# EDGAR Filing Document

**Accession Number:** 0000018349
**File Stem:** 0000018349-23-000088
**Filing Date:** 2023-3
**Character Count:** 85054
**Document Hash:** b33d36ff764ac81d56af70438418de43
**Contains OCR:** False
**Source Format:** 

## Filing Content

## Filing Summary
**0000018349-23-000088.hdr.sgml**: 20230315

**ACCESSION NUMBER**: 0000018349-23-000088

**CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE**: ARS

**PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT**: 1

**CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT**: 20221231

**FILED AS OF DATE**: 20230315

**DATE AS OF CHANGE**: 20230315

**EFFECTIVENESS DATE**: 20230315

**FILER**: 

**COMPANY DATA:**
- **COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:** SYNOVUS FINANCIAL CORP
- **CENTRAL INDEX KEY:** 0000018349
- **STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:** NATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANKS [6021]
- **IRS NUMBER:** 581134883
- **STATE OF INCORPORATION:** GA
- **FISCAL YEAR END:** 1231

**FILING VALUES:**
- **FORM TYPE:** ARS
- **SEC ACT:** 1934 Act
- **SEC FILE NUMBER:** 001-10312
- **FILM NUMBER:** 23733438

**BUSINESS ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 1111 BAY AVENUE
- **STREET 2:** STE 500
- **CITY:** COLUMBUS
- **STATE:** GA
- **ZIP:** 31901
- **BUSINESS PHONE:** 7066492311

**MAIL ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 1111 BAY AVENUE
- **STREET 2:** STE 500
- **CITY:** COLUMBUS
- **STATE:** GA
- **ZIP:** 31901

**FORMER COMPANY:**
- **FORMER CONFORMED NAME:** CB&T BANCSHARES INC
- **DATE OF NAME CHANGE:** 19890912

### Attached PDF Documents

**Attachment 1:** `finalannualreport.pdf`

**SYNOVUS®**

**2022 Annual Report**

# full potential

![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg)

## Our name reflects our uniqueness

Rooted in our heritage, grown out of our deep belief in the value of service and putting people first, and a testament to our commitment to deliver value using our expertise.

Synergy + novus = **SYNOVUS**®

**Synergy**, meaning the interaction of separate components for a total effect greater than the sum of their parts and **novus** (Latin for “new”), meaning of superior quality and different from others in the same category.

## We’re driven by our purpose

To enable people to reach their **full potential**.

## Our values guide how we act

### Superior Leadership

Expected and essential to the health of our company. Passionate, caring and effective leaders build a passionate, caring and successful team.

### Trusting Relationships

Forged between leaders and team members, and team members and clients are the foundation of our company’s success.

### Excellence

Our goal in every decision we make and in every product, service and solution we deliver.

## Our Customer Covenant defines how we deepen relationships

We pledge to serve every client with the highest levels of sincerity, fairness, courtesy, respect, and gratitude, delivered with unparalleled responsiveness, expertise, efficiency and accuracy.

We are in the business to create lasting relationships, and we will treat our clients like we want to be treated.

We offer the finest personal service and products delivered by caring team members who take 100% responsibility for meeting the needs of each client.

1

![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg)

# To ou
sha

Kevin S. Blair
Chairman, CEO
and President

2

# rreholders

*Full potential.* That's the realization of our company's purpose. And enabling people to *get there* by providing valuable advice and solutions inspires everything we do every day.

It's why we introduced during our 2022 Investor Day last February a refreshed strategic plan to deliver a growth-oriented bank built on our strong history, commitment to relationships and ability to drive consistent, top-quartile financial performance in key operating metrics.

We're pleased to share our 2022 story of progress in this letter and outline our 2023 priorities - a year fully dedicated to focused execution.

## **2022: A year of achievement and progress**

Throughout the year, our team managed through the ever-changing economic conditions while delivering record financial results in key areas. Our successful execution and broad-based growth further demonstrated the validity and resiliency of our delivery model, as well as our expanded diversified growth levers. With a backdrop of rising rates, a talented team across our high-growth footprint and specialty banking units, coupled

with business line productivity gains and an efficiency mindset, we delivered net income available to common shareholders of $724.7 million or $4.95 per diluted share.

**$724.7 million**

## **NET INCOME AVAILABLE TO COMMON SHAREHOLDERS**

Profitable growth led to top-tier operating metrics, including a return on average assets of 1.3% and an efficiency ratio of 52% - all while investing in new capabilities and future sources of growth and pivoting where needed as the economic, liquidity and credit landscape changed. We ended the year up 19% in pre-provision net revenue (PPNR), another strong indicator of our success in attracting and expanding client relationships.

3

### Robust PPNR and revenue growth

Net interest income expansion during 2022 was fueled by double-digit loan growth and margin expansion given our asset sensitivity from rising interest rates. While the challenging mortgage environment served as a headwind on fee income, core client fee income, excluding mortgage, collectively increased high single digits for the year. This is a testament to the diversification of our business mix and ability to generate core banking fees, wealth revenue and capital markets income to deepen client relationships.

![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg)

### Double-digit, broad-based, sound loan growth

We doubled down on the commercial client segment where we have invested in talent and new solutions and where our relationship-centered core banking model gives us the right to win. As a result, we produced outsized commercial loan growth in both commercial and industrial and commercial real estate while expanding production margins. Excluding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), we realized six consecutive quarters of double-digit loan growth at year-end, up 12% on an annualized basis, with broad-based contributions from wholesale, community, consumer and our newest banking unit, corporate and investment banking (CIB).

![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg)

(1) Includes service charges on deposit accounts, card fees, letter of credit fees, ATM fee income, line of credit non-use fee, gains (losses) from sales of SBA loans, and miscellaneous other service charges; (2) Consists of fiduciary/asset management, brokerage and insurance revenues.

4

### Historically sound credit quality

Credit metrics continued to point to a strong underlying client base as key ratios declined further during the year. At year-end, we reported non-performing assets (NPA), non-performing loans (NPL) and net charge-offs at or near historical low levels. We're pleased with the composition, diversification and strength of our loan portfolio as we navigate through another uncertain economic cycle. And we're confident our prudent underwriting standards and targeted approach to industry sectors and asset classes will provide added risk mitigation and protection from forecasted downturns in the quarters ahead.

#### NPA, NPL AND PAST DUE RATIOS

![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg)

### Strategic deposit generation

Our team managed deposit costs, executing a disciplined strategy and benefiting from an extended lag in deposit repricing. Despite industrywide diminishment in core deposit balances resulting from the Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening actions, accelerated production, attrition mitigating actions and utilizing new sources of funds led to only a modest decline in year-over-year balances. In yet another example of multiline contributions and impact, our overall deposit production was up 30%, offsetting the greater deposit run-off levels we experienced. With the operating environment for deposits remaining intensely competitive in 2023, we're keenly focused on incremental efforts to grow high-quality, lower-cost funds to support our ongoing asset-generation capabilities.

#### DEPOSITS (in billions)

![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg)

5

### Pragmatic capital management

We ended 2022 with a common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 9.6%, the upper half of our target operating range, reflecting our commitment to deliver strong organic earnings that support core client loan growth while maintaining solid capital levels. Consistent with our strategic growth plan outlined early in the year, we deployed more than 70% of our organic earnings toward core client growth while returning nearly 30% to our shareholders through our common dividend. We will continue the same approach to capital deployment in 2023, remaining measured given the economic uncertainty as we manage CET1 to the higher end or above the target operating range of 9.25-9.75%. And early in 2023, we successfully executed a debt issuance of $500 million, bolstering our overall funding position and liquidity profile.

![img-6.jpeg](img-6.jpeg)

### Investment-enabling efficiency discipline

Our two-year Synovus Forward initiative surpassed its $175 million run-rate goal by year-end, leading to a more efficient and productive company. Through increased efficiency, we gained additional capacity that funded the launch of two new sublines of business, expanded specialty and middle market teams, added commercial and consumer analytics and enhanced deposit pricing tools. We also reduced real estate square footage by approximately 20%, streamlined back-office operations and decreased third-party spend by more than $20 million annually. This further enabled us to implement more than 60 technology-enabled process improvements and client journeys. Although we declared victory on this specific exercise, the Synovus Forward initiative more deeply ingrained in our culture a continuous improvement mindset that considers disciplined expense control as an enabler to improved experiences, expanded capabilities for our clients and future sources of growth.

### Investments, innovation and core growth initiatives

Behind our successful financial performance were key investments in sources of future growth and the effective execution of initiatives outlined in our strategic growth plan. Throughout the year, we leaned on our tried and proven core banking segments for growth while establishing new and expanded capabilities to deliver future sources of revenue well into the future.

6

(1) Includes changes in intangible assets and applicability of deferred tax assets.

Our wholesale team delivered record results, representing the largest growth engine for the company with $5.3 billion in funded loan production, $2.3 billion of deposit acquisition and $39 million in fee income.

$5.3 billion

FUNDED LOAN PRODUCTION

$2.3 billion

DEPOSIT ACQUISITION

$39 million

FEE INCOME

The team onboarded 55 new team members who will support future growth - especially in high growth-potential lines and geographies.

Our newly formed CIB team, merely a concept 12 months ago, now stands at 20 talented team members with demonstrated expertise in three industry verticals - financial institutions, healthcare services, and technology, media, and communications. The CIB team onboarded the first lending, capital markets and depository clients in 2022. With healthy pipelines and a warm reception by the marketplace, CIB is poised for strong growth in 2023.

Empowering local leaders who know their markets and clients best remains fundamental to our growth and success. Our community bank returned to a growth orientation as commercial and private wealth expanded their loan portfolio at a pace that has not occurred in several years.

Our market-based teams serve as critical relationship entry points and are the primary referral source for many business lines. In 2022, this combined team made more than 6,000 referrals to other business line partners.

Director of Program

![img-7.jpeg](img-7.jpeg)

When we go to market as a team, our clients experience the power of our capabilities and specialization we provide to meet all their needs.

It began with Dan Hagaman, director of program lending on our wholesale banking team, seeing the potential for partnerships across our enterprise to help our client sell a franchise. He built a trusting relationship with the client, who was open to hearing how we could help. So, Dan brought in other team members from our private wealth division and Synovus Trust. Team members Konda Pollard, private wealth management senior director, Michelle Bailey, private wealth advisor, and Meg Hoffmann, relationship manager lead, presented an investment strategy and prepared a financial plan for the client. We successfully managed the liquidity event and acquired new business.

7

Our wealth services team, including trust and securities, The Family Office, mortgage, and our two specialty lines, Global Investments and Creative Financial, collectively increased wealth revenue fee income 7% against significant headwinds in the equity markets, aided by strong new client acquisition and expanded relationships.

## ↑ 7% WEALTH REVENUE FEE INCOME

The Family Office, our ultra-high net worth, multigenerational wealth business line, increased its client base by a double-digit percentage for the second consecutive year. The team also received multiple national awards that validate the strength of its high-touch, highly personal delivery model that goes beyond asset management into family relationship building and wealth governance.

In October 2022, we integrated our community and wealth services lines to optimize synergies and the end-to-end impact potential when 1,400 of our expert bankers and financial services professionals locked arms to provide solutions to their 85,000-plus client base. A major focus of this combined team will be enhancing our private wealth services for commercial clients.

Our treasury and payments solutions (TPS) team had another banner year, delivering fee income growth of 14%, primarily through our core treasury management, commercial card and international solutions.

## ↑ 14% TPS FEE INCOME GROWTH

We also migrated all commercial and wholesale clients onto Synovus Gateway, an online and mobile commercial banking portal, which offers a range of digital capabilities to safely and securely initiate payments, mitigate fraud and gain insights into a company's cash flow. Gateway provides direct access to our Fintech-enabled Accelerate branded solutions for advanced treasury management.

Accelerate AR, our integrated receivables suite, helps our clients improve their receivables processes and days sales outstanding metrics through its receivables dashboard, lockbox and online bill presentment and payment module. And we're especially proud of our newest solution, Synovus Accelerate FX, an end-to-end digital portal that simplifies foreign exchange payments and trading with enhanced capabilities and controls. In partnership with Visa, we launched an inaugural Synovus Mobile Virtual Commercial Card that enables businesses to instantly generate and send credit cards to employees, vendors and contractors through a mobile app. These solutions enable us to meet the needs of our clients domestically and internationally, creating a new and growing revenue stream for the organization that differentiates us from our competitors.

![img-8.jpeg](img-8.jpeg)

8

In early 2022, we officially introduced and later launched a beta version of Maast, our wholly-owned subsidiary that makes it possible for software providers to offer payments, deposits, lending and additional capabilities within their software platforms and under their brands. This cloud-based offering is our first with coverage across all 50 states. The platform was in a pilot phase during the latter half of 2022, and the team went live with our first clients and booked our first Maast-generated revenue in January 2023. Our Maast team of experts, with decades of Fintech, banking and payments experience, expects to further refine capabilities and the client experience. They'll accomplish this through pilot learnings, onboard additional clients during the first half of 2023 and continue to expand the solution's functionality.

Our consumer banking team expanded PPNR by double digits through disciplined deposit pricing and high-single-digit loan growth. As we continued to streamline our branch network, we closed 13% of our

branches and funded expansions of analytics and more efficient, scalable and convenient digital capabilities. As a result, we're empowering our bankers to be more advice-centric and proactive in providing solutions to clients. We also expanded our online account origination products to include a BankOn-certified Synovus Budget Checking product, which removes barriers to financial access and reinforces our dedication to promoting sound money management and financial stability for our clients. We invested in Zelle for small business and extended our Synovus Gateway deposit, cash flow management and specialty card services to our already robust slate of small business financial services solutions. In addition, we introduced Jamie, an interactive virtual assistant, to 888-Synovus and enhanced our My Synovus app to bring ease to the client mobile experience. We also began implementing a new commercial loan platform coupled with a reengineered credit underwriting and onboarding process to make getting a commercial loan with Synovus faster and easier.

![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg)

9

![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg)

Combined with our people-first approach, investments in functionalities and capabilities resulted in continued high marks from clients. We received record client satisfaction scores from the most recent J.D. Power U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study$^{SM}$. We also received 20 total Greenwich Small Business and Middle Market Excellence and Best Brands Awards - 17 for small business and three for middle market banking. Full credit for this recognition goes to our exceptional team and ongoing investments in strong, scalable capabilities and solutions that add value to our clients.

Our dedicated and passionate team members remain our greatest competitive advantage. During 2022, we continued to invest in improving their experiences by fostering a talented, diverse and inclusive workforce and work environment. Through promotions and attracting new talent, we placed more women on our executive leadership team.

In recognition of our commitment to and focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), we received a DEI Residential Leadership Award from the Mortgage Bankers Association, and we were recognized as

a finalist for the National Association of Corporate Directors 2022 DEI Award.

We fully launched our new leadership development programs, Connect and Ignite, and enriched benefits to include increasing minimum base pay and doubling our parental leave time.

![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg)

We were again named a Top Workplace in Atlanta by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, designated as a Great Place to Work by the Great Place to Work Institute and named among Forbes 2022 Best Banks in America.

10

# a strong brand &
award-winning
culture

![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg)

J.D. POWER

Record Client Satisfaction Scores

![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg)

20 Greenwich Excellence and
Best Brand Awards

![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg)

![img-6.jpeg](img-6.jpeg)

Top Financial Institution Originator
and Receiver of Automated Clearing
House Payments

![img-7.jpeg](img-7.jpeg)

Top 10 Innovative Companies
in Georgia

![img-8.jpeg](img-8.jpeg)

![img-9.jpeg](img-9.jpeg)

Synovus Family Office
Best Outsourced CIO and Best
Impact Investment Offering

![img-10.jpeg](img-10.jpeg)

![img-11.jpeg](img-11.jpeg)

![img-12.jpeg](img-12.jpeg)

Excellence in Analytics

11

## Willette Shalishali

Senior Director, Talent Management and Development

We value all team members, and developing our leaders at all levels of the organization is a priority.

We're committed to equipping them with the skills and tools that enable their teams to reach their *full potential* and contribute to our organization's success.

![img-13.jpeg](img-13.jpeg)

Connect is accelerated readiness for senior leaders, an extension of Catalyst, our senior leadership development program. A cohort of select team members receive training, coaching and personalized development plans to set them up for continued success with Synovus. Willette Shalishali, senior director of talent management and development, was a guiding force in launching Connect. And we're fortunate to have her serve as a talent agent for team members, meeting with and regularly supporting them in their development.

We listened to feedback from our latest team member engagement survey and formed a Voice of the Team Member action team to identify improvement areas. As a result, the group developed and implemented several new workplace practices throughout 2022, including additional designated paid time off for individual development, a refreshed peer-to-peer recognition program and a new annual award to recognize outstanding team accomplishments.

The commitment to our clients is matched by the passion our team members have for the communities we serve. During 2022, we contributed nearly $3 million to hundreds of organizations doing impactful work.

We also made an additional and first-time financial contribution from our new Here Matters Community donor-advised fund, establishing a meaningful partnership with Junior Achievement in mid-2022 that contributed to nearly 2,500 hours in financial education and life skills development in just the second half of the year. Through our broader volunteer efforts, team members contributed 28,800 community service hours to more than 4,600 causes.

12

Beyond our investments in communities, our workforce and the continued practice of sound corporate governance, we're advancing efforts to be good stewards of the environment as part of our broader environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts. During 2022, we expanded our reporting to include the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and the Carbon Disclosure Project and shared our inaugural greenhouse gas emissions report. Through ongoing space reductions, greater digital adoption and investments in renewable energy programs and client solutions, we're committed to positive change. Be sure to review more highlights of our ESG progress later in this report, our proxy statement and our ESG section of synovus.com.

### **2023: A year of focused execution**

In 2022, we advanced key initiatives and initiated several investments as part of our strategic growth plan. 2023 is a year of focused execution in four areas: execution and growth within core businesses, contributions from new growth initiatives, enhanced talent and culture and a continued focus on safety and soundness. As we create a sustained elevated growth profile, our approach will center on better differentiating our services and improving the productivity and effectiveness in those businesses where we have the right to win. We'll invest in new talent as well as new and expanded solutions and sources of growth, which will allow us to deliver long-term top-quartile performance to benefit our shareholders.

### **Execution within core businesses**

Our presence in some of the top growth markets in the U.S., combined with our talented team and a relationship-based business model built for seamless delivery of solutions, well position us to expand our client base and deepen wallet share. Adding new talent, expanding tools and improving sales effectiveness across our consumer and commercial client segments will expand existing relationships while continuing to be a platform that seeks and attracts new clients.

![img-14.jpeg](img-14.jpeg)

Retail Market

Junior Achievement is a perfect partner. It's been a rewarding experience to empower students with knowledge and skills they can use over their lifetime to make informed financial decisions.

Our partnership with Junior Achievement USA® (JA) expanded our ongoing efforts to deliver financial education, ensuring young people get exposure to basic financial concepts they can use throughout their lives. Our team members volunteered virtually, in the classroom and with JA Finance Park or JA BizTown. Alex Noda, retail market manager, is just one of our many team members who developed a love for JA, volunteering with multiple schools to share his lived experiences with kids.

13

### **Continued benefits from contributions generated through our new growth initiatives**

We expect the CIB client base to continue to grow, leading to strong, top-line revenue growth in 2023 and beyond. Moreover, we expect Maast to continue onboarding new software providers over the coming months, initially generating increased fee income from the payment facilitation capabilities. As we broaden the functionality and client base, we expect to add net interest income to the revenue stream. We're also building out our private wealth offerings to better serve business owners across all commercial lines of business, and we're doubling down on our presence and outreach in key growth markets like Atlanta, Nashville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami. In addition, we're better leveraging our recently implemented analytical tools to more timely and proactively offer value-added solutions to our clients in consumer and commercial.

### **Enhanced talent and culture**

Investments in improved benefits, talent onboarding and human resources management tools are in flight. We will conduct our next team member engagement survey later this year. Feedback through this process will affirm steps we've taken to enhance workplace experiences since our 2021 study and provide fresh insights for our Voice of the Team Member and newly formed, culture-focused team member Empowerment Council to map our next priorities. We remain deeply committed to achieving greater diversity at all levels in our organization and ensuring our talent processes and resulting pipelines reflect progress and equitable growth opportunities.

### **Maintaining a cautious and resilient risk profile**

Like all banks and as mentioned earlier in this report, we're especially focused on liquidity and deposit generation across all business lines in this current economic environment and remain committed to strong credit performance and overall credit vigilance. We continue to enhance our sector-based and asset-class monitoring tools that alert us to early signs of stress. Our commitment to prudent capital management allows us to support client growth while maintaining capital levels at or above the top of our stated range.

### **Financial targets**

We've set wider ranges for financial target estimates to allow for impacts from economic uncertainties.

We expect loan growth of 5-9% that allows for anticipated headwinds in some pipeline activity, offset by strong pipelines in our metro markets and newer specialty lines like structured lending, restaurant services and CIB. We also remain committed to pricing discipline as pricing power continues to improve and wider spreads persist throughout the year.

Our adjusted revenue(1) growth outlook of 8-12% aligns with a likely Federal Reserve rate that reaches approximately 5% in 2023 and accounts for deposit environment uncertainty. We also expect mid-single-digit growth in core client fee income.

Our adjusted expense(1) outlook of 5-9% accounts for several factors, including increases in operating expense and continued investments in new initiatives like CIB and Maast. We will continue to benefit from a full year of Synovus Forward expense savings that will allow us to drive overall positive operating leverage and adjusted PPNR(1) growth of 11-15%.

And we're pleased with the number of successful initiatives implemented over recent years that shape our effective tax rate guidance of 21-23%. From affordable housing to solar energy projects, these initiatives offset possible negative tax headwinds in 2023, reduce our tax rate and further advance our efforts to positively impact our communities.

*From left to right*

**Kessel Stelling, Steve Butler,  
Betsy Camp, Dixon Brooke,  
Joe Prochaska**

14

### In closing

Our success in 2022 and the momentum we're enjoying in 2023 are the direct result of solid execution of a well-designed and resilient growth plan by our incredibly talented and passionate team. Our nearly 135-year history, attractive position in a thriving footprint and loyal and dynamic client base give us confidence in the strength and future growth of our company.

As I close this year's address to our shareholders, I also want to thank the entire Synovus board for engaging in our direction and influencing our success. We welcomed our two newest directors - John Irby and Alex Villoch - during 2022. And in 2023, we bid farewell to four directors - Dixon Brooke, Steve Butler, Betsy Camp and Joe Prochaska - who will retire at the end of April. Each of these individuals brought unique backgrounds and perspectives to our board and ensured we focused on the right internal priorities for our team, clients and shareholders while also considering a big picture view of our industry and world. These directors were in the trenches as we navigated through and beyond the Great Recession, offering wisdom and unyielding encouragement as we rebuilt, repositioned and invested in our future. At the helm of that effort was Kessel Stelling, who officially retired from our board and Synovus at the end of 2022. Kessel's leadership mark on this company continues to shape how we run our business, care for our people and pursue our vision for the future. We're grateful for his enduring support.

Finally, to our clients and shareholders, we're honored to be a trusted partner for value-adding financial solutions and value-generating investments. We're committed to delivering our best and earning your continued relationships with us every day. We're thrilled to unleash the untapped potential of this company, enabling the achievement of full potential in everything we impact and in all we serve.

Chairman, CEO and President

![img-15.jpeg](img-15.jpeg)

15

## Sustainability at Synovus

# Doing Good. Creating Solutions. Driving Growth. Delivering Value.

### 2022 Highlights

#### Environmental

Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions baseline established to better understand impacts and opportunities.

Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure standards adopted. Carbon Disclosure Project reporting launched.

**↓ 20% STREAMLINED REAL ESTATE**

Carbon footprint mitigation included a reduction of our branch footprint, streamlining real estate square footage by approximately 20% over the past two years.

#### Community

**~$3 million INVESTED**

in hundreds of community organizations and causes.

**$250,000**

**COMMITTED TO JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT**

with ~2,600 team member volunteer hours contributed to financial education and life skills over second half of 2022.

**28,800**

**TEAM MEMBER VOLUNTEER HOURS**

given to more than 4,600 organizations and causes.

#### Affordable and sustainable communities

Since 2014, the Synovus mortgage division committed $450 million to an Affordable Mortgage Program, with approximately $488 million funded through the end of 2022 - including 233 affordable products totaling $50.1 million during the past year.

![img-16.jpeg](img-16.jpeg)

**$450 million TO AFFORDABLE MORTGAGE PROGRAM**

86 community development loans made in 2022, totaling approximately $282 million.

Affordable housing team originated more than $194 million in project loans and invested more than $118 million in tax credit equity.

#### Team member investments

Two leadership development programs launched.

Extended parental leave to 12 weeks pay annually.

### Diversity, equity and inclusion

#### TEAM MEMBERS

Women

People of color

Women in executive leadership

People of color in executive leadership

#### DIRECTORS

Women

People of color

Visit synovus.com for more on ESG commitments.

16

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

# FORM 10-K

☒ Annual report pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

Commission file number 1-10312

![img-17.jpeg](img-17.jpeg)

Georgia
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

58-1134883
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

1111 Bay Avenue
Suite 500, Columbus, Georgia
(Address of principal executive offices)

31901
(Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (706) 641-6500

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Common Stock, $1.00 Par Value | SNV | New York Stock Exchange |
| Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series D | SNV - PrD | New York Stock Exchange |
| Fixed-Rate Reset Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series E | SNV - PrE | New York Stock Exchange |

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: NONE

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check One):

| Large accelerated filer | ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ |
|  |  | Emerging growth company | ☐ |

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant's executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

As of June 30, 2022, the aggregate market value of the registrant's Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $4,949,957,366 based on the closing sale price of $36.05 reported on the New York Stock Exchange on June 30, 2022.

As of February 21, 2023, there were 146,045,164 shares of the registrant's Common Stock outstanding.

# DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Incorporated Documents

Portions of the Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held April 26, 2023 ("Proxy Statement")

Form 10-K Reference Locations

Part III

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# Table of Contents

|  | Page |
| --- | --- |
| Index of Defined Terms | ii |
| Part I |  |
| Forward Looking Statements | 1 |
| Item 1. Business | 3 |
| Item 1A. Risk Factors | 14 |
| Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments | 24 |
| Item 2. Properties | 24 |
| Item 3. Legal Proceedings | 24 |
| Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures | 24 |
| Part II |  |
| Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities | 25 |
| Item 6. Reserved | 26 |
| Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 27 |
| Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk | 51 |
| Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data | 53 |
| Item 9. Changes In and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure | 106 |
| Item 9A. Controls and Procedures | 106 |
| Item 9B. Other Information | 106 |
| Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections | 106 |
| Part III |  |
| Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance | 107 |
| Item 11. Executive Compensation | 107 |
| Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters | 107 |
| Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence | 108 |
| Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services | 108 |
| Part IV |  |
| Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules | 127 |

# SYNOVUS FINANCIAL CORP.
## INDEX OF DEFINED TERMS

Throughout this discussion, references to "Synovus", "we", "our", "us", "the Company" and similar terms refer to the consolidated entity consisting of Synovus Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries unless the context indicates that we refer only to the Parent Company, Synovus Financial Corp. When we refer to the "Bank" or "Synovus Bank" we mean our only bank subsidiary, Synovus Bank.

**ACL** - Allowance for credit losses (applies to debt securities, loans, and unfunded loan commitments)

**ALCO** - Synovus' Asset Liability Management Committee

**ALL** - Allowance for loan losses

**AOCI** - Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

**ARRC** - Alternative Reference Rates Committee

**ASC** - Accounting Standards Codification

**ASC 310-30 loans** - Loans accounted for in accordance with ASC 310-30, *Loans and Debt Securities Acquired with Deteriorated Credit Quality*

**ASU** - Accounting Standards Update

**ATM** - Automatic teller machine

**Basel III** - The third Basel Accord developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to strengthen existing regulatory capital requirements

**BHC Act** - Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended

**BOLI** - Bank-owned life insurance policies

**bp(s)** - Basis point(s)

**BOV** - Broker's opinion of value

**BSBY** - Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield Index

**C&I** - Commercial and industrial

**CARES Act** - The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act

**CDI** - Core Deposit Intangible

**CECL** - Current expected credit losses

**CET1** - Common Equity Tier 1 Capital defined by Basel III capital rules

**CFPB** - Consumer Finance Protection Bureau

**CMO** - Collateralized Mortgage Obligation

**Code** - Internal Revenue Code

**Company** - Synovus Financial Corp. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, except where the context requires otherwise

**Covered Litigation** - Certain Visa litigation for which Visa is indemnified by Visa USA members

**COVID-19** - Coronavirus disease 2019

**CRA** - Community Reinvestment Act

**CRE** - Commercial real estate

**DCF** - Discounted cash flow

**DEI** - Diversity, equity and inclusion

**DIF** - Deposit Insurance Fund

**Dodd-Frank Act** - The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

**DRR** - Dual Risk Rating

**EL** - Expected loss

**ESG** - Environmental, social and governance

**EVE** - Economic value of equity

**Exchange Act** - Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended

**FASB** - Financial Accounting Standards Board

**FCA** - Financial Conduct Authority, a regulatory authority of the United Kingdom

**FDIC** - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

**FDICIA** - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991

**Federal Reserve Bank** - One of the 12 banks that are the operating arms of the U.S. central bank. They implement the policies of the Federal Reserve Board, supervise bank holding companies and certain banking institutions, and also conduct economic research

**Federal Reserve Board** - The 7-member Board of Governors that oversees the Federal Reserve System, establishes monetary policy (interest rates, credit, etc.), and monitors the economic health of the country. Its members are appointed by the President subject to Senate confirmation, and serve 14-year terms

**Federal Reserve System or Federal Reserve** - The Federal Reserve Board, plus the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, with each one serving member banks in its own district. The Federal Reserve has broad regulatory powers over the money supply and the credit structure of the economy

**FFIEC** - Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council

**FFIEC Retail Credit Classification Policy** - FFIEC Uniform Retail Credit Classification and Account Management Policy

**FHLB** - Federal Home Loan Bank

**FICO** - Fair Isaac Corporation

**FinCEN** - The Treasury's financial crimes enforcement network

**FINRA** - Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

**FMS** - Financial Management Services, a division of Synovus Bank

**FOMC** - Federal Open Market Committee

**FRB** - Federal Reserve Bank

**FTP** - Funds transfer pricing

**GA DBF** - Georgia Department of Banking and Finance

**GAAP** - Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States of America

**GLB** - Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

**GSE** - Government sponsored enterprise

**Interagency Supervisory Guidance** - Interagency Supervisory Guidance on Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses Estimation Practices for Loans and Lines of Credit Secured by Junior Liens on 1-4 Family Residential Properties

**IRS** - Internal Revenue Service

**ISO** - Independent sales organization

**LGD** - Loss given default

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**LIBOR** - London Interbank Offered Rate

**LIHTC** - Low Income Housing Tax Credit

**LTV** - Loan-to-collateral value ratio

**MBS** - Mortgage-backed securities

**MPS** - Merchant processing servicer(s)

**NAICS** - North American Industry Classification System

**nm** - Not meaningful

**NOL** - Net operating loss

**NPA** - Non-performing assets

**NPL** - Non-performing loans

**NSF** - Non-sufficient funds

**NYSE** - New York Stock Exchange

**OCI** - Other comprehensive income

**OCC** - Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

**OFAC** - Office of Foreign Assets Control

**ORE** - Other real estate

**P&I** - Principal and interest

**Parent Company** - Synovus Financial Corp.

**PCAOB** - Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

**PCD** - Purchased credit deteriorated

**PD** - Probability of default

**PPNR** - Pre-provision net revenue

**PPP** - Paycheck Protection Program established as part of the CARES Act and launched on April 3, 2020 by the SBA and Treasury

**ROAA** - Return on average assets

**ROATCE** - Return on average tangible common equity

**ROU** - Right-of-use

**RSU** - Restricted share unit

**SBA** - Small Business Administration

**SBIC** - Small Business Investment Company

**SEC** - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

**Securities Act** - Securities Act of 1933, as amended

**Series D Preferred Stock** - Synovus' Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series D, $25 liquidation preference

**Series E Preferred Stock** - Synovus' Fixed-Rate Reset Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series E, $25 liquidation preference

**SOFR** - Secured Overnight Financing Rate

**SRR** - Single Risk Rating

**Synovus** - Synovus Financial Corp.

**Synovus Bank** - A Georgia state-chartered bank and wholly-owned subsidiary of Synovus, through which Synovus conducts its banking operations

**Synovus Forward** - Synovus' revenue growth and expense efficiency initiatives announced in January of 2020

**Synovus Securities** - Synovus Securities, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Synovus

**Synovus Trust** - Synovus Trust Company, N.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Synovus Bank

**TDR** - Troubled debt restructuring (as defined in ASC 310-40)

**TE** - Taxable-equivalent

**Treasury** - United States Department of the Treasury

**TSR** - Total shareholder return

**UPB** - Unpaid principal balance

**VIE** - Variable interest entity (as defined in ASC 810-10)

**Visa** - The Visa U.S.A. Inc. card association or its affiliates, collectively

**Visa Class A shares** - Class A shares of common stock issued by Visa are publicly traded shares which are not subject to restrictions on sale

**Visa Class B shares** - Class B shares of common stock issued by Visa which are subject to restrictions with respect to sale until all of the Covered Litigation has been settled. Class B shares will be convertible into Visa Class A shares using a then current conversion ratio upon the lifting of restrictions with respect to sale of Visa Class B shares

**Visa Derivative** - A derivative contract with the purchaser of Visa Class B shares which provides for settlements between the purchaser and Synovus based upon a change in the ratio for conversion of Visa Class B shares into Visa Class A shares

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# Part I

In this Report, the words “Synovus,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Synovus Financial Corp. together with Synovus Bank and Synovus’ other wholly-owned subsidiaries, except where the context requires otherwise.

## FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements made or incorporated by reference in this Report which are not statements of historical fact, including those under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and elsewhere in this Report, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of, and subject to the protections of, Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to Synovus’ beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, targets, expectations, anticipations, assumptions, estimates, intentions and future performance and involve known and unknown risks, many of which are beyond Synovus’ control and which may cause Synovus’ actual results, performance or achievements or the financial services industry or economy generally, to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements through Synovus’ use of words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “assumes,” “predicts,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “intends,” “targets,” “estimates,” “projects,” “plans,” “potential” and other similar words and expressions of the future or otherwise regarding the outlook for Synovus’ future business and financial performance and/or the performance of the financial services industry and economy in general. Forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of Synovus’ management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements in this document. Many of these factors are beyond Synovus’ ability to control or predict. These factors include, but are not limited to:

1. (1) competition in the financial services industry, including competition from nontraditional banking institutions such as Fintechs;
2. (2) our ability to realize the expected benefits from our strategic initiatives or other operational and execution goals in the time period expected, which could negatively affect our future profitability;
3. (3) an economic downturn and contraction, including a recession, and the resulting effects on our capital, financial condition, credit quality, results of operations and future growth, including that the strength of the current economic environment could be further weakened by prolonged periods of inflation, current supply chain challenges, and the continued impact of COVID-19;
4. (4) our ability to attract and retain employees and the impact of senior leadership transitions that are key to our strategic initiatives;
5. (5) our strategic implementation of new lines of business, new products and services, and new technologies and the expansion of our existing business opportunities with a renewed focus on innovation;
6. (6) prolonged periods of high inflation and their effects on our business, profitability, and our stock price;
7. (7) changes in the interest rate environment, including changes to the federal funds rate, and competition in our primary market area may result in increased funding costs or reduced earning assets yields, thus reducing margins and net interest income;
8. (8) changes in the cost and availability of funding due to changes in the deposit market and credit market;
9. (9) restrictions or limitations on access to funds from historical and alternative sources of liquidity could adversely affect our overall liquidity, which could restrict our ability to make payments on our obligations and our ability to support asset growth and sustain our operations and the operations of Synovus Bank;
10. (10) we may be required to make substantial expenditures to keep pace with regulatory initiatives and the rapid technological changes in the financial services industry;
11. (11) the impact of recent and proposed changes in governmental policy, laws and regulations, proposed and recently enacted changes in monetary policy and in the regulation and taxation of banks and financial institutions, or the interpretation or application thereof and the uncertainty of future implementation and enforcement of these regulations, including rising inflationary pressures and interest rate increases and the possibility that the U.S. could default on its debt obligations;
12. (12) our current and future information technology system enhancements and operational initiatives may not be successfully implemented, which could negatively impact our operations;

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1

- (13) our business relationships with, and reliance upon, third parties that have strategic partnerships with us or that provide key components of our business infrastructure, including the costs of services and products provided to us by third parties, and disruptions in service or financial difficulties with a third-party vendor or business relationship;
- (14) our enterprise risk management framework, our compliance program, or our corporate governance and supervisory oversight functions may not identify or address risks adequately, which may result in unexpected losses;
- (15) our asset quality may deteriorate or that our allowance for credit losses may prove to be inadequate or may be negatively affected by credit risk exposures;
- (16) the ability of our operational framework to identify and manage risks associated with our business, such as credit risk, compliance risk, reputational risk, and operational risk, including by virtue of our relationships with third-party business partners, as well as our relationships with third-party vendors and other service providers;
- (17) we may be exposed to potential losses in the event of fraud and/or theft, or in the event that a third-party vendor, obligor, or business partner fails to pay amounts due to us under that relationship or under any arrangement that we enter into with them;
- (18) if economic conditions worsen further or regulatory capital rules are modified, we may be required to undertake initiatives to improve or conserve our capital position;
- (19) our ability to identify and address cyber-security risks such as data security breaches, malware, 'denial of service' attacks, 'hacking', and identity theft, a failure of which could disrupt our business and result in the disclosure of and/or misuse or misappropriation of confidential or proprietary information, disruption, or damage of our systems, increased costs, significant losses, or adverse effects to our reputation;
- (20) the impact on our financial results, reputation, and business if we are unable to comply with all applicable federal and state regulations or other supervisory actions or directives and any necessary capital initiatives;
- (21) the impact of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic on our assets, business, capital and liquidity, financial condition, prospects, and results of operations;
- (22) our ability to receive dividends from our subsidiaries could affect our liquidity, including our ability to pay dividends or take other capital actions;
- (23) our ESG strategies and initiatives, the scope and pace of which could alter our reputation and shareholder, employee, client, and third-party relationships;
- (24) the continued use, availability, and reliability of LIBOR and the risks related to the transition from LIBOR to any alternate reference rate we may use;
- (25) we could realize losses if we sell assets and the proceeds we receive are lower than the carrying value of such assets;
- (26) our ability to obtain regulatory approval to take certain actions, including any dividends on our common stock or preferred stock, any repurchases of common stock, or any other issuance or redemption of any other regulatory capital instruments, as well as any applications in respect to strategic initiatives;
- (27) we may not be able to identify suitable bank and non-bank acquisition opportunities as part of our growth strategy and even if we are able to identify attractive acquisition opportunities, we may not be able to complete such transactions on favorable terms or realize the anticipated benefits from such acquisitions;
- (28) our concentrated operations in the Southeastern U.S. make us vulnerable to local economic conditions, local weather catastrophes, public health issues, and other external events;
- (29) the costs and effects of litigation, investigations, or similar matters, or adverse facts and developments related thereto;
- (30) the fluctuation in our stock price and general volatility in the stock market;
- (31) the effects of any damages to our reputation resulting from developments related to any of the items identified above; and
- (32) other factors and other information contained in this Report and in other reports and filings that we make with the SEC under the Exchange Act, including, without limitation, those found in 'Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors' of this Report.

For a discussion of these and other risks that may cause actual results to differ from expectations, refer to 'Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors' and other information contained in this Report and our other periodic filings, including quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, that we file from time to time with the SEC. All written or oral forward-looking statements that are made by or are attributable to Synovus are expressly qualified by this cautionary notice. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements since those statements speak only as of the date on which the statements are made. Synovus undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of new information or unanticipated events, except as may otherwise be required by law.

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Part I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS

# ITEM 1. BUSINESS

## Overview

### General

Synovus Financial Corp. is a financial services company and a registered bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. We provide commercial and consumer banking in addition to a full suite of specialized products and services including private banking, treasury management, wealth management, mortgage services, premium finance, asset-based lending, structured lending, capital markets, and international banking to our clients through our wholly-owned subsidiary bank, Synovus Bank, and other offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Georgia in 1972. Our principal executive offices are located at 1111 Bay Avenue, Suite 500, Columbus, Georgia 31901, and our telephone number at that address is (706) 641-6500. Our common stock is traded on the NYSE under the symbol "SNV." At December 31, 2022, we had total consolidated assets of $59.73 billion and total consolidated deposits of $48.87 billion.

Additional information relating to our business and our subsidiaries, including a detailed description of our financial results for 2022 and 2021, is contained in "Part II - Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in this Report.

### Banking Operations

Synovus conducts its banking operations through Synovus Bank. Synovus Bank is a Georgia state-chartered bank and operates primarily throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Synovus Bank offers commercial and consumer services. Our commercial banking services include treasury management, asset management, capital markets services, institutional trust services, and commercial, financial, and real estate loans. Our consumer banking services include accepting customary types of demand and savings deposits accounts; mortgage, installment, and other consumer loans; investment and brokerage services; safe deposit services; automated banking services; automated fund transfers; internet-based banking services; and bank credit and debit card services, including Visa and MasterCard services. At December 31, 2022, Synovus Bank operated 246 branches and 365 ATMs across our footprint.

### Non-bank Subsidiaries

In addition to our banking operations, we also provide various other financial services to our clients through the following direct and indirect wholly-owned non-bank subsidiaries:

- Synovus Securities, headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, which specializes in professional portfolio management for fixed-income securities, investment banking, the execution of securities transactions as a broker/dealer, asset management, and financial planning services, and the provision of individual investment advice on equity and other securities; and
- Synovus Trust, headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, which provides trust, asset management, and financial planning services.

## Business Developments

Throughout 2022, Synovus' strategic focus remained on expanding and diversifying the franchise in terms of revenue, profitability, and asset size while maintaining a community banking, relationship-based approach to banking. We made deliberate adjustments to our businesses and business model to drive sustained franchise value while retaining our legacy focus on our people and our clients. We embraced the acceleration of technology and adoption of digital and data capabilities. In addition, Synovus completed the executive leadership transition begun in April 2021 with Kevin S. Blair's succession into the role of Chief Executive Officer and President and culminating in December 2022 with Mr. Blair's succession into the role of Chairman of the Board. This change in leadership occurred while Synovus remained focused on execution of key strategic priorities, including, among others, Synovus Forward. As previously announced, the cost savings and revenue-generating initiatives underpinning Synovus Forward included expense reductions around Synovus' third party spend program, branch optimization, back-office staff optimization, an early retirement program, market-based repricing of certain product offerings, deposit repricing, commercial analytics, and digital enhancements. As of December 31, 2022, Synovus had achieved a cumulative pre-tax run rate benefit of approximately $180 million through the Synovus Forward initiative.

In 2022, Synovus focused on a streamlined strategic plan centered on growth and performance through four core pillars: reposition for advantage, simplify and streamline, adopt high-tech meets high touch, and enhance talent and culture. Various strategic initiatives supported each of these pillars, with a prioritization on such matters as investing in commercial growth, fortifying consumer banking, optimizing wealth, refreshing the brand, re-imagining the client journey, automating systems and processes, using advanced analytics, enhancing modern core enabled banking products, developing diverse leaders, and establishing a growth based culture. We believe disciplined and continued execution of these core pillars will position us for long-term top quartile performance.

## Competition

The financial services industry is highly competitive and could become more competitive as a result of recent and ongoing legislative, regulatory, and technological changes, and continued consolidation within the financial services industry. Synovus Bank and our wholly-owned non-bank subsidiaries compete actively with national and state banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions and other nonbank financial intermediaries, including securities brokers and dealers, investment advisory firms, mortgage companies, insurance companies, trust companies, finance companies, leasing companies, and certain governmental agencies, all of which actively engage in marketing various types of loans, deposit accounts, and other financial services. In addition, competition from nontraditional banking institutions, often known as Fintech, continues to increase and accelerate, with consumers

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Part I  
ITEM 1. BUSINESS

having the opportunity to select from a growing variety of traditional and nontraditional alternatives. The ability of such non-banking financial institutions to provide services previously limited to commercial banks has intensified competition. Because non-banking financial institutions are not subject to many of the same regulatory restrictions as banks and bank holding companies, they can often operate with greater flexibility and lower cost structures. These competitors have been successful in developing products that are in direct competition with or are alternatives to the banking services offered by traditional banking institutions. Our ability to deliver strong financial performance will depend in part on our ability to expand the scope of, and effectively deliver, products and services, which will allow us to meet the changing needs of our clients. However, we often compete with much larger national and regional banks that have more resources than we do to deliver new products and services and introduce new technology to enhance the client experience. See 'Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Strategic Risk - *Competition in the financial services industry may adversely affect our future earnings and growth.*'

As of December 31, 2022, we were the largest bank holding company headquartered in Georgia based on assets. Financial services clients are generally influenced by convenience, quality of service, personal contacts, price of services, and availability of products. We continue to gain traction in most of our key markets, as well as overall markets, as shown in the most recent market share deposit data for FDIC-insured institutions as of June 30, 2022. Additionally, over the last year, we have continued to rationalize our branch network while maintaining and growing market share throughout our footprint.

## Human Capital Resources

Synovus' financial performance and strategy rely heavily on our value proposition of relationship-banking delivered through experts committed to delivering an exceptional client experience and to providing value-added advice and financial solutions. As such, Synovus' ability to identify, attract, develop, and retain a qualified and skilled workforce across our segments in multiple banking specialties and other areas is central to our growth and delivery of long-term shareholder value. In managing our business, management focuses on a number of human capital measures and objectives including: workforce demographics; compensation and benefits; talent acquisition, development, and retention; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and employee health and safety. Synovus' Chief Human Resources Officer, reporting to the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President, manages all aspects of the employee experience, including talent acquisition and management, learning and development, and compensation and benefits. From a Board oversight perspective, the Compensation and Human Capital Committee has primary oversight responsibility for Synovus' talent development and human capital management strategies.

In 2022, the Company's human capital strategy focused on the unique circumstances of our employees including our workforce's changing needs, the increased demand for workplace flexibility, and accelerated transformation of our technology for the management of our workforce through investments in upgraded systems and processes. The Company also responded to an evolving labor market in 2022, including increased competition for talent, labor shortages, and increased labor costs.

### Workforce Demographics

As of December 31, 2022, Synovus had 5,114 employees, including both full-time and part-time employees, all predominately located in our core markets of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee, compared to 4,988 employees at December 31, 2021. By segment, Consumer Banking employed 1,568 employees, Community Banking employed 629 employees, Wholesale Banking employed 341 employees, Financial Management Services employed 773 employees, and Treasury and Corporate Other employed 1,803 employees as of December 31, 2022.

### Compensation and Benefits

Synovus strives to provide competitive compensation and benefits that meet the varying needs of employees, including market-competitive pay, healthcare benefits, short and long term incentive packages, a 401(k) plan with a dollar for dollar company match on employee contributions up to 5% of pay, an employee stock purchase plan, tuition assistance, and wellness and employee assistance programs. Moreover, beginning in January 2023, Synovus enhanced its parental leave policy, providing up to 12 weeks of pay each year for employees. The Company's short and long term incentive programs are aligned with our strategy and key business objectives and are intended to motivate strong performance. Synovus engages in nationally recognized outside compensation salary surveys and utilizes the expertise of a nationally recognized outside executive compensation firm to objectively evaluate our compensation and benefits and benchmark them against industry peers and similarly situated organizations. Synovus periodically reviews compensation and benefits by grade level and position to ensure similar positions are paid comparatively and to ensure that Synovus has a competitive and valuable offering to meet the well-being and needs of our employees. In light of this ongoing work, Synovus increased its minimum wage to $20 per hour in 2022. For the year ended December 31, 2022, total salaries and other personnel expense, which includes all compensation and benefits to our employees, totaled $681.7 million. See 'Part II - Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Non-interest Expense' of this Report for further discussion of salaries and other personnel expense.

### Talent Acquisition, Development, and Retention

Synovus is committed to attracting and retaining the brightest and best talent. Of the approximately 1,711 open positions filled in 2022, 34% were filled by internal hires. Approximately 18% of our workforce received a promotion in 2022, consisting of 70% women and 38% people of color. Our commitment to our employees has resulted in a long-term workforce, with an average tenure of 8 years of service. We attribute our ability to attract and retain talent to several factors, including impactful work that affects the communities in which our employees live, strong leadership, availability of career advancement opportunities, and competitive and equitable total rewards.

Synovus has created internal programs to support the development and retention of our employees, including development programs designed to train our leaders. Employees are provided on demand access to over 1,100 courses spanning leadership, compliance, technical, and professional development. On average, 20 hours of training per employee were completed in 2022. Synovus also supports our employees' involvement in external development programs, such as specialty banking schools and other technical training. In support of learning and development for employees, Synovus offers a tuition assistance program for employees seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees and other continuing education programs.

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Part I  
ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Development of Synovus' leaders likewise continues to be a priority, and we successfully launched two senior leadership programs in 2022. We launched the first cohort of the Connect Leadership Program, focused on executive leadership readiness with 13 high potential leaders, and Catalyst On-Demand, focused on nine transformational capabilities with 176 senior leaders. We continue to deliver our Ignite First Line Leadership development, with 104 employees completing the program in 2022 and 609 employees completing the program since its inception in 2020.

Synovus continued to focus on employee engagement in 2022. The 'Voice of Team Member' action teams identified ten engagement initiatives in 2022, implementing improvements such as the rollout of 'My Time' which encourages employees to set aside one hour per week for personal development and a new 'Chairman's Synergy Award' to celebrate team success.

In 2022, we achieved a Great Place to Work designation by the Great Place to Work Institute and were recognized again among Atlanta's Top Workplaces by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and as a Forbes 2022 Best Bank in America. Additionally, our Catalyst On-Demand Leadership Development program received a Bronze Brandon Hall Award for Senior Leadership Development. One of our executive leaders again received national recognition for The Most Powerful Women in Banking from American Banker.

## Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Synovus is committed to continued improvement in employee diversity, equity, and inclusion at the company. Since 2018 with the launch of a CEO sponsored DEI initiative, we have continued to make progress toward our DEI objectives. As of December 31, 2022, 66% of our employees were women and 30% of our employees were people of color, and we continue to work on improving representation of women and people of color in senior leadership roles. As a result of this continuous effort and focus, as outlined below, representation of women and people of color in senior leadership roles have steadily improved over the last five years with women representing 39% and people of color representing 16% of senior leadership by the end of 2022. Specific to executive leadership, women represent 50% and people of color represent 13% at the end of 2022. Moreover, we expect to continue these improvements by continued work toward our goals of 40% female and 18% people of color representation in senior leadership by the end of 2024.

To build and attract a diverse workforce, in 2022, Synovus continued to identify key organizations and partnerships to strengthen our recruiting efforts. We continued to expand our campus recruiting and scholarship programs, executing a comprehensive campus recruitment strategy with a focus on diversity, deepening our relationships with historically black colleges and universities in our markets, hosting a Diversity Symposium as a part of our recruitment efforts, and increasing our focus on military recruitment. To expand our pipeline of candidates, we continued to partner with diverse external professional organizations such as the Latin American Association Unidos in Finance program and leveraged our numerous and varied employee resource groups for internal referrals. We continued our efforts to increase the diversity of our candidate pool and revitalize our internship and accelerated banker recruiting and selection process in 2022, having an intern class that was 45% people of color and 35% women and an accelerated banker class that was 27% people of color and 45% women.

As to the existing workforce, in 2022, Synovus continued to focus on foundational progress toward increasing DEI, engaging employee resource groups to assist with talent acquisition, development, and community outreach, increasing our internal dialogue through forums, fireside chats, and listen and learn events. In addition, all of our leadership programs include unconscious bias and/or DEI modules.

In 2022, Synovus conducted gender pay analysis which resulted in nominal pay adjustments for 1.5% of the employee base. Results of the analysis were shared with the Compensation and Human Capital Committee.

In recognition of our commitment to and focus on DEI, Synovus won a DEI leadership award from the Mortgage Bankers Association in 2022 and was recognized as a 2022 finalist for the DEI Awards by the National Association of Corporate Directors.

## Employee Health and Safety

Synovus is committed to operating in a safe, secure, and responsible manner for the benefit of our employees, clients, and communities. Synovus provides a range of programs to improve the physical, financial, and emotional well-being of our employees, including a range of health and wellness benefits, and strives to create a safe and healthy workplace for all employees.

## Supervision, Regulation, and Other Factors

We are extensively regulated under federal and state law. The following is a brief summary that does not purport to be a complete description of all regulations that affect us or all aspects of those regulations. This discussion is qualified in its entirety by reference to the particular statutory and regulatory provisions described below and is not intended to be an exhaustive description of the statutes or regulations applicable to the Company's and Synovus Bank's business. In addition, proposals to change the laws and regulations governing the banking industry are frequently raised at both the state and federal levels. The likelihood and timing of any changes in these laws and regulations, and the impact such changes may have on us and Synovus Bank, are difficult to predict. Regulatory agencies may issue enforcement actions, policy statements, interpretive letters, and similar written guidance applicable to us or to Synovus Bank. Changes in applicable laws, regulations, or regulatory guidance, or their interpretation by regulatory agencies or courts may have a material adverse effect on our and Synovus Bank's business, operations, and earnings.

Synovus Bank, Synovus Trust, and in some cases, we and our nonbank affiliates, must undergo regular examinations by the appropriate regulatory agency, which will examine for adherence to a range of legal and regulatory compliance responsibilities. A bank regulator conducting an examination has complete access to the books and records of the examined institution. The results of the examination are confidential. Supervision and regulation of banks, their holding companies, and affiliates is intended primarily for the protection of depositors and clients, the DIF of the FDIC, and the U.S. banking and financial system rather than holders of our securities.

SYNOVUS FINANCIAL CORP. - Form 10-K

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Part I  
ITEM 1. BUSINESS

## Regulation of the Company

We are registered as a bank holding company with the Federal Reserve under the BHC Act and have elected to be treated as a financial holding company. As such, we are subject to comprehensive supervision and regulation by the Federal Reserve and are subject to its regulatory reporting requirements. Federal law subjects bank holding companies, such as the Company, to restrictions on the types of activities in which they may engage, and to a range of supervisory requirements. In addition, the GA DBF regulates bank holding companies that own Georgia-chartered banks, such as us, under the bank holding company laws of the State of Georgia. Various federal and state bodies regulate and supervise our non-bank activities including our brokerage, investment advisory, and insurance agency activities. These include, but are not limited to, the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, federal and state banking regulators, and various state regulators of insurance and brokerage activities.

Violations of laws and regulations, or other unsafe and unsound practices, may result in regulatory agencies imposing fines or penalties, cease and desist orders, or taking other enforcement actions. Under certain circumstances, these agencies may enforce these remedies directly against officers, directors, employees, and other parties participating in the affairs of a bank or bank holding company. Like all bank holding companies, we are regulated extensively under federal and state law. Under federal and state laws and regulations pertaining to the safety and soundness of insured depository institutions, state banking regulators, the Federal Reserve, and separately the FDIC as the insurer of bank deposits have the authority to compel or restrict certain actions on our part if they determine that we have insufficient capital or other resources, or are otherwise operating in a manner that may be deemed to be inconsistent with safe and sound banking practices. Under this authority, our regulators can require us or our subsidiaries to enter into informal or formal supervisory agreements, including board resolutions, memoranda of understanding, written agreements, and consent or cease and desist orders pursuant to which we would be required to take identified corrective actions to address cited concerns and to refrain from taking certain actions.

If we become subject to and are unable to comply with the terms of any regulatory actions or directives, supervisory agreements or orders, then we could become subject to additional, heightened supervisory actions and orders, possibly including prompt corrective action restrictions and/or other regulatory actions, including prohibitions on the payment of dividends on our common stock and preferred stock. If our regulators were to take such supervisory actions, then we could, among other things, become subject to significant restrictions on our ability to develop any new business, as well as restrictions on our existing business, and we could be required to raise additional capital, dispose of certain assets and liabilities within a prescribed period of time, or both. The terms of any such action could have a material negative effect on our business, reputation, operating flexibility, financial condition, and the value of our common stock and preferred stock. See 'Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors - Compliance and Regulatory Risk - *We may become subject to supervisory actions and enhanced regulation that could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, operating flexibility, financial condition, and the value of our common stock and preferred stock*' of this Report.

## Activity Limitations

As a financial holding company, we are permitted to engage directly or indirectly in a broader range of activities than those permitted for a bank holding company that has not elected to be a financial holding company. Bank holding companies are generally restricted to engaging in the business of banking, managing or controlling banks and certain other activities determined by the Federal Reserve to be closely related to banking. Financial holding companies may also engage in activities that are considered to be financial in nature, as well as those incidental or, if determined by the Federal Reserve, complementary to financial activities. If Synovus Bank ceases to be 'well capitalized' or 'well managed' under applicable regulatory standards, or if Synovus Bank receives a rating of less than satisfactory under the CRA, the Federal Reserve may, among other things, place limitations on our ability to conduct these broader financial activities or, if the deficiencies persist, require us to divest the banking subsidiary or the businesses engaged in activities permissible only for financial holding companies.

In addition, the Federal Reserve has the power to order a bank holding company or its subsidiaries to terminate any nonbanking activity or terminate its ownership or control of any nonbank subsidiary when it has reasonable cause to believe that continuation of such activity or such ownership or control constitutes a serious risk to the financial safety, soundness, or stability of any bank subsidiary of that bank holding company. As further described below, each of the Company and Synovus Bank is well-capitalized under applicable regulatory standards as of December 31, 2022, and Synovus Bank has an overall rating of 'Satisfactory' in its most recent CRA evaluation.

## Source of Strength Obligations

A bank holding company, such as us, is required to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to its subsidiary bank. The term 'source of financial strength' means the ability of a company, such as us, that directly or indirectly owns or controls an insured depository institution, such as Synovus Bank, to provide financial assistance to such insured depository institution in the event of financial distress. The appropriate federal banking agency for the depository institution (in the case of Synovus Bank, this agency is the Federal Reserve) may require reports from us to assess our ability to serve as a source of strength and to enforce compliance with the source of strength requirements by requiring us to provide financial assistance to Synovus Bank in the event of financial distress. If we were to enter bankruptcy or become subject to the orderly liquidation process established by the Dodd-Frank Act, any commitment by us to a federal bank regulatory agency to maintain the capital of Synovus Bank would be assumed by the bankruptcy trustee or the FDIC, as appropriate, and entitled to a priority of payment. In addition, the FDIC provides that any insured depository institution generally will be liable for any loss incurred by the FDIC in connection with the default of, or any assistance provided by the FDIC to, a commonly controlled insured depository institution. Synovus Bank is an FDIC-insured depository institution and thus subject to these requirements.

## Acquisitions

The BHC Act permits acquisitions of banks by bank holding companies, such that we and any other bank holding company, whether located in Georgia or elsewhere, may acquire a bank located in any other state, subject to certain deposit-percentage, age of bank charter requirements, and other restrictions. The BHC Act requires that a bank holding company obtain the prior approval of the Federal Reserve before (i) acquiring direct or indirect ownership or control of more than 5% of the voting shares of any additional bank or bank holding company, (ii) taking any action that causes an additional bank or bank holding company to become a subsidiary of the bank holding company, or (iii) merging or consolidating with any other bank holding company. The Federal Reserve may not approve any such transaction that would result in a monopoly or would be in furtherance of any combination or conspiracy to monopolize or attempt to monopolize the business of banking in any section of the United States, or the effect of which may be substantially to lessen competition or to tend to create a monopoly in any section of the country, or that in any other manner would be in restraint of trade unless the

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SYNOVUS FINANCIAL CORP. - Form 10-K