Charles Schwab Corporation: 10-K Risk Factor Changes

We must process, record and monitor a large number of transactions and our operations are highly dependent on the integrity of our technology systems and our ability to make timely enhancements and additions to our systems. System interruptions, errors or downtime can result from a variety of causes, including changes in client use patterns, technological failure, changes to our systems, linkages with third-party systems and power failures and can have a significant impact on our business and operations. Our systems are vulnerable to disruptions from human error, execution errors, errors in models such as those used for asset management, capital planning and management, risk management, stress testing and compliance, employee misconduct, unauthorized trading, external fraud, computer viruses, distributed denial of service attacks, cyber attacks, terrorist attacks, natural disaster, extreme weather, power outage, capacity constraints, software flaws, events impacting key business partners and vendors, and similar events. For example, we and other financial institutions have been the target of various denial of service attacks that have, in certain circumstances, made websites, mobile applications and email unavailable for periods of time. Cloud technologies are critical to the operation of our systems and platforms and our reliance on cloud technologies is growing. Cloud service disruptions may lead to delays in accessing data that is important to our businesses and may hinder our clients’ access to our platforms. It could take an extended period of time to restore full functionality to our technology or other operating systems in the event of an unforeseen occurrence, which could affect our ability to process and settle client transactions. Despite our efforts to identify areas of risk, oversee operational areas involving risk, and implement policies and procedures designed to manage these risks, there can be no assurance that we will not suffer unexpected losses, reputational damage or regulatory action due to technology or other operational failures or errors, including those of our vendors or other third parties. While we devote substantial attention and resources to the reliability, capacity and scalability of our systems, we occasionally experience extraordinary trading volumes, which have caused and could cause our computer systems to operate at unacceptably slow speeds or even fail, affecting our ability to process client transactions and potentially resulting in some clients’ orders being executed at prices they did not anticipate. Disruptions in service and slower system response times could result in substantial losses, decreased client satisfaction, reputational damage, and regulatory inquiries. We are also dependent on the integrity and performance of securities exchanges, clearing houses, market makers, dealers, and other intermediaries to which client orders are - 17 - - 17 - - 17 -

We must process, record and monitor a large number of transactions and our operations are highly dependent on the integrity of our technology systems and our ability to make timely enhancements and additions to our systems. System interruptions, errors or downtime can result from a variety of causes, including changes in client use patterns, technological failure, changes to our systems, linkages with third-party systems and power failures and can have a significant impact on our business and operations. Our systems are vulnerable to disruptions from human error, execution errors, errors in models such as those used for asset management, capital planning and management, risk management, stress testing and compliance, employee misconduct, unauthorized trading, external fraud, computer viruses, distributed denial of service attacks, cyber attacks, terrorist attacks, natural disaster, extreme weather, power outage, capacity constraints, software flaws, events impacting key business partners and vendors, and similar events. For example, we and other financial institutions have been the target of various denial of service attacks that have, in certain circumstances, made websites, mobile applications and email unavailable for periods of time. Cloud technologies are critical to the operation of our systems and platforms and our reliance on cloud technologies is growing. Cloud service disruptions may lead to delays in accessing data that is important to our businesses and may hinder our clients’ access to our platforms. It could take an extended period of time to restore full functionality to our technology or other operating systems in the event of an unforeseen occurrence, which could affect our ability to process and settle client transactions. Despite our efforts to identify areas of risk, oversee operational areas involving risk, and implement policies and procedures designed to manage these risks, there can be no assurance that we will not suffer unexpected losses, reputational damage or regulatory action due to technology or other operational failures or errors, including those of our vendors or other third parties. While we devote substantial attention and resources to the reliability, capacity and scalability of our systems, we occasionally experience extraordinary trading volumes, which have caused and could cause our computer systems to operate at unacceptably slow speeds or even fail, affecting our ability to process client transactions and potentially resulting in some clients’ orders being executed at prices they did not anticipate. Disruptions in service and slower system response times could result in substantial losses, decreased client satisfaction, reputational damage, and regulatory inquiries. We are also dependent on the integrity and performance of securities exchanges, clearing houses, market makers, dealers, and other intermediaries to which client orders are routed for execution and settlement. System failures and constraints and transaction errors at such intermediaries could result in delays and erroneous or unanticipated execution prices and cancelled orders, cause substantial losses for us and for our clients, and subject us to claims from our clients for damages, and cause reputational harm. Certain events could increase our client service and processing times due to staffing shortages, remote work or the temporary loss of services from outsourced service providers, such as occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. We consider service quality to be an important part of the client experience and our failure to meet client expectations could result in decreased client satisfaction. We take steps to prevent and detect fraud but the ways that fraudulent activity is attempted is continuously evolving. Although we monitor for new types of fraud, there may be a delay in recognizing the fraud is happening. Besides potential losses, shutting down fraudulent activity often requires a balance with client experience. Instances of fraud might negatively impact our reputation and client confidence in the Company, in addition to any direct losses that might result from such instances.

New legislation, rules, regulations and guidance, or changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing federal, state, foreign and SRO rules, regulations and guidance, including changes relating to mutual funds, money market funds, standards of conduct with clients, conflicts of interest, regulatory treatment of deposit accounts, CRA, changes in required minimum capital and capital structure, and changes in equity market structure, including rules relating to order routing and order-related revenues, may directly affect our operations and profitability or our specific business lines. Recently, the SEC has proposed or adopted a number of new rules, and these new or proposed rules involve sweeping changes that could require significant shifts in industry operations and practices, thereby increasing uncertainty for markets and investors. The U.S. federal banking agencies have recently proposed rules regarding regulatory capital and long-term debt, and compliance with these proposed rules may result in increased costs and reduce our net income. In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor recently proposed rules to significantly broaden the definition of “fiduciary” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, which, among other requirements, would subject broker-dealers who provide non-discretionary investment advice to retirement plans to a “best interest” standard. Our profitability could also be affected by rules and regulations that impact the business and financial communities generally, including changes to the laws governing taxation, electronic commerce, client privacy and security of client data. In addition, the rules and regulations could result in limitations on the lines of business we conduct, modifications to our business practices, more stringent capital and liquidity requirements, increased deposit insurance assessments or additional costs and could limit our ability to return capital to stockholders. These changes may also require us to invest significant management attention and resources to evaluate and make necessary changes to our compliance, risk management, treasury, and operations functions.

New legislation, rules, regulations and guidance, or changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing federal, state, foreign and SRO rules, regulations and guidance, including changes relating to mutual funds, money market funds, standards of conduct with clients, conflicts of interest, regulatory treatment of deposit accounts, CRA, and market structure reform, including order routing practices and order-related revenues, may directly affect our operations and profitability or our specific business lines. Recently, the SEC has proposed or adopted a number of new rules, and these new or proposed rules involve sweeping changes that could require significant shifts in industry operations and practices, thereby increasing uncertainty for markets and investors. Our profitability could also be affected by rules and regulations that impact the business and financial communities generally, including changes to the laws governing taxation, electronic commerce, client privacy and security of client data. In addition, the rules and regulations could result in limitations on the lines of business we conduct, modifications to our business practices, more stringent capital and liquidity requirements, increased deposit insurance assessments or additional costs and could limit our ability to return capital to stockholders. These changes may also require us to invest significant management attention and resources to evaluate and make necessary changes to our compliance, risk management, treasury and operations functions.

The market for qualified personnel in our business is highly competitive. At various times, different functions and roles are in especially high demand in the market, compelling us to pay more to attract talent. Our ability to continue to compete effectively will depend upon our ability to attract new employees and retain existing employees while managing compensation costs. - 20 - - 20 - - 20 -

The market for qualified personnel in our business is highly competitive. At various times, different functions and roles are in especially high demand in the market, compelling us to pay more to attract talent. Our ability to continue to compete effectively will depend upon our ability to attract new employees and retain existing employees while managing compensation costs. We need to continue to hire a significant number of technology personnel and contract staff to complete the TD Ameritrade integration work within the target timeframe. Demand for skilled technology professionals is high and we may experience delays in hiring the appropriate skilled resources. - 20 - - 20 - - 20 -

Maintaining adequate liquidity is crucial to our business operations, including transaction settlement, custody requirements, and lending commitments, among other liquidity needs. We meet our liquidity needs primarily from working capital and cash generated by client activity as well as external financing. Fluctuations in client cash or deposit balances, as well as market conditions or changes in regulatory treatment of client deposits, may affect our ability to meet our liquidity needs. A reduction in our liquidity position could reduce client confidence in us, which could result in the transfer out of client assets and accounts, or could cause us to fail to satisfy our liquidity requirements, including the LCR. In addition, if our broker-dealer or depository institution subsidiaries fail to meet regulatory capital guidelines, or if a depository institution subsidiary is unable to obtain regulatory approval, when required, to declare a dividend, regulators could limit the subsidiaries’ ability to upstream funds to CSC or limit their operations, which could reduce CSC’s liquidity and adversely affect its ability to repay debt, pay dividends on CSC’s preferred stock and common stock, repurchase its shares, or redeem its preferred stock. In addition, CSC may need to provide additional funding to such subsidiaries. Factors which may adversely affect our liquidity position include CS&Co and TDAC having temporary liquidity demands due to timing differences between brokerage transaction settlements and the availability of segregated cash balances, fluctuations in cash held in banking or brokerage client accounts, such as the significant client reallocation from sweep cash to higher-yielding investments that we experienced in 2022 and 2023 in response to rapid interest rate increases, a dramatic increase in our lending activities (including margin, mortgage-related, and personal lending), increased capital requirements, changes in regulatory guidance or interpretations, other regulatory changes, or a loss of market or client confidence in us resulting in unanticipated withdrawals of client funds. As a member firm of securities and derivatives clearing houses, we are required to deposit cash, stock and/or government securities for margin requirements and to clearing funds. The margin requirements may fluctuate significantly from time to time based upon the nature and size of clients’ trading activity and market volatility, and member firms like us have been required to deposit additional funds. Clearing houses could also require additional funds from member firms if a clearing member defaults on its obligations to the clearing house in an amount larger than its own margin and clearing fund deposits. When available cash is not sufficient for our liquidity needs, we may be required to seek external financing. During periods of disruptions in the credit and capital markets, potential sources of external financing could be reduced, and borrowing costs could increase. Although CSC, CS&Co, and TDAC maintain uncommitted, unsecured bank credit lines and CSC has a commercial paper issuance program, as well as a universal shelf registration statement filed with the SEC which can be used to sell securities, financing may not be available on acceptable terms or at all due to market conditions or disruptions in the credit markets. In addition, a downgrade in the Company’s credit ratings could increase its borrowing costs and limit its access to the capital markets. When short-term interest rates rapidly increase, as they did in 2022 and 2023, client movement of certain cash balances out of our sweep features and into higher-yielding alternatives generally increases. When these outflows outpace excess cash on hand and cash generated by maturities and paydowns on our investment and loan portfolios, as they did in 2022 and 2023, we may need to rely on temporary supplemental funding, such as advances under Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) secured credit facilities, borrowings under repurchase agreements with external financial institutions, issuances of brokered certificates of deposit (CDs), or other sources of funding, which have higher costs and could be subject to limitations on availability. In addition, to access new FHLB advances or roll over existing advances, our banking subsidiaries must maintain positive tangible capital, as defined by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Larger unrealized losses on our available for sale (AFS) portfolio due to higher market interest rates negatively impact our capital position inclusive of AOCI, including our tangible capital. - 14 - - 14 - - 14 -

Maintaining adequate liquidity is crucial to our business operations, including transaction settlement, custody requirements, and lending commitments, among other liquidity needs. We meet our liquidity needs primarily from working capital and cash generated by client activity as well as external financing. Fluctuations in client cash or deposit balances, as well as market conditions or changes in regulatory treatment of client deposits, may affect our ability to meet our liquidity needs. A reduction in our liquidity position could reduce client confidence in us, which could result in the transfer of client assets and accounts, or could cause us to fail to satisfy our liquidity requirements, including the LCR. In addition, if our broker-dealer or depository institution subsidiaries fail to meet regulatory capital guidelines, or if a depository institution subsidiary is unable to obtain regulatory approval, when required, to declare a dividend, regulators could limit the subsidiaries’ ability to upstream funds to CSC or limit their operations, which could reduce CSC’s liquidity and adversely affect its ability to repay debt, pay dividends on CSC’s preferred stock and common stock, repurchase its shares, or redeem its preferred stock. In addition, CSC may need to provide additional funding to such subsidiaries. Factors which may adversely affect our liquidity position include CS&Co and TDAC having temporary liquidity demands due to timing differences between brokerage transaction settlements and the availability of segregated cash balances, fluctuations in cash held in banking or brokerage client accounts, a dramatic increase in our lending activities (including margin, mortgage-related, and personal lending), increased capital requirements, changes in regulatory guidance or interpretations, other regulatory changes, or a loss of market or client confidence in us resulting in unanticipated withdrawals of client funds. As a member firm of securities and derivatives clearing houses, we are required to deposit cash, stock and/or government securities for margin requirements and to clearing funds. The margin requirements may fluctuate significantly from time to time based upon the nature and size of clients’ trading activity and market volatility, and member firms like us have been required to deposit additional funds. Clearing houses could also require additional funds from member firms if a clearing member defaults on its obligations to the clearing house in an amount larger than its own margin and clearing fund deposits. When available cash is not sufficient for our liquidity needs, we may be required to seek external financing. During periods of disruptions in the credit and capital markets, potential sources of external financing could be reduced, and borrowing costs could increase. Although CSC, CS&Co, and TDAC maintain uncommitted, unsecured bank credit lines and CSC has a commercial paper issuance program, as well as a universal shelf registration statement filed with the SEC which can be used to sell securities, - 17 - - 17 - - 17 -

Our business can be adversely affected by the general environment – economic, corporate, securities market, regulatory, and geopolitical developments all play a role in client asset valuations, trading activity, interest rates, and overall investor engagement, and are outside of our control. Deterioration in the housing and credit markets and decreases in securities valuations negatively impact our results of operations and capital resources. The monetary policies of the Federal Reserve, which regulates the supply of money and credit in the United States, have a significant effect on our operating results. Actions taken by the Federal Reserve, including changes in its target funds rate and its own balance sheet management, are difficult to predict and can affect our financial results, including net interest revenue and bank deposit account fees. These policies can have implications for clients’ allocation to cash as we experienced in 2022 and 2023, and higher or lower client cash balances have an impact on our capital requirements, as well as liquidity implications if such changes in allocation are sudden. Investor sentiment and market and trading dynamics can affect client preferences and security selection, and can impact transactions and asset-based revenues. - 12 - - 12 - - 12 -

Our business can be adversely affected by the general environment – economic, corporate, securities market, regulatory, and geopolitical developments all play a role in client asset valuations, trading activity, interest rates, and overall investor engagement, and are outside of our control. Deterioration in the housing and credit markets, reduction in interest rates, and decreases in securities valuations negatively impact our results of operations and capital resources. The monetary policies of the Federal Reserve, which regulates the supply of money and credit in the United States, have a significant effect on our operating results. Actions taken by the Federal Reserve, including changes in its target funds rate and balance sheet management, are difficult to predict and can affect our net interest revenue and bank deposit account fees. These - 12 - - 12 - - 12 -

We rely heavily on client cash balances to generate revenue. Cash awaiting investment in a portion of our client brokerage accounts is swept to our banking subsidiaries and those bank deposits are then used to extend loans to clients and purchase investment securities. We also sweep a portion of such cash to the TD Depository Institutions pursuant to the 2023 IDA agreement, through which we earn bank deposit account fees. A significant reduction in our clients’ allocation to cash, a change in the allocation of that cash, or a transfer of cash away from the Company, would likely reduce our income. As a result of the rapid increases in short-term interest rates in 2022 and 2023, the Company saw a significant decrease in clients’ asset allocation to sweep cash and greater client investment in higher-yielding alternatives at Schwab such as fixed income investments and proprietary purchased money market funds. To help facilitate these changes in client cash allocations, the Company has utilized higher-cost supplemental funding sources, which has negatively impacted the Company’s net income.

We rely heavily on client cash balances to generate revenue. Cash awaiting investment in a portion of our client brokerage accounts is swept to our banking subsidiaries and those bank deposits are then used to extend loans to clients and purchase investment securities. We also sweep a portion of such cash to unconsolidated third-party financial institutions, including pursuant to the IDA agreement, through which we earn bank deposit account fees. A significant reduction in our clients’ allocation to cash, a change in the allocation of that cash, or a transfer of cash away from the Company, could reduce our income.

result in unauthorized access, misuse, loss or destruction of data (including confidential client information), account takeovers, unavailability of service or other events. Despite our efforts to ensure the integrity of our systems, we may not be able to anticipate or to implement effective preventive measures against all security breaches of these types, especially because the techniques used change frequently or are not recognized until launched, and because security attacks can originate from a wide variety of sources. Data security breaches may also result from non-technical means, for example, employee misconduct. Given the high volume of transactions that we process, the large number of clients, counterparties and third-party service providers with which we do business, including cloud service providers, and the increasing sophistication of cyber attacks, a cyber attack could occur and persist for an extended period of time before being detected. The extent of a particular cyber attack and the steps we may need to take to investigate the attack may not be immediately clear, and it may take a significant amount of time before an investigation is completed and full and reliable information about the attack is known. During such time we would not necessarily know the extent of the harm or how best to remediate it, and certain errors or actions could be repeated or compounded before they are discovered and remediated, all or any of which would further increase the costs and consequences of a cyber attack. Security breaches, including breaches of our security measures or those of our third-party service providers or clients, could result in a violation of applicable privacy and other laws and could subject us to significant liability or loss that may not be covered by insurance, actions by our regulators, damage to our reputation, or a loss of confidence in our security measures which could harm our business. We may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify our protective measures or to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures. We may also be required to pay ransom to threat actors to restore or prevent dissemination of data. We also face risk related to external fraud involving the misappropriation and use of clients’ user names, passwords or other personal information to gain access to our clients’ financial accounts. This could occur from the compromise of clients’ personal electronic devices or as a result of a data security breach at an unrelated company where clients’ personal information is taken and then made available to fraudsters. Additionally, data exposure can result from a failure to adequately destroy data during system or asset decommissioning, which might result in client or Company information being made available to external parties in error. Such risks have grown in recent years due to the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime and other external parties, including foreign state-sponsored parties. Losses reimbursed to clients under our guarantee against unauthorized account activity could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business involves the secure processing, storage, and transmission of confidential information about our clients and us. Information security risks for financial institutions are increasing, in part because of the use of the internet and mobile and cloud technologies to conduct financial transactions, and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, activists, hackers and other external parties, including foreign state actors. Our systems and those of other financial institutions have been and will continue to be the target of cyber attacks, malicious code, computer viruses, ransomware, and denial of service attacks that could result in unauthorized access, misuse, loss or destruction of data (including confidential client information), account takeovers, unavailability of service or other events. Despite our efforts to ensure the integrity of our systems, we may not be able to anticipate or to implement effective preventive measures against all security breaches of these types, especially because the techniques used change frequently or are not recognized until launched, and because security attacks can originate from a wide variety of sources. Data security breaches may also result from non-technical means, for example, employee misconduct. Given the high volume of transactions that we process, the large number of clients, counterparties and third-party service providers with which we do business, including cloud service providers, and the increasing sophistication of cyber attacks, a cyber attack could occur and persist for an extended period of time before being detected. The extent of a particular cyber attack and the steps we may need to take to investigate the attack may not be immediately clear, and it may take a significant amount of time before an investigation is completed and full and reliable information about the attack is known. During such time we would not necessarily know the extent of the harm or how best to remediate it, and certain errors or actions could be repeated or compounded before they are discovered and remediated, all or any of which would further increase the costs and consequences of a cyber attack. Security breaches, including breaches of our security measures or those of our third-party service providers or clients, could result in a violation of applicable privacy and other laws and could subject us to significant liability or loss that may not be covered by insurance, actions by our regulators, damage to our reputation, or a loss of confidence in our security measures which could harm our business. We may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify our protective measures or to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures. We also face risk related to external fraud involving the misappropriation and use of clients’ user names, passwords or other personal information to gain access to our clients’ financial accounts. This could occur from the compromise of clients’ personal electronic devices or as a result of a data security breach at an unrelated company where clients’ personal information is taken and then made available to fraudsters. Such risk has grown in recent years due to the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime and other external parties, including foreign state-sponsored parties. Losses reimbursed to clients under our - 15 - - 15 - - 15 -

As a participant in the securities, banking, and financial services industries, we are subject to extensive regulation under federal, state, and foreign laws by governmental agencies, supervisory authorities and SROs. The costs and uncertainty related to complying with such regulations continue to increase. These regulations affect our business operations and impose capital, client protection, and market conduct requirements on us as well as restrictions on the activities that we are allowed to conduct. We become subject to increasing regulatory scrutiny as we grow. Regulators have broad discretion in connection with their supervisory and enforcement activities and examination policies, and could prevent us from pursuing our business strategy. Regulators could also limit our ability to grow, including adding assets, launching new products, making acquisitions, and undertaking strategic investments. Our banking regulators could require CSC and/or our banking subsidiaries to hold more capital, increase liquidity, or limit their ability to pay dividends or CSC’s ability to repurchase or redeem shares. Despite our efforts to comply with applicable legal requirements, there are a number of risks, particularly in areas where applicable laws or regulations may be unclear or where regulators could revise their previous guidance. Any enforcement actions or other proceedings brought by our regulators against us or our affiliates, officers or employees could result in fines, penalties, cease and desist orders, enforcement actions, suspension, disqualification or expulsion, or other disciplinary sanctions, including limitations on our business activities, any of which could harm our reputation and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. While we maintain systems and procedures designed to ensure that we comply with applicable laws and regulations, violations could occur. In addition, some legal/regulatory frameworks provide for the imposition of fines or penalties for noncompliance even though the noncompliance was inadvertent or unintentional and even though systems and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violations were in place at the time. There may be other negative consequences resulting from a finding of noncompliance, including restrictions on certain activities. Such a finding may also damage our reputation and our relationships with our regulators and could restrict the ability of institutional investment managers to invest in our securities.

As a participant in the securities, banking, and financial services industries, we are subject to extensive regulation under federal, state, and foreign laws by governmental agencies, supervisory authorities and SROs. The costs and uncertainty related to complying with such regulations continue to increase. These regulations affect our business operations and impose capital, client protection, and market conduct requirements on us as well as restrictions on the activities that we are allowed to conduct. We become subject to increasing regulatory scrutiny as we grow. Regulators have broad discretion in connection with their supervisory and enforcement activities and examination policies and could prevent us from pursuing our business strategy. Regulators could also limit our ability to grow, including adding assets, launching new products, making acquisitions, and undertaking strategic investments. Our banking regulators could require CSC and/or our banking subsidiaries to hold more capital, increase liquidity, or limit their ability to pay dividends or CSC’s ability to repurchase or redeem shares. Despite our efforts to comply with applicable legal requirements, there are a number of risks, particularly in areas where applicable laws or regulations may be unclear or where regulators could revise their previous guidance. Any enforcement actions or other proceedings brought by our regulators against us or our affiliates, officers or employees could result in fines, penalties, cease and desist orders, enforcement actions, suspension, disqualification or expulsion, - 13 - - 13 - - 13 -

result in certain mandatory and additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a negative impact on us. In addition, failure by CSC or our banking subsidiaries to maintain a sufficient amount of capital to satisfy their stress capital buffer (CSC) or capital conservation buffer (banking subsidiaries) and countercyclical capital buffer requirements would result in restrictions on our ability to make capital distributions and discretionary cash bonus payments to executive officers. Any requirement that we increase our regulatory capital, replace certain capital instruments which presently qualify as Tier 1 Capital, or increase regulatory capital ratios or liquidity, could require us to liquidate assets, deleverage or otherwise change our business and/or investment plans, which may adversely affect our financial results. Issuing additional common stock would dilute the ownership of existing stockholders. CSC is subject to the CCAR process, which requires submission of an annual capital plan, and determination of CSC’s stress capital buffer. The plan must include a description of all planned capital actions, including dividends or stock repurchases, over a nine-quarter planning horizon beginning with the first quarter of the calendar year the capital plan is submitted. CSC’s risk-based capital ratios must exceed the regulatory minimum plus the stress capital buffer. The stress capital buffer could make us subject to progressively more stringent constraints on capital actions if we approach our minimum ratios. This could lead to restrictions on our ability to pay or increase dividends or otherwise return capital to stockholders. If the average of CSC’s total consolidated assets for four consecutive calendar quarters reaches $700 billion, or if the average of cross-jurisdictional activity for four consecutive calendar quarters reaches $75 billion, CSC will become subject to more stringent Category II requirements, including annual stress testing, the advanced approaches framework, and the inability to opt out of including AOCI in regulatory capital calculations. At December 31, 2023, CSC had approximately $493 billion in total assets and cross-jurisdictional activity of approximately $25 billion. See also Part II – Item 7 – Current Regulatory and Other Developments for discussion of regulatory proposals that could, among other things, require the Company to include AOCI in its regulatory capital calculations.

CSC, together with its banking, broker-dealer, and FCM/FDM subsidiaries, must meet certain capital and liquidity standards, subject to qualitative judgments by regulators about the adequacy of our capital and our internal assessment of our capital needs. The Uniform Net Capital Rule limits the ability of our broker-dealer entities to transfer capital to CSC and other affiliates. New regulatory capital, liquidity, capital planning, and stress testing requirements may limit or otherwise restrict how we utilize our capital, including paying dividends, stock repurchases, and redemptions, and may require us to increase our capital and/or liquidity or to limit our growth. Failure by either CSC or its banking subsidiaries to meet minimum capital requirements could result in certain mandatory and additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a negative impact on us. In addition, failure by CSC or our banking subsidiaries to maintain a sufficient amount of capital to satisfy their stress capital buffer (CSC) or capital conservation buffer (banking subsidiaries) and countercyclical capital buffer requirements would result in restrictions on our ability to make capital distributions and discretionary cash bonus payments to executive officers. Any requirement that we increase our regulatory capital, replace certain capital instruments which presently qualify as Tier 1 Capital, or increase regulatory capital ratios or liquidity, could require us to liquidate assets, deleverage or otherwise change our business and/or investment plans, which may adversely affect our financial results. Issuing additional common stock would dilute the ownership of existing stockholders. In 2022, CSC became subject to the CCAR process, which requires submission of an annual capital plan, and determination of CSC’s stress capital buffer. The plan must include a description of all planned capital actions, including dividends or stock repurchases, over a nine-quarter planning horizon beginning with the first quarter of the calendar year the capital plan is submitted. CSC’s risk-based capital ratios must exceed the regulatory minimum plus the stress capital buffer. The stress capital buffer could make us subject to progressively more stringent constraints on capital actions if we approach our minimum ratios. This could lead to restrictions on our ability to pay or increase dividends or otherwise return capital to stockholders. If the average of CSC’s total consolidated assets for four consecutive calendar quarters reaches $700 billion, or if the average of cross-jurisdictional activity for four consecutive calendar quarters reaches $75 billion, CSC will become subject to more stringent Category II requirements, including annual stress testing, the advanced approaches framework, and the inability to opt out of including AOCI in regulatory capital calculations. At December 31, 2022, CSC had approximately $552 billion in total assets and cross-jurisdictional activity of approximately $29 billion. - 14 - - 14 - - 14 -

We rely on market makers, dealers, securities exchanges, clearing houses, and other financial intermediaries to execute and settle our clients’ orders. In addition, payments received from market makers and exchanges in connection with the execution of client equity and options trades, and from dealers and other counterparties in connection with securities lending, account for significant revenue. The unwillingness or inability of any of these parties to perform their usual functions coupled with the unavailability of alternative arrangements could result in our clients’ orders not getting executed or settled. This may be due to market volatility, uneconomic trading conditions, capacity constraints, financial constraints, system failures, unanticipated trading halts invoked by securities exchanges, market closures, or other reasons. Our inability to get client orders executed or settled because of the unwillingness or inability of these parties to perform their usual functions could result in client dissatisfaction and reputational harm and expose us to client claims for damages. - 18 - - 18 - - 18 -

We rely on market makers, dealers, securities exchanges, clearing houses, and other financial intermediaries to execute and settle our clients’ orders. The unwillingness or inability of any of these parties to perform their usual functions coupled with the unavailability of alternative arrangements could result in our clients’ orders not getting executed or settled. This may be due to market volatility, uneconomic trading conditions, capacity constraints, financial constraints, system failures, unanticipated trading halts invoked by securities exchanges, market closures, or other reasons. Our inability to get client orders executed or settled because of the unwillingness or inability of these parties to perform their usual functions could result in client dissatisfaction and reputational harm and expose us to client claims for damages.

Although our acquisition of TD Ameritrade was structured such that completion of the merger would not result in CSC either (i) being deemed to be “controlled” (as that term is interpreted by the Federal Reserve under the BHC Act or HOLA) by The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank) or (ii) being deemed to be in “control” of any of TD Bank’s depository institutions, changes in circumstances could trigger presumptions of control under the Federal Reserve’s regulations. This could occur if TD Bank and its affiliates own more than 9.9% of Schwab common stock, as interpreted in accordance with the applicable rules of the Federal Reserve. While the Stockholder Agreement between CSC and TD Bank prohibits TD Bank and its affiliates from exceeding the 9.9% threshold, it could happen unintentionally. This presumption of control could also be triggered if the revenue generated to either us or to any of the TD Bank depository institutions exceeds a certain percentage. The Stockholder Agreement contains provisions to address such situations.

Although our acquisition of TD Ameritrade was structured such that completion of the merger would not result in CSC either (i) being deemed to be “controlled” by TD Bank (as that term is interpreted by the Federal Reserve under the BHC Act or HOLA) or (ii) being deemed to be in “control” of any of TD Bank’s depository institutions, changes in circumstances could trigger presumptions of control under the Federal Reserve’s regulations. This could occur if TD Bank and its affiliates own more than 9.9% of Schwab common stock, as interpreted in accordance with the applicable rules of the Federal Reserve. While the Stockholder Agreement between CSC and TD Bank prohibits TD Bank and its affiliates from exceeding the 9.9% threshold, it could happen unintentionally. This presumption of control could also be triggered if the revenue generated to either us or to any of the TD Bank depository institutions exceeds a certain percentage. The Stockholder Agreement contains provisions to address such situations. Under the IDA agreement, we are only permitted to reduce the deposit balances swept to the TD Depository Institutions by a set amount during each 12-month period, subject to certain limitations and adjustments including maintaining a minimum $50 billion IDA sweep balance through June 2031. The bank deposit account fee revenue that we earn related to the IDA agreement may be less than the net interest revenue that we could have earned if the deposit balances were swept to our banking subsidiaries rather than the TD Depository Institutions. When we are permitted to reduce the IDA balances, we can only move the balances to our banking subsidiaries if we have sufficient capital. In addition, in a low rate environment it is possible that the sweep arrangement fee computation could result in a negative amount that we would be required to pay the TD Depository Institutions, resulting in us having an expense rather than revenue.

The direction and level of interest rates are important factors in our earnings. A decline in interest rates may have a negative impact on our net interest revenue and our bank deposit account fee revenue. The Company’s interest-earning assets include significant holdings of investment securities, which include fixed- and floating-rate debt securities, including substantial holdings of mortgage-backed securities, as well as mortgages. The Company could be adversely affected by a decline in interest rates if the rates that the Company earns on interest-earning assets decline more than the rates that the Company pays on its funding sources, or if prepayment rates increase on the mortgages and mortgage-backed securities that the Company holds. A low interest rate environment may also have a negative impact on our asset management and administration fee revenues when we have to waive a portion of our management fees, as we experienced in 2020 and 2021, for certain Schwab-sponsored money market mutual funds in order to continue providing a positive return to clients. A decline in interest rates may also negatively impact our bank deposit account fee revenue, which is earned primarily pursuant to the 2023 IDA agreement. A rise in interest rates may cause our funding costs to increase if market conditions or the competitive environment induces us to raise our interest rates to avoid losing deposits, or replace deposits with higher-cost funding sources without offsetting increases in yields on interest-earning assets, which can reduce the benefit of higher market interest rates to our net interest revenue, as we experienced in 2022 and 2023. The rapid increases in market interest rates recently experienced have also contributed to increased unrealized losses on our investment securities portfolios. Increased unrealized losses on investment securities or other assets on our balance sheet can reduce market or client confidence in us, which could limit our ability to attract new client assets and accounts or result in the transfer of client assets and accounts from the Company. A rise in interest rates may also reduce our bank deposit account fee revenue, as clients may reallocate assets out of bank deposit account balances and into higher-yielding investment alternatives, as we experienced in 2022 and 2023. The 2023 IDA agreement involves certain commitments, including the maintenance of prescribed minimum and maximum IDA balances, that limit our ability to respond to changes in interest rates and may impact our profitability and bank deposit account fee revenue. The bank deposit account fee revenue that we earn related to the IDA agreement may be less than the net interest revenue that we could have earned if the deposit balances were swept to our banking subsidiaries rather than the TD Depository Institutions. When we are permitted to reduce the IDA balances, we can only move the balances to our banking subsidiaries if we have sufficient capital.

The direction and level of interest rates are important factors in our earnings. A decline in interest rates may have a negative impact on our net interest revenue and our bank deposit account fee revenue. A low interest rate environment may also have a negative impact on our asset management and administration fee revenues when we have to waive a portion of our management fees for certain Schwab-sponsored money market mutual funds in order to continue providing a positive return to clients. Although we believe our net interest revenue will increase in a rising interest rate environment, a rise in interest rates may cause our funding costs to increase if market conditions or the competitive environment induces us to raise our interest rates to avoid losing deposits, or replace deposits with higher cost funding sources without offsetting increases in yields on interest-earning assets which can reduce the benefit to our net interest revenue.

As part of our integration of TD Ameritrade, the Company expects to complete the remaining client transitions from TD Ameritrade to Schwab in a final transition group in May of 2024. This final transition group includes our most active trader accounts which drive significant revenue for TD Ameritrade and are, therefore, important to the revenue of the combined company. Although we have undertaken extensive planning and testing, the account transitions are complicated and we could experience issues which cause the final transition group or the remaining integration work to be delayed, or negatively impact the client experience. Such issues could adversely impact client retention, integration-related costs, the timing for realizing synergies including those dependent on the wind-down of the operations of the TD Ameritrade broker-dealers, our reputation, and compliance with regulatory requirements. - 19 - - 19 - - 19 -

As part of our TD Ameritrade integration, we plan to transition the TD Ameritrade brokerage accounts to Schwab in multiple transition groups, as well as several TD Ameritrade platforms, while at the same time adding scale. Doing the conversion in multiple transition groups adds complexity, including maintaining appropriate regulatory capital and liquidity. Although we have undertaken extensive planning and testing, the account transitions are complicated and we could experience issues which cause a transition group to be delayed, or negatively impact the client experience. Such issues could impact client retention, integration-related costs, the timing for realizing synergies, our reputation, and compliance with regulatory requirements. In order to support TD Ameritrade clients through the account transitions, some of which will take place over holiday weekends, we are increasing our client service staffing. If we are not able to add and retain sufficient client service staff or retain other employees working on the account transitions, client service may be unacceptable, leading to higher than anticipated client attrition, or account transitions may not be successful.