Stockholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

    Conversion and Stock Offering. On October 24, 1994, the Bank issued in an initial public offering 2,314,375 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 (the “Common Stock”), at a price of $10 per share resulting in net proceeds of $21.5 million.  As part of the initial public offering, the Bank established a liquidation account at the time of conversion, in an amount equal to the surplus and reserves of the Bank at September 30, 1994.  In the unlikely event of a complete liquidation of the Bank (and only in such event), eligible depositors who continue to maintain accounts shall be entitled to receive a distribution from the liquidation account.  The total amount of the liquidation account may be decreased if the balances of eligible deposits decreased as measured on the annual determination dates.  The Bank is not permitted to pay dividends to the Company on its capital stock if the effect thereof would cause its net worth to be reduced below either: (i) the amount required for the liquidation account, or (ii) the amount required for the Bank to comply with applicable minimum regulatory capital requirements. In 2011 the stockholders approved a 1-for-15 reverse stock split pursuant to which each 15 shares of the Company’s Common Stock would be converted into one share of Common Stock. The 1-for-15 reverse stock split was effective as of October 27, 2011, resulting in a reduction in the number of outstanding shares of the Company’s Common Stock from 2,492,415 to 166,161, an increase of the conversion price of the Series C Preferred Stock and the Series D Preferred Stock and the exchange ratio of the Series B Preferred Stock from $0.5451 to $8.1765, and a corresponding decrease in the number of shares of Common Stock issued to the Investors and Treasury. During the year ended March 31, 2012, all outstanding shares of Series B Preferred Stock were converted to Common Stock and all outstanding shares of Series C preferred Stock were converted to Series D Preferred Stock. As of March 31, 2023, there were 4,295,607 shares of Company common stock outstanding.

    Series D Preferred Stock ranks senior to the Common Stock. The holders of Series D Preferred Stock are entitled to receive dividends, on an as-converted basis, simultaneously to the payment of any dividends on the Company's common stock. Dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock are not cumulative. If the Company's board of directors does not declare a dividend with respect to any dividend period, the holders of the Series D Preferred Stock will have no right to receive any dividend for that period. The Company may not declare, pay or set apart for payment any dividend or make any distribution on common stock, unless at the time of such dividend or distribution the Company simultaneously pays a non-cumulative dividend or makes a distribution on each outstanding share of Series D Preferred Stock on an as-converted basis. The holders of Series D preferred Stock are generally not entitled to vote, except with respect to amendments to the Company's certificate of incorporation that would change the rights and preferences of the Series D Preferred Stock, the creation or increase of any class of securities senior to the Series D Preferred Stock, the consummation of certain mergers, consolidations or other transactions where the holders of the Series D Preferred Stock are not converted into or exchanged for preference securities of the surviving entity, and as otherwise required by applicable law.

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    The Series D Preferred Stock shall automatically convert into shares of Common Stock only upon the following transfers to third parties (“Eligible Transfers”):

•a transfer in a widespread public distribution;

•a transfer in which no transferee (together with its affiliates and other transferees acting in concert with it) acquires more than 2% of the Company’s common stock or any other class or series of the Company’s voting stock; or

•a transfer to a transferee that (together with its affiliates and other transferees acting in concert with it) owns or controls more than 50% of the Company’s common stock, without regard to the transfer.

    The conversion price of the Series D Preferred Stock is $8.1765, and is subject to adjustment in the event of stock splits, subdivisions or combinations, dividends and distributions, issuance of certain rights, spin-offs, self-tenders and exchange offers as set forth under the agreement. The Series D Preferred Stock is not convertible at the option of the holders. As of March 31, 2023, there were 13,201 shares of Series D Preferred Stock outstanding.

    On August 6, 2002, the Company announced a stock repurchase program to repurchase up to 15,442 shares of its outstanding common stock.  As of March 31, 2023, 11,744 shares of its common stock have been repurchased in open market transactions. As a result of the Company's participation in the TARP CDCI, the United States Department of the Treasury's (the "U.S. Treasury") prior approval was required to make further repurchases. On August 6, 2020, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with the U.S. Treasury to repurchase 2,321,286 shares of the common stock of the Company, par value $0.01 per share, owned by the U.S. Treasury for an aggregate purchase price of $2.5 million. The stock repurchase provided for in the Securities Purchase Agreement was completed on August 6, 2020. Upon completion of the repurchase pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement, the U.S. Treasury was no longer a stockholder in the Company. In connection with the repurchase, Morgan Stanley provided a grant of $2.5 million that was considered contributed capital to the Company to fund the repurchase transaction.

In June 2020, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., an institutional investor, notified the Company of their intention to effect a series of transfers of up to all its holdings of Series D Preferred Stock. The conversion and subsequent sale of shares were completed on July 2, 2020: 13,519 Series D Preferred Stock shares were converted into 1,653,397 shares of Common Stock, which were subsequently sold in the open market. The conversion and sale had no impact on the Company's total capital.

On July 9, 2020, the Company received notice that Morgan Stanley International Holdings Inc., an institutional investor, relinquished its ownership of 180,573 shares of Company common stock and 13,523 shares of Company Preferred Series D Stock to the Company at no cost to the Company.

On October 15, 2020, the Company entered into an agreement with Banc of America Strategic Investments Corporation, under which it issued and sold 147,227 shares of its common stock, par value $0.01, at a price of $6.62 per share. The shares were issued on October 15, 2020, in a private placement exempt from registration under Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Regulation D of the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

On January 22, 2021, Prudential Insurance Company of America ("Prudential"), an institutional investor, notified the Company of its intention to cancel 475 of its holdings of Series D Preferred Stock and convert them into 58,093 shares of Common Stock. During fiscal year 2022, Prudential donated a total of 3,850 shares of its holdings of Series D Preferred Stock to third parties. The third parties notified the Company of their intention to cancel the shares and convert them into 470,855 shares of Common Stock. During the twelve months ended March 31, 2023, Prudential donated a total of 550 shares of its holdings of Series D Preferred Stock to third parties. The third parties notified the Company of their intention to cancel the shares and convert them into 67,265 shares of Common Stock. The conversions had no impact on the Company's total capital.

On February 1, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with Wells Fargo Central Pacific Holdings, Inc., under which it sold: (i) 157,806 shares of its common stock, par value $0.01 per share, at a purchase price of $7.75 per share, and (ii) 3,177 shares of a new series of preferred stock, Series E non-cumulative non-voting participating preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, at a purchase price of $1,000 per share, in a private placement for gross proceeds of approximately $4.4 million. Upon the completion of certain eligible transfers of the Series E preferred stock by Wells Fargo Central Pacific Holdings, Inc., the Series E preferred stock would be convertible into common stock at a conversion price of $7.96 per share. The issuance of the shares is exempt from registration pursuant to the exemption provided under Rule 506 of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The offering was made only to accredited investors as that term is defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the Act.

Series E Preferred Stock is perpetual and has no maturity date. The Company may redeem the shares of Series E Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, on any date on or after February 1, 2026. The holders of Series E Preferred Stock will be entitled to receive, if declared by the Company's board of directors, noncumulative cash dividends on each date that dividends or other distributions are payable. The holders of the Series E Preferred Stock will not have voting rights except for any vote required by law or by the Company's Certificate of Incorporation, or for effecting or validating: (i) any increase or decrease in the authorized number of shares of Series E Preferred Stock or issuance of shares of Series E Preferred Stock after the original issue date; (ii) any amendment, alteration or repeal of any provision of the Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws of the Company that would adversely affect the voting powers, preferences, privileges or special rights of the Series E Preferred Stock; (iii) any amendment or alteration of the Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws of the Company to authorize or create, or increase the authorized amount of any shares of any class or series or any securities convertible into shares of any class or series of capital stock of the Company ranking senior to Series E Preferred Stock in the payment of dividends or in the distribution of assets on any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company; or (iv) a merger or consolidation of the Company with another entity (whether or not a corporation), unless in each case (A) the shares of Series E Preferred Stock remain outstanding and (B) such shares remaining outstanding or such preference securities, as the case may be, have such rights, preferences, privileges and voting powers, and limitations and restrictions, and limitations and restrictions thereof as are not materially less favorable to the holders thereof than the rights, preferences, privileges and voting powers, and restrictions and limitations thereof, of the Series E Preferred Stock immediately prior to such consummation.

On February 16, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with J.P. Morgan Chase Community Development Corporation ("J.P. Morgan"), under which it sold: (i) 112,612 shares of its common stock, par value $0.01 per share, at a purchase price of $8.88 per share, and (ii) 5,000 shares of a new series of preferred stock, Series F non-cumulative non-voting non-convertible preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, at a purchase price of $1,000 per share, in a private placement for gross proceeds of approximately $6.0 million. On September 27, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with J.P. Morgan under which it sold an additional 4,000 shares of its Series F Preferred Stock, at a purchase price of $1,000 per share, in a private placement for gross proceeds of $4.0 million. The issuances of the shares were exempt from registration pursuant to the exemption provided under Rule 506 of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The offerings were made only to accredited investors as that term is defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the Act.

Series F Preferred Stock is perpetual and has no maturity date. The shares are not convertible. The Company may redeem the shares of Series F Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, on any date on or after February 16, 2026. The holders of Series F Preferred Stock will be entitled to receive, if declared by the Company's board of directors, noncumulative cash dividends on each date that dividends or other distributions are payable. The holders of the Series F Preferred Stock will not have voting rights except for any vote required by law or by the Company's Certificate of Incorporation, or for effecting or validating: (i) any amendment, alteration or repeal of any provision of the Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws of the Company that would significantly and adversely affect the voting powers, preferences, privileges or special rights of the Series F Preferred Stock; (ii) any amendment or alteration of the Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws of the Company to authorize or create, or increase the authorized amount of any shares of any class or series or any securities convertible into shares of any class or series of capital stock of the Company ranking senior to Series F Preferred Stock in the payment of dividends or in the distribution of assets on any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company; or (iii) a merger or consolidation of the Company with another entity (whether or not a corporation), unless in each case (A) the shares of Series F Preferred Stock remain outstanding and (B) such shares remaining outstanding or such preference securities, as the case may be, have such rights, preferences, privileges and voting powers , and limitations and restrictions, and limitations and restrictions thereof as are not materially less favorable to the holders thereof than the rights, preferences, privileges and voting powers, and restrictions and limitations thereof, of the Series F Preferred Stock immediately prior to such consummation.

On December 14, 2021, the Company entered into a Sales Agreement (the "Sales Agreement") with Piper Sandler & Co. (“Piper Sandler”), as sales agent, pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell shares of our common stock, par value $0.01 per share, having an aggregate gross sales price of up to $20.0 million (the “ATM Shares”) from time to time. Any sales made under the Sales Agreement will be sales deemed to be "at-the-market (ATM) offerings," as defined in Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These sales will be made through ordinary broker transactions on the NASDAQ Capital Market stock exchange at market prices prevailing at the time, at prices related to the prevailing market prices, or at negotiated prices. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of these offerings for general corporate purposes, including support for organic loan growth and repayment of all or a portion of the outstanding principal amount of our outstanding subordinated debt securities. During fiscal year 2022, the Company sold an aggregate of 397,367 shares of common stock under the ATM offering program, resulting in gross proceeds of $3.1 million and net proceeds to the Company of $3.0 million after deducting commissions and expenses. There were no additional offerings during the twelve months ended March 31, 2023.

Regulatory Capital. The operations and profitability of the Bank are significantly affected by legislation and the policies of the various regulatory agencies. In July 2013, the FDIC and the other federal bank regulatory agencies issued a final rule that revised their leverage and risk-based capital requirements and the method for calculating risk-weighted assets to make them consistent with agreements that were reached by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. The final rule, which became effective for the Bank on January 1, 2015, established a minimum Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a minimum leverage ratio and increases in the Tier 1 and Total risk-based capital ratios. The rule also limits a banking organization's capital distributions and certain discretionary bonus payments if the banking organization does not hold a "capital conservation buffer" consisting of 2.5% of CET1 capital to risk-weighted assets in addition to the amount necessary to meet its minimum risk-based capital requirements. The capital conservation buffer requirement was phased in annually beginning January 1, 2016. On January 1, 2019, the full capital conservation buffer requirement of 2.5% became effective, making its minimum CET1 plus buffer 7%, its minimum Tier 1 capital plus buffer 8.5% and its minimum total capital plus buffer 10.5%.

In accordance with the recently enacted Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, the federal banking agencies have adopted, effective January 1, 2020, a final rule whereby financial institutions and financial institution holding companies that have less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets and meet other qualifying criteria, including a leverage ratio of greater than 9%, will be eligible to opt into a “Community Bank Leverage Ratio” framework.  Qualifying community banking organizations that elect to use the community bank leverage ratio framework and that maintain a leverage ratio of greater than 9% will be considered to have satisfied the generally applicable risk-based and leverage capital requirements in the agencies’ capital rules and will be considered to have met the “well capitalized” ratio requirements under

the Prompt Corrective Action statutes.  The CARES Act and implementing rules temporarily reduced the Community Bank Leverage Ratio to 8%, to be gradually increased back to 9% by 2022. The CARES Act also provides that, during the same time period, if a qualifying community banking organization falls no more than 1% below the community bank leverage ratio, it will have a two quarter grace period to satisfy the community bank leverage ratio. The agencies reserved the authority to disallow the use of the Community Bank Leverage Ratio by a financial institution or holding company based on the risk profile of the organization.

Carver Federal, as a matter of prudent management, targets as its goal the maintenance of capital ratios which exceed these minimum requirements and that are consistent with Carver Federal's risk profile.  In assessing an institution's capital adequacy, the OCC takes into consideration not only these numeric factors but also qualitative factors, and has the authority to establish higher capital requirements for individual institutions where necessary.  Carver was issued an Individual Minimum Capital Ratio ("IMCR") letter by the OCC, which requires the Bank to maintain minimum regulatory capital levels of 9% for its Tier 1 leverage ratio and 12% for its total risk-based capital ratio. At March 31, 2023, the Bank's capital level exceeded the regulatory requirements and its IMCR requirements with a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 10.61%, Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 12.47%, Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 12.47%, and a total risk-based capital ratio of 13.37%.

The table below presents the Bank's regulatory capital ratios at March 31, 2023 and 2022.

	March 31, 2023				March 31, 2022
($ in thousands)	Amount		Ratio		Amount		Ratio
Tier 1 leverage capital
Regulatory capital	$	74,265	10.61	%	$	76,906	10.45	%
Individual minimum capital requirement	63,005		9.00	%	66,244		9.00	%
Minimum capital requirement	28,002		4.00	%	29,442		4.00	%
Excess	46,263		6.61	%	47,464		6.45	%
Common equity Tier 1
Regulatory capital	$	74,265	12.47	%	$	76,906	13.75	%
Minimum capital requirement	41,679		7.00	%	39,161		7.00	%
Excess	32,586		5.47	%	37,745		6.75	%
Tier 1 risk-based capital
Regulatory capital	$	74,265	12.47	%	$	76,906	13.75	%
Minimum capital requirement	50,610		8.50	%	47,553		8.50	%
Excess	23,655		3.97	%	29,353		5.25	%
Total risk-based capital
Regulatory capital	$	79,599	13.37	%	$	82,672	14.78	%
Individual minimum capital requirement	71,450		12.00	%	67,134		12.00	%
Minimum capital requirement	62,519		10.50	%	58,742		10.50	%
Excess	17,080		2.87	%	23,930		4.28	%