Company: WBS-PG
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000801337-25-000004
Chunk: 183

Company: WEBSTER FINANCIAL CORP
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 183
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 monitoring developments, particularly if the CFPB is no longer enforcing federal financial institution consumer privacy laws and regulations. As the regulatory environment becomes more rigorous, we anticipate that compliance with these requirements will result in additional costs and expenses, and may impact the way we conduct business. Our failure to comply with data privacy laws could result in potentially significant regulatory or governmental investigations, litigation, fines, or sanctions, or cause damage to our reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

We may not be able to successfully implement current or future information technology system enhancements and operational initiatives, which could adversely affect our business operations and profitability.

We continue to invest significant resources in our core information technology systems in order to provide functionality and security at an appropriate level, and to improve our operating efficiency and to streamline our client experience. These initiatives significantly increase the complexity of our relationships with third-party service providers and such relationships may be difficult to unwind. We may not be able to successfully implement and integrate such system enhancements and initiatives, which could adversely impact our ability to comply with certain legal and regulatory requirements. In addition, these projects could have higher than expected costs and/or result in operating inefficiencies, which could increase the costs associated with the implementation as well as ongoing operations. Failure to properly utilize system enhancements that are implemented in the future could result in impairment charges that adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations, could result in significant costs to remediate or replace the defective components, and could impact our ability to compete. In addition, we may incur significant training, licensing, maintenance, consulting, and amortization expense during and after implementation, and any such costs may continue for an extended period of time. As such, we cannot guarantee anticipated long-term benefits from these system enhancements and operational initiatives.

Reputation Risk

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

Companies are facing increasing scrutiny from customers, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders related to their corporate responsibility practices and disclosure. Investor advocacy groups, investment funds, and influential investors are also increasingly focused on these practices, especially as they relate to the environment (including with respect to climate change), health and safety, inclusion and belonging, human capital management, labor conditions, and human rights. Due to divergent stakeholder views on these matters, we are at increased risk that any action, or lack thereof, concerning these matters will be perceived negatively