COMMUNITY WEST BANCSHARES / [CWBC] Filings

Community West Bancshares (“CWBC”), incorporated under the laws of the state of California, is a bank holding company providing full-service banking through its wholly owned subsidiary Community West Bank, N.A. (“CWB” or the “Bank”) which includes 445 Pine, LLC, the Bank’s wholly-owned limited liability company. Unless indicated otherwise or unless the context suggests otherwise, these entities are referred to herein collectively and on a consolidated basis as the “Company.”

The accounting and reporting policies of the Company are in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) and conform to practices within the banking industry.  The accounts of the Company and its consolidated subsidiary are included in these consolidated financial statements.  All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2023 and for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, have been prepared in a condensed format, and therefore do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements.  These unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a basis that is substantially consistent with the accounting principles applied to the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.

The information furnished in these interim statements reflects all adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of the results for each respective period presented.  Such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature.  The results of operations in the interim statements are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any other quarter or for the full year.  The interim financial information should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.

 

Certain amounts in the consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2022 and for the three months ended March 31, 2022 have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation.  The reclassifications have no effect on net income, comprehensive income, or stockholders’ equity as previously reported.

Effective January 1, 2023, the allowance for credit losses on investment securities is determined for both HTM and AFS investments in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 326 (“ASC 326”) - “Financial Instruments-Credit Losses.”

The allowance for credit losses for HTM investment securities is determined on a collective basis, based on shared risk characteristics, and is determined at the individual security level when the Company deems a security to no longer possess shared risk characteristics. For investment securities where the Company has reason to believe the credit loss exposure is remote, a zero-credit loss assumption is applied. Such investment securities typically consist of those guaranteed by the U.S. government or government agencies, where there is an explicit or implicit guarantee by the U.S. government, that are highly rated by rating agencies, and historically have had no credit loss experience.

For AFS securities, the Company performs a quarterly qualitative evaluation for securities in an unrealized loss position to determine if the decline in fair value below the security’s amortized cost is credit related or non-credit related. In determining whether a security’s decline in fair value is credit related, the Company considers a number of factors including, but not limited to: (i) the extent to which the fair value of the investment is less than its amortized cost; (ii) the financial condition and near-term prospects of the issuer; (iii) downgrades in credit ratings; (iv) payment structure of the security, (v) the ability of the issuer of the security to make scheduled principal and interest payments, and (vi) general market conditions which reflect prospects for the economy as a whole, including interest rates and sector credit spreads. If it is determined that the unrealized loss, or a portion thereof, is credit related, the Company records the amount of credit loss through a charge to provision for credit losses in current period earnings. However, the amount of credit loss recorded in current period earnings is limited to the amount of the total unrealized loss on the security, which is measured as the amount by which the security’s fair value is below its amortized cost. If the Company intends to sell, or if it is more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the security in an unrealized loss position before the recovery of its amortized cost basis, the total amount of the loss is recognized in current period earnings. Unrealized losses deemed non-credit related are recorded, net of tax, through accumulated other comprehensive income.

As of January 1, 2023 and March 31, 2023, the Company determined that the unrealized loss positions in AFS and HTM securities were not the result of credit losses. Management’s analysis of the securities that are in an unrealized loss position indicated that the declines in the fair value of the securities were related to interest rates or other market conditions. In addition, as of March 31, 2023, management does not intend to sell any securities in an unrealized loss position, and it is not more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell any securities that are in an unrealized loss position. Therefore an allowance for credit losses with respect to both AFS and HTM securities was not recorded. See Note 2 - Investment Securities for more information.

A debt security is placed on nonaccrual status at the time any principal or interest payments become greater than 90 days delinquent. Interest accrued but not received when a security is placed on nonaccrual status is reversed against interest income. Accrued interest receivable on available-for-sale securities totaled $122 thousand at March 31, 2023 and is excluded from the estimate of the required allowance for credit losses.

Loans Held For Sale

Loans which are originated and intended for sale in the secondary market are carried at the lower of cost or estimated fair value determined on an aggregate basis.  Valuation adjustments, if any, are recognized through a valuation allowance by charges to the lower of cost or fair value provision.  Loans held for sale are mostly comprised of commercial agriculture loans guaranteed by the USDA Farm Service Agency (“FSA”) and Small Business Association (“SBA”) loans.  The Company did not incur any lower of cost or fair value provision expense in the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022.

Loans are recorded at the principal amount outstanding, net of unearned income, loan participations, and amounts charged off.  Unearned income includes deferred loan origination fees reduced by loan origination costs.

Interest income on loans is accrued daily using the effective interest method and recognized over the terms of the loans.  Loan fees collected for the origination of loans less direct loan origination costs (net deferred loan fees) are amortized over the contractual life of the loan through interest income.  If the loan has scheduled payments, the amortization of the net deferred loan fee is calculated using the interest method over the contractual life of the loan.  If the loan does not have scheduled payments, such as a line of credit, the net deferred loan fee is recognized as interest income on a straight-line basis over the contractual life of the loan commitment.  Commitment fees based on a percentage of a client’s unused line of credit and fees related to standby letters of credit are recognized over the commitment period. When loans are repaid, any remaining unamortized balances of unearned fees, deferred fees and costs and premiums and discounts paid on purchased loans are accounted for through interest income.

When a borrower discontinues making payments as contractually required by the note, the Company must determine whether it is appropriate to continue to accrue interest.  Generally, the Company places loans in a nonaccrual status and ceases recognizing interest income when the loan has become delinquent by more than 90 days or when management determines that the full repayment of principal and collection of interest is unlikely.  The Company may decide to continue to accrue interest on certain loans more than 90 days delinquent if they are well secured by collateral and in the process of collection.

When a loan is placed on nonaccrual status, all interest accrued but uncollected is reversed against interest income in the period in which the status is changed.  Subsequent payments received from the client are applied to principal and no further interest income is recognized until the principal has been paid in full or until circumstances have changed such that payments are again consistently received as contractually required.  The Company occasionally recognizes income on a cash basis for non-accrual loans in which the collection of the remaining principal balance is not in doubt.

From time to time, the Company will modify certain loans in order to alleviate temporary difficulties in a borrower’s financial condition and/or constraints on a borrower’s ability to repay the loan, and to minimize potential losses to the Company. Such modifications may include changes in the amortization terms of the loan, reductions in interest rates, acceptance of interest only payments, and in limited cases, reductions to the outstanding loan balance. Such loans are typically placed on nonaccrual status when there is doubt concerning the full repayment of principal and interest or the loan has been in default for a period of 90 days or more. These loans may be returned to accrual status when all contractual amounts past due have been brought current, and the borrower’s performance under the modified terms of the loan agreement and the ultimate collectability of all contractual amounts due under the modified terms is no longer in doubt. The Company typically measures the ACL on these loans on an individual basis when the loans are deemed to no longer share risk characteristics that are similar with other loans in the portfolio. The determination of the ACL for these loans is based on a discounted cash flow approach, unless the loan is deemed collateral dependent, which requires measurement of the ACL based on the estimated expected fair value of the underlying collateral, less selling costs. In addition, GAAP requires the Company to make certain disclosures related to these loans, including certain types of modifications, as well as how such loans have performed since their modifications. Please see Note 4 - Loans Held for Investment for additional information concerning modified loans to troubled borrowers.

 

 

 

The Company uses the asset and liability method, which recognizes an asset or liability representing the tax effects of future deductible or taxable amounts that have been recognized in the consolidated financial statements.  Due to tax regulations, certain items of income and expense are recognized in different periods for tax return purposes than for financial statement reporting.  These items represent “temporary differences.”  Deferred income taxes are recognized for the tax effect of temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and their financial reporting amounts at each period end based on enacted tax laws and statutory tax rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income.  A valuation allowance is established for deferred tax assets if, based on the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets may not be realized.  Any interest or penalties assessed by the taxing authorities are classified in the financial statements as income tax expense.  Deferred tax assets are included in other assets on the consolidated balance sheets.

 

Management evaluates the Company’s deferred tax asset for recoverability using a consistent approach, which considers the relative impact of negative and positive evidence, including the Company’s historical profitability and projections of future taxable income.  The Company is required to establish a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets and record a charge to income if management determines, based on available evidence at the time the determination is made, that it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets may not be realized.

 

The Company is subject to the provisions of ASC 740, Income Taxes (“ASC 740”).  ASC 740 prescribes a more likely than not threshold for the financial statement recognition of uncertain tax positions.  ASC 740 clarifies the accounting for income taxes by prescribing a minimum recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return.  On a quarterly basis, the Company evaluates income tax accruals in accordance with ASC 740 guidance on uncertain tax positions.

 

Basic earnings per common share is computed using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period.  Diluted earnings per share includes the effect of all dilutive potential common shares for the period.  Potentially dilutive common shares include outstanding stock options.