security breaches of these types, especially because the techniques used change frequently and because attacks can originate from a wide variety of sources. The protective policies and procedures we currently have in place or which we implement in the future may not be sufficient as the nature and sophistication of such threats continue to evolve. We may be required to expend significant additional resources in the future to modify and enhance our protective measures.

In addition, our business operations rely on third party vendors to provide services such as exchanges, clearing houses or other financial intermediaries, data processing, recording and monitoring transactions, online banking interfaces and services, Internet connections and network access. Some of these parties have in the past been the target of security breaches and cyber-attacks, and because the transactions involve third parties and environments such as the point of sale that we do not control or secure, future security breaches or cyber-attacks affecting any of these third parties could impact us through no fault of our own, and in some cases we may have exposure and suffer losses for breaches or attacks relating to them. Such parties could also be the source of an attack on, or breach of, our operational systems. The cyber-security, information and operational risks that our third party service providers face may be different than the risks we face, and we do not directly control any of such service providers’ information security operations, including the efforts that they may take to mitigate risks or the level of cyber/privacy liability insurance that they may carry. Any problems caused or experienced by these third parties, including cyber-attacks and security breaches, could adversely affect our ability to deliver products and services to our customers and otherwise conduct our business. Furthermore, our vendors could also be sources of operational and information security risk to us, including from breakdowns or failures of their own systems or capacity constraints. Replacing these third party vendors could also create significant delay and expense.

Any failures, interruptions or security breaches in our information systems, or the systems operated by our third party service providers, could damage our reputation, result in a loss of customer business, impair our ability to provide our services or maintain availability of our systems to customers, result in a violation of privacy or other laws, subject us to regulatory enforcement or other actions, or expose us to remediation costs, increased insurance premiums, civil litigation,

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fines, penalties or losses not covered by insurance. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

Our business is dependent on technology, and an inability to invest in technological improvements or obtain reliable technology and technological support may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The financial services industry is undergoing rapid technological changes with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. We depend in part upon our ability to address the needs of our customers by using technology to provide products and services that satisfy their operational needs. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements and third-party support. There can be no assurance that we will effectively implement new technology-driven products and services or successfully market these products and services to our customers. We also rely on our computer systems. For example, we rely on our computer systems to accurately track and record our assets and liabilities. If our computer systems become unreliable, fail or experience a breach of security, our ability to maintain accurate financial records may be impaired, which could materially affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The value of our goodwill and other intangible assets may decline in the future.

As of December 31, 2020, we had $22.7 million of goodwill and other intangible assets. A significant decline in our financial condition, a significant adverse change in the business climate, slower growth rates or a significant and sustained decline in the price of our common stock may necessitate taking charges in the future related to the impairment of our goodwill and other intangible assets. If we were to conclude that a future write-down of goodwill and other intangible assets is necessary, we would record the appropriate charge, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

The Bank faces risks related to the adoption of future legislation and potential changes in federal agency leadership, policies, and priorities.

The level of regulatory scrutiny that we are subject to may fluctuate over time, based on numerous factors, including as a result of the new U.S. presidential administration and Democratic majority in Congress. The prospects for the enactment of banking reform legislation under the new Congress are unclear at this time. The turnover of the presidential administration has produced, and likely will continue to produce, certain changes in the leadership and senior staffs of the federal banking agencies, the CFPB, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the SEC, and the Treasury Department. In addition, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC Board of Directors may experience significant turnover within the next year to two years. These changes could impact the rulemaking, supervision, examination and enforcement priorities and policies of the agencies.

As Congress, state legislatures, and federal and state regulatory agencies continually review banking laws, regulations and policies for possible changes, our business could  be affected in substantial and unpredictable ways. Material changes in regulation and requirements imposed on financial institutions, such as the Dodd-Frank Act and the Basel III Capital Rules, could result in additional costs, impose more stringent capital, liquidity and leverage requirements, limit the types of financial services and products we may offer and increase the ability of non-bank financial services providers to offer competing financial services and products, among other things. Such changes could result in new regulatory obligations which could prove difficult, expensive or competitively impractical to comply with if not equally imposed upon non-bank financial services providers with whom we compete.

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As a participating lender in the SBA’s PPP, we are dependent on the federal government’s continuation and support of the program and on our compliance with their requirements.

Federal and state governments have enacted laws intending to stimulate the economy in light of the business and market disruptions related to COVID-19, including the SBA’s PPP.  We participated as a lender in the PPP, providing $234 million in loans to over 800 customers. As of December 31, 2020, we had PPP loans with outstanding balances of $192.2 million.

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We understand that PPP loans are fully guaranteed by the SBA and believe the majority of these loans will be forgiven. However, there can be no assurance that the borrowers will use or have used the funds appropriately or will have satisfied the staffing or payment requirements to qualify for forgiveness in whole or in part.  Any portion of the loan that is not forgiven must be repaid by the borrower. In the event of a loss resulting from a default on a PPP loan and a determination by the SBA that there was a deficiency in the manner in which the PPP loan was originated, funded or serviced by the Bank, which may or may not be related to an ambiguity in the laws, rules or guidance regarding operation of the PPP, the SBA may deny its liability under the guaranty, reduce the amount of the guaranty, or, if we have already been paid under the guaranty, seek recovery from us of any loss related to the deficiency.

Due to the short timeframe between the passing of the CARES Act and the beginning of the PPP, there is some ambiguity in the laws, rules and guidance regarding the operation of the PPP. Several other large banks have been subject to litigation regarding the process and procedures that such banks used in processing applications for the PPP. We may be exposed to the risk of litigation, from both customers and non-customers that approached the Bank regarding PPP loans and our PPP process. Any such litigation filed against the Company or the Bank may be costly, regardless of the outcome, and result in significant financial liability or adversely affect our reputation. Any financial liability, litigation costs or reputational damage caused by PPP-related litigation could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We could be subject to adverse changes in tax laws, regulations and interpretations or challenges to our tax positions.

From time to time, changes in tax laws or regulations may be proposed or enacted that could adversely affect our overall tax liability. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which was enacted on December 22, 2017, represented a significant overhaul of the U.S. federal tax code. This tax legislation, and additional rules and regulations that have been promulgated since then, significantly changed the federal income tax landscape. Although, the legislation reduced the U.S. statutory corporate tax rate to 21% and made other changes that have favorably impacted our overall U.S. federal tax liability, it also included a number of provisions that have and will continue to negatively impact our overall U.S. federal tax liability, including, but not limited to, the limitation or elimination of various deductions or credits (including for interest expense and for performance-based compensation under Section 162(m), the imposition of taxes on certain cross-border payments or transfers, the changing of the timing of the recognition of certain income and deductions or their character, and the limitation of asset basis under certain circumstances). The legislation also made significant changes to the tax rules applicable to insurance companies and other entities with which we do business. Additional guidance is expected to continue to be issued by the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Treasury, or other governing bodies that may significantly differ from our interpretation of the law, which may result in a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, results of operations or financial conditions. Additionally, there is no assurance that the current or anticipated benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will be realized in future periods. Any tax benefits could be repealed as a result of future political or regulatory actions, including as a result of changes proposed by the new U.S. presidential administration. There can be no assurance that changes in tax laws or regulations, both within the U.S. and the other jurisdictions in which we operate, will not materially and adversely affect our effective tax rate, tax payments, financial condition and results of operations. Similarly, changes in tax laws and regulations that impact our customers and counterparties or the economy generally may also impact our financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, tax laws and regulations are complex and subject to varying interpretations, and any significant failure to comply with applicable tax laws and regulations in all relevant jurisdictions could give rise to substantial penalties and liabilities. Any changes in enacted tax laws (such as the recent U.S. tax legislation), rules or regulatory or judicial interpretations; any adverse outcome in connection with tax audits in any jurisdiction; or any change in the pronouncements relating to accounting for income taxes could materially and adversely impact our effective tax rate, tax payments, business, operating results and financial condition.

We are subject to regulation by various federal and state entities.

We are subject to the regulations of the SEC, the OCC, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC. New regulations issued by these agencies may adversely affect our ability to carry on our business activities. We are subject to various federal and state laws and certain changes in these laws and regulations may adversely affect our operations. Noncompliance with certain of these regulations may impact our business plans, including our ability to branch, offer certain products or execute

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existing or planned business strategies or could result in potentially significant regulatory and/or governmental investigations and/or actions, litigation, fines, sanctions, and damage to our reputation and brand. Such regulation includes various privacy, information security and data protection laws, including requirements concerning security breach notification, and anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing laws and regulations.

For example, certain of our business is subject to the GLBA and implementing regulations and guidance. Among other things, the GLBA:

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Moreover, various United States federal regulatory agencies, states and foreign jurisdictions have enacted data security breach notification requirements with varying levels of individual, consumer, regulatory and/or law enforcement notification in certain circumstances in the event of a security breach.

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We also maintain an enterprise-wide program designed to enable us to comply with applicable anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act and the USA PATRIOT ACT. This program includes policies, procedures, processes and other internal controls designed to identify, monitor, manage and mitigate the risk of money laundering or terrorist financing posed by our products, services, customers and geographic locale. These controls include procedures and processes to detect and report suspicious transactions, perform customer due diligence, respond to requests from law enforcement, and meet all recordkeeping and reporting requirements related to particular transactions involving currency or monetary.

Compliance with current or future regulations to which we are subject, including but not limited to regulations related to privacy, information security and data protection laws and anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing,  could result in higher compliance and technology costs and could restrict our ability to provide certain products and services, which could materially and adversely affect our profitability. Changing regulations could also increase our costs of compliance and business operations and could reduce income from certain business initiatives, or, if we fail to comply, result in potentially significant regulatory and/or governmental investigations and/or actions, litigation, fines, sanctions, and damage to our reputation and brand.

We are also subject to the accounting rules and regulations of the SEC and the FASB. Changes in accounting rules could materially adversely affect the reported financial statements or our results of operations and may also require extraordinary efforts or additional costs to implement. Any of these laws or regulations may be modified or changed from time to time, and we cannot be assured that such modifications or changes will not adversely affect us.

Regulators periodically examine our business and we may be required to remediate adverse examination findings.

The Federal Reserve and the OCC periodically examine our business, including our compliance with laws and regulations, and we may become subject to other regulatory agency examinations in the future. If, as a result of an examination, a federal banking agency were to determine that our financial condition, capital resources, asset quality, earnings prospects, management, liquidity, or other aspects of any of our operations had become unsatisfactory, or that we were in violation of any law or regulation, it may require us to take a number of different remedial actions as it deems appropriate. These actions include the power to enjoin “unsafe or unsound” practices, to require affirmative action to correct any conditions resulting from any violation or practice, to issue an administrative order that can be judicially enforced, to direct an increase in our capital, to restrict our growth by preventing us from acquiring other financial institutions or limiting our ability to expand our business by engaging in new activities, to change the asset composition of our portfolio or balance sheet, to

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assess civil monetary penalties against our officers or directors, to remove officers and directors and, if it is concluded that such conditions cannot be corrected or there is an imminent risk of loss to depositors, to terminate our deposit insurance and place us into receivership or conservatorship. Any regulatory action against us could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

Limited trading in our common stock may impact the ability of shareholders to sell their shares and the price of our common stock.

Trading activity in our common stock may be limited. If an active market for our common stock is not sustained, the market price of our common stock may be adversely impacted. This may make it difficult for our shareholders to sell their shares at a favorable price or to sell their shares at all. In addition, any negative impact on the price or liquidity of our common stock may impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund our operations by offering and selling additional shares and our ability to use our common stock as consideration in future acquisitions.

We are no longer an “emerging growth company” and are therefore subject to the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting and certain other increased disclosure and governance requirements.

As of January 1, 2021, we lost our status as an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. As a result, we are no longer able to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements. Therefore, we are now subject to certain requirements that apply to other public companies that did not previously apply to us, due to our previous status as an emerging growth company. These requirements include:

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Failure to comply with these requirements could subject us to enforcement actions by the SEC, divert management’s attention, damage our reputation, and adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. In particular, if our independent registered public accounting firm is not able to render the required attestation, it could result in a loss of investor confidence in the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of our financial reports. With the loss of “emerging growth company” status, we expect to incur significant costs as a result of complying with additional compliance and reporting requirements, and our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to ensure that we comply with additional reporting requirements. Such initiatives and requirements will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. Any changes we make to comply with these obligations may not be sufficient to allow us to satisfy our obligations as a public company on a timely basis, or at all.

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Our stock repurchase program may not enhance long-term stockholder value and stock repurchases, if any, could increase the volatility of the price of our common stock and will diminish our cash reserves.

In March 2020, our Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program pursuant to which the Company may purchase up to $25 million of its issued and outstanding common stock and terminated the previous program, which was substantially completed in the first quarter of 2020. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company repurchased $23.5 million, or 1,643,124 shares of common stock, of which 1,338,858 shares totaling $17.7 million were purchased under the new stock buyback program. The timing and actual number of shares repurchased depend on a variety of factors including the timing of open trading windows, price, corporate and regulatory requirements, available cash, and other

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market conditions. The program may be suspended or discontinued at any time without prior notice. Repurchases pursuant to our stock repurchase program could affect our stock price and increase its volatility. The existence of a stock repurchase program could also cause our stock price to be higher than it would be in the absence of such a program and could potentially reduce the market liquidity for our stock. Additionally, repurchases under our stock repurchase program will diminish our cash reserves, which impacts our ability to pursue possible future strategic opportunities and acquisitions, support our operations, invest in securities and pay dividends and could result in lower overall returns on our cash balances. Stock repurchases may not enhance shareholder value because the market price of our common stock may decline below the levels at which we repurchased shares of stock, and short-term stock price fluctuations could reduce the program’s effectiveness.

A number of factors could cause the price of our common stock to be volatile or to decline.

The trading price of our common stock may fluctuate widely as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside our control. In addition, the stock market is subject to fluctuations in the share prices and trading volumes that affect the market prices of the shares of many companies. These broad market fluctuations have adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Among the factors that could affect our stock price are:

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The holders of our subordinated notes have rights that are senior to those of our shareholders.

As of December 31, 2020, we had $75.0 million of subordinated notes outstanding. The subordinated notes are senior to shares of our common stock. As a result, we must make payments on the subordinated notes before any dividends can be paid on our common stock and, in the event of bankruptcy, dissolution, or liquidation, the holders of the subordinated notes must be satisfied before any distributions can be made to the holders of the common stock. Our ability to pay future distributions depends upon the earnings of the Bank and the issuance of dividends from the Bank to the Company, which may be inadequate to service the obligations.

We may borrow funds or issue additional debt and equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities, any of which may be senior to our common stock as to distributions and in liquidation, which could negatively affect the value of our common stock.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by entering into debt or debt-like financing that is unsecured or secured by all or up to all of our assets, or by issuing additional debt or equity securities, which could include issuances of secured or unsecured commercial paper, medium-term notes, senior notes, subordinated notes, preferred stock, common stock, or securities convertible into or exchangeable for equity securities. In the event of our liquidation, our lenders and holders of our debt and preferred securities would receive a distribution of our available assets before distributions to the holders of our common stock. Because our decision to incur debt and issue securities in our future offerings will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate with certainty the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings and debt financings. Further, market conditions could require us to accept less favorable

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terms for the issuance of our securities in the future. In addition, the borrowing of funds or the issuance of debt would increase our leverage and decrease our liquidity, and the issuance of additional equity securities would dilute the interests of our existing shareholders.

Our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders is limited.

Our primary source of cash is dividends we receive from the Bank. Therefore, our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders depends on the Bank’s ability to pay dividends to us. Atlantic Capital has not historically paid dividends to shareholders and did not pay dividends in 2020, 2019 and 2018. Additionally, banks and bank holding companies are subject to significant regulatory restrictions on the payment of cash dividends. Our future dividend policy will depend on our earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, regulatory requirements and other factors that the boards of directors of the Company and the Bank consider relevant.

We may not be able to raise additional capital on terms favorable to us or at all.

In the future, should we need additional capital to support our business, expand our operations or maintain our minimum capital requirements, we may not be able to raise additional funds. Our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, will depend on, among other things, conditions in the capital markets at that time, which are outside of our control, and our financial performance at that time. We cannot provide assurance that such financing will be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we borrow money to provide capital to the Bank, we must obtain prior regulatory approvals, and we may not be able to pay this debt and could default. We cannot provide assurance that funds will be available to us on favorable terms or at all.

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Performance Graph

Set forth below is a line graph comparing the yearly percentage change in the cumulative total shareholder return on Atlantic Capital’s common stock against the cumulative total return on the Nasdaq Stock Market (U.S. Companies) Index, the KBW NASDAQ Bank Index and the KBW NASDAQ Regional Bank Index, commencing November 2, 2015 (when our shares began trading) and ending on December 31, 2020.

Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities

During the first quarter of 2020, the Company completed the $85.0 million stock repurchase program authorized by the Board of Directors on November 14, 2018. On March 4, 2020, the Board of Directors authorized a new stock repurchase program pursuant to which the Company may purchase up to $25 million of its issued and outstanding common stock. The timing and amounts of any repurchases will depend on certain factors, including but not limited to market conditions and prices, available funds and alternative uses of capital. The stock repurchase program may be carried out through openmarket purchases, block trades, negotiated private transactions and pursuant to a trading plan that will be adopted in

accordance with Rule 10b-18 or Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Any repurchased shares will constitute authorized but unissued shares. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company repurchased 1,643,142 shares totaling $23.5 million, of which 1,338,858 shares totaling $17.7 million were purchased under the new stock buyback program with the remaining shares purchased under the previous program. The Company initially paused repurchases in March 2020 as part of its holding company liquidity planning in response to the pandemic and resumed repurchases in August 2020.

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During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company repurchased $23.5 million, or 1,643,124 shares of common stock. The following table presents information with respect to repurchases of our common shares during the periods indicated:

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Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Statements included in this annual report include non-GAAP financial measures and should be read along with the accompanying tables, which provide a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures. Our management uses non-GAAP financial measures, including: (i) taxable equivalent interest income; (ii) taxable equivalent net interest income; (iii) loan yield excluding PPP loans; (iv) taxable equivalent net interest margin; (v) taxable equivalent net interest margin excluding PPP loans; (vi) taxable equivalent income tax expense; (vii) allowance for credit losses to loans held for investment excluding PPP loans; (viii) operating net income; (ix) operating diluted earnings per share; (x) earnings before provision for credit losses and income taxes; and (xi) interest income on investment securities.

Management believes that non-GAAP financial measures provide a greater understanding of ongoing performance and operations, and enhance comparability with prior periods. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered as an alternative to any measure of performance or financial condition as determined in accordance with GAAP, and investors should consider our performance and financial condition as reported under GAAP and all other relevant information when assessing our performance or financial condition. Non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools, and investors should not consider them in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of the results or financial condition as reported under GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to non-GAAP financial measures presented by other companies.

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