Company: FRME
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000712534-25-000058
Chunk: 110

Company: FIRST MERCHANTS CORP
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 110
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 the various markets in which the Bank operates, though the Bank also competes with smaller community banks that seek to offer similar service levels.  The Bank also faces competition from many other types of institutions, including, without limitation savings and loans associations, credit unions, finance companies, brokerage firms, insurance companies, and other financial intermediaries.

The financial services industry continues to become even more competitive as a result of legislative, regulatory and technological changes and continued consolidation.  Banks, securities firms and insurance companies can operate as affiliates under the umbrella of a financial holding company, which can offer virtually any type of financial service, including banking, securities underwriting, insurance (both agency and underwriting) and merchant banking.  Also, technology has lowered barriers to enter and made it possible for nonbanks to offer products and services traditionally provided by banks, such as automatic transfer and automatic payment systems.  Many of our nonbank competitors have fewer regulatory constraints and may have lower cost structures.  Additionally, due to their size, many competitors may be able to achieve economies of scale and, as a result, may offer broader range of products and services as well as better pricing for those products and services than we can.  Finally, the Bank’s competitors may choose to offer lower loan interest rates and pay higher deposit rates.

The Bank believes that the most important criteria to their targeted clients when selecting a bank is the customer’s desire to receive exceptional and personal customer service while being able to enjoy convenient access to a broad array of financial products.  Additionally, when presented with a choice, the Bank believes that many of their targeted clients prefer to deal with an institution that favors local decision making as opposed to where many important decisions regarding a client’s financial affairs are made outside the local community.

6

PART I: ITEM 1. BUSINESS

REGULATION AND SUPERVISION OF FIRST MERCHANTS CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

The Corporation and its subsidiaries are subject to extensive regulation under federal and state laws.  The regulatory framework is intended primarily for the protection of depositors, federal deposit insurance funds and the banking system as a whole and not for the protection of shareholders and creditors.  Significant elements of the laws and regulations applicable to the Corporation and its subsidiaries are described below.  The description is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the statues, regulations and policies that are described.  Also, such statutes, regulations and policies are continually under review by Congress and state legislatures and federal and state regulatory agencies.  A change in statutes, regulations or regulatory