Wintrust Financial Corporation, an Illinois corporation (“we,” “Wintrust” or “the Company”), which was incorporated in 1992, is a financial holding company based in Rosemont, Illinois, with total assets of approximately $50.1$52.9 billion as of December 31, 2021.2022. We provide community-oriented, personal and commercial banking services to customers generally located in the Chicago metropolitan area, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana (“our market area”) through our fifteen wholly-owned-banking subsidiaries (collectively, the “banks”), as well as the origination and purchase of residential mortgages for sale into the secondary market through Wintrust Mortgage, a division of Barrington Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (“Barrington Bank”). In addition, we provide specialty finance services, including financing for the payment of property and casualty insurance premiums and life insurance premiums (“premium finance receivables”) on a national basis through FIRST Insurance Funding, a division of our wholly-owned subsidiary Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (“Lake Forest Bank”), and Wintrust Life Finance, a division of Lake Forest Bank, and in Canada through our premium finance company, First Insurance Funding of Canada (“FIFC Canada”), lease financing and other direct leasing opportunities through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Wintrust Asset Finance, Inc. (“Wintrust Asset Finance”), and short-term accounts receivable financing and outsourced administrative services through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Tricom, Inc. of Milwaukee (“Tricom”). Further, we provide a full range of wealth management services primarily to customers in our market area through four separate subsidiaries, The Chicago Trust Company, N.A. (“CTC”), Wintrust Investments, LLC (“Wintrust Investments”), Great Lakes Advisors, LLC (“Great Lakes Advisors”) and Chicago Deferred Exchange Company, LLC (“CDEC”).

As set forth in Note 24,(24) “Segment Information,”Information”, our operations consist of three primary segments: community banking, specialty finance and wealth management. The three reportable segments are strategic business units that are separately managed as they offer different products and services and have different marketing strategies. In addition, each segment’s customer base has varying characteristics and each segment has a different regulatory environment. While the Company’s management monitors each of the fifteen bank subsidiaries’ operations and profitability separately, these subsidiaries have been aggregated into one reportable operating segment due to the similarities in products and services, customer base, operations, profitability measures and economic characteristics. All segment measurements discussed below are based on the reportable segments and do not reflect intersegment eliminations.

service-oriented banks. As a result, Lake Forest Bank was founded in December 1991 to service the Lake Forest and Lake Bluff communities.communities within the Chicago metropolitan area.

As of December 31, 2021,2022, we owned fifteen nationally chartered banks: Lake Forest Bank, Barrington Bank, Wintrust Bank, N.A. (“Wintrust Bank”), Libertyville Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (“Libertyville Bank”), Northbrook Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (“Northbrook Bank”), Village Bank & Trust, N.A. (“Village Bank”), Wheaton Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (“Wheaton Bank”), State Bank of the Lakes, N.A., Crystal Lake Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (“Crystal Lake Bank”), Schaumburg Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (“Schaumburg Bank”), Beverly Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (“Beverly Bank”), Old Plank Trail Community Bank, N.A. (“Old Plank Trail Bank”), Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (“Hinsdale Bank”), St. Charles Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (“St. Charles Bank”) and Town Bank, N.A. (“Town Bank”). As of December 31, 2021,2022, we had 173174 banking locations. Each nationally-chartered bank is subject to regulation, supervision and regular examination by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”).

We also engage in the retail origination and purchase of residential mortgages through Wintrust Mortgage as well as consumer direct lending primarily to veterans through our Veterans First brand. Certain originated loans are sold to unaffiliated companies or the Company’s banks with servicing remaining within Wintrust Mortgage operations. Wintrust Mortgage maintains retail mortgage offices in a number of states, with the largest concentration located in the Chicago, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and Los Angeles metropolitan areas.

We also offer several niche lending products through several of the banks. These include Barrington Bank’s Community Advantage program, which provides lending, deposit and treasury management services to condominium, homeowner and community associations; Hinsdale Bank’s mortgage warehouse lending program, which provides loan and deposit services to mortgage brokerage companies located predominantly in the Chicago metropolitan area; Lake Forest Bank’s insurance agency finance lending program, which provides financing to insurance agents and businesses; and Lake Forest Bank’s franchise lending program, which provides lending to restaurant franchisees. Other niches offered throughout our banking franchise include Wintrust Commercial Finance, which offers direct leasing opportunities; Wintrust Business Credit, which specializes in asset-based lending for middle-market companies; Wintrust SBA Lending, which is dedicated to offering expertise in Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loans; Wintrust Commercial Real Estate, which concentrates on real estate lending solutions including commercial mortgages and construction loans; and Wintrust Government, Non-Profit & Hospital, which focuses on financial solutions for mission-based organizations such as hospitals, non-profits, educational institutions and local government operations. In addition, we offer a niche deposit service through our Northbrook Bank’s Funds Group.

For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 2020 and 2019,2020, the community banking segment had net revenues of $1.3$1.5 billion, $1.3 billion and $1.1$1.3 billion, respectively, and net income of $349 million, $319 million $164 million and $238$164 million, respectively. The community banking segment had total assets of $41.4 billion, $40.3 billion $36.8 billion and $29.6$36.8 billion as of December 31, 2022, 2021 2020 and 2019,2020, respectively. The community banking segment accounted for approximately 74%75% of our consolidated net revenues, excluding intersegment eliminations, for the year ended December 31, 2021.2022.

Through our specialty finance segment, we offer financing of insurance premiums for businesses and individuals; accounts receivable financing, value-added, out-sourced administrative services; and other specialty finance businesses. FIRST Insurance Funding and Wintrust Life Finance engage in the premium finance receivables business, our most significant specialized lending niche, including property and casualty insurance premium finance and life insurance premium finance. We also engage in property and casualty insurance premium finance in Canada through our wholly-owned subsidiary FIFC Canada.

In their property and casualty insurance premium finance operations, FIRST Insurance Funding and FIFC Canada make loans primarily to businesses to finance the insurance premiums they pay on their property and casualty insurance policies. Approved medium and large insurance agents and brokers located throughout the United States and Canada assist FIRST Insurance Funding and FIFC Canada, respectively, in arranging each commercial premium finance loan between the borrower and FIRST Insurance Funding or FIFC Canada, as the case may be. FIRST Insurance Funding or FIFC Canada evaluates each loan request according to its own underwriting criteria including the amount of the down payment on the insurance policy, the term of the loan, the credit quality of the insurance company providing the financed insurance policy, the interest rate, the borrower's previous payment history, if any, and other factors deemed appropriate. Upon approval of the loan by FIRST Insurance Funding or FIFC Canada, as the case may be, the borrower makes a down payment on the financed insurance policy, which is generally done by providing payment to the agent or broker, who then forwards it to the insurance company. FIRST Insurance Funding or FIFC Canada may either forward the financed amount of the remaining policy premiums directly to the insurance carrier or to the agent or broker for remittance to the insurance carrier on FIRST Insurance Funding’s or FIFC Canada’s behalf. In some cases the agent or broker may hold our collateral, in the form of the proceeds of the unearned insurance premium from the insurance company, and forward it to FIRST Insurance Funding or FIFC Canada in the event of a default by the borrower. This lending

insurance company, and forward it to FIRST Insurance Funding or FIFC Canada in the event of a default by the borrower. This lending involves relatively rapid turnover of the loan portfolio and high volume of loan originations. Because the agent or broker is the primary contact to the ultimate borrowers who are located nationwide and because proceeds and our collateral may be handled by the agent or brokers during the term of the loan, FIRST Insurance Funding and FIFC Canada may be more susceptible to third party (i.e., agent or broker) fraud. The Company performs various controls and procedures including ongoing credit and other reviews of the agents and brokers as well as performs various internal audit steps to mitigate against the risk of material fraud.

The commercial and property premium finance business is subject to regulation in the majority of states. Regulation typically governs notices to borrowers prior to cancellation of a policy and required communication to insurance agents and insurance companies. FIRST Insurance Funding offers financing of property and casualty insurance policies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  FIRST Insurance Funding’s legal department regularly monitors changes to regulations and updates policies and programs accordingly.

Wintrust Life Finance finances life insurance policy premiums generally used for estate planning purposes of high net-worth borrowers. These loans are originated directly with the borrowers with assistance from life insurance carriers, independent insurance agents, financial advisors and legal counsel. The cash surrender value of the life insurance policy is the primary form of collateral. In addition, these loans often are secured with a letter of credit, marketable securities or certificates of deposit. In some cases, Wintrust Life Finance may make a loan that has a partially unsecured position.

The life insurance premium finance business is subject to banking regulations but is not subject to additional regulatory regimes (e.g. additional state regulation). Wintrust Life Finance’s compliance department regularly monitors the regulatory environment and the company’s compliance with existing regulations. Wintrust Life Finance maintains a policy prohibiting the known financing of stranger-originated life insurance and has established procedures to identify and prevent the company from financing such policies. While a carrier could potentially put at risk the cash surrender value of a policy, which serves as Wintrust Life Finance’s primary collateral, by challenging the validity of the insurance contract for lack of an insurable interest, Wintrust Life Finance believes it has strong counterclaims against any such claims by carriers, in addition to recourse to borrowers and guarantors as well as to additional collateral in certain cases.

Premium finance loans made by FIRST Insurance Funding, Wintrust Life Finance and FIFC Canada are primarily secured by the insurance policies financed by the loans. These insurance policies are written by a large number of insurance companies geographically dispersed throughout the United States and Canada. Our premium finance receivables balances finance insurance policies that are spread among a large number of insurers, however, the top three insurers representsrepresent approximately 14%13%, 6%7% and 5%6% of such balances. FIRST Insurance Funding, Wintrust Life Finance and FIFC Canada consistently monitor carrier ratings and financial performance of our carriers. In the event carrier ratings fall below certain levels, most of Wintrust Life Finance’s life insurance premium finance policies provide for an event of default and allow Wintrust Life Finance to have recourse to borrowers and guarantors as well as to additional collateral in certain cases. For the commercial premium finance business, the term of the loans is sufficiently short such that in the event of a decline in carrier ratings, FIRST Insurance Funding or FIFC Canada, as the case may be, can restrict or eliminate additional loans to finance premiums to such carriers. The majority of premium finance receivables are purchased by the banks in order to more fully utilize their lending capacity as these loans generally provide the banks with higher yields than alternative investments.

Through our wholly-owned subsidiary Wintrust Asset Finance, we provide equipment financing through structured loan and lease products to customers in a variety of industries throughout the United States. Wintrust Asset Finance provides financing of fixed assets consisting of property, plant and equipment, transportation (trucks, trailers, rail, marine, buses), construction, manufacturing equipment, technology, oil and gas, restaurant equipment, medical and healthcare. As of December 31, 2021,2022, the Company’s leasing portfolio, including direct financing leases, loans and equipment on operating leases, totaled $2.4$3.0 billion compared to $2.1$2.4 billion as of December 31, 2020.2021. During 2021,2022, Wintrust Asset Finance contributed approximately $72.5$82.1 million to our revenue, which does not reflect intersegment eliminations.

Through our wholly-owned subsidiary Tricom, we provide high-yielding, short-term accounts receivable financing and value-added, outsourced administrative services, such as data processing of payrolls, billing and cash management services to the temporary staffing industry. Tricom’s clients, located throughout the United States, provide staffing services to businesses in diversified industries. During 2021,2022, Tricom processed payrolls with associated client billings of approximately $723$835.8 million and contributed approximately $12.3$13.5 million to our revenue, net of interest expense, which does not reflect intersegment eliminations.

In 2021,2022, our commercial premium finance operations, life insurance premium finance operations, leasing operations and accounts receivable finance operations accounted for 42%, 29%30%, 25%24% and 4%, respectively, of the total revenues of our specialty finance business. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 the specialty finance segment had net

specialty finance business. For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 the specialty finance segment had net revenues of $344 million, $294 million $263 million and $241$263 million, respectively, and net income of $121 million, $109 million $100 million and $89$100 million, respectively. The specialty finance segment had total assets of $9.8 billion, $8.4 billion $7.0 billion and $5.9$7.0 billion as of December 31, 2022, 2021 2020 and 2019,2020, respectively. The specialty finance segment accounted for 17% of our consolidated net revenues, excluding intersegment eliminations, for the year ended December 31, 2021.2022.

Through our wealth management segment, we offer a full range of wealth management services through four separate subsidiaries (Wintrust(CTC, Wintrust Investments, CTC, Great Lakes Advisors and CDEC): trust and investment services, tax-deferred like-kind exchange services, asset management solutions, securities brokerage services and 401(k) and retirement plan services.

Wintrust Investments, our registered broker/dealer subsidiary which has been operating since 1931, provides a full range of private client and securities brokerage services to clients located primarily in the Midwest. Wintrust Investments is headquartered in downtown Chicago, operates an office in Appleton, Wisconsin, and has established branch locations in offices at a majority of our banks. Wintrust Investments also provides a full range of investment services to clients through a network of relationships with community-based financial institutions primarily located in Illinois. Wintrust Investments is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) as a registered broker-dealer, as well as by the SEC as a registered investment adviser.

CTC, our trust subsidiary, offers trust and investment management services to clients through offices located in downtown Chicago and at various banking offices of our fifteen banks. CTC is subject to regulation, supervision and regular examination by the OCC.

Great Lakes Advisors, our registered investment adviser with locations in downtown Chicago and Tampa, Florida, as well as in various banking offices of our fifteen banks, provides money management services and advisory services to individuals, institutions, and municipal and tax-exempt organizations. Great Lakes Advisors also provides portfolio management and financial advisory services for a wide range of pension and profit-sharing plans as well as money management and advisory services to CTC. Great Lakes Advisors is regulated by the SEC as a registered investment adviser.

CDEC, our provider of tax-deferred like-kind exchange services, provides Qualified Intermediary services (as defined by U.S. Treasury regulations) for taxpayers seeking to structure tax-deferred like-kind exchanges under Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) Section 1031. Under IRC Section 1031, a taxpayer may defer the gain on the sale of certain investment property if the taxpayer utilizes the services of a Qualified Intermediary. These transactions typically generate customer deposits during the period following the sale of the property until such proceeds are used to purchase a replacement property.  These deposits may flow into our banks as a source of low-cost deposits. CDEC is the subsidiary of Elektra Holding Company, LLC (“Elektra”), which was acquired by the Company in December of 2018.

As of December 31, 2021,2022, the Company’s wealth management subsidiaries had approximately $35.5$34.4 billion of assets under administration, which included $5.3$7.4 billion of assets owned by the Company and its subsidiary banks. For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 2020 and 2019,2020, the wealth management segment had net revenues of $163 million, $161 million $134 million and $130$134 million, respectively, and net income of $39 million, $38 million $29 million and $28$29 million, respectively. The wealth management segment had total assets of $1.8 billion, $1.5 billion $1.3 billion and $1.1$1.3 billion as of December 31, 2022, 2021 2020 and 2019,2020, respectively. The wealth management segment accounted for 9%8% of our consolidated net revenues, excluding intersegment eliminations, for the year ended December 31, 2021.2022.

The Company has employed certain strategies since 2013 to achieve strong net income amid increased competition and an environment, that up until recent months, was characterized by low interest rates and increased competition.rates. In general, the Company has taken a steady and measured approach to grow strategically and manage expenses. Specifically, the Company has:

Our strategy and competitive position for each of our business segments is summarized in further detail, below.

We compete in the commercial banking industry through our banks in the communities they serve. The commercial banking industry is highly competitive and the banks face strong direct competition for deposits, loans and other financial related services. The banks compete with other commercial banks, thrifts, credit unions, stockbrokers, government-sponsored entities, mutual fund companies, insurance companies, factoring companies and other commercial entities offering financial services products, including non-bank financial companies and entities commonly known as financial technology companies. Some of these competitors are local, while others are statewide or nationwide.

As a $50$52.9 billion asset financial services company, we expect to benefit from greater access to financial and managerial resources than our smaller local competitors while maintaining our commitment to local decision-making and to our community banking philosophy. In particular, we are able to provide a wider product selection and larger credit facilities than many of our smaller competitors, and we believe our service offerings help us in recruiting talented staff. We continue to add lenders throughout the community banking organization, many of whom have joined us because of our ability to offer a range of products and level of services which compete effectively with both larger and smaller market participants. We have continued to expand our product delivery systems, including a wide variety of electronic banking options for our retail and commercial customers which allow us to provide a level of service typically associated with much larger banking institutions. Additionally, we have access to public capital markets whereas many of our local competitors are privately held and may have limited capital-raising capabilities.

Management views service as a great equalizer to offset some of the inherent advantages of its significantly larger competitors. We also believe we are positioned to compete effectively with other larger and more diversified banks, bank holding companies and other financial services companies due to the multi-chartered approach that pushes accountability for building a franchise and a high level of customer service down to each of our banking franchises. Additionally, we believe that we provide a relatively complete portfolio of products that is responsive to the majority of our customers’ needs through the retail and commercial operations supplied by our banks, and through our mortgage and wealth management operations. The breadth of our product mix allows us to compete effectively with our larger competitors, while our multi-chartered approach with local and accountable management provides for what we believe is superior customer service relative to our larger and more centralized competitors. We continue to grow and enhance our digital service offerings while maintaining our expectations of high quality, more traditional banking services.

Wintrust Mortgage competes with large mortgage brokers as well as other banking organizations. Consolidation, margin compression, enhanced regulatory guidance and the promise of equal oversight for both banks and independent mortgage lenders have created challenges for small and medium-sized independent mortgage lenders. Wintrust Mortgage’s size, bank affiliation, regulatory competency, branding, technology, business development tools and reputation make the firmus well positioned to compete in this environment. Our continued ability to retain the majority of servicing on loans sold, including those loans sold to the Company's banks, allows Wintrust Mortgage to continue to grow a more stable revenue stream. While earnings will fluctuate with the rise and fall of long-term interest rates, we expect that mortgage banking revenue will be a continuous source of revenue for us and our mortgage lending relationships will continue to provide franchise value to our other financial service businesses.

We continue to review our branch footprint and in 2021,2022, the Company opened four new branch locations. The new branches included three locations in the Chicago metropolitan area and one location in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. Also in 2021, we recorded an impairment charge of $1.1 million associated with a 2021 branch closing.area. In addition, in 2021,2022, the Company completed the sale ofclosed three branches in southwestern Wisconsin and the closure of nine branches both previously announced in 2020. Thesewhich were predominantly smaller locations in close proximity to other Wintrust locations. As such, there was no material attrition or customer disruption. In the fourth quarter of 2020, we recorded an impairment charge of $1.4 million associated with the closing of the nine locations. During 2021, leases were terminated and updated appraisals received and approximately $900,000 of additional impairment was recorded associated with the closing of the nine locations. Collectively, the net reductionaddition of eight locationsone location during the year ended December 31, 2021,2022, represented approximately 5%1% of the Wintrust retail banking locations as of December 31, 2021.2022. It is important to note that while we see increased use of electronic services and are investing heavily in digital capabilities to allow clients to choose how they want to be served, Wintrust will continue to selectively open branches in areas where we are not represented.

FIRST Insurance Funding and Wintrust Life Finance encounter intense competition from numerous other firms, including a number of national commercial premium finance companies, companies affiliated with insurance carriers, independent insurance brokers who offer premium finance services and other lending institutions. Some of our competitors are larger and have greater financial and other resources. FIRST Insurance Funding and Wintrust Life Finance compete with these entities by emphasizing a high level of knowledge of the insurance industry, flexibility in structuring financing transactions, and the timely funding of qualifying contracts. We believe that our commitment to service also distinguishes us from our competitors. FIFC Canada competes with one national commercial premium finance company and a few regional providers.

Wintrust Asset Finance competes with other bank-affiliated, independent, captive and vendor equipment leasing and finance companies. Wintrust Asset Finance believes a customer-focused origination philosophy, an experienced team, strong underwriting discipline and expert asset management enables them to compete effectively in a growing and dynamic market.

Tricom competes with numerous other firms, including a small number of similar niche finance companies and payroll processing firms, as well as various finance companies, banks and other lending institutions. Tricom’s management believes that its commitment to service distinguishes it from competitors.

Our wealth management companies (CTC, Wintrust Investments, Great Lakes Advisors and CDEC) compete with larger wealth management subsidiaries of other larger bank holding companies as well as with other trust companies, brokerage and other financial service companies, stockbrokers and financial advisors. We believe we can successfully compete for trust, tax services, asset management and brokerage business by offering personalized attention and customer service to small to midsize businesses and affluent individuals. We continue to recruit and hire experienced wealth management professionals from within the larger Chicago metropolitan area as well as Wisconsin, which is expected to help in attracting new customer relationships.

Our business is heavily regulated and supervised by both federal and state agencies. Both the scope of the laws and regulations and the intensity of the supervision to which our business is subject have increased in recent years, initially in response to the financial crisis, and more recently in light of other factors such as technological and market changes. Regulatory enforcement and fines have also increased across the banking and financial services sector. Many of these changes have occurred as a result of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) and its implementing regulations, most of which are now in place. We expect that our business will remain subject to extensive regulation and supervision. Further, the scope and the intensity of regulation and supervision will likely be higher in the Biden Administration.

The Company is a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “BHC Act”), subject to regulation, supervision, and examination by the Federal Reserve. The Company is also subject to the disclosure and regulatory requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, both as administered by the SEC, as well as the rules of NASDAQ that apply to companies with securities listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Each nationally-chartered bank is subject to regulation, supervision and regular examination by the OCC. The deposits of all of our subsidiary banks are insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund (“DIF”) and, as such, the FDIC has additional oversight authority over the banks. The supervision, regulation and examination of banks and bank holding companies by bank regulatory agencies are intended primarily for the protection of depositors, the DIF, and the banking system as a whole, rather than shareholders of banks and bank holding companies, and in some instances may be contrary to shareholders’ interests.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has broad rulemaking authority over a wide range of federal consumer protection laws applicable to the business of our subsidiary banks and some other operating subsidiaries. Because each of our subsidiary banks has less than $10 billion in total consolidated assets, our subsidiary banks’ federal banking agency, not the CFPB, is responsible for examining and supervising the subsidiary banks’ compliance with federal consumer protection laws and regulations. Our non-bank subsidiaries are subject to regulation by their functional regulators, including applicable state finance and insurance agencies, the applicable exchanges, the SEC, FINRA, and the OCC, as well as by the Federal Reserve.

payment of dividends. The regulatory agencies have broad discretion to impose restrictions and limitations on the operations of a regulated entity where the agencies determine, among other things, that such operations are unsafe or unsound, fail to comply with applicable law or are otherwise inconsistent with laws and regulations or with the supervisory policies of these agencies.

The following is a description of some of the laws and regulations that affect our business. By necessity, the descriptions below are summaries that do not purport to be complete, and that are qualified in their entirety by reference to those statutes and regulations discussed, and all regulatory interpretations thereof. Any changes in applicable laws, regulations, or the interpretations thereof could have a material adverse effect on our business or the business of our subsidiaries.

The Company is a bank holding company that has elected to be treated as a financial holding company. The activities of bank holding companies generally are limited to the business of banking, managing or controlling banks, and certain other activities determined by the Federal Reserve to be closely related to banking. As a financial holding company, we may engage in an expanded range of activities, including activities that are considered to be financial in nature. Financial holding companies may also engage in activities incidental or complementary to financial activities, if the Federal Reserve determines that such activities pose no substantial risk to the safety or soundness of depository institutions or the financial system in general. Impermissible activities for financial holding companies and their subsidiaries include activities that are related to commerce, such as sales of nonfinancial products or manufacturing. As a result, subject to certain exceptions, the BHC Act generally prohibits us from acquiring direct or indirect ownership or control of voting shares of any company engaged in activities that are not permissible for us to engage in.

Maintaining our financial holding company status requires that the Company and each of our subsidiary banks remain “well-capitalized” and “well-managed” as defined by regulation and that each of our subsidiary banks maintain at least a “satisfactory” rating under the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”). If we or our subsidiary banks fail to continue to meet these requirements, we could be subject to restrictions on new activities and acquisitions, and/or be required to cease and possibly divest operations that conduct existing activities that are not permissible for a bank holding company that is not a financial holding company.

The BHC Act generally requires us to obtain prior approval from the Federal Reserve before acquiring direct or indirect ownership or control of more than 5% of the voting shares of an additional bank or bank holding company, or to merge or consolidate with another bank holding company. The Bank Merger Act generally requires our subsidiary banks to obtain prior regulatory approval to merge or consolidate with, or acquire substantially all of the assets of or assume deposits of, another bank. We must also be well-capitalized and well-managed, in order to acquire a bank located outside of our home state.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (“FDIA”) and Federal Reserve regulations and policy require us to serve as a source of financial and managerial strength for our subsidiary banks, and to commit resources to support the banks. This support may be required even if doing so may adversely affect our ability to meet other obligations.

Acquisitions of the Company’s voting stock above certain thresholds may be subject to prior regulatory notice or approval under applicable federal banking laws. Investors are responsible for ensuring that they do not, directly or indirectly, acquire shares of our stock in excess of the amount that can be acquired without regulatory approval or notice under the BHC Act and the Change in Bank Control Act.

We are prohibited under the Volcker Rule from (1) engaging in short-term proprietary trading for our own account, and (2) having certain ownership interests in and relationships with hedge funds or private equity funds. The fundamental prohibitions of the Volcker Rule apply to banking entities of any size, including the Company and its bank subsidiaries. The Volcker Rule regulations contain exemptions for market-making, hedging, underwriting, trading in U.S. government and agency obligations and also permit certain ownership interests in certain types of funds to be retained. They also permit the offering and sponsoring of funds under certain conditions. The Volcker Rule regulations impose significant compliance and reporting obligations on banking entities. The Company has put in place the compliance programs required by the Volcker Rule and has either divested or received extensions for any holdings in illiquid funds. The Company will continue to monitor Volcker Rule-related developments and assess their impact on its operations as necessary.

We and our subsidiary banks are required to maintain minimum risk-based and leverage capital ratios, as well as a capital conservation buffer (“Capital Conservation Buffer”), pursuant to regulations adopted by the Federal Reserve and the OCC to implement the Basel III capital framework (“U.S. Basel III Rule”).

Regulatory capital requirements apply to Common Equity Tier 1 capital, Tier 1 capital and total capital.

Certain adjustments to and deductions from capital are required for purposes of calculating these regulatory capital measures, including with respect to goodwill, intangible assets, certain deferred tax assets, AOCI and investments in the capital instruments of unconsolidated financial institutions. In July 2019, the U.S. bank regulators finalized changes to certain aspects of the U.S. Basel III capital rules that simplified, for certain bank holding companies and banks, including us and our subsidiary banks, the framework for capital deductions for mortgage servicing assets, certain deferred tax assets and investments in the capital instruments of unconsolidated financial institutions, and the recognition of minority interests in regulatory capital. These amendments were effective as of April 1, 2020. The final rule also supersedes the transition rule that the U.S. bank regulators adopted in 2017 to allow certain banking organizations to continue to apply the transition treatment in effect in 2017 while the U.S. bank regulators considered the capital simplification proposals.

In addition, in December 2018, the U.S. federal banking agencies finalized rules that permit BHCs and banks to phase in, for regulatory capital purposes, the day-one impact of Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-13 Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326) (“CECL”) on retained earnings over a period of three years. In response to the COVID-19Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic, in 2020, the OCC, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the FDIC published another final rule to delay the estimated impact on regulatory capital stemming from the implementation of CECL. The final rule maintains the three-year transition option in the previous rule and provides banks the option to delay for two years an estimate of CECL’s effect on regulatory capital, relative to the incurred loss methodology’s effect on regulatory capital, followed by a three-year transition period (five-year transition option). The Company is adoptinghas adopted the capital transition relief over the permissible five-year period. For further discussion of the new CECL accounting standard, including the Company’s implementation of such guidance, see

Under the U.S. Basel III Rule, we and our subsidiary banks are required to maintain the following minimum capital ratios:

To be well-capitalized, our subsidiary banks must maintain the following capital ratios:

The Federal Reserve has not yet revised the well-capitalized standard for bank holding companies to reflect the higher capital requirements imposed under the U.S. Basel III Rule. For purposes of the Federal Reserve’s Regulation Y, including determining whether a bank holding company meets the requirements to be a financial holding company, bank holding companies, such as the Company, must maintain a Tier 1 Capital Ratio of 6.0% or greater and a Total Capital Ratio of 10.0% or greater to be well-capitalized. If the Federal Reserve were to apply the same or a very similar well-capitalized standard to bank holding companies as that applicable to our subsidiary banks, the Company’s capital ratios as of December 31, 20212022 would exceed such revised well-capitalized standard. The Federal Reserve may require bank holding companies, including us, to maintain capital ratios substantially in excess of mandated minimum levels, depending upon general economic conditions and a bank holding company’s particular condition, risk profile and growth plans.

Failure to be well-capitalized or to meet minimum capital requirements could result in certain mandatory and possible additional discretionary actions by regulators, including restrictions on our or our subsidiary banks’ ability to pay dividends or otherwise distribute capital or to receive regulatory approval of applications, or other restrictions on growth. Such actions, if undertaken, could have an adverse material effect on our operations or financial condition.

In addition to meeting the minimum capital requirements, under the U.S. Basel III Rule, we and our banking subsidiaries must also maintain the required Capital Conservation Buffer to avoid becoming subject to restrictions on capital distributions and certain discretionary bonus payments to management. The Capital Conservation Buffer is 2.5% and is calculated as a ratio of Common Equity Tier 1 capital to RWAs and it effectively increases the required minimum risk-based capital ratios. The Tier 1 Leverage Ratio is not impacted by the Capital Conservation Buffer, and a banking institution may be considered well-capitalized while remaining out of compliance with the Capital Conservation Buffer.

The table below summarizes the capital requirements that we and our subsidiary banks must satisfy to avoid limitations on capital distributions and certain discretionary bonus payments (i.e., the required minimum capital ratios plus the Capital Conservation Buffer):

As of December 31, 2021,2022, our Company’s and our subsidiary banks’ regulatory capital ratios were above the well-capitalized standards and met the Capital Conservation Buffer. Based on current estimates, we believe that we and our subsidiary banks will continue to exceed all applicable well-capitalized regulatory capital requirements and the Capital Conservation Buffer. Please refer to the table below for a summary of our regulatory capital ratios as of December 31, 2021,2022, calculated using the regulatory capital methodology applicable to us during 2021.

In addition to the above, as a result of participation in mortgage programs with certain government-sponsored entities as well as other investors, the Company has specific net worth requirements for continued participation. As of December 31, 2021,2022, the Company remained in compliance with such requirements.

We are a legal entity separate and distinct from our banking and non-banking subsidiaries. Since our consolidated net income consists largely of net income of our bank and non-bank subsidiaries, our ability to pay dividends and repurchase shares depends upon our receipt of dividends from our subsidiaries. There are various federal and state law limitations on the extent to which our banking subsidiaries can declare and pay dividends to us, including regulatory capital requirements, general regulatory oversight to prevent unsafe or unsound practices and federal and state banking law requirements concerning the payment of dividends out of net profits or surplus. Applicable banking laws also prohibit, without prior regulatory approval, insured depository institutions, such as our bank subsidiaries, from making dividend distributions if such distributions are not paid out of available earnings. In addition, our right, and the right of our shareholders and creditors, to participate in any distribution of the assets or earnings of our bank and non-bank subsidiaries is further subject to the prior claims of creditors of our subsidiaries. No assurances can be given that the banks will, in any circumstances, pay dividends to the Company.

We and our bank subsidiaries must maintain the applicable Common Equity Tier 1 Capital Conservation Buffer to avoid becoming subject to restrictions on capital distributions, including dividends. The Capital Conservation Buffer is currently at its fully phased-in level of 2.5%. For more information on the Capital Conservation Buffer, see Capital Ratio Requirements above.

Our ability to declare and pay dividends to our shareholders is similarly limited by federal banking law and Federal Reserve regulations and policy. Federal Reserve policy provides that a bank holding company should not pay dividends unless (1) the bank holding company’s net income over the last four quarters (net of dividends paid) is sufficient to fully fund the dividends, (2) the prospective rate of earnings retention appears consistent with the capital needs, asset quality and overall financial condition of the bank holding company and its subsidiaries and (3) the bank holding company will continue to meet minimum required capital adequacy ratios. The policy also provides that a bank holding company should inform the Federal Reserve reasonably in advance of declaring or paying a dividend that exceeds earnings for the period for which the dividend is being paid or that could result in a material adverse change to the bank holding company’s capital structure. Bank holding companies also are required to consult with the Federal Reserve before materially increasing dividends. The Federal Reserve could prohibit or limit the payment of dividends by a bank holding company if it determines that payment of the dividend would constitute an unsafe or unsound practice.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (“FDICIA”) requires the federal bank regulatory agencies to take “prompt corrective action” regarding FDIC-insured depository institutions that do not meet certain capital adequacy standards. A depository institution’s treatment for purposes of the prompt corrective action provisions depends upon

As of December 31, 2021,2022, each of the Company’s banks was categorized as “well-capitalized” and, in addition, met additional requirements under the Capital Conservation Buffer.

The federal bank regulatory agencies have broad authority to issue orders to depository institutions and their holding companies prohibiting activities that constitute violations of law, rule, regulation, or administrative order, or that represent unsafe or unsound banking practices, as determined by the federal banking agencies. The federal banking agencies also are empowered to

require affirmative actions to correct any violation or practice; issue administrative orders that can be judicially enforced; direct increases in capital; limit dividends and distributions; restrict growth; assess civil money penalties against institutions or individuals who violate any laws, regulations, orders, or written agreements with the agencies; order termination of certain activities of holding companies or their non-bank subsidiaries; remove officers and directors; order divestiture of ownership or control of a non-banking subsidiary by a holding company; or terminate deposit insurance and appoint a conservator or receiver.

The federal bank regulatory agencies have adopted a set of guidelines prescribing safety and soundness standards relating to internal controls and information systems, informational security, internal audit systems, loan documentation, credit underwriting, interest rate exposure, asset growth, and compensation, fees and benefits. The guidelines prohibit excessive compensation as an unsafe and unsound practice, and describe compensation as excessive when the amounts paid are unreasonable or disproportionate to the services performed by an executive officer, employee, director or principal shareholder.

During the past decade, properlyProperly managing risks has been identified by regulators as critical to the conduct of safe and sound banking activities and has become even more important as new technologies, product innovation, and the size and speed of financial transactions have changed the nature of banking markets. The agencies have identified a spectrum of risks facing banking institutions including, but not limited to, credit, market, liquidity, operational, legal, and reputational risk. Some of the regulatory pronouncements have focused on operational risk, which arises from the potential that inadequate information systems, operational problems, breaches in internal controls, fraud, or unforeseen catastrophes will result in unexpected losses. New products and services, third-party risk management and cybersecurity are critical sources of operational risk that financial institutions are expected to address in the current environment. Our subsidiary banks are expected to have active board and senior management oversight; adequate policies, procedures, and limits; adequate risk measurement, monitoring, and management information systems; and comprehensive and effective internal controls.

Under the cross-guarantee provision of the FDIA, insured depository institutions such as our subsidiary banks may be liable to the FDIC for any losses incurred, or reasonably expected to be incurred, by the FDIC resulting from the default of, or FDIC assistance to, any other commonly controlled insured depository institution. An FDIC cross-guarantee claim against a depository institution is superior in right of payment to claims of the holding company and its affiliates against such depository institution. All of our subsidiary banks are commonly controlled within the meaning of the cross-guarantee provision.

The deposits of each of our subsidiary banks are insured by the Depositors Insurance Fund (“DIF”) up to the standard maximum deposit insurance amount of $250,000 per depositor. Each of our subsidiary banks is subject to deposit insurance assessments based on the risk it poses to the DIF, as determined by the capital category and supervisory category to which it is assigned. The FDIC has authority to raise or lower assessment rates on insured deposits in order to achieve statutorily required reserve ratios in the DIF and to impose special additional assessments. There is a risk that our subsidiary banks’ deposit insurance premiums will increase if failures of insured depository institutions deplete the DIF or if the FDIC were to change its view of the risk that they pose to the DIF.

Federal banking laws impose limits on the amount of credit a bank can extend to any one person (or group of related persons). For national banks, this limit includes credit exposures arising from derivative transactions, repurchase agreements, and securities lending and borrowing transactions.

Applicable banking laws and regulations also place restrictions on loans by FDIC-insured banks and their affiliates to their directors, executive officers and principal shareholders.

The federal banking agencies have adopted uniform regulations prescribing standards for extensions of credit that are secured by liens or interests in real estate or made for the purpose of financing permanent improvements to real estate. Under these regulations, all insured depository institutions, such as our subsidiary banks, must adopt and maintain written policies establishing appropriate limits and standards for extensions of credit that are secured by liens or interests in real estate or are made for the purpose of financing permanent improvements to real estate. These policies must establish loan portfolio diversification standards, prudent underwriting standards (including loan-to-value limits) that are clear and measurable, loan administration procedures, and documentation, approval and reporting requirements. The real estate lending policies must reflect consideration of the federal bank regulators’ Interagency Guidelines for Real Estate Lending Policies.

With the approval of applicable regulators, national banks and state banks may establish de novo branches in states other than their home state as if such state was the bank’s home state.

For a three-year period, newly chartered banks are subject to enhanced supervisory procedures, including higher capital requirements, more frequent examinations and other requirements.

Each of our subsidiary banks is prohibited from conditioning the availability of any product or service, or varying the price for any product or service, on the requirement that the customer obtain some additional product or service from the bank or any of its affiliates, other than loans, deposits and trust services.

Certain transactions between a bank and its holding company or other non-bank affiliates are subject to various restrictions imposed by state and federal law and regulation. Such “covered transactions” include loans and other extensions of credit by the bank to the affiliate, investments in securities issued by the affiliate, purchases of assets from the affiliate, certain derivative transactions that create a credit exposure to an affiliate, the acceptance of securities issued by the affiliate as collateral for a loan, and the issuance of a guarantee, acceptance or letter of credit on behalf of the affiliate. In general, these affiliate transaction rules limit the amount of covered transactions between an institution and a single affiliate, as well as the aggregate amount of covered transactions between an institution and all of its affiliates. In addition, covered transactions that are credit transactions must be secured by acceptable collateral, and all affiliate transactions, including those that do not qualify as covered transactions, must be on terms that are at least as favorable to the bank as then-prevailing in the market for comparable transactions with unaffiliated entities. Transactions between affiliated banks may be subject to certain exemptions under applicable federal law.

Under the CRA, insured depository institutions, including our subsidiary banks, have a continuing and affirmative obligation to help meet the credit needs of its entire community, including low and moderate-income neighborhoods. The CRA does not establish specific lending requirements or programs for insured depository institutions nor does it limit an insured depository institution’s discretion to develop the types of products and services that it believes are best suited to its particular community, consistent with the CRA. However, insured depository institutions are rated on their performance in meeting the needs of their communities. The CRA requires each federal banking agency to take an insured depository institution’s CRA record into account when evaluating certain applications by the insured depository institution or its holding company, including applications for charters, branches and other deposit facilities, relocations, mergers, consolidations, acquisitions of assets or assumptions of liabilities, and bank and savings association acquisitions. An unsatisfactory record of performance may be the basis for denying or conditioning approval of an application by an insured depository institution or its holding company. The CRA also requires that all institutions publicly disclose their CRA ratings. Each of our subsidiary banks received a “satisfactory” or better rating from the Federal Reserve or the OCC on its most recent CRA performance evaluation.

In June 2020,2022, the OCC adopted the CRA rules in final form (June 2020 Rule), which would have applied to national banks, including our subsidiary banks. In December 2021, theFederal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC issued a final rulejoint proposal to rescindamend their regulations implementing the June 2020 RuleCRA. The proposed rules would materially revise the current CRA framework, including new assessment area requirements, new methods of calculating credit for lending, investment and replace it withservice activities, and additional data collection and reporting requirements. The proposed rules included analysis indicating a rule based largely onsignificant increase in the prior rules adopted jointly bythresholds for large banks to receive “Outstanding” ratings in the federal banking agencies in 1995, as amended, that existed prior to the June 2020 Rule. The OCC has also issued a joint statement with the FDIC and Federal Reserve stating that they are committed to working jointly to modernize the CRA rules.future.

Our subsidiary banks and some other operating subsidiaries are subject to a variety of federal and state statutes and regulations designed to protect consumers. The CFPB has broad rulemaking authority over a wide range of federal consumer protection laws that apply to banks and other providers of financial products and services, including the authority to prohibit “unfair, deceptive or abusive” acts and practices, but examination and supervision is carried out by each subsidiary bank’s primary federal banking agency and, where applicable, state banking agency, not the CFPB. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act authorizes state attorneys general and other state officials to enforce consumer protection rules issued by the CFPB. State authorities have recently increased their focus on and enforcement of consumer protection rules.

Interest and other charges collected or contracted for by banks are subject to state usury laws and federal laws concerning interest rates.

Loan operations are also subject to federal laws and regulations applicable to credit transactions, such as:

There are consumer protection standards that apply to functional areas of operation rather than applying only to loan or deposit products. Our subsidiary banks and some other operating subsidiaries are also subject to certain state laws and regulations designed to protect consumers.

The CFPB has promulgated, and continues to promulgate, many mortgage-related final rules since it was established under the Dodd-Frank Act, including rules related to the ability to repay and qualified mortgage standards, mortgage servicing standards, loan originator compensation standards, high-cost mortgage requirements, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requirements and appraisal and escrow standards for higher priced mortgages. Most of the provisions of these mortgage-related final rules are currently effective. In addition, several proposed revisions to mortgage-related rules are pending finalization. The mortgage-related final rules issued by the CFPB have materially restructured the origination, servicing and securitization of residential mortgages in the United States. These rules have impacted, and will continue to impact, the business practices of mortgage lenders, including the Company.

In order to ensure compliance with all mortgage-related rules and regulations, the Company consolidated its consumer mortgage loan origination and loan servicing operations primarily within Wintrust Mortgage. All consumer mortgage applications are taken through Wintrust Mortgage, which has extensively trained loan originators located at many of our branches. While in certain limited cases our banks may offer specialized consumer mortgages to our customers, substantially all consumer mortgages for all of our banks are originated and closed by Wintrust Mortgage. Wintrust Mortgage then sells loans to third parties or to our banks. To the extent that we retain consumer mortgage loans in our bank portfolios, our banks have engaged Wintrust Mortgage to provide loan servicing.

Changes to consumer protection regulations, including those promulgated by the CFPB, could affect our business but the likelihood, timing and scope of any such changes and the impact any such change may have on us cannot be determined with any certainty. See Item 1A. Risk Factors.

We are subject to a statutory requirement that interchange fees for electronic debit transactions that are paid to or charged by payment card issuers, including our bank subsidiaries, be reasonable and proportional to the cost incurred by the issuer. Interchange fees for electronic debit transactions are limited to 21 cents plus 0.05% of the transaction, plus an additional one cent per transaction fraud adjustment, impose requirements regarding routing and exclusivity of electronic debit transactions, and generally requiretransactions. On October 3, 2022, the Federal Reserve finalized a rule that amends Regulation II to, among other things, specify that debit cardscard issuers should enable all debit card transactions, including card-not-present transactions such as online payments, to be usable inprocessed on at least two unaffiliated payment card networks. The final rule becomes effective July 1, 2023. As an issuer with over $10 billion in assets, we are subject to Regulation II and will work to implement these new requirements.

The Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”(the “BSA”) and USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (“USA(the “USA PATRIOT Act”) contain anti-money laundering (“AML”) and financial transparency provisions intended to detect, and prevent the use of the U.S. financial system for, money laundering and terrorist financing activities. The BSA, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act, requires depositoryfinancial institutions, and their holding companiesincluding banks, to undertake activities including maintaining an AML program, verifying the identity of clients,customers, monitoring for and reporting suspicious transactions, reporting on cash transactions exceeding specified thresholds, and responding to requests for information by regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies. Each of our subsidiary banks is subject to the BSA and, therefore, is required to provide its employees with AML training, designate an AML compliance officer and undergo an annual,periodic, independent auditaudits to assess the effectiveness of its AML program. We have implemented policies, procedures and internal controls that are designed to comply with these AML requirements. In May 2016, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), which is a unitbureau of the Treasury Department that drafts regulations

Legal requirementsData privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations concerning the collection, storage, handling, use, disclosure, transfer, protection and protectionother processing of client information (including personal information) affect many aspects of the Company’s business, and are continuing to evolve. They includeData privacy and cybersecurity are currently areas of considerable legislative and regulatory attention, with new or modified laws, regulations, rules and standards frequently being adopted and potentially subject to divergent interpretation or application in a manner that may create inconsistent or conflicting requirements for businesses.

We are, or may in the future become, subject to a variety of complex federal, state and local laws, regulations, rules and standards regarding data privacy and cybersecurity, including the privacy and information safeguarding provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLB Act”), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and the amendments adopted by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, as well as various state law requirements.laws and regulations. The GLB Act requires a financial institution to, among other things, disclose its privacy policy to certain customers and, requires the financial institution to allow those in some circumstances, enables certain

customers to opt-out of somecertain sharing of the customers’ nonpublic personal information with nonaffiliated third persons. The GLB Act also requires financial institutions to implement a comprehensive information security program that includes administrative, technical and physical safeguards to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer information. In accordance with these requirements, we and each of our banks and operating subsidiaries provide a written privacy notice to each affected customer when the customer relationship begins and, to the extent required, on an annual basis. As described in the privacy notice, we endeavor to protect the security of information (including personal information) about our customers, educate our employees about the importance of protecting customer privacy, and allow affected customers to opt outopt-out of certain types of information sharing. We and our subsidiaries also require business partners with which we share information (including personal information) to have adequate security safeguards and to follow the requirements of the GLB Act. The GLB Act, as interpreted by the federal banking regulators, and state laws and regulations require us to take certain actions, including possibleproviding notice under certain circumstances to affected customers, in the event that sensitive or personal customer information is compromised. We and/or each of the banks and operating subsidiaries may need to amend our privacy policies and adapt our internal procedures in the event that these legal requirements, or the regulators’ interpretation of them, change, or if new requirements are added. Additionally, the federal banking regulators, as well as the SEC and related self-regulatory organizations, regularly issue guidance regarding cybersecurity that is intended to enhance cyber risk management among financial institutions.

Data privacy and data protectioncybersecurity also are areas of increasing state legislative focus. For example, in June of 2018, the Governor of California signed into law the California Consumer Privacy Act, (“CCPA”as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (collectively, the “CCPA”). The CCPA, which became effective on January 1, 2020, applies to for-profitcovered businesses that conduct business in California and meet certain revenue or datapersonal information collection thresholds. The CCPA contains several exemptions, including that many, but not all, requirements of the CCPA are inapplicable to personal information that is collected, processed, sold or disclosed pursuant to the GLB Act. California voters also recently passed the California Privacy Rights Act, which will take effect on January 1, 2023 and significantly modifies the CCPA. The California Privacy Rights ActCCPA imposes additional obligations on covered companies, andbroadly defines personal information, expands California consumers’residents’ rights with respect

Like other lenders, the banks and several of our operating subsidiaries use credit bureau data in their underwriting activities. Use of such data is regulated under the FCRA, and the FCRA also regulates, among other things, reporting information to credit bureaus, prescreening individuals for credit offers, sharing of information (including personal information) between affiliates, and using affiliate data for marketing purposes. Similar state laws and regulations may impose additional requirements on us, the banks and our operating subsidiaries.

Violation of these legal requirementslaws, rules, regulations and standards may expose us to regulatory action and private litigation, including claims for damages and penalties. For more information regarding the risks associated with data privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations, see “We are subject to complex and evolving laws, regulations, rules, standards and contractual obligations regarding data privacy and cybersecurity, which could increase the cost of doing business, compliance risks and potential liability” and “We face cybersecurity risks from cyber-attacks, information security breaches and other similar incidents that could result in the disclosure of confidential and other information (including personal information), all of which could adversely affect our business or reputation, and create significant legal and financial exposure” under Risk Factors in Item 1A.

Wintrust Investments and Great Lakes Advisors are subject to extensive regulation under federal and state securities laws. Wintrust Investments is registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Both Wintrust Investments and Great Lakes Advisors are registered as investment advisers with the SEC. In

addition, Wintrust Investments is a member of several self-regulatory organizations (“SROs”), including FINRA and NYSE Chicago.FINRA. In addition to SEC rules and regulations, the SROs adopt rules, subject to approval of the SEC, that govern all aspects of business in the securities industry and conduct periodic examinations of member firms. Wintrust Investments is also subject to regulation by state securities commissions in states in which it conducts business. Wintrust Investments and Great Lakes Advisors are registered only with the SEC as investment advisers, but certain of their advisory personnel are subject to regulation by state securities regulatory agencies.

As a result of federal and state registrations and SRO memberships, Wintrust Investments is subject to overlapping schemes of regulation that cover all aspects of its securities businesses. Such regulations cover uses and safekeeping of clients’ funds; record-keeping and reporting requirements; supervisory and organizational procedures intended to assure compliance with securities laws and to prevent improper trading on material nonpublic information; personnel-related matters, including qualification and licensing of supervisory and sales personnel; limitations on extensions of credit in securities transactions; clearance and settlement procedures; “suitability” and best interest determinations as to certain customer transactions; limitations on the amounts and types of fees and commissions that may be charged to customers; and regulation of proprietary trading activities and affiliate transactions. Violations of the laws and regulations governing a broker-dealer’s actions can result in censures, fines, the issuance of cease-and-desist orders, revocation of licenses or registrations, the suspension or expulsion from the securities industry of a broker-dealer or its officers or employees, or other similar actions by both federal and state securities administrators, as well as the SROs.

Wintrust Investments and Great Lakes Advisors in their capacities as investment advisers are subject to regulations covering matters such as transactions between clients, transactions between the adviser and clients, custody of client assets and management of mutual funds and other client accounts. The principal purpose of regulation and discipline of investment firms is the protection of customers, clients and the securities markets rather than the protection of creditors and shareholders of investment firms. Sanctions that may be imposed for failure to comply with laws or regulations governing investment advisers include the suspension of individual employees, limitations on an adviser’s engaging in various asset management activities for specified periods of time, the revocation of registrations, other censures and fines.

The federal banking agencies have issued joint guidance on incentive compensation designed to ensure that the incentive compensation policies of banking organizations, such as us and our subsidiary banks, do not encourage imprudent risk taking and are consistent with the safety and soundness of the organization. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act requires the federal banking agencies and the SEC to issue regulations or guidelines requiring covered financial institutions, including us and our subsidiary banks, to prohibit incentive-based payment arrangements that encourage inappropriate risks by providing compensation that is excessive or that could lead to material financial loss to the institution. A proposed rule was issued in 2016. It is unclear when, if ever, the proposed rule will be finalized. The Biden Administration may revisit this proposal.

Also pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act, in 2015,October 2022, the SEC proposedadopted final rules that would direct stock exchanges to require listed companies to implement clawback policies to recover incentive-based compensation from current or former executive officers in the event of certain financial restatements and would also require companies to disclose their clawback policies and theircertain actions under those policies. The SEC has re-openedNYSE and NASDAQ filed proposed listing standards on February 22, 2023, and these listing standards must then be effective no later November 28, 2023. A listed company must adopt a clawback policy no later than sixty days following the comment period for thesedate on which the applicable listing standard becomes effective and must begin to comply with the final rules but it is unclear when

disclosure requirements in proxy and information statements and annual reports filed on or after the proposed rules will be finalized.effective date of the applicable listing standard.

Since its formation, Wintrust has held the objective of aiming to differentiate itself by offering customers a highly-personalized banking experience, through staff that is warm, friendly, and responsive. Wintrust expects each of its employees to embody that original mission by serving as brand ambassadors each day, within each community served by our banks and other business units.

As of December 31, 2021,2022, Wintrust employed 5,2395,275 full-time equivalent employees in the U.S. and Canada. Approximately 97% of Wintrust’s employees are classified as full-time, working greater than 30 hours per week. None of our employees are represented by a collective bargaining agreement and we consider our employee relations to be good.

At Wintrust we recognize that attracting, motivating and retaining talent at all levels is vital to continuing our success. In 2021,2022, Wintrust filled approximately 1,0691,881 positions, including external hires, internal transfers/promotions, and temporary hires. In 2021, approximately 54%2022, 53% of our new hires self-identified as female and approximately 39%42% of our new hires self-identified as a racial or ethnic minority. Wintrust promotes an employee referral program, which we believe favorably affects colleague retention and engagement. Turnover for the entire Wintrust enterprise for the year was approximately 20%25% and voluntary departures accounted for approximately 81%83% of the total turnover.

Wintrust offers total rewards packages that are designed to attract, motivate and retain a talented and diverse group of employees. In addition to competitive, performance-based compensation plans, we provide employees with comprehensive benefits packages. Wintrust consistently monitors and adapts its total rewards program design to reflect both market changes and employee feedback.

Wintrust strives to promote an equitable, diverse and inclusive culture where each employee can be successful, and one that is reflective of the communities we serve. Women currently represent more than 58%57% of Wintrust’s workforce. In addition, racially/the racially and ethnically diverse representation in Wintrust’s workforce is approximately 31%32%. To further advance diversity and inclusion across Wintrust, we have taken the following steps:

We are committed to providing all team members with development opportunities through individual and career development planning. Our employees have access to approximately 500450 Banking topics, 150160 Professional Skills topics and 400440 customized training courses and resources through Wintrust University – our learning portal. In 2021,2022, we introduced a newmaintained an online training catalog containing over 16,000 course offerings for our employees’ personal and professional development. In 2021, Wintrustdevelopment and, in 2022, invested more than 117,000189,000 total hours in training by team members.

We routinely identify and recognize talented employees by performing comprehensive reviews of leadership capability, readiness, aspiration and succession planning. To support the development of our internal talent pipeline, we have invested in a number of programs to support the development of future leaders and additional training for senior leaders with strategic accountability. To support the development of future leaders, 79152 newly minted leaders attended “The Fundamentals of Wintrust Leadership” program and 1815 senior leaders participated in our year-long “Winning at Wintrust” training program focused on strategic accountability. Additionally, 141 retail employees completed the Wintrust Bankers Academy program in 2021.

Annually, Wintrust team members at all levels certify their completion of regulatory training based upon their roles and responsibilities. They also are encouraged to complete a minimum of two professional development activities each year.

The Company’s approach in considering its climate impact is currently focused on mitigating the environmental impact of operations, specifically at its various virtual wellness sessions throughoutbanking locations; assessing other climate-related risks within the year addressing a varietyCompany’s various businesses; and providing support to projects and investments that contribute to climate solutions. In 2022, some of topics thatthe highlights of this approach included anxiety, depression, resiliency for working parents, nutrition, ergonomics and virtual cooking classes.the following:

The Company’s Internet address is www.wintrust.com. The Company makes available at this address, under the “Investor Relations” tab, free of charge, its Annual Report on Form 10-K, its annual reports to shareholders, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. These filings are also available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

As of February 10, 2022,9, 2023, there were approximately 1,6591,678 shareholders of record of the Company’s common stock.

The Company’s Board of Directors approved the first semi-annual dividend on the Company’s common stock in January 2000 and continued to approve a semi-annual dividend until quarterly dividends were approved starting in 2014. The payment of dividends is subject to statutory restrictions and restrictions arising under the terms of the Company's Fixed-to-Floating Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series D (the “Series D Preferred Stock”), the terms of the Company’s Fixed-Rate Reset Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series E (the “Series E Preferred Stock”), the terms of the Company’s Trust Preferred Securities offerings and under certain financial covenants in the Company’s revolving and term credit facilities. Under the terms of these separate revolving and term credit facilities, entered into on September 18, 2018, the Company is prohibited from paying dividends on any equity interests, including its common stock and preferred stock, if such payments would cause the Company to be in default under its credit facilities or exceed a certain threshold.

On January 27, 2022,26, 2023, Wintrust Financial Corporation announced that the Company’s Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.34$0.40 per share of outstanding common stock. The dividend was paid on February 24, 202223, 2023 to shareholders of record as of February 10, 2022.9, 2023.

The final determination of timing, amount and payment of dividends is at the discretion of the Company'sCompany’s Board of Directors and will depend on the Company'sCompany’s earnings, financial condition, capital requirements and other relevant factors. Because the Company’s consolidated net income consists largely of net income of the banks and certain wealth management subsidiaries, the Company’s ability to pay dividends generally depends upon its receipt of dividends from these entities. The Company'sCompany’s and the banks’ ability to pay dividends is subject to banking laws, regulations and policies. See “Supervision and Regulation - Payment of Dividends and Share Repurchases” in Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. During 2022, 2021 2020 and 2019,2020, the banks and certain wealth management subsidiaries paid $52.0 million, $145.0 million $253.0 million and $139.0$253.0 million, respectively, in dividends to the Company.

Reference is also made to Note 19(19) “Regulatory Matters” to the Consolidated Financial Statements, and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” contained in Item 78 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of the restrictions on the ability of certain subsidiaries to transfer funds to the Company in the form of dividends.

Our previously authorized share repurchase program permitted the repurchase of up to $125 million of our common stock. On October 28, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized the repurchase of up to $200 million of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock. This authorization is incremental to the remaining authorization of approximately $23 million under the previous program, which the Board approved in 2019. The repurchase authorization does not have an expiration date. In 2021,No purchases of the Company’s common shares were made by or on behalf of the Company repurchased approximately $9.5 millionor any “affiliated purchaser” as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, during the Company's common stock on the open market.