CSTR CapStar Financial Holdings Inc

RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a significant degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors, in addition to the other information contained in this prospectus, before deciding to invest in our common stock. Any of the following risks, as well as risks that we do not know or currently deem immaterial, could materially and adversely affect our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations. As a result, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. Further, to the extent that any of the information in this prospectus constitutes forward-looking statements, the risk factors below also are cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” beginning on page 42.

Risks Related To Our Business

As a business operating in the financial services industry, our business and operations may be adversely affected in numerous and complex ways by weak economic conditions.

Our business and operations, which primarily consist of lending money to clients in the form of loans, borrowing money from clients in the form of deposits and investing in securities, are sensitive to general business and economic conditions in the United States. If the U.S. economy weakens, our growth and profitability from our lending, deposit and investment operations could be constrained. Uncertainty about the federal fiscal policymaking process, the medium- and long-term fiscal outlook of the federal government, and future tax rates is a concern for businesses, consumers and investors in the United States.

Weak economic conditions are characterized by numerous factors, including deflation, fluctuations in debt and equity capital markets, a lack of liquidity and/or depressed prices in the secondary market for mortgage loans, increased delinquencies on mortgage, consumer and commercial loans, residential and commercial real estate price declines and lower home sales and commercial activity. The current economic environment is also characterized by interest rates at near historically low levels, which impacts our ability to attract deposits and to generate attractive earnings through our loan and investment portfolios. All of these factors can individually or in the aggregate be detrimental to our business, and the interplay between these factors can be complex and unpredictable. Adverse economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

The global financial markets continue to experience significant volatility as a result of, among other things, economic and political instability in the wake of the referendum in the United Kingdom in June 2016, in which the majority of voters voted in favor of an exit from the European Union, or Brexit. Following the vote on Brexit, stock markets worldwide experienced significant declines and certain currency exchange rates fluctuated substantially, and the outlook for the global economy in 2016 and beyond remains uncertain as negotiations commence to determine the future terms of the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union. Such global market instability may hinder future U.S. economic growth, which could adversely affect our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Our business and operations are concentrated in state of Tennessee generally and the Nashville MSA more specifically, and we are more sensitive than our more geographically diversified competitors to adverse changes in the local economy.

Unlike with many of our larger competitors that maintain significant operations located outside our market area, substantially all of our clients are individuals and businesses located and doing business in the Nashville MSA. As of June 30, 2016, approximately 86% of the loans in our loan portfolio (measured by dollar amount) were made to borrowers who live or conduct business in the Nashville MSA. Therefore, our success will depend

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upon the general economic conditions in this area, which we cannot predict with certainty. As a result, our operations and profitability may be more adversely affected by a local economic downturn in the Nashville MSA than those of larger, more geographically diverse competitors. For example, the Nashville economy is particularly sensitive to changes in the healthcare service, music and entertainment and hospitality and tourism industries, among others. A downturn in these industries or in the local economy generally could make it more difficult for our borrowers to repay their loans and may lead to loan losses that are not offset by operations in other markets; it may also reduce the ability of depositors to make or maintain deposits with us. For these reasons, any regional or local economic downturn that affects the state of Tennessee generally and the Nashville MSA specifically, or existing or prospective borrowers or depositors in the Nashville MSA could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

From time to time, our bank may provide financing to clients who or that have companies or properties located outside the Nashville MSA or the state of Tennessee. In such cases, we would face similar local market risk in those communities for these clients.

Competition from financial institutions and other financial service providers may adversely affect our profitability.

The banking business is highly competitive, and we experience competition in our market from many other financial institutions. We compete with commercial banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, mortgage banking firms, consumer finance companies, securities brokerage firms, insurance companies, money market funds, and other mutual funds, as well as other community banks and super-regional and national financial institutions that operate offices in our service area. These competitors often have far greater resources than we do and are able to conduct more intensive and broader-based promotional efforts to reach both commercial and individual clients.

We compete with these other financial institutions both in attracting deposits and in making loans. In addition, we must attract our client base from other existing financial institutions and from new residents. We expect competition to increase in the future as a result of legislative, regulatory and technological changes and the continuing trend of consolidation in the financial services industry. Our profitability depends upon our continued ability to successfully compete with an array of financial institutions in our service area.

Our ability to compete successfully will depend on a number of factors, including, among other things:

Increased competition could require us to increase the rates that we pay on deposits or lower the rates that we offer on loans, which could reduce our profitability. We derive a substantial majority of our business from the Nashville MSA. Our failure to compete effectively in our market could restrain our growth or cause us to lose market share, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

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We are dependent on the services of our management team and board of directors, and the unexpected loss of key personnel or directors may adversely affect our business and operations.

We are led by an experienced core management team with substantial experience in the markets that we serve, and our operating strategy focuses on providing products and services through long-term relationship managers and ensuring that our largest clients have relationships with our senior management team. Accordingly, our success depends in large part on the performance of these key personnel, as well as on our ability to attract, motivate and retain highly qualified senior and middle management. Competition for employees is intense, and the process of locating key personnel with the combination of skills and attributes required to execute our business plan may be lengthy. If any of our executive officers, other key personnel, or directors leaves us or our bank, our operations may be adversely affected. While we have employment agreements containing non-competition provisions with many of our key personnel, if any of such personnel leaves his or her position for any reason, our financial condition and results of operations may suffer because of his or her skills, knowledge of our market, years of industry experience and the difficulty of promptly finding qualified personnel to replace him or her. Additionally, our directors’ community involvement and diverse and extensive local business relationships are important to our success.

Our business strategy includes the continuation of our growth plans, and we could be negatively affected if we fail to grow or fail to manage our growth effectively.

We intend to continue pursuing our growth strategy for our business through organic growth of our loan and deposit portfolio as well as through strategic acquisitions. Our prospects must be considered in light of the risks, expenses and difficulties that can be encountered by financial service companies in rapid growth stages, which include the risks associated with the following:

We may not be able to expand our presence in our existing market or new markets. Our ability to grow successfully will depend on a variety of factors, including the continued availability of desirable business opportunities, the competitive responses from other financial institutions in our market areas and our ability to manage our growth. Failure to manage our growth effectively could adversely affect our ability to successfully implement our business strategy, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

As a bank that focuses on building comprehensive banking relationships with clients, our reputation is critical to our business, and damage to it could have a material adverse effect on us.

A key differentiating factor for our business is the strong brand we are building in the Nashville MSA market. Through our branding, we communicate to the market about our company and our service offerings. Maintaining a positive reputation is critical to our attracting and retaining clients and employees. Adverse perceptions of us could make it more difficult for us to execute on our strategy. Harm to our reputation can arise from many sources, including actual or perceived employee misconduct, misconduct by our outsourced service providers or other counterparties, litigation or regulatory actions, our failure to meet our standards of service and quality and compliance failures. Negative publicity regarding us or our bank, whether or not accurate, may damage our reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

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We target small and medium sized businesses as loan clients, who may have greater credit risk than larger borrowers.

We target small and medium sized businesses as loan clients. As of June 30, 2016, $790.3 million, or 90%, of our $877.0 million of total net loans were made to small and medium sized businesses. Because of their size, these borrowers may be less able to withstand competitive, economic or financial pressures than larger borrowers in periods of economic weakness. If loan losses occur at a level where the allowance for loan and lease losses is not sufficient to cover actual loan losses, our earnings will decrease.

Our concentration of large loans to a limited number of borrowers may increase our credit risk.

Our growth over the last several years has been partially attributable to our ability to originate and retain large loans. In addition to regulatory limits to which our bank is subject, we have established an internal policy limiting loans to one borrower, principal or guarantor based on “total exposure,” which represents the aggregate exposure of economically related borrowers for approval purposes; loans in excess of our internal limit require acknowledgment by our bank’s full board of directors. Many of these loans have been made to a small number of borrowers, resulting in a concentration of large loans to certain borrowers. As of June 30, 2016, our 10 largest borrowing relationships accounted for approximately 13% of our total loan portfolio. Along with other risks inherent in these loans, such as the deterioration of the underlying businesses or property securing these loans, this high concentration of borrowers presents a risk to our lending operations. If any one of these borrowers becomes unable to repay its loan obligations as a result of economic or market conditions, or personal circumstances, such as divorce or death, our non-accrual loans and our allowance for loan and lease losses could increase significantly, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Lack of seasoning of our loan portfolio could increase risk of credit defaults in the future.

As a result of our growth over the past several years, as of June 30, 2016, approximately $526 million of the loans in our loan portfolio, or 59% of our loan portfolio, had been originated since June 30, 2014, including new originations and renewals. In general, loans do not begin to show signs of credit deterioration or default until they have been outstanding for some period of time, a process referred to as “seasoning.” As a result, a portfolio of older loans will usually behave more predictably than a newer portfolio. Because a large portion of our portfolio is relatively new, the current level of delinquencies and defaults may not represent the level of delinquencies and defaults that could occur as the portfolio becomes more seasoned and may not serve as a reliable basis for predicting the health and nature of our loan portfolio. Our limited experience with these loans does not provide us with a significant payment history pattern with which to judge future collectability. As a result, it may be difficult to predict the future performance of our loan portfolio. If delinquencies and defaults increase, we may be required to increase our allowance for loan and lease losses, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

We may not be able to adequately assess and limit our credit risk, which could adversely affect our profitability.

A primary component of our business involves making loans to clients. The business of lending is inherently risky because the principal of or interest on the loan may not be repaid timely or at all or the value of any collateral supporting the loan may be insufficient to cover our outstanding exposure. These risks may be affected by the strength of the borrower’s business sector and local, regional and national market and economic conditions. Our risk management practices, such as monitoring our loan applicants and the concentration of our loans within specific lines of business and our credit approval practices, may not adequately assess credit risk, and our credit administration personnel, policies and procedures may not adequately adapt to changes in economic or any other conditions affecting clients and the quality of the loan portfolio. A failure to effectively assess and limit the credit risk associated with our loan portfolio could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

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Our allowance for loan and lease losses may prove to be insufficient to absorb losses inherent in our loan portfolio.

We maintain an allowance for loan and lease losses that represents management’s best estimate of the loan and lease losses and risks inherent in our loan portfolio. The level of the allowance reflects management’s continuing evaluation of concentrations within our lines of business, specific credit risks, loan loss experience, current loan portfolio quality, present economic, political and regulatory conditions and unidentified losses inherent in the current loan portfolio. The determination of the appropriate level of the allowance for loan and lease losses is highly subjective and requires us to make significant estimates of current credit risks and future trends, all of which may undergo material changes. Inaccurate management assumptions, continuing deterioration of economic conditions affecting borrowers, new information regarding existing loans, identification of additional problem loans and other factors, both within and outside of our control, may require us to increase our allowance for loan and lease losses. In addition, our regulators, as an integral part of their examination process, periodically review our loan portfolio and the adequacy of our allowance for loan and lease losses and may require adjustments based upon judgments that are different than those of management. Further, if actual charge-offs in future periods exceed the amounts allocated to the allowance for loan and lease losses, we may need to increase our provision for loan and lease losses to restore the adequacy of our allowance for such losses. If we are required to materially increase our level of allowance for loan and lease losses for any reason, our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

The healthcare service industry is an integral component of the local economy, and adverse trends in the healthcare service industry could have a material adverse effect on us.

The healthcare service industry is an integral segment of the local economy, having a local impact of approximately $38.8 billion and more than 250,000 jobs in the Nashville MSA according to data from the Nashville Healthcare Council as of June 2015. As of June 30, 2016, approximately 18% of our loan portfolio was composed of loans to borrowers in the healthcare service industry. Adverse trends in the healthcare service industry may have a negative impact on a significant portion of the Company’s borrowers and clients. The healthcare service industry may be affected by the following:

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These changes, among others, could adversely affect the economic performance of some or all of our borrowers and clients in the healthcare services industry and, in turn, have a materially negative impact on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Our commercial real estate loan portfolio exposes us to credit risks that may be greater than the risks related to other types of loans.

Our loan portfolio includes non-owner-occupied commercial real estate loans, or CRE loans, to individuals and businesses for various purposes, which are secured by commercial properties, as well as construction and land development loans. CRE loans typically involve repayment dependent upon income generated, or expected to be generated, by the property securing the loan in amounts sufficient to cover operating expenses and debt service. The availability of such income for repayment may be adversely affected by changes in the economy or local market conditions. These loans expose us to greater credit risk than loans secured by other types of collateral because the collateral securing these loans is typically more difficult to liquidate. Additionally, non-owner-occupied CRE loans generally involve relatively large balances to single borrowers or related groups of borrowers. Unexpected deterioration in the credit quality of our non-owner-occupied CRE loan portfolio could require us to increase our allowance for loan and lease losses, which would reduce our profitability and could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

A prolonged downturn in the real estate market could result in losses and adversely affect our profitability.

As of June 30, 2016, approximately 31% of our loan portfolio was composed of commercial real estate loans, 10% consumer real estate loans, and 7% construction and land development loans. The real estate collateral in each case provides an alternate source of repayment in the event of default by the borrower and may deteriorate in value during the time the credit is extended. A decline in real estate values could further impair the value of our collateral and our ability to sell the collateral upon any foreclosure, which would likely require us to increase our allowance for loan and lease losses. In the event of a default with respect to any of these loans, the amounts we receive upon sale of the collateral may be insufficient to recover the outstanding principal and interest on the loan. If we are required to re-value the collateral securing a loan to satisfy the debt during a period of reduced real estate values or to increase our allowance for loan and lease losses, our profitability could be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Regulatory requirements affecting our loans secured by commercial real estate could limit our ability to leverage our capital and adversely affect our growth and profitability.

The federal bank regulatory agencies have indicated their view that banks with high concentrations of loans secured by commercial real estate are subject to increased risk and should implement robust risk management policies and maintain higher capital than regulatory minimums to maintain an appropriate cushion against loss that is commensurate with the perceived risk. Federal bank regulatory guidelines identify institutions potentially

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exposed to CRE concentration risk as those that have (i) experienced rapid growth in CRE lending, (ii) notable exposure to a specific type of CRE, (iii) total reported loans for construction, land development and other land loans representing 100% or more of the institution’s capital, or (iv) total CRE loans representing 300% or more of the institution’s capital if the outstanding balance of the institution’s CRE loan portfolio has increased 50% or more during the prior 36 months. Because a significant portion of our loan portfolio is dependent on commercial real estate, a change in the regulatory capital requirements applicable to us or a decline in our regulatory capital could limit our ability to leverage our capital as a result of these policies, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

We engage in lending secured by real estate and may be forced to foreclose on the collateral and own the underlying real estate, subjecting us to the costs and potential risks associated with the ownership of the real property.

Since we originate loans secured by real estate, we may have to foreclose on the collateral property to protect our investment and may thereafter own and operate such property, in which case we would be exposed to the risks inherent in the ownership of real estate. As of June 30, 2016, we did not have any other real estate owned. The amount that we, as a mortgagee, may realize after a default is dependent upon factors outside of our control, including, but not limited to:

Our inability to manage the amount of costs or size of the risks associated with the ownership of real estate, or write-downs in the value of other real estate owned, could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

We have several large depositor relationships, the loss of which could force us to fund our business through more expensive and less stable sources.

As of June 30, 2016, our 10 largest non-brokered depositors accounted for $274.8 million in deposits, or approximately 24% of our total deposits. Further, our non-brokered deposit account balance was $967.6 million, or approximately 85% of our total deposits, as of June 30, 2016.

Withdrawals of deposits by any one of our largest depositors could force us to rely more heavily on borrowings and other sources of funding for our business and withdrawal demands, adversely affecting our net interest margin and results of operations. We may also be forced, as a result of any withdrawal of deposits, to

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rely more heavily on other, potentially more expensive and less stable funding sources. Consequently, the occurrence of any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Correspondent banking introduces unique risks, which could affect our liquidity.

Our correspondent banking line of business comprised over $202.4 million of deposits as of June 30, 2016. Although correspondent banking provides diversification of our funding base, it introduces a unique set of risks. Increases in the federal funds rate could create liquidity issues within the bank as it competes with the interest on reserves rate paid by the Federal Reserve Bank. Additionally, strong industry-wide loan demand could also create liquidity issues as excess balances held at CapStar Bank by our correspondent banks would presumably be redeployed by those banks into new loans. Further, capital inadequacy or asset quality issues at other institutions could result in increased risk to us due to the potential for large deposit withdrawals. If any of the foregoing were to occur, our liquidity could be materially and adversely affected.

Liquidity risk could impair our ability to fund operations and meet our obligations as they become due, and our funding sources may be insufficient to fund our future growth.

Liquidity is essential to our business. Liquidity risk is the potential that we will be unable to meet our obligations as they come due because of an inability to liquidate assets or obtain adequate funding. An inability to raise funds, at competitive rates or at all, through deposits, borrowings, the sale of loans and other sources could have a substantial negative effect on our liquidity. In particular, approximately 83% of our bank’s deposits as of June 30, 2016 were checking accounts and other liquid deposits, which are payable on demand or upon several days’ notice, while by comparison, 68% of the assets of our bank were loans at June 30, 2016, which cannot be called or sold in the same time frame. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance our activities or on terms that are acceptable to us could be impaired by factors that affect us specifically or the financial services industry or economy in general.

Factors that could negatively impact our access to liquidity sources include a decrease of our business activity as a result of a downturn in the markets in which our loans are concentrated, adverse regulatory action against us, or our inability to attract and retain deposits. Market conditions or other events could also negatively affect the level or cost of funding, affecting our ongoing ability to accommodate liability maturities and deposit withdrawals, meet contractual obligations and fund asset growth and new business transactions at a reasonable cost, in a timely manner and without adverse consequences. For example, we rely on deposits, federal funds purchased and advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, or FHLB, to fund our operations. As of June 30, 2016, we had $40 million of advances from the FHLB outstanding. Although we have historically been able to replace maturing deposits and advances if desired, we may not be able to replace such funds in the future if, among other things, our financial condition, the financial condition of the FHLB or market conditions were to change. In such a circumstance, we may seek additional borrowings to achieve our long-term business objectives; however, they may not be available to us on favorable terms or at all.

Additionally, whole loan sale agreements may require us to repurchase or substitute mortgage loans, or indemnify buyers against losses, in the event we breach representations or warranties to purchasers, guarantors and insurers, including government-sponsored entities, about the mortgage loans and the manner in which they were originated. In addition, we may be required to repurchase mortgage loans as a result of early payment default of the borrower on a mortgage loan. If repurchase and indemnity demands increase and such demands are valid claims and are in excess of our provision for potential losses, our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

Any substantial, unexpected or prolonged change in the level or cost of liquidity could have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet deposit withdrawals and other client needs, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

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We are subject to interest rate risk, which could adversely affect our profitability, and we do not have a history of operating in a rising interest rate environment.

Our profitability, like that of most financial institutions, depends to a large extent on our net interest income, which is the difference between our interest income on interest-earning assets, such as loans and investment securities, and our interest expense on interest-bearing liabilities, such as deposits and borrowings. We have positioned our asset portfolio to benefit in a higher interest rate environment, but this may not remain true in the future. We have managed the growth of our bank since inception in an economic environment characterized by historically low interest rates. Our ability to continue that performance in a rising rate environment is not a certainty. Our interest sensitivity profile was asset sensitive as of June 30, 2016, meaning that our net interest income would increase more from rising interest rates than from falling interest rates. However, because we do not have a history of operating in a rising interest rate environment, we have no historical data on which to model the actual effect of rising interest rates on our assets and liabilities. As a result, these models may not be an accurate indicator of how our interest income will be affected by changes in interest rates.

Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors that are beyond our control, including general economic conditions and policies of various governmental and regulatory agencies and, in particular, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Changes in monetary policy, including changes in interest rates, could influence not only the interest we receive on loans and securities and the interest we pay on deposits and borrowings but could also affect our ability to originate loans and obtain deposits, the fair value of our financial assets and liabilities, and the average duration of our assets. If the interest rates paid on deposits and other borrowings increase at a faster rate than the interest rates received on loans and other investments, our net interest income, and therefore earnings, could be adversely affected. Earnings could also be adversely affected if the interest rates received on loans and other investments fall more quickly than the interest rates paid on deposits and other borrowings.

In addition, an increase in interest rates could also have a negative impact on our results of operations by reducing the ability of borrowers to repay their current loan obligations. These circumstances could not only result in increased loan defaults, foreclosures and charge-offs, but also necessitate further increases to the allowance for loan and lease losses which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Changes in monetary policy and government responses to adverse economic conditions such as inflation and deflation may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our financial condition and results of operations are affected by credit policies of monetary authorities, particularly the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Actions by monetary and fiscal authorities, including the Federal Reserve, could lead to inflation, deflation, or other economic phenomena that could adversely affect our financial performance. The primary impact of inflation on our operations most likely will be reflected in increased operating costs. Conversely, deflation generally will tend to erode collateral values and diminish loan quality.

Our recent results may not be indicative of our future results and may not provide sufficient guidance to assess the risk of an investment in our common stock.

Our business has grown rapidly. Although rapid business growth can reflect favorable business conditions, financial institutions that grow rapidly can experience significant difficulties as a result of rapid growth. Failure to build infrastructure sufficient to support rapid growth and suffering loan losses in excess of reserves for such losses, as well as other risks associated with rapidly growing financial institutions, could materially impact our operations.

We may not be able to sustain our historical rate of growth and may not be able to expand our business at all. In addition, our recent growth may distort some of our historical financial ratios and statistics. Various factors,

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such as economic conditions, regulatory and legislative considerations and competition, may also impede or prohibit our ability to expand our market presence. As a small commercial bank, we have different lending risks than larger banks. We provide services to our local communities; thus, our ability to diversify our economic risks is limited by our own local market and economy. We lend primarily to small and medium sized businesses, which may expose us to greater lending risks than those faced by banks lending to larger, better-capitalized businesses with longer operating histories. We manage our credit exposure through careful monitoring of loan applicants and loan concentrations in particular industries, and through our loan approval and review procedures. Our use of historical and objective information in determining and managing credit exposure may not be accurate in assessing our risk. Our failure to sustain our historical rate of growth or adequately manage the factors that have contributed to our growth could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Our bank’s size presents multiple challenges that may restrict our growth and prevent us from effectively implementing our business strategy, such as our regulatory and internal lending limits and our ability to effectively leverage our infrastructure to implement our business strategy.

We are limited in the amount our bank can loan in the aggregate to a single borrower or related borrowers by the amount of the bank’s capital. CapStar Bank is a Tennessee-chartered bank and therefore is subject to the legal lending limits of the state of Tennessee and federal law. Tennessee and federal legal lending limits are safety and soundness measures intended to prevent one person or a relatively small and economically related group of persons from borrowing an unduly large amount of a bank’s funds. They are also intended to safeguard a bank’s depositors by diversifying the risk of loan losses among a relatively large number of credit-worthy borrowers engaged in various types of businesses. Under Tennessee law, total loans and extensions of credit to a borrower generally may not exceed 15% of our bank’s capital, surplus and undivided profits. However, such loans may be in excess of that percentage, but not above 25%, if each loan in excess of 15% is first submitted to and approved in advance in writing by the board of directors and a record is kept of such written approval and reported to the board of directors quarterly. Under federal law applicable to Federal Reserve member banks, total loans and extensions of credit to a borrower may not exceed 15% of our bank’s unimpaired capital and surplus. However, such loans may be in excess of that percentage, but not above 25%, if each loan in excess of 15% is fully collateralized by readily marketable collateral. We have also established an internal limit on loans to one borrower between 7% and 15% of our capital, surplus and undivided profits, depending upon the underlying risk rating. Loans in excess of our internal limit are noted as a policy exception and require acknowledgment by our bank’s full board of directors. Based upon our bank’s current capital levels, the amount it may lend is significantly less than that of many of our larger competitors and may discourage potential borrowers who have credit needs in excess of the bank’s lending limit from doing business with us. Our bank accommodates larger loans by selling participations in those loans to other financial institutions, but this strategy may not always be available. If we are unable to compete effectively for loans from our target clients, we may not be able to effectively implement our business strategy, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Our growth strategy may involve strategic acquisitions, and we may not be able to overcome risks associated with such transactions.

We plan to continue to explore opportunities to acquire other financial institutions and businesses in or around our existing Nashville market or in comparable markets or that would involve lines of business that are additive to our existing products and services. Our acquisition activities could be material to our business and involve a number of risks, including the following:

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We may not be successful in overcoming these risks or any other problems encountered in connection with potential acquisitions. Our inability to overcome these risks could have an adverse effect on our ability to implement our business strategy and enhance shareholder value, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Our continued pace of growth may require us to raise additional capital in the future to fund such growth, and the unavailability of additional capital on terms acceptable to us could adversely affect us or our growth.

After giving effect to this offering, we believe that we will have sufficient capital to meet our capital needs for our immediate growth plans. However, we will continue to need capital to support our longer-term growth plans. If capital is not available on favorable terms when we need it, we will have to either issue common stock or other securities on less than desirable terms or reduce our rate of growth until market conditions become more favorable. Either of such events could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

The fair value of our investment securities could fluctuate because of factors outside of our control, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

As of June 30, 2016, the fair value of our investment securities portfolio was approximately $219.5 million. Factors beyond our control could significantly affect the fair value of these securities. These factors include, but are not limited to, rating agency actions in respect of the securities, defaults by the issuer or with respect to the underlying securities, and changes in market interest rates and continued instability in the capital markets. Any of these factors, among others, could cause other-than-temporary impairments, or OTTI, and realized and/or unrealized losses in future periods and declines in earnings and/or other comprehensive income (loss), which could materially and adversely affect our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations. The process for determining whether impairment of a security is OTTI usually requires complex, subjective judgments about the future financial performance and liquidity of the issuer, any collateral underlying the security as well as the Company’s intent and ability to hold the security for a sufficient period of time to allow for any anticipated recovery in fair value in order to assess the probability of receiving all contractual principal and interest payments on the security. Our failure to assess any impairments or losses with respect to our securities could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Deterioration in the fiscal position of the U.S. federal government and downgrades in the U.S. Department of the Treasury and federal agency securities could adversely affect us and our banking operations.

The long-term outlook for the fiscal position of the U.S. federal government is uncertain, as illustrated by the 2011 downgrade by certain rating agencies of the credit rating of the U.S. government and federal agencies.

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However, in addition to causing economic and financial market disruptions, any future downgrade, failure to raise the U.S. statutory debt limit, or deterioration in the fiscal outlook of the U.S. federal government, could, among other things, materially adversely affect the market value of the U.S. and other government and governmental agency securities that we hold, the availability of those securities as collateral for borrowing, and our ability to access capital markets on favorable terms. In particular, such events could increase interest rates and disrupt payment systems, money markets, and long-term or short-term fixed income markets, adversely affecting the cost and availability of funding, which could negatively affect our profitability. Also, the adverse consequences of any downgrade could extend to those to whom we extend credit and could adversely affect their ability to repay their loans. Any of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

We are subject to losses resulting from fraudulent and negligent acts on the part of loan applicants, our borrowers, other third parties, and our employees.

When we originate loans, we rely heavily upon information supplied by third parties, including the information contained in the loan application, property appraisal, title information and employment and income documentation. If any of this information is intentionally or negligently misrepresented and such misrepresentation is not detected prior to loan funding, the fair value of the loan may be significantly lower than expected. Whether a misrepresentation is made by the loan applicant, the borrower, another third party or one of our employees, we generally bear the risk of loss associated with the misrepresentation. The persons and entities involved in such a misrepresentation are often difficult to locate, and we are often unable to collect any monetary losses that we have suffered from them.

We may bear costs associated with the proliferation of computer theft and cyber-crime.

We necessarily collect, use and hold sensitive data concerning individuals and businesses with whom we have a banking relationship. Threats to data security, including unauthorized access and cyber-attacks, rapidly emerge and change, exposing us to additional costs for protection or remediation and competing time constraints to secure our data in accordance with client expectations and statutory and regulatory requirements. It is not feasible to defend against every risk being posed by changing technologies as well as criminals intent on committing cyber-crime, particularly given their increasing sophistication. Patching and other measures to protect existing systems and servers could be inadequate, especially on systems that are being retired. Controls employed by our information technology department and third-party vendors could prove inadequate. We could also experience a breach by intentional or negligent conduct on the part of our employees or other internal sources, software bugs or other technical malfunctions, or other causes. As a result of any of these threats, our client accounts may become vulnerable to account takeover schemes or cyber-fraud. Our systems and those of our third-party vendors may also become vulnerable to damage or disruption due to circumstances beyond our or their control, such as from network failures, viruses and malware, power anomalies or outages, natural disasters and catastrophic events.

A breach of our security or the security of our third-party vendors that results in unauthorized access to our data could expose us to a disruption or challenges relating to our daily operations as well as to data loss, litigation, damages, fines and penalties, client notification requirements, significant increases in compliance costs, and reputational damage, any of which could individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Our risk management framework may not be effective in mitigating risks and/or losses to us.

Our risk management framework is comprised of various processes, systems and strategies and is designed to manage the types of risk to which we are subject, including, among others, credit, liquidity, capital, financial performance, asset/liability, operational, compliance and regulatory, Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA,

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strategic and reputational, information technology and legal. Our framework also includes financial or other modeling methodologies that involve management assumptions and judgment. Our risk management framework may not be effective under all circumstances, including if our management fails to follow our credit policies and procedures, and thus, it may not adequately mitigate any risk or loss to us. If our framework is not effective, we could suffer unexpected losses and our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. We may also be subject to potentially adverse regulatory consequences.

We depend on our information technology and telecommunications systems, and any systems failures or interruptions could adversely affect our operations and financial condition.

We rely heavily on communications and information systems to conduct our business. Any failure or interruption in the operation of these systems could impair or prevent the effective operation of our client relationship management, general ledger, deposit, lending or other functions. While we have policies and procedures designed to prevent or limit the effect of a failure or interruption in the operation of our information systems, there can be no assurance that any such failures or interruptions will not occur or, if they do occur, that they will be adequately addressed. The occurrence of any failures or interruptions impacting our information systems could damage our reputation, result in a loss of clients, and expose us to additional regulatory scrutiny, civil litigation, and possible financial liability, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We are dependent upon outside third parties for the processing and handling of our records and data.

We rely on software developed by third-party vendors to process various transactions. In some cases, we have contracted with third parties to run their proprietary software on our behalf. These systems include, but are not limited to, general ledger, payroll, employee benefits, loan and deposit processing, and securities portfolio accounting. For example, one vendor provides our core banking system through a service bureau arrangement. While we perform a review of controls instituted by the applicable vendors over these programs in accordance with industry standards and perform our own testing of user controls, we rely on the continued maintenance of controls by these third-party vendors, including safeguards over the security of client data. We may incur a temporary disruption in our ability to conduct business or process transactions, or incur damage to our reputation, if the third-party vendor fails to adequately maintain internal controls or institute necessary changes to systems. Such a disruption or breach of security may have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, we may not be able to obtain or continue to obtain licenses and technologies from these third parties on reasonable terms or at all.

We encounter technological change continually and have fewer resources than certain of our competitors to invest in technological improvements.

The financial services industry is undergoing rapid technological changes, with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. In addition to serving clients better, the effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables financial institutions to reduce costs. Our success will depend in part on our ability to address our clients’ needs by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy client demands for convenience, as well as to create additional efficiencies in our operations. Certain of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements than us, and in the future, we may not be able to implement new technology-driven products and services timely, effectively or at all or be successful in marketing these products and services to our clients.   As these technologies are improved in the future, we may, in order to remain competitive, be required to make significant capital expenditures, which may increase our overall expenses and have a material adverse effect on our net income.

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We may be adversely affected by the lack of soundness of other financial institutions.

Our ability to engage in routine funding transactions could be adversely affected by the actions and commercial soundness of other financial institutions. Financial services companies are interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, counterparty, and other relationships. We have exposure to different industries and counterparties, and through transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry, including brokers and dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, and other institutional clients. Defaults by, or even rumors or questions about, one or more financial services companies, or the financial services industry generally, have led to market-wide liquidity problems in the past and could lead to losses or defaults by us or by other institutions in the future. These losses or defaults could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

We are subject to environmental liability risk associated with our lending activities.

In the course of our business, we may purchase real estate, or we may foreclose on and take title to real estate. As a result, we could be subject to environmental liabilities with respect to these properties. We may be held liable to a governmental entity or to third parties for property damage, personal injury, investigation and clean-up costs incurred by these parties in connection with environmental contamination or may be required to investigate or clean up hazardous or toxic substances or chemical releases at a property. The costs associated with investigation or remediation activities could be substantial. In addition, if we are the owner or former owner of a contaminated site, we may be subject to common law claims by third parties based on damages and costs resulting from environmental contamination emanating from the property. Any significant environmental liabilities could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

By engaging in derivative transactions, we are exposed to additional credit and market risk.

We use interest rate swaps to help manage our interest rate risk from recorded financial assets and liabilities when they can be demonstrated to effectively hedge a designated asset or liability and the asset or liability exposes us to interest rate risk or risks inherent in client related derivatives. As of June 30, 2016, we had $35 million notional value of interest rate swaps. Hedging interest rate risk is a complex process, requiring sophisticated models and routine monitoring, and is not a perfect science. As a result of interest rate fluctuations, hedged assets and liabilities will appreciate or depreciate in market value. The effect of this unrealized appreciation or depreciation will generally be offset by income or loss on the derivative instruments that are linked to the hedged assets and liabilities. We also have derivatives that result from a service we provide to certain qualifying clients approved through our credit process, and therefore, are not used to manage interest rate risk in our assets or liabilities. By engaging in derivative transactions, we are exposed to credit and market risk. If the counterparty fails to perform, credit risk exists to the extent of the fair value gain in the derivative. Market risk exists to the extent that interest rates change in ways that are significantly different from what we expected when we entered into the derivative transaction. The existence of credit and market risk associated with our derivative instruments could adversely affect our net interest income and, therefore, could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

We are or may become involved from time to time in suits, legal proceedings, information-gathering requests, investigations and proceedings by governmental and self-regulatory agencies that may lead to adverse consequences.

Many aspects of our business involve substantial risk of legal liability. From time to time, we are, or may become, the subject of lawsuits and related legal proceedings, governmental and self-regulatory agency information-gathering requests, reviews, investigations and proceedings and other forms of regulatory inquiry,

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including by bank regulatory agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and law enforcement authorities. The results of such proceedings could lead to significant civil or criminal penalties, including monetary penalties, damages, adverse judgments, settlements, fines, injunctions, restrictions on the way in which we conduct our business, or reputational harm.

Although we establish accruals for legal proceedings when information related to the loss contingencies represented by those matters indicates both that a loss is probable and that the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated, we may not have accruals for all legal proceedings where we face a risk of loss. In addition, due to the inherent subjectivity of the assessments and unpredictability of the outcome of legal proceedings, amounts accrued may not represent the ultimate loss to us from the legal proceedings or government or other inquiries. Thus, our ultimate losses may be higher, and possibly materially so, than the amounts accrued for legal loss contingencies, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The Nashville MSA is susceptible to floods, tornados and other natural disasters, adverse weather events and acts of God, which may adversely affect our business and operations.

Substantially all of our business and operations are located in the Nashville MSA, which is an area that has recently been damaged by floods and tornadoes and that is susceptible to other natural disasters, adverse weather events and acts of God. Natural disasters, adverse weather events and acts of God can disrupt our operations, cause widespread property damage, and severely depress the local economies in which we operate. Any economic decline as a result of natural disasters, adverse weather events or acts of God can reduce the demand for loans and our other client solutions as well as client ability to repay such loans. In addition, the rates of delinquencies, foreclosures, bankruptcies and losses on loan portfolios may increase substantially, as uninsured property losses or sustained job interruption or loss may materially impair the ability of borrowers to repay their loans. Moreover, the value of real estate or other collateral that secures the loans could be materially and adversely affected by natural disasters, adverse weather events or acts of God. Therefore, natural disasters, adverse weather events or acts of God could result in decreased revenue and loan losses that have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

Our internal controls over financial reporting may not be effective, and our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to certify as to their effectiveness, which could have a significant and adverse effect on our business and reputation.

We are not currently required to comply with SEC rules that implement Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and are, therefore, not required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting for that purpose. We will be required to comply with these rules upon ceasing to be an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act.

When evaluating our internal controls over financial reporting, we may identify material weaknesses that we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the applicable deadline imposed upon us for compliance with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In addition, if we fail to achieve and maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, as such standards are modified, supplemented, or amended from time to time, we may not be able to ensure that we can conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We cannot be certain as to the timing of completion of our evaluation, testing, and any remediation actions or the impact of the same on our operations. If we are not able to implement the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner or with adequate compliance, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue an adverse opinion due to ineffective internal controls over financial reporting, and we may be subject to sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities, such as the SEC. As a result, there could be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our financial statements. In addition, we may be required to incur costs in improving our internal control system and hiring additional personnel. Any such action could negatively affect our results of operations and cash flows.

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Risks Related to Our Industry

We are subject to extensive regulation that could limit or restrict our business activities and impose financial requirements, such as minimum capital requirements, and could have a material adverse effect on our profitability.

We operate in a highly regulated industry and are subject to examination, supervision and comprehensive regulation by various federal and state agencies including the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, and the TDFI. Regulatory compliance is costly and restricts certain of our activities, including payment of dividends, mergers and acquisitions, investments, loans and interest rates charged, transactions with affiliates, treatment of our clients, and interest rates paid on deposits. We are also subject to financial requirements prescribed by our regulators such as minimum capitalization guidelines, which require us to maintain adequate capital to support our growth. Violations of various laws, even if unintentional, may result in significant fines or other penalties, including restrictions on branching or bank acquisitions and other activities. Recently, banks generally have faced increased regulatory sanctions and scrutiny particularly with respect to the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, or USA Patriot Act, and other statutes relating to anti-money laundering compliance and client privacy. Recent legislation has substantially changed, and increased, federal regulation of financial institutions, and there may be significant future legislation (and regulations under existing legislation) that could have a further material effect on bank holding companies like us and banks like CapStar Bank.

In July 2013, the U.S. federal banking agencies approved the implementation of the Basel III regulatory capital reforms, or Basel III, and issued rules effecting certain changes to capital adequacy regulations required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act. Basel III is applicable to all U.S. banks that are subject to minimum capital requirements as well as to bank and saving and loan holding companies. The U.S. Basel III rule not only increased most of the required minimum regulatory capital ratios, it introduced a new common equity Tier 1 capital ratio and the concept of a capital conservation buffer. The U.S. Basel III rule also narrowed the current definition of capital by establishing additional criteria that capital instruments must meet to be considered additional Tier 1 capital (that is, Tier 1 capital in addition to common equity) and Tier 2 capital. A number of instruments that previously qualified as Tier 1 capital no longer qualify, subject to a grandfather provision that allows certain depository institution holding companies with less than $15 billion in assets to include non-qualifying capital instruments issued prior to May 19, 2010, and phase-out periods for other non-qualifying instruments. In addition, the U.S. Basel III rule permitted banking organizations with less than $15 billion in assets to retain, through a one-time election, the previous treatment of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) attributable to unrealized gains and losses for available for sale, or AFS, debt securities. We made this election, and as a result, the effect of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) is “filtered” out of our regulatory capital. The U.S. Basel III rule maintained the general structure of the banking agencies’ prompt corrective action thresholds while incorporating the increased capital requirements, including the common equity Tier 1 capital ratio. In order to be a “well-capitalized” depository institution under the revised prompt corrective action regime, an institution must maintain a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 6.5% or more; a Tier 1 capital ratio of 8% or more; a total risk-based capital ratio of 10% or more; and a leverage ratio of 5% or more. Under the U.S. Basel III rule, banking organizations must also maintain a capital conservation buffer consisting of common equity Tier 1 capital, which will be phased in through 2019. Generally, banking organizations of our size became subject to the U.S. Basel III rule on January 1, 2015, with a phase-in period through 2019 for certain changes.

The laws and regulations applicable to the banking industry could change at any time, and we cannot predict the effects of these changes on our business and profitability. Because government regulation greatly affects the business and financial results of all commercial banks and bank holding companies, our cost of compliance could adversely affect our ability to operate profitably.

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Federal and state regulators periodically examine our business and may require us to remediate adverse examination findings or may take enforcement action against us.

The Federal Reserve and the TDFI periodically examine our business, including our compliance with laws and regulations. If, as a result of an examination, the Federal Reserve or the TDFI were to determine that our financial condition, capital resources, asset quality, earnings prospects, management, liquidity or other aspects of any of our operations had become unsatisfactory, or that we were in violation of any law or regulation, they may take a number of different remedial actions as they deem appropriate. These actions include the power to require us to remediate any such adverse examination findings.

In addition, these agencies have the power to take enforcement action against us to enjoin “unsafe or unsound” practices, to require affirmative action to correct any conditions resulting from any violation of law or regulation or unsafe or unsound practice, to issue an administrative order that can be judicially enforced, to direct an increase in our capital, to direct the sale of subsidiaries or other assets, to limit dividends and distributions, to restrict our growth, to assess civil monetary penalties against us or our officers or directors, to remove officers and directors and, if it is concluded that such conditions cannot be corrected or there is an imminent risk of loss to depositors, to terminate our deposit insurance and place us into receivership or conservatorship. Any regulatory enforcement action against us could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

We are subject to numerous fair lending laws designed to protect consumers and failure to comply with these laws could lead to a wide variety of sanctions.

The CRA, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act and other fair lending laws and regulations prohibit discriminatory lending practices by financial institutions. The U.S. Department of Justice, federal banking agencies, and other federal agencies are responsible for enforcing these laws and regulations. A successful regulatory challenge to an institution’s compliance with fair lending laws and regulations could result in a wide variety of sanctions, including damages and civil money penalties, injunctive relief, restrictions on mergers and acquisitions activity, restrictions on expansion, and restrictions on entering new lines of business. Private parties may also have the ability to challenge an institution’s performance under fair lending laws in private class action litigation. Such actions could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

We face a risk of noncompliance and enforcement action with the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering statutes and regulations.

The Bank Secrecy Act, the USA Patriot Act and other laws and regulations require financial institutions, among other duties, to institute and maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and to file reports such as suspicious activity reports and currency transaction reports. We are required to comply with these and other anti-money laundering requirements. The federal banking agencies and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network are authorized to impose significant civil money penalties for violations of those requirements and have recently engaged in coordinated enforcement efforts against banks and other financial service providers with the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service, or IRS. We are also subject to increased scrutiny of compliance with the rules enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC. If our policies, procedures and systems are deemed deficient, we would be subject to liability, including fines and regulatory actions, which may include restrictions on our ability to pay dividends and the requirement to obtain regulatory approvals to proceed with certain aspects of our business plan, including our acquisition plans. Failure to maintain and implement adequate programs to combat money laundering and terrorist financing could also have serious reputational consequences for us. Any of these circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

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Financial reform legislation has, among other things, tightened capital standards, created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and resulted in new regulations that are likely to increase our costs of operations.

As final rules and regulations implementing the Dodd-Frank Act have been adopted, this law has significantly changed the current bank regulatory framework and affected the lending, deposit, investment, trading and operating activities of banks and their holding companies. The Dodd-Frank Act requires various federal agencies to adopt a broad range of new implementing rules and regulations and to prepare numerous studies and reports for Congress. The federal agencies are given significant discretion in drafting the implementing rules and regulations, and consequently, many of the details and much of the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act depends on the rules and regulations that implement it.

Among many other changes, the Dodd-Frank Act eliminated the federal prohibitions on paying interest on demand deposits effective one year after the date of its enactment, thus allowing businesses to have interest-bearing checking accounts. Depending on competitive responses, this significant change to existing law could have an adverse impact on our interest expense. The Dodd-Frank Act permanently increased the maximum amount of deposit insurance for banks, savings institutions and credit unions to $250,000 per depositor. The Dodd-Frank Act also directs the federal banking regulators to issue rules prohibiting incentive compensation that encourages inappropriate risks.

The Dodd-Frank Act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or the CFPB, with broad powers to supervise and enforce consumer financial protection laws. The CFPB has broad rule-making authority for a wide range of consumer protection laws that apply to all banks, including the authority to prohibit “unfair, deceptive or abusive” acts and practices.

As noted above, many aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act are subject to rulemaking and take effect over several years, making it difficult to anticipate the overall financial impact on us. However, compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act and its implementing regulations will result in additional operating and compliance costs that could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

We are required to act as a source of financial and managerial strength for our bank in times of stress.

Under federal law and long-standing Federal Reserve policy, we are expected to act as a source of financial and managerial strength to our bank, and to commit resources to support our bank if necessary. We may be required to commit additional resources to our bank at times when we may not be in a financial position to provide such resources or when it may not be in our, or our shareholders’ or creditors,’ best interests to do so. A requirement to provide such support is more likely during times of financial stress for us and our bank, which may make any capital we are required to raise to provide such support more expensive than it might otherwise be. In addition, any capital loans we make to our bank are subordinate in right of repayment to deposit liabilities of our bank. In the event of our bankruptcy, any commitment by us to a federal banking regulator to maintain the capital of our bank will be assumed by the bankruptcy trustee and entitled to priority of payment over general unsecured creditor claims.

Our FDIC deposit insurance premiums and assessments may increase.

The deposits of our bank are insured by the FDIC up to legal limits and, accordingly, subject it to the payment of FDIC deposit insurance assessments as determined according to the calculation described in “Supervision and Regulation—Bank Regulation and Supervision—FDIC Insurance and Other Assessments.” High levels of bank failures since the financial crisis and increases in the statutory deposit insurance limits have increased resolution costs to the FDIC and put significant pressure on the Deposit Insurance Fund. In order to maintain a strong funding position and restore the reserve ratios of the Deposit Insurance Fund following the financial crisis, the

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FDIC increased deposit insurance assessment rates and charged special assessments to all FDIC-insured financial institutions. Further increases in assessment rates or special assessments may occur in the future, especially if there are significant additional financial institution failures. Any future special assessments, increases in assessment rates or required prepayments in FDIC insurance premiums could reduce our profitability or limit our ability to pursue certain business opportunities, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

The federal banking agencies have finalized new liquidity standards that could result in our having to lengthen the term of our funding, restructure our lines of business by forcing us to seek new sources of liquidity for them, and/or increase our holdings of liquid assets.

In September 2014, the U.S. federal banking agencies finalized a new liquidity standard, the liquidity coverage ratio, which requires a large banking organization to hold sufficient “high quality liquid assets” to meet liquidity needs for a 30 calendar day liquidity stress scenario. Although the liquidity coverage ratio does not apply directly to us, the substance of the rule may in the future inform the regulators’ assessment of our liquidity. We could be required to reduce our holdings of illiquid assets, which may adversely affect our results and financial condition. A net stable funding ratio, which imposes a similar requirement over a one-year period, is under consideration for large banking organizations.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock and the Offering

The market price of our common stock may be subject to substantial fluctuations, which may make it difficult for you to sell your shares at the volume, prices and times desired.

The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile, which may make it difficult for you to resell your shares at the volume, prices and times desired. There are many factors that may impact the market price and trading volume of our common stock, including, without limitation, the risks discussed elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section and:

The stock market and, in particular, the market for financial institution stocks, have experienced substantial fluctuations in recent years, which in many cases have been unrelated to the operating performance and prospects of particular companies. In addition, significant fluctuations in the trading volume in our common stock may cause significant price variations to occur. Increased market volatility may materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock, which could make it difficult to sell your shares at the volume, prices and times desired.

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An active, liquid market for our common stock may not develop or be sustained following the offering, which may impair your ability to sell your shares.

Before this offering, there has been no established public market for our common stock. Although our common stock has been approved for listing on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, an active, liquid trading market for our common stock may not develop or be sustained following the offering. A public trading market having the desired characteristics of depth, liquidity and orderliness depends upon the presence in the marketplace and independent decisions of willing buyers and sellers of our common stock, over which we have no control. Without an active, liquid trading market for our common stock, shareholders may not be able to sell their shares at the volume, prices and times desired. Moreover, the lack of an established market could materially and adversely affect the value of our common stock.

Securities analysts may not initiate or continue coverage of our common stock, which could adversely affect the market for our common stock.

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities analysts publish about us and our business. We do not have any control over these securities analysts, and they may not cover our common stock. If securities analysts do not cover our common stock, the lack of research coverage may adversely affect its market price. If we are covered by securities analysts, and our common stock is the subject of an unfavorable report, the price of our common stock may decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover us or fail to publish regular reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause the price or trading volume of our common stock to decline.

We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from this offering, and our use of those proceeds may not yield a favorable return on your investment.

We expect to use the net proceeds of this offering, along with available cash, for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, the support of balance sheet growth, the acquisition of other banks or financial institutions or other complementary businesses to the extent such opportunities arise, and the maintenance of our capital and liquidity ratios, and the ratios of our bank, at appropriate levels. Our management has broad discretion over how these proceeds are used and could spend the proceeds in ways with which you may not agree. In addition, we may not use the proceeds of this offering effectively or in a manner that increases our market value or enhances our profitability. We have not established a timetable for the effective deployment of the proceeds, and investing the offering proceeds in securities until we are able to deploy the proceeds will provide lower margins that we generally earn on loans, potentially adversely affecting shareholder returns, including earnings per share, return on assets and return on equity.

Investors in this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution.

The initial public offering price is substantially higher than the tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately following this offering. Therefore, if you purchase shares in this offering, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution in tangible book value per share in relation to the price that you paid for your shares. We expect the dilution as a result of the offering to be $4.29 per share, based on the initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, and our tangible book value of $10.54 per share as of June 30, 2016. Accordingly, if we were liquidated at our tangible book value, you would not receive the full amount of your investment.

A future issuance of stock could dilute the value of our common stock.

Our charter permits us to issue up to an aggregate of 25 million shares of common stock. As of September 13, 2016, 8,684,699 shares of our common stock were issued and outstanding, including 210,074 shares of restricted common stock that have yet to vest. Those shares outstanding do not include the potential issuance, as of September 13, 2016, of 1,609,756 shares of our common stock that are issuable upon conversion of shares of our Series A Preferred Stock, including any such shares to be converted in connection with this offering, 1,029,125

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shares of our common stock subject to issuance upon exercise of outstanding stock options under the Stock Incentive Plan, 797,319 shares of our common stock that are issuable pursuant to exercise of outstanding warrants, including any such shares to be issued pursuant to the exercise of warrants in connection with this offering, and 183,636 additional shares of our common stock that were reserved for issuance under the Stock Incentive Plan. A future issuance of any new shares of our common stock would, and equity-related securities could, cause further dilution in the value of our outstanding shares of common stock.

If a substantial number of shares become available for sale and are sold in a short period of time, the market price of our common stock could decline.

If our existing shareholders sell substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market following this offering, the market price of our common stock could decrease significantly. The perception in the public market that our existing shareholders might sell shares of common stock could also depress our market price and hinder our ability to raise equity capital in the future. Upon completion of this offering, we will have 10,795,871 shares of common stock outstanding, or 11,183,621 shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, in each case assuming no exercise of outstanding options or of warrants other than those being exercised by a selling shareholder in connection with this offering.

All of the 2,585,000 shares of common stock sold in this offering (or 2,972,750 shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full) will be freely tradable without further restriction or registration under the Securities Act, except that our directors, executive officers, and certain additional other holders of our common stock will be subject to the lock-up agreements described in “Underwriting” and the Rule 144 requirements described in “Shares Eligible for Future Sale.” After expiration of the lock-up periods and pursuant to compliance with Rule 144, 2,783,742 additional shares, or 26% of our outstanding shares of common stock (assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional shares and assuming no exercise of outstanding options or of warrants other than those being exercised by a selling shareholder in connection with this offering), will be eligible for sale in the public market. The market price of shares of our common stock may drop significantly when these resale restrictions lapse. A decline in the price of shares of our common stock might impede our ability to raise capital through the issuance of additional shares of our common stock or other equity securities and could result in a decline in the value of the shares of our common stock purchased in this offering.

In addition, we plan to file a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register an aggregate of 1,422,835 shares of common stock for issuance under our Stock Incentive Plan, of which 1,239,199 shares are subject to outstanding options to purchase such shares and 183,636 are reserved for future issuance. We may issue all of these shares without any action or approval by our shareholders, and these shares, once issued (including upon exercise of outstanding options), will be available for sale into the public market, subject to the restrictions described in “Shares Eligible for Future Sale.”

Following this offering, our directors, executive officers and principal shareholders will continue to have the ability to exert influence over our business and corporate affairs.

Our executive officers, directors and principal shareholders, as a group, beneficially owned approximately 50.7% of our outstanding shares as of September 13, 2016. Upon consummation of this offering, that same group, in the aggregate, will beneficially own approximately 35% of our outstanding shares, assuming no exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option and no exercise of outstanding options or of outstanding warrants other than those being exercised by a selling shareholder in connection with this offering and after giving effect to the issuance of shares in this offering (including any shares purchased by our existing shareholders). As a result of their ownership, our executive officers, directors and principal shareholders will continue to have the ability, by voting their shares in concert, to influence the outcome of all matters submitted to our shareholders for approval, as well as our management and affairs. This concentration of voting power could delay or prevent an acquisition of our Company on terms that other shareholders may desire, which in turn could depress our share price and may prevent attempts by our shareholders to replace or remove the board of directors or management.

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In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Second Amended and Restated Shareholders’ Agreement, or SARSA, among us, our bank, Corsair III Financial Services Capital Partners, L.P., Corsair III Financial Services Offshore 892 Partners, L.P., or together, the Corsair funds, and certain other investors, the Corsair funds may recommend one nominee to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the boards of directors of the Company and our bank for election to such boards, subject to any required regulatory and shareholder approvals. All shareholders party to the SARSA have agreed to vote their shares to elect such nominee upon recommendation by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Company and our bank and approval by the boards of directors and all applicable regulatory authorities (if necessary). This right of the Corsair funds is not expected to terminate in connection with this offering. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Related Party Transactions—Second Amended and Restated Shareholders’ Agreement” for additional information.

There are substantial regulatory limitations on changes of control of bank holding companies.

With certain limited exceptions, federal regulations prohibit a person or company or a group of persons deemed to be “acting in concert” from, directly or indirectly, acquiring 10% or more (5% if the acquirer is a bank holding company) of any class of our voting stock or obtaining the ability to control in any manner the election of a majority of our directors or otherwise direct the management or policies of our company without prior notice or application to and the approval of the Federal Reserve. Accordingly, prospective investors need to be aware of and comply with these requirements, if applicable, in connection with any purchase of shares of our common stock. These provisions effectively inhibit certain mergers or other business combinations, which, in turn, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We have the ability to incur debt and pledge our assets, including our stock in our bank, to secure that debt.

We have the ability to incur debt and pledge our assets to secure that debt. Absent special and unusual circumstances, a holder of indebtedness for borrowed money has rights that are superior to those of holders of our common stock. For example, interest must be paid to a lender before dividends can be paid to our shareholders, and, in the case of liquidation, our borrowings must be repaid before we can distribute any assets to our shareholders. Furthermore, we would have to make principal and interest payments on our indebtedness, which could reduce our profitability or result in net losses on a consolidated basis even if our bank were profitable.

The rights of our common shareholders are subordinate to the rights of the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock and any debt securities that we may issue and may be subordinate to the holders of any other class of preferred stock that we may issue in the future.

As of September 13, 2016, we have issued 1,609,756 shares of our Series A Preferred Stock, and we expect 878,049 shares of our Series A Preferred Stock to be outstanding following this offering. These shares have certain rights that are senior to our common stock. Holders of our Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to receive, when, as and if declared by our board of directors, cash dividends to the same extent and on the same basis as cash dividends as declared by our board of directors with respect to common stock. Such dividends on shares of Series A Preferred Stock are payable on the same dates as dividends on shares of common stock but prior to the payment of any dividends on shares of common stock. In the event of our bankruptcy, dissolution or liquidation, the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to receive a liquidation preference of $10.25 per share of Series A Preferred Stock, plus any amount equal to all dividends declared and unpaid thereon, before any distributions can be made to the holders of our common stock.

Our charter authorizes our board of directors to issue an aggregate of up to five million shares of preferred stock without any further action on the part of our shareholders. Our board of directors also has the power, without shareholder approval, to set the terms of any series of preferred stock that may be issued, including voting rights, dividend rights, and preferences over our common stock with respect to dividends or in the event of

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a dissolution, liquidation or winding up and other terms. Accordingly, you should assume that any shares of preferred stock that we may issue in the future will also be senior to our common stock. In the event that we issue preferred stock in the future that has preference over our common stock with respect to payment of dividends or upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, or if we issue preferred stock with voting rights that dilute the voting power of our common stock, the rights of the holders of our common stock or the market price of our common stock could be adversely affected.

We and our bank are subject to capital and other legal and regulatory requirements which restrict our ability to pay dividends, and we do not intend to pay dividends in the foreseeable future.

We are subject to certain restrictions on the payment of cash dividends as a result of banking laws, regulations and policies. In addition, because our bank is our only material asset, our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders depends on our receipt of dividends from the bank, which is also subject to restrictions on dividends as a result of banking laws, regulations and policies. Finally, our board of directors intends to retain all of our earnings to promote growth and build capital. Accordingly, we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, if the receipt of dividends over the near term is important to you, you should not invest in our common stock. For additional information, see “Dividend Policy.”

Tennessee and federal law limits the ability of others to acquire us or the bank, which may restrict your ability to fully realize the value of your common stock.

In many cases, shareholders receive a premium for their shares when one company purchases another. Tennessee and federal law makes it difficult for anyone to purchase us or our bank without approval of our board of directors and the approval of state and federal regulators. Thus, your ability to realize the potential benefits of any sale by us may be limited, even if such sale would represent a greater value for shareholders than our continued independent operation.

An investment in our common stock is not an insured deposit and is subject to risk of loss.

Our common stock is not a bank deposit and, therefore, is not insured against loss by the FDIC, the Deposit Insurance Fund or by any other public or private entity. Investment in our common stock is inherently risky for the reasons described in this “Risk Factors” section and is subject to the same market forces that affect the price of common stock in any company. As a result, an investor may lose some or all of such investor’s investment in our common stock.

Our corporate governance documents, and certain corporate and banking laws applicable to us, may adversely affect our common shareholders and could make a takeover of us more difficult.

Certain provisions of our charter and bylaws and corporate and federal banking laws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of our organization, even if those events were perceived by many of our shareholders as beneficial to their interests. These provisions, and the corporate and banking laws and regulations applicable to us:

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These provisions may adversely affect our common shareholders and could discourage potential acquisition proposals and could delay or prevent a change in control, including under circumstances in which our shareholders might otherwise receive a premium over the market price of our shares.

We are an “emerging growth company,” and the reduced regulatory and reporting requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as described in the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company we may take advantage of reduced regulatory and reporting requirements that are otherwise generally applicable to public companies. These include, without limitation, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced financial reporting requirements, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation, a potential exemption from new auditing standards adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and exemptions from the requirements of holding non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation and golden parachute payments.

We may take advantage of these provisions for up to five years, unless we earlier cease to be an emerging growth company, which would occur if our annual gross revenue exceeds $1.0 billion, if we issue more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt in a three-year period, or if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. Investors may find our common stock less attractive if we rely on these reduced regulatory and reporting requirements, which may result in a less active trading market and increased volatility in our stock price.

Fulfilling our public company financial reporting and other regulatory obligations will be expensive and time consuming, and it may strain our resources and negatively impact our operations.

Following this offering, we will become subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the related rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC. These laws and regulations increase the scope, complexity and cost of corporate governance, reporting and disclosure practices over those of non-public or non-reporting companies. Despite our conducting business in a highly regulated environment, these laws and regulations have different requirements for compliance than we experienced prior to becoming a reporting company. Our expenses related to services rendered by our accountants, legal counsel and consultants have increased in order to ensure compliance with these laws and regulations that we became subject to as a reporting company and may increase further as we become a public company and grow in size. These provisions, as well as any other aspects of current or proposed regulatory or legislative changes to laws applicable to us may impact the profitability of our business activities and may change certain of our business practices, including our ability to offer new products, obtain financing, attract deposits, make loans and achieve satisfactory interest spreads and could expose us to additional costs, including increased compliance costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our assets, business, cash flow, condition (financial or otherwise), liquidity, prospects and results of operations.

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