The Company's business, as well as the operations and activities of our clients, could be negatively affected by climate change. Climate change presents both physical risks and transition risks to the Company and its clients, and these risks are expected to increase over time. Physical risks refer to the harm arising from acute, climate-related events, such as hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and heatwaves, and chronic shifts in climate, including higher average temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, sea level rise, and ocean acidification. Transition risks refer to stresses to institutions or sectors arising from the shifts in policy, consumer and business sentiment, or technologies associated with the changes that would be part of a transition to a less carbon-dependent economy. Climate change presents multi-faceted risks, including: operational risk from the physical effects of climate events on the Company and its clients' facilities and other assets, including the possible reduction of the value, or destruction, of collateral for our loans; credit risk from borrowers with significant exposure to climate risk; legal, regulatory and compliance risks arising from the policy, legal and regulatory changes associated with the transition to a less carbon-dependent economy; and reputational risk from negative public opinion, regulatory scrutiny and reduced investor and stakeholder confidence due to the Company's actual or perceived action, or inaction, regarding climate change. For example, due to divergent stakeholder views regarding climate change, the Company's reputation may be harmed due to stakeholder concerns about our practices related to climate change, the Company's carbon footprint, and the Company's decision to change or continue to maintain its business relationships with clients who operate in carbon-intensive industries.
In addition, laws, regulations, and the expectations of federal and state banking regulators and supervisory authorities, investors, and other stakeholders regarding appropriate climate risk management, practices and disclosures are continuously evolving and may result in financial institutions, including the Company, being subject to new or heightened requirements and expectations regarding the disclosure and management of their climate risks and related lending, investment and advisory activities. For example, in October 2023, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC and the OCC jointly published interagency guidance on principles for climate-related financial risk management for financial institutions with more than $100 billion in total assets. Although the Company is not subject to the federal banking regulators' interagency guidance, given that climate change could impose systemic risks upon the financial sector, either via disruptions in economic activity resulting from the physical impacts of climate change or changes in policies as the economy transitions to a less carbon-intensive environment, the Company may face regulatory risk of increasing focus on the Company's resilience to climate-related risks, including in the context of stress testing for various climate stress scenarios. In addition, ongoing legislative or regulatory uncertainties and changes regarding climate risk management and practices may result in higher regulatory, compliance, credit, and reputational risks and costs, and may subject the Company to different and potentially conflicting requirements in the various jurisdictions in which it operates.
Although we continue to make efforts to enhance our governance of climate change-related risks and integrate climate considerations into our risk governance framework, the risks associated with climate change are rapidly changing and evolving, making them difficult to assess due to limited data and other uncertainties. For example, climate change may result in increasing premiums for and reduced availability of insurance for our borrowers, including insurance that protects property pledged as collateral, which could negatively affect our ability to assess the risk of potential credit losses.
We could experience increased expenses resulting from strategic planning, litigation, and technology and market changes, and reputational harm as a result of negative public sentiment, regulatory scrutiny, and reduced investor and stakeholder confidence due to our actual or perceived action, or inaction, in response to climate change and our climate change strategy, which, in turn, could have a material negative impact on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.