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Risk Factors - NRUC

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Item 1A. Risk Factors” in this Report. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the impact of events, circumstances or changes in expectations that arise after the date any forward-looking statement is made.

PART I

Item 1. Business


OVERVIEW

Our financial statements include the consolidated accounts of National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (“CFC”) and National Cooperative Services Corporation (“NCSC”).

The business affairs of CFC and NCSC are governed by separate boards of directors for each entity. We provide information on CFC’s corporate governance in “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.” We provide information on the members of each of these entities below in “Item 1. Business—Members” and describe the financing products offered to members by each entity under “Item 1. Business—Loan and Guarantee Programs.” Information on the financial performance of our business segments is disclosed in “Note 16—Business Segments.” Unless stated otherwise, references to “we,” “our” or “us” relate to CFC and its consolidated entities. All references to members within this document include members, associates and affiliates of CFC and its consolidated entities, except where indicated otherwise.

CFC

CFC is a member-owned, finance cooperative association incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia in April 1969. CFC’s principal purpose is to provide its members and associates with financing to supplement the loan programs of the Rural Utilities Service (“RUS”) of the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). CFC extends loans to its rural electric members for construction, acquisitions, system and facility repairs and maintenance, enhancements and

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ongoing operations to support the goal of electric distribution and generation and transmission (“power supply”) systems providing reliable, affordable power to the customers they serve. CFC also provides its members and associates with credit enhancements in the form of letters of credit and guarantees of debt obligations. As a cooperative, CFC is owned by and exclusively serves its membership, which consists of not-for-profit entities or subsidiaries or affiliates of not-for-profit entities. As a member-owned cooperative, CFC’s objective is not to maximize profit, but rather to offer members cost-based financial products and services. As described below under “Allocation and Retirement of Patronage Capital,” CFC annually allocates its net earnings, which consist of net income excluding the effect of certain noncash accounting entries, to (i) a cooperative educational fund; (ii) a general reserve, if necessary; (iii) members based on each member’s patronage of CFC’s loan programs during the year; and (iv) a members’ capital reserve. CFC funds its activities primarily through a combination of public and private issuances of debt securities, member investments and retained equity. As a Section 501(c)(4) tax-exempt, member-owned cooperative, CFC cannot issue equity securities.

NCSC

NCSC, doing business as Utility Capital Solutions, is a taxable cooperative incorporated in 1981 in the District of Columbia as a member-owned cooperative association. NCSC electric members and associates consist of members of CFC, entities eligible to be members of CFC, government or quasi-government entities that own electric utility systems that meet the Rural Electrification Act definition of “rural,” and the for-profit and not-for-profit entities that are owned, operated or controlled by, or provide significant benefit to, Class A, B and C members of CFC. NCSC telecommunications members and associates consist of rural telecommunications members and their affiliates. See “Members” below for a description of our member classes. CFC, which is the primary source of funding for NCSC, manages NCSC’s business operations under a management agreement that is automatically renewable on an annual basis unless terminated by either party. NCSC pays CFC a fee and, in exchange, CFC reimburses NCSC for loan losses under a guarantee agreement. As a taxable cooperative, NCSC pays income tax based on its reported taxable income and deductions. NCSC is headquartered with CFC in Dulles, Virginia.

Cooperative Securities LLC (“Cooperative Securities”) is a limited liability company organized and incorporated in 2021 in Delaware and a wholly owned subsidiary of NCSC. Cooperative Securities is a broker-dealer registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Cooperative Securities provides institutional debt placement services, which may include advising, arranging and structuring private debt financing transactions, for NCSC’s members, and for-profit and not-for-profit entities that are owned, operated or controlled by, or provide a significant benefit to, certain rural utility providers.


OUR BUSINESS

CFC was established by and for the rural electric cooperative network to provide financing solutions to electric cooperatives. While our business strategy and policies are set by the CFC Board of Directors and may be amended or revised from time to time, the fundamental goal of our overall business model is to work with our members to ensure that CFC is able to meet their financing needs, as well as provide industry expertise and strategic services to aid them in delivering affordable and reliable essential services to their communities.

Focus on Electric Lending

As a member-owned finance cooperative association, our primary objective is to provide our members with the credit products they need to fund their operations. As such, we primarily focus on lending to electric systems and securing access to capital through diverse funding sources that allow us to offer cost based credit products to our members. Loans to electric utility organizations accounted for approximately 98% of our total loans outstanding as of both May 31, 2026 and 2025. Substantially all of our electric cooperative borrowers continued to demonstrate stable operating performance and strong financial ratios as of May 31, 2026.

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Maintain Diversified Funding Sources

We strive to maintain diversified funding sources beyond capital market offerings of debt securities. We offer various short- and long-term unsecured investment products to our members and their affiliates, including commercial paper, select notes, daily liquidity fund notes, medium-term notes and subordinated certificates. We continue to issue debt securities, such as secured collateral trust bonds, unsecured medium-term notes, subordinated deferrable interest notes and dealer commercial paper, in the capital markets. We provide additional information on our funding sources in “Item 7. MD&A—Liquidity Risk.”


MEMBERS

Our consolidated membership, after taking into consideration entities that are members of both CFC and NCSC and eliminating overlapping members between CFC and NCSC, totaled 1,182 members and 559 associates as of May 31, 2026, compared with 1,176 members and 540 associates as of May 31, 2025.

CFC

CFC lends to its members and associates and also provides credit enhancements in the form of letters of credit and guarantees of debt obligations. Membership in CFC is limited to cooperative or not-for-profit rural electric systems that are eligible to borrow from RUS under its Electric Loan Program and affiliates of those entities. CFC categorizes its members, all of which are not-for-profit entities or subsidiaries or affiliates of not-for-profit entities, into classes based on member type because the demands and needs of each member class differ. Affiliates represent holding companies, subsidiaries and other entities that are owned, controlled or operated by members. Members are not required to have outstanding loans from RUS as a condition of borrowing from CFC. CFC membership consists of members in 50 states and three U.S. territories. In addition to members, CFC has associates that are nonprofit groups or entities organized on a cooperative basis that are owned, controlled or operated by members and are engaged in or plan to engage in furnishing non-electric services primarily for the benefit of the ultimate consumers of CFC members. Associates are not eligible to vote on matters put to a vote of the membership. CFC’s members, by member class, and associates were as follows as of May 31, 2026.

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(1)National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is our sole class D member.

NCSC

Membership in NCSC consists of two classes: Class E (Electric) and Class T (Telecommunications). Class E membership includes organizations that are Class A, B and C members of CFC, or eligible for such membership, and are approved for membership by the NCSC Board of Directors. Class T membership includes cooperative corporations, not-for-profit corporations, private corporations, public corporations, utility districts and other public bodies that are approved by the

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NCSC Board of Directors and are actively borrowing or are eligible to borrow from RUS’s traditional infrastructure loan program. These companies must be engaged directly or indirectly in furnishing telephone services as the licensed incumbent carrier. Class T associates include organizations that provide non-telephone or non-telecommunications companies and holding companies, subsidiaries and other organizations that are owned, controlled or operated by Class T members. NCSC’s members and associates were as follows as of May 31, 2026.


LOAN AND GUARANTEE PROGRAMS

CFC and NCSC loan commitments generally contain provisions that restrict borrower advances or trigger an event of default if there is any material adverse change in the business or condition, financial or otherwise, of the borrower. Below is additional information on the loan and guarantee programs offered by CFC and NCSC.

CFC Loan Programs

Long-Term Loans

CFC’s long-term loans generally have the following characteristics:

•terms of up to 35 years on a senior secured basis and terms of up to five years on an unsecured basis;

•amortizing, bullet maturity or serial payment structures;

•the property, plant and equipment financed by and securing the long-term loan has a useful life generally equal to or in excess of the loan maturity;

•flexibility for the borrower to select a fixed interest rate for periods of one to 35 years or a variable interest rate; and

•the ability for the borrower to select various tranches with either a fixed or variable interest rate for each tranche.

Borrowers typically have the option of selecting a fixed or variable interest rate at the time of each advance on long-term loan facilities. When selecting a fixed rate, the borrower has the option to choose a fixed rate for a term of one year through the final maturity of the loan. When the selected fixed interest rate term expires, the borrower may select another fixed rate for a term of one year through the remaining loan maturity or the current variable rate. The fixed rate on a loan generally is determined on the day the loan is advanced or repriced based on the term selected.

To be in compliance with the covenants in the loan agreement and eligible for loan advances, distribution systems generally must maintain an average modified debt service coverage ratio, as defined in the loan agreement, of 1.35 or greater. CFC may make long-term loans to distribution systems, on a case-by-case basis, that do not meet this general criterion. Power supply systems generally are required (i) to maintain an average debt service coverage ratio, as defined in the loan agreement, of 1.00 or greater; (ii) to establish and collect rates and other revenue in an amount to yield margins for interest, as defined in an indenture, in each fiscal year sufficient to equal at least 1.00; or (iii) both. CFC may make long-term loans to power supply systems, on a case-by-case basis, that may include other requirements, such as maintenance of a minimum equity level.

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Line of Credit Loans

Line of credit loans are designed primarily to assist borrowers with liquidity and cash management and are generally advanced at variable interest rates. Line of credit loans are typically revolving facilities. Line of credit loans are generally unsecured and may be conditional or unconditional facilities.

Line of credit loans can be made on an emergency basis when financing is needed quickly to address weather-related or other unexpected events and can also be made available as interim financing when a member either receives RUS approval to obtain a loan and is awaiting its initial advance of funds or submits a loan application that is pending approval from RUS (sometimes referred to as “bridge loans”). In these cases, when the borrower receives the RUS loan advance, the funds must be used to repay the bridge loans.

Syndicated Line of Credit and Term Loans

Syndicated line of credit and term loans are typically large financings offered by a group of lenders that work together to provide funds for a single borrower. Syndicated loans are generally unsecured, variable-rate loans that can be provided on a revolving or term basis for tenors that range from several months to five years. Syndicated financings are arranged for borrowers on a case-by-case basis. CFC may act as lead lender, arranger and/or administrative agent for the syndicated loans. CFC will syndicate these loans on a best-effort basis.

NCSC Electric Loan Programs

NCSC makes loans to electric cooperatives and their subsidiaries that provide non-electric services in the energy and telecommunication industries as well as to entities that provide substantial benefit to CFC members, including independent energy and transmission providers and investor-owned utilities. Loans to NCSC associates may require a guarantee of repayment to NCSC from the CFC member cooperative with which it is affiliated.

Long-Term Loans

NCSC’s electric long-term loans have characteristics similar to CFC’s long-term loans as described herein, with the exception that senior secured long-term loans have terms up to 30 years.

Line of Credit Loans

NCSC also provides revolving line of credit loans to assist electric borrowers with liquidity and cash management on terms similar to those provided by CFC as described herein.

Leases

NCSC offers both its electric and telecommunications members and associates equipment financing for leased assets, such as vehicles, with flexible payment terms and the option to purchase the equipment for a Terminal Rental Adjustment Clause value at the end of the lease term.

Project Finance

NCSC participates with other lenders on a syndicated basis in the origination of financing focused on power generation and transmission projects, including solar, wind and battery projects sponsored by developers with extensive experience developing, financing, constructing and operating power projects. NCSC also purchases assignments in such projects. Generally, the construction and permanent financing is documented under a single financing agreement that includes a construction and term loan and a tax equity/credit bridge loan. The construction and term loan is secured by the project’s

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assets and/or the developer’s interest in the project. Any tax equity bridge loans are repaid with tax equity investment funds. In some cases, the sponsors are required to provide guarantees as credit enhancement for the financings.

Private Placements

Cooperative Securities, NCSC’s wholly owned subsidiary, offers institutional debt placement services to rural electric cooperatives, including NCSC’s electric members and associates. These services may include advising, arranging and structuring private debt financing transactions. Cooperative Securities received an approval to provide services related to debt financing transactions conducted pursuant to Rule 144A of the Securities Act from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) in May 2026.

NCSC Telecommunications (“Telecom”) Loan Programs

NCSC’s telecom portfolio consists primarily of long-term loans to rural local exchange carriers or holding companies of rural local exchange carriers for debt refinancing, construction or upgrades of infrastructure, acquisitions and other corporate purposes. Most of these rural telecommunications companies have diversified their operations and also provide broadband services.

Long-Term Loans

NCSC’s telecom long-term loans have characteristics similar to CFC’s long-term loans as described herein, with the exception that senior secured long-term loans have terms up to 10 years.

Line of Credit Loans

NCSC also provides revolving line of credit loans to assist telecom borrowers with liquidity and cash management on terms similar to those provided by CFC as described herein.

Loan Features and Options

Interest Rates

As a member-owned cooperative finance organization, CFC is a cost-based lender. As such, our interest rates are set based on a yield that we believe will generate a reasonable level of earnings and cover our cost of funding, general and administrative expenses and provision for credit losses. Long-term fixed rates are set daily for new loan advances and loans that reprice. The fixed rate on each loan is generally determined on the day the loan is advanced or repriced based on the term selected. The variable rate is established monthly. Various standardized discounts may reduce the stated interest rates for borrowers meeting certain criteria such as performance, collateral and equity requirements.

Conversion Option

Generally, a borrower may convert a long-term loan from a variable interest rate to a fixed interest rate at any time without a fee and convert a long-term loan from a fixed rate to another fixed rate or to a variable rate at any time, generally subject to a make-whole premium.

Prepayment Option

Generally, borrowers may prepay long-term fixed-rate loans at any time, subject to payment of an administrative fee and a make-whole premium, and prepay long-term variable-rate loans at any time, subject to payment of an administrative fee. Line of credit loans may be prepaid at any time without a fee.

Loan Security

Long-term loans made by CFC typically are senior secured on parity with other secured lenders (primarily RUS), if any, by all assets and revenue of the borrower, subject to standard liens typical in utility mortgages such as those related to taxes, worker’s compensation awards, mechanics’ and similar liens, rights-of-way and governmental rights. We are able to obtain

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liens on parity with liens for the benefit of RUS because RUS’ form of mortgage expressly provides for other lenders such as CFC to have a parity lien position if the borrower satisfies certain conditions or obtains a written lien accommodation from RUS. When we make loans to borrowers that have existing loans from RUS, we generally require those borrowers to either obtain such a lien accommodation or satisfy the conditions necessary for our loan to be secured on parity under the mortgage with the loan from RUS. As noted above, CFC line of credit loans generally are unsecured.

We provide additional information on our loan programs in the sections “Item 7. MD&A—Consolidated Balance Sheet Analysis,” and “Item 7. MD&A—Credit Risk.”

Guarantee Programs

When we guarantee our members’ debt obligations, we use the same credit policies and monitoring procedures for guarantees as for loans. If a member system defaults on its obligation to pay debt service, then we are obligated to pay any required amounts under our guarantees. Meeting our guarantee obligations satisfies the underlying obligation of our member systems and prevents the exercise of remedies by the guarantee beneficiary based upon a payment default by a member system. The member system is required to repay any amount advanced by us with interest pursuant to the documents evidencing the member system’s reimbursement obligation.

Letters of Credit

In exchange for a fee, we issue irrevocable letters of credit to support members’ obligations to energy marketers, other third parties and to the USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Each letter of credit is supported by a reimbursement agreement with the member on whose behalf the letter of credit was issued. In the event a beneficiary draws on a letter of credit, the agreement generally requires the member to reimburse us within one year from the date of the draw, with interest accruing from the draw date at our line of credit variable interest rate.

Guarantees of Long-Term Tax-Exempt Bonds

We guarantee debt issued for our members’ construction or acquisition of pollution control, solid waste disposal, industrial development and electric distribution facilities through government-issued, tax-exempt bonds. Governmental authorities issue such debt on a nonrecourse basis and the interest thereon is exempt from federal taxation. The proceeds of the offering are made available to the member system, which in turn is obligated to pay the governmental authority amounts sufficient to service the debt.

If a system defaults for failure to make the debt payments and any available debt service reserve funds have been exhausted, we are obligated to pay scheduled debt service under our guarantee. Such payment will prevent the occurrence of a payment default that would otherwise permit acceleration of the bond issue. The system is required to repay any amount that we advance pursuant to our guarantee plus interest on that advance. This repayment obligation, together with the interest thereon, is typically senior secured on parity with other lenders (including, in most cases, RUS), by a lien on substantially all of the system’s assets. If the security instrument is a common mortgage with RUS, then in general, we may not exercise remedies for up to two years following default. However, if the debt is accelerated under the common mortgage because of a determination that the related interest is not tax-exempt, the system’s obligation to reimburse us for any guarantee payments will be treated as a long-term loan. The system is required to pay us initial and/or ongoing guarantee fees in connection with these transactions.

Certain guaranteed long-term debt bears interest at variable rates that are adjusted at intervals of one to 270 days, including weekly, every five weeks or semiannually to a level favorable to their resale or auction at par. If funding sources are available, the member that issued the debt may choose a fixed interest rate on the debt. When the variable rate is reset, holders of variable-rate debt have the right to tender the debt for purchase at par. In some transactions, we have committed to purchase this debt as liquidity provider if it cannot otherwise be remarketed. If we hold the securities, the member cooperative pays us the interest earned on the bonds or interest calculated based on our short-term variable interest rate, whichever is greater. The system is required to pay us stand-by liquidity fees in connection with these transactions.

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Other Guarantees

We may provide other guarantees as requested by our members. Other guarantees are generally unsecured with guarantee fees payable to us.

We provide additional information on our guarantee programs and outstanding guarantee amounts as of May 31, 2026 and 2025 in “Note 13—Guarantees.”


INVESTMENT POLICY

We invest funds in accordance with policies adopted by our board of directors. Pursuant to our current investment policy, an Investment Management Committee was established to oversee and administer our investments with the objective of seeking returns consistent with the preservation of principal and to provide a supplementary source of liquidity. The Investment Management Committee may direct funds to be invested in direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed by, the United States (“U.S.”) or agencies thereof and investments in relatively short-term U.S. dollar-denominated fixed-income securities such as government-sponsored enterprises, certain financial institutions in the form of overnight investment products and Eurodollar deposits, bankers’ acceptances, certificates of deposit, working capital acceptances or other deposits. Other permitted investments include highly rated obligations, such as commercial paper, certain obligations of foreign governments, municipal securities, asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and certain corporate bonds. Investments are denominated in U.S. dollars exclusively. All of these investments are subject to requirements and limitations set forth in our board investment policy.


INDUSTRY

Overview

Our rural electric cooperative members operate primarily in the energy sector, which is one of 16 critical infrastructure sectors identified by the U.S. government because the services provided by each sector, all of which have an impact on other sectors, are deemed essential in supporting and maintaining the overall functioning of the U.S. economy. Rural electric cooperatives are an integral part of the U.S. electric utility industry, a sub-sector of the energy sector. Electric cooperatives provide power to approximately 56% of the nation’s land mass.

CFC was established by electric utility cooperatives to serve as a supplemental financing source to RUS loan programs and to mitigate uncertainty related to government funding. CFC aggregates the combined strength of its rural electric member cooperatives to access the public capital markets and other funding sources. CFC works cooperatively with RUS; however, CFC is not a federal agency or a government-sponsored enterprise. CFC meets the financial needs of its rural electric members by:

•providing financing to RUS-eligible rural electric utility systems for infrastructure, including for those facilities that are not eligible for financing from RUS;

•providing bridge loans required by borrowers in anticipation of receiving RUS funding;

•providing financial products not otherwise available from RUS, including lines of credit, letters of credit, guarantees on tax-exempt financing, weather-related emergency lines of credit, unsecured loans and investment products such as commercial paper, select notes, medium-term notes and member capital securities; and

•meeting the financing needs of those rural electric systems that repay or prepay their RUS loans and replace the government loans with private capital.

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Regulatory Oversight of Electric Cooperatives

There are 11 states in which some or all electric cooperatives are subject to state regulatory oversight of their rates and tariffs by state utility commissions and do not have a right to opt out of regulation. Those states are Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. Regulatory jurisdiction by state commissions generally includes rate and tariff regulation, the issuance of securities and the enforcement of service territory as provided for by state law.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) has regulatory authority over three aspects of electric power, as provided for under Parts II and III of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”):

•the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce;

•the sale of electric energy at wholesale in interstate commerce; and

•the approval and enforcement of reliability standards affecting all users, owners and operators of the bulk power system.

In addition, FERC regulates the issuance of securities by public utilities under the FPA in the event the applicable state commission does not.

Our electric distribution and power supply members are subject to regulation by various federal, regional, state and local authorities with respect to the environmental effects of their operations. Since there are only 11 states in which some or all electric cooperatives are subject to state regulatory oversight of their rates and tariffs, in most cases any associated costs of compliance can be passed on to cooperative consumers without additional regulatory approval.

Electric Cooperative Industry Trends and Developments

Emerging developments and trends in the electric cooperative sector continue to present opportunities and challenges for our electric cooperative members and influence the demand for capital and credit products we provide. These trends include (i) changing federal regulatory and financing landscape; (ii) increased electricity demand, large-load development and capital investments; (iii) supply chain and equipment constraints; and (iv) grid reliability and resiliency.

Changing Federal Regulatory and Financing Landscape

Recent federal actions have, on balance, been supportive of the baseload generation resources our members rely on. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted in July 2025, phased out or terminated several clean energy tax credits established under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, particularly for wind and solar, while largely preserving incentives for battery storage, clean fuels and carbon capture. The Department of Energy has tailored several loan programs to bolster coal, natural gas and nuclear generation, and the current administration has announced significant funding initiatives intended to keep existing coal generation assets in service to support electric reliability needs.

In addition, recent federal policy actions have reflected a broader emphasis on domestic energy production, electric reliability, and energy infrastructure development. On February 12, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency repealed existing limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants promulgated under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act. This action may reduce compliance requirements for certain generating facilities, affect generation resource planning and retirement decisions, and influence the economics of existing and future generation assets. Cooperative leaders have also engaged with the current administration through initiatives such as the Energy Dominance Council, which may provide additional opportunities for cooperative priorities to be considered in future policy discussions.

Efforts to enact comprehensive permitting reform have continued, although a comprehensive legislative package has not been enacted and permitting timelines for major transmission projects remain largely unchanged. The current administration and Congress have also continued to evaluate potential reforms to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”), including proposals to restructure the agency, streamline disaster assistance programs and accelerate the delivery of federal aid. Electric cooperatives rely on FEMA reimbursement programs to recover a large portion of the costs incurred to restore and strengthen infrastructure following severe weather events. While broader reforms remain under consideration, cooperatives continue to receive FEMA reimbursements for eligible restoration and infrastructure hardening expenditures.

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Federal financing programs, including traditional RUS electric loan programs and the Empowering Rural America (“New ERA”) and Powering Affordable Clean Energy (“PACE”) programs, continue to represent a significant source of capital for electric cooperatives. While many projects have received approvals or funding commitments, program implementation continues to evolve, and timing gaps between award and disbursement are expected to continue to generate demand for interim and bridge financing from CFC.

Increased Electricity Demand, Large-Load Development and Capital Investments

According to S&P Global Inc., electricity demand is forecasted to grow substantially across all U.S. regions through 2040, driven primarily by new data centers and manufacturing, followed by broader electrification.

According to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment that was published in January 2026, summer peak demand is projected to increase by approximately 224 gigawatts (“GW”) over the next 10 years, 69% higher than the prior year’s projection of 132 GW. Winter peak demand is projected to grow by approximately 245 GW over the same period, continuing to outpace summer and exceed prior-year projections. New data centers for artificial intelligence (“AI”) and the digital economy account for most of the projected increase in North American electricity demand over the next 10 years.

While a number of electric cooperatives currently serve data centers or cryptocurrency mining facilities, many proposed large-load projects remain in evaluation or negotiation and have not yet resulted in definitive service agreements. Cooperatives are managing associated risks through upfront infrastructure contributions, prepaid service arrangements, deposits, minimum revenue commitments and other contractual protections. Management does not believe data center-related development has, to date, materially contributed to recent loan growth, although successful project development could drive significant future infrastructure investment and corresponding demand for capital from CFC.

Generation and transmission (“G&T”) cooperatives are experiencing one of the largest capital investment cycles in recent decades, driven by native load growth, reserve margin requirements, resource adequacy needs and reliability concerns. These investments are primarily intended to serve existing member load rather than support data center development. Many G&Ts are financing these projects through a combination of CFC, the capital markets, commercial lenders and RUS, and often require interim financing to bridge RUS approval and funding timelines.

Supply Chain and Equipment Constraints

Many electric cooperatives continue to face extended lead times for gas turbines, transformers, switchgear and other critical equipment, which have increased project costs, delayed construction schedules and lengthened the duration of financing our members require.

Grid Reliability and Resiliency

The 2026 Long-Term Reliability Assessment by NERC highlights reliability concerns across portions of the United States driven by growing electricity demand, the retirement of certain dispatchable generation resources and challenges associated with bringing new resources online. Extreme weather events, including hurricanes, winter storms, heat waves and wildfires, continue to strain electric infrastructure and have required substantial investment to repair, replace and upgrade affected assets. In response, electric cooperatives are increasing investments in system hardening, grid modernization and other resiliency measures, which may increase demand for capital from CFC.


LENDING COMPETITION

Overview

RUS is the largest lender to electric cooperatives, providing them with long-term secured loans. CFC provides financial products and services to its members, primarily in the form of long-term secured and short-term unsecured loans, to supplement RUS financing, to provide loans to members that have elected not to borrow from RUS and to bridge long-term financing provided by RUS. We also offer other financing options, such as credit support in the form of letters of credit and

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guarantees, loan syndications and loan participations. Our credit products are tailored to meet the specific needs of each borrower, and we often offer specific transaction structures that our competitors do not provide. CFC also offers certain risk-mitigation products and interest rate discounts on secured, long-term loans for its members that meet certain criteria, such as performance, collateral and equity requirements.

Primary Lending Competitors

CFC’s primary competitor is CoBank, ACB, a federally chartered instrumentality of the United States that is a member of the Farm Credit System. CFC also competes with banks, other financial institutions and the capital markets to provide loans and other financial products to our members. As a result, we are competing with the customer service, pricing and funding options our members are able to obtain from these sources. In addition to leveraging these working relationships, we differentiate ourselves from other financial institutions by focusing on customer service and product flexibility. We also allocate substantially all net earnings to members (i) in the form of patronage capital, which reduces our members’ effective cost of borrowing, and (ii) through the members’ capital reserve. The value-added services that we provide include, but are not limited to, benchmarking tools, financial models, rate studies, publications and various conferences, meetings, facilitation services and training workshops.

We are not able to specifically identify the amount of debt our members have outstanding to CoBank, ACB from either the annual financial and statistical reports our members file with us or from CoBank, ACB’s public disclosure; however, we believe CoBank, ACB is the additional lender, along with CFC and RUS, with significant long-term debt outstanding to rural electric cooperatives.

Rural Electric Lending Market

Most of our rural electric borrowers are not-for-profit, private companies owned by the members they serve. As such, there is limited publicly available information to accurately determine the overall size of the rural electric lending market. We utilize the annual financial and statistical reports submitted to us by our members to estimate the overall size of the rural electric lending market. The substantial majority of our members have a fiscal year-end that corresponds with the calendar year-end. Therefore, the annual information we use to estimate the size of the rural electric market is typically based on the calendar year-end rather than CFC’s fiscal year-end.

Based on financial data submitted to us by our electric utility members, we present the long-term debt outstanding to CFC by member class, RUS and other lenders in the electric cooperative industry as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 in the table below. The data presented as of December 31, 2025 were based on information reported by 803 distribution systems and 53 power supply systems. The data presented as of December 31, 2024 were based on information reported by 807 distribution systems and 52 power supply systems.

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(1) Reported amounts are based on member-provided financial information, which may not have been subject to audit by an independent accounting firm.

While we believe our estimates of the overall size of the rural electric lending market serve as a useful tool in gauging the size of this lending sector, they should be viewed as estimates rather than precise measures as there are certain limitations in our estimation methodology, including, but not limited to, the following:

•Although certain underlying data included in the financial and statistical reports provided to us by members may have been audited by an independent accounting firm, our accumulation of the data from these reports has not been subject to a review for accuracy by an independent accounting firm.

•The data presented are not necessarily inclusive of all members because in some cases our receipt of annual member financial and statistical reports may be delayed and not received in a timely manner to incorporate into our market estimates.

•The financial and statistical reports submitted by members include information on indebtedness to RUS, but the reports do not include comprehensive data on indebtedness to other lenders and are not on a consolidated basis.


REGULATION

General

CFC and NCSC are not subject to direct federal regulatory oversight or supervision with regard to lending. CFC and NCSC are subject to state and local jurisdiction commercial lending and tax laws that pertain to business conducted in each state, including but not limited to lending laws, usury laws and laws governing mortgages. These state and local laws regulate the manner in which we make loans and conduct other types of transactions. The statutes, regulations and policies to which the companies are subject may change at any time. In addition, the interpretation and application by regulators of the laws and regulations to which we are subject may change from time to time. Certain of our contractual arrangements, such as those

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pertaining to funding obtained through the Guaranteed Underwriter Program, provide for the Federal Financing Bank and RUS to periodically review and assess CFC’s compliance with program terms and conditions.

As a member of FINRA, Cooperative Securities is subject to FINRA rules and regulations pertaining to broker-dealers and their customer-related activities.

Derivatives Regulation

CFC engages in over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivative transactions, primarily interest rate swaps, to hedge interest rate risk. As an end user of derivative financial instruments, CFC is subject to regulations that apply to derivatives generally. The Dodd-Frank Act (“DFA”), enacted July 2010, resulted in, among other things, comprehensive regulation of the OTC derivatives market. The DFA provides for an extensive framework for the regulation of OTC derivatives, including mandatory clearing, exchange trading and transaction reporting of certain OTC derivatives. Subsequent to the enactment of the DFA, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued a final rule, “Clearing Exemption for Certain Swaps Entered into by Cooperatives,” which created an exemption from mandatory clearing for cooperatives. The CFTC’s final rule, “Margin Requirements for Uncleared Swaps for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants,” includes an exemption from margin requirements for uncleared swaps for cooperatives that are financial end users. CFC is an exempt cooperative end user of derivative financial instruments and does not participate in the derivatives markets for speculative, trading or investing purposes and does not make a market in derivatives.


HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

CFC’s success in providing industry expertise and responsive service to meet the needs of our members across the United States is dependent on the quality of service provided by our employees and their relationships with our members. We therefore strive to align our human capital management strategy with our member-focused mission and core values of service, integrity and excellence. Our objectives are (i) to attract, develop and retain a highly qualified workforce with backgrounds and experience in multiple areas whose skills and strengths are consistent with CFC’s mission, and (ii) to create an engaged and collaborative work culture, which we believe is critical to deliver exceptional service to our members.

Governance of Human Capital

CFC’s executive leadership team and board of directors work together to provide oversight on most human capital matters. Our board is provided with periodic updates on succession planning efforts, current human capital management risks and mitigation efforts in addition to any other matters that affect our ability to attract, develop and maintain the talent needed to execute on our corporate objectives.

Recruiting and Retaining Talent

As a financial services organization, our recruitment goal is to attract and retain a highly skilled workforce in a highly competitive talent market. We strive to provide both external candidates and internal employees with meaningful career opportunities ranging from entry-level to expert-level professional, management and executive positions.

We use a variety of methods to attract talent, including direct sourcing, recruitment job boards, a referral bonus program and targeted industry-related job posting sites. When appropriate, we engage with recruiting firms to ensure that we have surveyed a broad scope of active and passive candidates for certain critical positions. We strive to ensure that CFC’s employment value proposition reflects a mission-driven cooperative so that we can attract individuals who are highly engaged with our vision to be our members’ most trusted financial resource. In fiscal year 2026, we focused on assessing current total rewards offered to employees and identifying areas of opportunity to strengthen our competitiveness and ability to retain talent. We welcomed 33 new hires this fiscal year and employed 320 staff members as of May 31, 2026, all located in the United States. The majority of our workforce is headquartered in Dulles, Virginia.

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Because many of our business operations involve significant member-facing interaction with a relatively stable base of long-standing member-borrowers, we place a priority on the retention of high-performing employees who have extensive, in-depth experience serving the needs of our members. Our turnover rate for fiscal year 2026 was 9.7%. Our average employee tenure was eight years with roughly one third of the workforce having more than 10 years of service with CFC.

Employee Engagement and Development

CFC recognizes the value of a connected and collaborative workplace that fosters strong relationships, encourages knowledge sharing, and creates meaningful opportunities for employee growth and development. With the majority of employees located at our headquarters, team members benefit from regular interaction with colleagues, leaders, and subject matter experts, supporting engagement, mentorship, and professional development across the organization.

In fiscal year 2026, CFC maintained a company-wide Learning and Development program designed to build a highly capable and agile workforce aligned to business priorities. The fourth quadrant of our balanced corporate scorecard focused on process improvement, data analytics, and AI. This effort included the delivery of targeted educational sessions and workshops designed to build enterprise-wide capabilities in these areas, encouraging employees to leverage emerging technologies to improve efficiency and enhance member outcomes. The program also promoted cross-functional collaboration and innovation by engaging employees across functions and levels, helping to surface internal expertise and drive continuous improvement. See “Item 11. Executive Compensation—Compensation Discussion and Analysis—Elements of Compensation—Annual Incentive” for additional information about our corporate scorecard.

Our approach to learning and development emphasizes a talent-based learning strategy that equips employees with job-relevant capabilities and leadership skills while fostering continuous growth. Through a combination of structured training, digital learning platforms, and external development opportunities, including professional certifications and industry programs, employees are supported in strengthening both technical expertise and critical skills such as communication, problem solving, and leadership.

CFC continues to expand and refine its development offerings to support both individual growth and organizational priorities. Employees have access to a wide variety of training resources, including curated learning content, knowledge-sharing forums, and opportunities such as Toastmasters, which reinforce communication and leadership skills. These programs are complemented by ongoing learning communications and development initiatives that help employees stay current with evolving industry trends and business needs, reinforcing a strong culture of learning, adaptability, and performance excellence.

Compensation and Benefits Packages

Attracting, developing, rewarding and retaining high-level talent is a key component of our human capital objectives, so we seek to provide a competitive total rewards package consisting of base pay, an annual incentive opportunity, and benefits packages. CFC’s compensation program includes a base salary range structure to provide flexibility in meeting labor market demands and the ability to differentiate pay based on experience and performance. The salary ranges are structured in zones aligned with median market pay for the positions in each zone.

Our annual incentive plan is based on (i) attainment of our targeted corporate scorecard goals as established at the beginning of the fiscal year and (ii) individual performance ratings from our annual review process. Attainment of the annual scorecard goals requires the collective engagement and effort of employees across the company, which we believe incentivizes teamwork and fosters a collaborative working environment. The individual performance component enables the organization to differentiate a portion of the incentive compensation, which demonstrates the value of a high-performance culture on behalf of our members.

We make investments in the future financial security of our employees by offering retirement plans that consist of a 401(k) plan with a company match component and an employer-funded defined benefit retirement plan in which CFC makes an annual contribution in an amount that approximates 20% of each employee’s base

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salary, which we believe helps in our efforts to engage employees, retain high-performing employees and reduce turnover. We also offer programs and resources intended to promote work-life balance, assist in navigating life events and improve employee well-being, such as flexible work schedules, remote work options, parental leave, an employee assistance program, legal insurance and identity theft coverage services.

Open-Door Communications

CFC maintains a strong focus on our core value of integrity in pursuit of our mission. To promote open communication, we maintain an open-door policy and provide multiple avenues for employees to voice their concerns and offer suggestions. Employees are encouraged to report any issues to their manager, senior vice president, corporate compliance, Human Resources or our corporate ethics helpline. All new employees receive Code of Conduct & Business Ethics training, and all employees complete an annual Code of Conduct & Business Ethics training to foster a culture of integrity and accountability.


CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

For more than half a century, CFC has helped electric cooperatives provide essential services to rural America. Since their creation in the 1930s to bring electricity to rural homes, electric cooperatives have been essential to the economic vitality and quality of life in communities nationwide, including those in persistent poverty counties.

CFC’s members are moving forward with renewable energy adoption, and we continue to support them by funding renewable energy initiatives that will help build out greater renewable infrastructure in the United States. CFC had loans outstanding for renewable energy projects of approximately $463 million and $450 million as of May 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

CFC currently has $800 million in sustainability bonds outstanding as of May 31, 2026. The bonds were issued under a Sustainability Bond Framework that aligned with the Sustainability Bond Guidelines, as administered by the International Capital Markets Association and the proceeds were used to finance or refinance projects to enhance access to broadband services and renewable energy projects that provide positive environmental and social impact in rural America. Today, CFC is proud to support electric cooperatives by providing approximately $3,455 million in outstanding loans to support broadband expansion. These efforts have opened new opportunities in many rural communities by providing first-ever access to affordable high-speed internet services.

True to our core values of service, integrity and excellence, CFC continues to help electric cooperatives support the communities that created them, whether it’s through contributions from the CFC Educational Fund or helping them access capital from the USDA’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (“REDL&G”) program, which fosters economic development. Over the past 20 years, CFC has contributed an estimated $281 million to the REDL&G program.

CFC and electric cooperatives operate under seven cooperative principles: open and voluntary membership; democratic member control; members’ economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training and information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community. Through our “Commitment to Excellence” workshops, CFC has trained electric cooperative directors and executive staff on governance best practices, including how electric cooperative leaders should demonstrate principled leadership, financial stewardship, and effective governance and management risk oversight.

With these efforts, CFC empowers electric cooperatives to fulfill their historic mission of service and contribute to sustainability efforts.

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AVAILABLE INFORMATION

Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to these reports, are available for free at www.nrucfc.coop as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. These reports also are available for free on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Information posted on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

Our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity are subject to various risks and uncertainties, some of which are inherent in the financial services industry and others of which are more specific to our own business. The discussion below addresses the most significant risks, of which we are currently aware, that could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. However, other risks and uncertainties, including those not currently known to us, could also negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity. Therefore, the following should not be considered a complete discussion of all the risks and uncertainties we may face. For information on how we manage our key risks, see “Item 7. MD&A—Enterprise Risk Management.” You should consider the following risks together with all of the other information in this Report.


RISK FACTORS

Credit Risks

We are subject to credit risk given that borrowers may not be able to meet their contractual obligations in accordance with agreed-upon terms, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity. Because we lend primarily to U.S. rural electric utility systems, we also are inherently subject to single-industry and single-obligor concentration risks.

As a lender, our primary credit risk arises from the extension of credit to borrowers. Our loan portfolio, which represents the largest component of assets on our balance sheet, accounts for the substantial majority of our credit risk exposure. Loans outstanding to Texas borrowers represented 17% of total loans outstanding as of May 31, 2026.

We face the risk that the principal of, or interest on, a loan will not be paid on a timely basis or at all or that the value of any underlying collateral securing a loan will be insufficient to cover our outstanding exposure. A deterioration in the financial condition of a borrower or underlying collateral could impair the ability of a borrower to repay a loan or our ability to recover unpaid amounts from the underlying collateral. We maintain an internal borrower risk rating system in which we assign a rating to each borrower and credit facility that is intended to reflect the ability of a borrower to repay its obligations and assess the probability of default and loss given default. The borrower risk rating system comprises both quantitative metrics and qualitative considerations. Each component is risk weighted in accordance with its importance. Unforeseen events and developments that affect specific borrowers or that occur in a region where we have a high concentration of credit risk may result in risk rating downgrades.

We establish an allowance for credit losses based on management’s current estimate of credit losses that are expected to occur over the remaining life of the loans in our portfolio. Because the process for determining our allowance for credit losses requires informed judgments about the ability of borrowers to repay their loans, we identify the estimation of our allowance for credit losses as a critical accounting estimate. Our borrower risk ratings are a key input in establishing our allowance for credit losses. Therefore, the deterioration in the financial condition of a borrower may result in a significant increase in our allowance for credit losses and provision for credit losses and may have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity. In addition, we might underestimate expected credit losses and have

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credit losses in excess of the established allowance for credit losses if we fail to timely identify a deterioration in a borrower’s financial condition or due to other factors.

Adverse changes, developments or uncertainties in the rural electric utility industry could adversely impact the operations or financial performance of our member electric cooperatives, which, in turn, could have an adverse impact on our financial results.

This results in a loan portfolio with single‑industry concentration; loans to rural electric utility cooperatives accounted for approximately 98% of our total loans outstanding as of May 31, 2026. While we historically have experienced limited defaults and very low credit losses in this portfolio, adverse developments affecting our members could result in risk rating downgrades, an increase in our allowance for credit losses and a decrease in our net income.

Factors that could negatively impact our members’ operations and financial performance include, but are not limited to:

•The price and availability of distributed energy resources, and whether those resources are sufficient to serve peak electric demand;

•The operational reliability and resilience of their power grids;

•Cyber‑related incidents or other breaches of their operating systems and network infrastructure;

•Evolving local, state and federal environmental laws, regulations and expectations, including those related to managing greenhouse gas emissions (with the potential for stranded assets), which may increase compliance costs and expose our members to liability; and

•Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires, including conditions associated with climate change, that damage member assets and increase power supply and operating costs.

Our members have traditionally been reimbursed by the FEMA for eligible storm‑related damages. In January 2025, an executive order established the FEMA Review Council to implement significant reforms to FEMA and its reimbursement programs. In addition, FEMA generally does not provide relief for events caused by human error, and, as a result, the majority of wildfires may not be covered. More broadly, the current administration is implementing significant changes to federal agencies and programs, including executive actions to eliminate or modify agency and program funding, reduce the federal workforce and change agency oversight. Federal programs on which our members rely have been, and may continue to be, disrupted or eliminated, may not be implemented in their current forms, or may not fund payments on a timely basis.

Advancements in alternative energy technology could reduce demand for power supply systems and distribution services. The development of alternative technologies that produce electricity, including solar cells, wind power and microturbines, has expanded and could ultimately provide affordable alternative sources of electricity and permit end users to adopt distributed generation systems that would allow them to generate electricity for their own use. As these and other technologies, including energy conservation measures, are created, developed and improved, the quantity and frequency of

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electricity usage by rural customers could decline. As with any internet service provider, rural electric cooperatives may face the risk of being outpaced by technological advancements. While fiber broadband is currently a leading technology, the rise of 5G satellite internet, and other emerging technology, could potentially disrupt the broadband market. Advances in technology and conservation that cause our electric system members’ power supply, transmission and/or distribution facilities to become obsolete prior to the maturity of loans secured by these assets could have an adverse impact on the ability of our members to repay such loans, which could result in an increase in nonaccrual or restructured loans. These conditions could negatively impact the credit quality of our loan portfolio and financial results.

We may obtain entities or other assets through foreclosure, which would subject us to the same performance and financial risks as any other owner or operator of similar businesses or assets.

As a financial institution, from time to time we may obtain entities and assets of borrowers in default through foreclosure proceedings. If we become the owner and operator of entities or assets obtained through foreclosure, we are subject to the same performance and financial risks as any other owner or operator of similar assets or entities. In particular, the value of the foreclosed assets or entities may deteriorate and have a negative impact on our results of operations. We assess foreclosed assets, if any, for impairment periodically as required under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). Impairment charges, if required, represent a reduction to earnings in the period of the charge. There may be substantial judgment used in the determination of whether such assets are impaired and in the calculation of the amount of the impairment. In addition, when foreclosed assets are sold to a third party, the sale price we receive may be below the amount previously recorded in our financial statements, which will result in a loss being recorded in the period of the sale.

The nonperformance of our derivative counterparties could impair our financial results.

We use interest rate swaps to manage interest rate risk. There is a risk that the counterparties to these agreements will not perform as agreed, which could adversely affect our results of operations. The nonperformance of a counterparty on an agreement would result in the derivative no longer being an effective risk-management tool, which could negatively affect our overall interest rate risk position. In addition, if a counterparty fails to perform on a derivative obligation, we could incur a financial loss to replace the derivative with another counterparty and/or a loss through the failure of the counterparty to pay us amounts owed. After taking into consideration master netting agreements for our interest rate swaps, we were in a net receivable position of $524 million and a net payable position of $1 million as of May 31, 2026.

A decline in our credit rating could trigger payments under our derivative agreements, which could impair our financial results.

We have certain interest rate swaps that contain credit risk-related contingent features referred to as rating triggers. Under certain rating triggers, if the credit rating for either counterparty falls to the level specified in the agreement, the other counterparty may, but is not obligated to, terminate the agreement. If either counterparty terminates the agreement, a net payment may be due from one counterparty to the other based on the prevailing fair value, excluding credit risk, of the underlying derivative instrument. In the event that we are required to make a payment as a result of a rating trigger, it could have a material adverse impact on our financial results. These rating triggers are based on our senior unsecured credit ratings by Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) and S&P Global Inc. (“S&P”). Based on our interest rate swap agreements subject to rating triggers, if our senior unsecured ratings fell to or below Baa2 by Moody’s or below BBB by S&P, and the agreements were consequently terminated as of May 31, 2026, all agreements for which we owe amounts when netted for each counterparty pursuant to a master netting agreement were in a net payable position of approximately $1 million as of that date.

Liquidity Risks

If we are unable to access the capital markets or other external sources for funding, our liquidity position may be negatively affected and we may not have sufficient funds to meet all of our financial obligations as they become due.

We depend on access to the capital markets and other sources of financing, such as bank revolving credit agreements, investments from our members, private debt issuances through Farmer Mac and the Guaranteed Underwriter Program, to fund new loan advances, refinance our long- and short-term debt and, if necessary, to fulfill our obligations under our guarantee and repurchase agreements. Prolonged market disruptions, downgrades to our long-term and/or short-term debt ratings, adverse changes in our business or performance, downturns in the electric industry and other events over which we

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have no control may deny or limit our access to the capital markets and/or subject us to higher costs for such funding. Our access to other sources of funding could also be limited by the same factors, by adverse changes in the business or performance of our members, by the banks committed to our revolving credit agreements or Farmer Mac, or by changes in federal law or the Guaranteed Underwriter Program. Our funding needs are determined primarily by scheduled short- and long-term debt maturities and the amount of our loan advances to our borrowers relative to the scheduled payment amortization of loans previously made by us. If we are unable to timely issue debt in the capital markets or obtain funding from other sources, we may not have the funds to meet all of our obligations as they become due.

A reduction in the credit ratings for our debt could adversely affect our liquidity and/or cost of debt.

Our credit ratings are important to maintaining our liquidity position. We currently contract with three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations to receive ratings for our secured and unsecured debt and our commercial paper. In order to access the commercial paper markets at current levels, we believe that we need to maintain our short-term ratings at the current level from Moody’s and Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”). Changes in rating agencies’ rating methodology, actions by governmental entities or others, deterioration in the credit quality of our loan portfolios, increased leverage and other factors could adversely affect the credit ratings on our debt. A reduction in our credit ratings could adversely affect our liquidity, increase our borrowing costs or limit our access to the capital markets and the sources of financing available to us. A significant increase in our cost of borrowings and interest expense could impact our competitive position within the industry.

Our ability to maintain compliance with the covenants related to our revolving credit agreements, collateral trust bond and medium-term note indentures and debt agreements could affect our ability to retire patronage capital, result in the acceleration of the repayment of certain debt obligations, adversely impact our credit ratings and hinder our ability to obtain financing.

We must maintain compliance with all covenants and conditions related to our revolving credit agreements and debt indentures. We are required to maintain a minimum average adjusted times interest earned ratio (“TIER”) for the six most recent fiscal quarters of 1.025 and an adjusted leverage ratio of no more than 10-to-1. In addition, we must maintain loans pledged as collateral for various debt issuances at or below 150% of the related secured debt outstanding as a condition to borrowing under our revolving credit agreements. If we were unable to borrow under the revolving credit agreements, our short-term debt ratings would likely decline, and our ability to issue commercial paper could become significantly impaired. Our revolving credit agreements also require that we earn a minimum annual adjusted TIER of 1.05 in order to retire patronage capital to members. See “Item 7. MD&A—Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations” for additional information on our non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures.

Pursuant to our collateral trust bond indentures, we are required to maintain eligible pledged collateral at least equal to 100% of the principal amount of the bonds issued under the respective indenture. Pursuant to one of our collateral trust bond indentures and our medium-term note indenture, we are required to limit senior indebtedness to 20 times the sum of our members’ equity, subordinated deferrable debt and members’ subordinated certificates. If we were in default under our collateral trust bond or medium-term note indentures, the existing holders of these securities have the right to accelerate the repayment of the full amount of the outstanding debt of the security before the stated maturity of such debt. That acceleration of debt repayments poses a significant liquidity risk, as we might not have enough cash or committed credit available to repay the debt. In addition, if we are not in compliance with the collateral trust bond and medium-term note covenants, we would be unable to issue new debt securities under such indentures. If we were unable to issue new collateral trust bonds and medium-term notes, our ability to fund new loan advances and refinance maturing debt would be impaired.

We are required to pledge eligible distribution system or power supply system loans as collateral equal to at least 100% of the outstanding balance of debt issued under a revolving note purchase agreement with Farmer Mac. We also are required to pledge distribution or power supply loans as collateral equal to at least 100% of the outstanding balance of debt under the Guaranteed Underwriter Program. Collateral coverage less than 100% for either of these debt programs constitutes an event of default, which if not cured within 30 days, could result in creditors accelerating the repayment of the outstanding debt principal before the stated maturity. An acceleration of the repayment of debt could pose a liquidity risk if we had insufficient cash or committed credit available to repay the debt. In addition, we would be unable to issue new debt securities under the applicable debt agreement, which could impair our ability to fund new loan advances and refinance maturing debt.

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Market Risks

Changes in the level and direction of interest rates or our ability to successfully manage interest rate risk could adversely affect our financial results and condition.

Our primary strategies for managing interest rate risk include the use of derivatives in order to manage the timing of cash flows between interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities. We face the risk that changes in interest rates could reduce our net interest income and our earnings. Fluctuations in interest rates, including changes in the relationship between short-term rates and long-term rates, may affect the pricing of loans to borrowers and our cost of funds, which could adversely affect the difference between the interest that we earn on assets and the interest we pay on liabilities used to fund assets. Such changes may also result in increased costs to hedge existing interest rate risk, which may have an adverse impact on the net interest income, earnings and cash flows. See “Item 7. MD&A—Market Risk” for additional information.

Operations and Business Risks

Damage to our reputation could harm our business, including our ability to attract highly skilled employees and our competitive position.

Our ability to attract business from our members and investors as well as our ability to attract highly skilled employees is impacted by our reputation. Harm to our reputation can be attributed to various sources including, but not limited to, actual or perceived activities such as fraud, misconduct or unethical behavior of our officers, directors, employees, contractors and other representatives. Further, reputation damage may result from human error or systems failures viewed as having harmed our members without involving misconduct, including service disruptions or negative perceptions regarding our ability to maintain the security of our technology systems and protect member data. Negative publicity concerning actual or alleged conduct in activities such as lending practices, data security, corporate governance and failure to deliver minimum or required standards of service or quality may result in negative public opinion and may damage our reputation, which could result in the loss of business.

We use our IT networks and related systems to access, store, transmit and manage or support a variety of our business processes and information, as well as that of our members. We face risks associated with cybersecurity incidents and other disruptions of our IT networks and related systems. Cybersecurity incidents pose a risk to the security of our members’ strategic business information and the confidentiality and integrity of our data, which include strategic and proprietary information. This risk continues to increase and cyberattack methods continue to evolve in sophistication, velocity and frequency. The use of new and developing technologies such as AI and machine learning and quantum computing may intensify this risk. Adversaries may leverage AI to craft more sophisticated phishing schemes, automate social engineering attacks, generate malware with increased speed, create deepfakes of company personnel or conduct AI-orchestrated cyberattacks with minimal human involvement, potentially increasing both the frequency and sophistication of attacks. Cybersecurity incidents may occur from a variety of sources, such as foreign governments, hackers or other well-financed entities, and may originate from less regulated and remote areas of the world. Employee errors, malfeasance, technology failures and other irregularities may also contribute to these events. Any such cybersecurity incident can result in a loss of our own business information or information we process on behalf of our members or others, a loss of integrity of such information, a delay or inability to provide service of affected products to our members, material harm to our financial condition or cash flows, damage to our reputation, including a loss of confidence in the security of our products and services, and significant legal and financial exposure, including regulatory scrutiny or enforcement, litigation and damage to our stakeholder relationships. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. As a result, cyber-related attacks may remain undetected for an extended period and may be costly to remediate.

Our business depends on the reliable and secure operation of computer systems, network infrastructure and other information technology managed by third parties including, but not limited to, our service providers for external storage and processing of our information on cloud-based systems; our consulting and advisory firms and contractors that have access to our confidential and proprietary data; and administrators for our employee payroll and benefits management. We have limited control and visibility over third-party systems that we rely on for our business. The occurrence of a cybersecurity

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incident could result in damage to our third parties’ operations. The failure of third parties to provide services agreed upon through service-level agreements, whether as a result of the occurrence of a cybersecurity incident or other event, could result in the loss of access to our data, the loss of integrity of our data, disruptions to our corporate functions, loss of business opportunities or reputational damage, or otherwise adversely impact our financial results and cause significant costs and liabilities. While we may be entitled to damages if our third-party service providers fail to satisfy their security-related obligations to us, any award may be insufficient to cover our damages, or we may be unable to recover such award.

While CFC maintains insurance coverage that, subject to policy terms and conditions, covers certain aspects of cyber risks, including business interruptions caused by cybersecurity incidents on information technology systems managed by third parties, such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses. Our failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations or standards regarding data security and privacy could result in fines, sanctions and litigation. Additionally, legislators and regulators are continually adopting or revising privacy, data protection and information and cybersecurity laws at both the federal and state level, creating a complex regulatory patchwork.

The development and use of AI, including by third parties, presents risks and challenges that may adversely impact our business.

We use, and our competitors and third-party service providers may develop or incorporate, AI technology in certain business processes, services or products. The development and use of AI presents a number of risks and challenges to our business in addition to the cybersecurity concerns addressed above.

The legal and regulatory environment relating to AI is uncertain and rapidly evolving, and includes regulatory schemes targeted specifically at AI as well as provisions in intellectual property, privacy, consumer protection and other laws applicable to the use of AI. Recent federal executive actions have signaled a shift in the regulatory landscape for AI in the United States, including efforts to promote a unified national approach to AI oversight. These evolving laws and regulations could require changes in our, our members’ or our third-party service providers’ consideration and implementation of AI technology and increase compliance costs and the risk of noncompliance.

AI tools may produce output or take actions that are incorrect, that result in the release of private, confidential or proprietary information, that reflect biases included in the data on which they are trained, that could infringe on intellectual property rights or that are otherwise harmful. AI systems often rely on large volumes of data, including sensitive or proprietary information, and the use, storage and processing of such data could increase our, our members’ or our third-party service providers’ exposure to cybersecurity, privacy and data protection risks. We are dependent in part on the manner in which third parties develop, train and deploy their models, including risks arising from the inclusion of any unauthorized material in the training data for their models, a matter over which we may have limited visibility. Failure to properly safeguard data used in AI systems and oversee the functioning and output of AI tools could result in unauthorized access, data compromises, regulatory actions or reputational harm.

Finally, failure on our part to fully take advantage of AI may have an adverse impact on our competitive position. If we are unable to keep pace with our competitors’ implementation of AI tools, we could be placed at a considerable competitive disadvantage, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Any of these risks could expose us to liability or adverse legal or regulatory consequences and harm our reputation and the public perception of our business.

Our elected directors also serve as officers or directors of certain of our individual member cooperatives, which may result in a potential conflict of interest with respect to loans, guarantees and extensions of credit that we may make to or on behalf of such member cooperatives.

In accordance with our charter documents and the purpose for which we were formed, we lend only to our members and associates. CFC’s directors are elected or appointed from our membership, with 10 director positions filled by directors of members, 10 director positions filled by general managers or chief executive officers of members, two positions appointed by NRECA until June 2027 and one at-large position that must, among other things, be a director, financial officer, general

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manager or chief executive of one of our members. Upon the termination of the two positions appointed by NRECA in June 2027, two at-large positions will be filled by an executive staff member of our Class B members and a director of our Class D members. CFC currently has loans outstanding to members that are affiliated with CFC directors and may periodically extend new loans to such members. The relationship of CFC’s directors to our members may give rise to conflicts of interests from time to time.

Natural or man-made disasters, including widespread health emergencies, or other external events beyond our control such as acts of terrorism or war, could disrupt our business and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Our operations may be subject to disruption due to the occurrence of natural disasters, acts of terrorism or war, public health emergencies, or other unexpected or disastrous conditions, events or emergencies beyond our control, some of which may be intensified by the effects of a government response to the event, or climate change.

While general inflation in the United States has decreased from peak levels in 2022, it remains at levels not experienced in recent decades. Certain utility assets of our members, such as transformers and solar panels, are highly sensitive to supply chain complications. Rising energy prices, interest rates and wages, and the pending tariffs to be imposed by the United States on imported goods may increase our operating costs, as well as both the operating and borrowing costs of our members, potentially disrupting our business.

Although we have implemented a business continuity management program that we enhance on an ongoing basis, there can be no assurance that the program will adequately mitigate the risks of business disruptions. Further, events such as natural disasters and public health emergencies may divert our attention away from normal operations and limit necessary resources. We generally must resume operations promptly following any interruption. If we were to suffer a disruption or interruption and were not able to resume normal operations within a period consistent with industry standards, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected in a material manner. In addition, depending on the nature and duration of the disruption or interruption, we might become vulnerable to fraud, additional expense or other losses, or to a loss of business.

Competition from other lenders could adversely impact our financial results.

We compete with other lenders for the portion of the rural utility loan demand for which RUS will not lend and for loans to members that have elected not to borrow from RUS. The primary competition for the non-RUS loan volume is from CoBank, ACB, a federally chartered instrumentality of the United States that is a member of the Farm Credit System. As a government-sponsored enterprise, CoBank, ACB has the benefit of an implied government guarantee with respect to its funding. Competition may limit our ability to raise rates to adequately cover increases in costs, which could have an adverse impact on our results of operations.

The failure to attract, retain or motivate highly skilled and qualified employees could impair our ability to successfully execute our strategic plan and otherwise adversely affect our business.

We rely on our employees’ depth of knowledge of CFC and its related industries to run our business operations successfully. Because many of our business operations involve significant member-facing interaction with a relatively stable base of long-standing member-borrowers, we place a priority on the retention of high-performing employees with extensive experience in the rural utility industry. Our ability to implement our strategic plan and our future success depends on our ability to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled and qualified employees. The failure to attract or retain, including due to retirement, or replace a sufficient number of appropriately skilled and key employees could place us at a significant competitive disadvantage and prevent us from successfully implementing our strategy. Further, the marketplace for skilled employees is becoming more competitive, which means the cost of hiring, incentivizing and retaining skilled employees may continue to increase. The failure to attract, retain or motivate skilled employees, along with the increased costs, could impair our ability

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to achieve our performance targets and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Regulatory and Compliance Risks

Loss of our tax-exempt status could adversely affect our earnings.

In order to maintain CFC’s tax-exempt status, it must continue to operate exclusively for the promotion of social welfare by operating on a cooperative basis for the benefit of its members by providing them cost-based financial products and services consistent with sound financial management, and no part of CFC’s net earnings may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual other than the allocation or return of net earnings or capital to its members in accordance with CFC’s bylaws and incorporating statute in effect in 1996.

If CFC were to lose its status as a 501(c)(4) organization, it would become a taxable cooperative and would be required to pay income tax based on its taxable income. If this event occurred, we would evaluate all options available to modify CFC’s structure and/or operations to minimize any potential tax liability.

As a tax-exempt cooperative and nonbank financial institution, our lending activities are not subject to the regulations and oversight of U.S. financial regulators such as the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Office of Comptroller of Currency. Because we are not under the purview of such regulation, we could engage in activities that could expose us to greater credit, market and liquidity risk, reduce our safety and soundness and adversely affect our financial results.

Financial institutions that are subject to regulations, oversight and monitoring by U.S. financial regulators are required to maintain specified levels of capital and may be restricted from engaging in certain lending-related and other activities that could adversely affect the safety and soundness of the financial institution or are considered conflicts of interest. As a tax-exempt, nonbank financial institution, we are not subject to the same oversight and supervision. There is no federal financial regulator that monitors compliance with our risk policies and practices or that identifies and addresses potential deficiencies that could adversely affect our financial results. Without regulatory oversight and monitoring, there is a greater potential for us to engage in activities that could pose a risk to our safety and soundness relative to regulated financial institutions.

Changes in accounting standards or assumptions in applying accounting policies could materially impact our financial statements.

Our accounting policies and methods are fundamental to how we record and report our financial condition and results of operations. Some of these policies require the use of estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported carrying amount of our assets or liabilities and our results of operations. We consider the accounting policies that require management to make difficult, subjective and complex judgments about matters that are inherently uncertain as our most critical accounting estimates. The use of reasonably different estimates and assumptions could have a material impact on our financial statements or if the assumptions, estimates or judgments were incorrectly made, we could be required to correct and restate prior-period financial statements. For information on what we consider to be our most critical accounting estimates and recent accounting changes, see “Item 7. MD&A—Critical Accounting Estimates” and “Note 1—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” to our consolidated financial statements.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

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Item 1C. Cybersecurity

Overview

Cybersecurity risk management is a core component of our enterprise risk-management framework. Cybersecurity incidents and threats pose a risk to the disruption of our business operations, including the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and information. CFC’s cybersecurity program is designed to manage operational risks associated with the ever-evolving nature of cybersecurity threats, including AI risks. Because these risks could have a material adverse impact on our operations and reputation, both management and the CFC Board of Directors are actively engaged in the oversight of the cybersecurity program and our continuous efforts in monitoring, measuring and managing the risks.

Risk Management and Strategy

The primary goal of CFC’s cybersecurity operations is to prevent, identify, mitigate and respond on a timely basis to cybersecurity threats in order to reduce operational risk and business impact. Our strategy encompasses technology, process and people. The technology components are designed to provide multiple layers of system security, controls and monitors for our infrastructure, data and applications. Our security infrastructure and resources are focused on the monitoring of threats and the defense of our external and internal networks, endpoints, data resources and identity management.

We use risk-based processes to prioritize the resources that manage vulnerabilities, threats, incident responses and operational changes. The risk-based approach ensures we are taking action on the threats, events and incidents that have the highest likelihood of impacting our business and members. We maintain cybersecurity incident procedures that identify the activities, responses and escalation procedures to be executed upon detection of a potential cybersecurity incident. These procedures are a critical component of CFC’s Crisis Management Plan and business continuity efforts.

We continue to invest in our cybersecurity program to help ensure that we have the necessary resources to execute our business operations and that our workforce is prepared to work in an active cyber-threat environment. These resources also include external service providers with experience in third-party risk monitoring and cybersecurity threat intelligence, detection and response. Mandatory training is required on a quarterly basis for all CFC employees to promote leading practices in protecting information, data and operations in a continually changing environment.

The effectiveness of our cybersecurity operations is regularly examined and tested by third-party vendors who specialize in cybersecurity risk management. We regularly employ such vendors to test the effectiveness of our security controls, including penetration testing. External vendors are engaged at least on an annual basis to facilitate incident response exercises and training. We use external risk management services to assess and monitor cybersecurity risk associated with third-party service providers. Finally, we review the maturity of our program’s design and control environment’s effectiveness through regular internal assessments and examinations.

Governance

Our board of directors oversees the company’s cybersecurity risk-management program. Management reports at least quarterly to the board on matters related to CFC’s security operations, potential threats, industry-wide trends and any other related information requested by the board. The reports include information on significant cybersecurity incidents, if any, and management actions to protect CFC. We promptly notify the board of directors upon the occurrence of a significant cybersecurity incident so it may properly evaluate the incident, including management’s remediation plan.

In addition to the regular cybersecurity program reports, the board monitors cybersecurity risk and program effectiveness through internal audit and our enterprise risk management reporting framework. On an annual basis, members of our staff responsible for cybersecurity provide the board an overview of the company’s technology strategy and planned activities to continually improve the cybersecurity program, as well as threats and cybersecurity incidents. Further, on at least an annual basis, the board of directors reviews management reports concerning the disclosure controls and procedures in place to enable CFC to make accurate and timely disclosures about any material cybersecurity incidents.

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Role of Management

Management is directly involved in steering the company’s cybersecurity program employing a multi-disciplinary approach that operates through a “three lines of defense” model. Management’s approach helps ensure the organization works collaboratively to monitor, assess and respond to cybersecurity incidents at all levels and functions consistent with our incident response procedures and corporate practices.

Our first line of defense includes our cybersecurity team led by our Vice President, Information Technology, who works to ensure that the day-to-day execution of the company’s technology and security operations are in alignment with corporate policies and procedures. Our Vice President, Information Technology, who reports to our Chief Operating Officer (“COO”), has over a decade of information security management experience, enhancing infrastructure defenses and fostering a culture of security awareness at various organizations. Additionally, our Vice President, Information Technology, is a member of the Global Information Assurance Certification Advisory Board and actively maintains his certification as a Certified Information Systems Security Professional.

Our second line of defense includes our Cybersecurity Committee and the enterprise risk-management framework under the direction of the Chief Risk Officer to monitor cybersecurity functions and risk management. Our Cybersecurity Committee is composed of members of management including, but not limited to, the COO, Chief Risk Officer, General Counsel and Vice President, Internal Audit. The Cybersecurity Committee helps ensure corporate policy compliance and reports directly to the board of directors regarding material cybersecurity incidents and emerging threats.

Our third line of defense is the internal audit function led by our Vice President, Internal Audit, which plays a crucial role by providing independent and objective assurances on the design and operating effectiveness of our cybersecurity risk management and internal controls through the performance of audits and reviews. Internal Audit engages external consultants and subject matter experts as appropriate to assist in the assessment of management’s cybersecurity program and reports the results directly to the board.

As of the date of this Report, during the last three years, we have not experienced any cybersecurity incidents that have materially impacted our business, results of operations or financial condition. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for a discussion of our risks related to cybersecurity.

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