Regulatory Matters

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Banking and Thrift [Abstract]

Regulatory Matters

(15) REGULATORY MATTERS

In July 2013, the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC approved final rules that substantially amend the regulatory capital rules applicable to Heritage Bank USA, Inc. and HopFed Bancorp, Inc. The final rules implement the regulatory capital reforms of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision reflected in “Basel III: A Global Regulatory Framework for More Resilient Banks and Banking Systems” (Basel III) and changes required by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Under these rules, the leverage and risk-based capital ratios of bank holding companies may not be lower than the leverage and risk-based capital ratios for insured depository institutions. The final rules implementing the Basel III regulatory capital reforms became effective for the Company and Bank on January 1, 2015, and include new minimum risk-based capital and leverage ratios. Moreover, these rules refine the definition of what constitutes “capital” for purposes of calculating those ratios, including the definitions of Tier 1 capital and Tier 2 capital. The new minimum capital level requirements applicable to bank holding companies and banks subject to the rules are: (i) a new common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 4.5%; (ii) a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 6% (increased from 4%); (iii) a total risk-based capital ratio of 8%; (iv) a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 4% for all institutions. The rules also establish a “capital conservation buffer” of 2.5% (to be phased in over three years) above the new regulatory minimum risk-based capital ratios, and result in the following minimum ratios once the capital conservation buffer is fully phased in: (i) a common equity Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 7%, (ii) a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 8.5%, and (iii) a total risk-based capital ratio of 10.5%. The capital conservation buffer requirement is being phased in beginning in January 2016 at 0.625% of risk-weighted assets and will increase each year until fully implemented in January 2019. An institution is subject to limitations on paying dividends, engaging in share repurchases and paying discretionary bonuses if capital levels fall below minimum plus the buffer amounts. These limitations establish a maximum percentage of eligible retained income that could be utilized for such actions.

Under these new rules, Tier 1 capital generally consist of common stock (plus related surplus) and retained earnings, limited amounts of minority interest in the form of additional Tier 1 capital instruments, and non-cumulative preferred stock and related surplus, subject to certain eligibility standards, less goodwill and other specified intangible assets and other regulatory deductions. Cumulative preferred stock and trust preferred securities issued after May 19, 2010, will no longer qualify as Tier 1 capital, but such securities issued prior to May 19, 2010, including in the case of bank holding companies with less than $15.0 billion in total assets, trust preferred securities issued prior to that date, will continue to count as Tier 1 capital subject to certain limitations. The definition of Tier 2 capital is generally unchanged for most banking organizations, subject to certain new eligibility criteria.

Common equity Tier 1 capital generally consist of common stock (plus related surplus) and retained earnings plus limited amounts of minority interest in the form of common stock, less goodwill and other specified intangible assets and other regulatory deductions. The final rules allow banks and their holding companies with less than $250 billion in assets a one-time opportunity to opt-out of a requirement to include unrealized gains and losses in accumulated other comprehensive income in their capital calculation. The Company has made the decision to opt-out of this requirement.

The Federal Reserve has adopted regulations applicable to bank holding companies with assets over $10 billion that require such holding companies and banks to conduct annual stress tests and report the results to the applicable regulators and publicly disclose a summary of certain capital information and results including pro forma changes in regulatory capital ratios. The Board of Directors and senior management are required to consider the results of the stress test in the normal course of business, including but not limited to capital planning and an assessment of capital adequacy in accordance with management’s policies. The FDIC has adopted all guidelines applicable to state nonmember banks in each case.

At September 30, 2015, the Company and the Bank exceeded all regulatory capital requirements. The table below presents certain information relating to the Company’s and Bank’s capital compliance at September 30, 2015:

	Company					Bank
	Amount		Percent			Amount		Percent
	(Dollars in Thousands)
Common equity tier 1 ratio	$	95,063		16.34	%	$	92,557		15.90	%
Tier 1 leverage ratio	$	95,063		10.92	%	$	92,557		10.67	%
Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio	$	95,063		16.34	%	$	92,557		15.90	%
Total risk based capital ratio	$	100,550		17.20	%	$	98,044		16.84	%