Certain of the statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). The words "expect," "anticipate," "goal," "objective," "intend," "plan," "believe," "should," "seek," "estimate" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but other statements not based on historical information may also be considered forward-looking. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. ("Pinnacle Financial") to differ materially from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These statements should be considered subject to various risks and uncertainties, and are made based upon management's belief as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such risks include, without limitation: deterioration in the financial condition of borrowers resulting in significant increases in loan losses and provisions for those losses; continuation of the historically low short-term interest rate environment; the inability of Pinnacle Financial, or entities in which it has significant investments, like Bankers Healthcare Group, LLC ("BHG"), to maintain the historical growth rate of its, or those entities', loan portfolio; changes in loan underwriting, credit review or loss reserve policies associated with economic conditions, examination conclusions, or regulatory developments; effectiveness of Pinnacle Financial's asset management activities in improving, resolving or liquidating lower-quality assets; increased competition with other financial institutions; greater than anticipated adverse conditions in the national or local economies including the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area, or MSA, the Knoxville MSA, the Chattanooga, TN-GA MSA and the Memphis, TN-MS-AR MSA, particularly in commercial and residential real estate markets; rapid fluctuations or unanticipated changes in interest rates on loans or deposits; the results of regulatory examinations; the ability to retain large, uninsured deposits; a merger or acquisition like the proposed merger with BNC Bancorp ("BNC"); risks of expansion into new geographic or product markets, like the proposed expansion into certain MSAs in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia in connection with the proposed BNC merger; any matter that would cause Pinnacle Financial to conclude that there was impairment of any asset, including intangible assets; reduced ability to attract additional financial advisors (or failure of those advisors to cause their clients to switch to Pinnacle Bank), to retain financial advisors or otherwise to attract customers from other financial institutions; further deterioration in the valuation of other real estate owned and increased expenses associated therewith; inability to comply with regulatory capital requirements, including those resulting from changes to capital calculation methodologies and required capital maintenance levels; risks associated with litigation, including the applicability of insurance coverage; the risk that the anticipated cost savings and any potential revenue synergies from the proposed BNC merger and Pinnacle Financial's recently completed mergers may not be realized or take longer than anticipated to be realized; disruption from the proposed BNC merger with customers, suppliers or employee or other business partners relationships; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement with BNC; the risk of successful integration of BNC's business and the businesses Pinnacle Financial recently acquired with Pinnacle Bank's business; the failure to obtain the necessary approvals from BNC's or Pinnacle Financial's shareholders in connection with the BNC merger; the amount of the costs, fees, expenses and charges related to the BNC merger; the ability to obtain required government approvals of the proposed terms of the BNC merger; reputational risk and the risk of adverse reaction of our, Pinnacle Bank's, BNC's and Bank of North Carolina's customers, suppliers, employees or other business partners to the proposed BNC merger; the failure of the closing conditions of the BNC merger to be satisfied and any unexpected delay in closing the BNC merger; the risk that the integration of our and BNC's operations and the operations of the companies Pinnacle Financial recently acquired with Pinnacle Bank's operations will be materially delayed or will be more costly or difficult than expected; the possibility that the BNC merger may be more expensive to complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected factors or events; the dilution caused by the issuance of additional shares of Pinnacle Financial's common stock in the BNC merger or related to the BNC merger; general competitive, economic, political and market conditions; approval of the declaration of any dividend by Pinnacle Financial's board of directors; the vulnerability of Pinnacle Bank's network and online banking portals to unauthorized access, computer viruses, phishing schemes, spam attacks, human error, natural disasters, power loss and other security breaches; the possibility of increased compliance costs or modifications to Pinnacle Financial's business plan or the business plan of entities in which Pinnacle Financial or Pinnacle Bank has made an investment as a result of increased regulatory oversight, including oversight of companies in which Pinnacle Financial or Pinnacle Bank has significant investments, and the development of additional banking products for Pinnacle Bank's corporate and consumer clients; the risks associated with Pinnacle Financial and Pinnacle Bank being a minority investor in BHG, including the risk that the owners of a majority of the membership interests in BHG decide to sell the company if not prohibited from doing so by the terms of Pinnacle Financial's and Pinnacle Bank's agreement with them; the possibility that the incremental cost and/or decreased revenues associated with exceeding $10 billion in assets will exceed current estimates; and changes in state and federal legislation, regulations or policies applicable to banks and other financial service providers (like BHG), including regulatory or legislative developments. A more detailed description of these and other risks is contained in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" below. Many of such factors are beyond Pinnacle Financial's ability to control or predict, and readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Pinnacle Financial disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
