The COVID-19 pandemic has in the past negatively affected, and future pandemics, epidemics, disease outbreaks and other public health crises could negatively affect the global and U.S. economies and could harm our business and results of operations, and such effects will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and are difficult to predict.

Because a significant portion of our loan portfolio is comprised of real estate loans, negative changes in the economy affecting real estate values and liquidity could impair the value of collateral securing our real estate loans and result in loan and other losses.

Increasing scrutiny and evolving expectations from customers, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders with respect to our environmental, social and governance practices may impose additional costs on us or expose us to new or additional risks.