As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 3, 2019

Registration Statement No. 333-

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

M&T BANK CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

One M&T Plaza

Buffalo, New York 14203

(Address of Principal Executive Offices, including zip code)

M&T BANK CORPORATION

2019 EQUITY INCENTIVE COMPENSATION PLAN

(Full title of the plan)

Laura P. O’Hara, Esq.

Senior Vice President and General Counsel

M&T Bank Corporation

One M&T Plaza

Buffalo, New York 14203

(716) 842-5445

(Name and address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copy to:

John J. Zak, Esq.

Hodgson Russ LLP

The Guaranty Building

140 Pearl Street, Suite 100

Buffalo, New York 14202-4040

(716) 848-1253

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

Calculation of Registration Fee

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Registration Statement on Form S-8 (this “Registration Statement”) is filed by the Corporation to cover shares of Common Stock of the Corporation authorized for issuance under the M&T Bank Corporation 2019 Equity Incentive Compensation Plan.

PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

The documents containing the information specified in Part I of Form S-8 will be sent or given to Plan participants as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) under the Securities Act. Such documents need not be filed with the SEC either as part of this Registration Statement or as prospectuses or prospectus supplements pursuant to Rule 424. These documents and the documents incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement pursuant to Item 3 of Form S-8 (Part II hereof), taken together, constitute a prospectus that meets the requirements of Section 10(a) of the Securities Act.

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

The following documents filed by the Corporation with the SEC are incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement:

In addition, all documents subsequently filed by the Corporation pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, subsequent to the date of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall also be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof commencing on the date of the filing of such documents.

Any statement contained herein or in a document all or a portion of which is incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or amended, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

With certain limitations, Sections 721 through 726 of the New York Business Corporation Law permit a corporation to indemnify a director or officer made a party to an action (i) by a corporation or in its right in order to procure a judgment in its favor unless such director or officer shall have breached his or her duties to such corporation, or (ii) other than an action by or in the right of the corporation in order to procure a judgment in its favor, if such director or officer acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or, in certain cases, not opposed to such corporation’s best interests, and additionally, in criminal actions or proceedings, has no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful.

The Amended and Restated Bylaws of M&T Bank Corporation (the “Bylaws”) (Article V) provide the following:

SECTION 1. Right of Indemnification: Each director and officer of the Corporation, whether or not then in office, and any person whose testator or intestate was such a director or officer, shall be indemnified by the Corporation for the defense of, or in connection with, any threatened, pending or completed actions or proceedings and appeals therein, whether civil, criminal, governmental, administrative or investigative, in accordance with and to the fullest extent permitted by the Business Corporation Law of New York or other applicable law, as such law now exists or may hereafter be amended; provided, however, that the Corporation shall provide indemnification in connection with an action or proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such a director or officer only if such action or proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board of Directors.

SECTION 2. Advancement of Expenses: Expenses incurred by a director or officer in connection with any action or proceeding as to which indemnification may be given under Section 1 of Article V of the Bylaws may be paid by the Corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action or proceeding upon (a) receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such advancement in the event that such director or officer is ultimately found not to be entitled to indemnification as authorized by Article V of the Bylaws and (b) approval by the Board of Directors acting by a quorum consisting of directors who are not parties to such action or proceeding or, if such a quorum is not obtainable, then approval by stockholders. To the extent permitted by law, the Board of Directors or, if applicable, the stockholders, shall not be required under Section 2 of the Bylaws, to find that the director or officer has met the applicable standard of conduct provided by law for indemnification in connection with such action or proceeding.

SECTION 3. Availability and Interpretation: To the extent permitted under applicable law, the rights of indemnification and to the advancement of expenses provided in Article V of the Bylaws (a) shall be available with respect to events occurring prior to the adoption of Article V of the Bylaws, (b) shall continue to exist after any recision or restrictive amendment of Article V of the Bylaws with respect to events occurring prior to such recision or amendment, (c) may be interpreted on the basis of applicable law in effect at the time of the occurrence of the event or events giving rise to the action or proceeding, or on the basis of applicable law in effect at the time such rights are claimed, and (d) are in the nature of contract rights which may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction as if the Corporation and the director or officer for whom such rights are sought were parties to a separate written agreement.

SECTION 4. Other Rights: The rights of indemnification and to the advancement of expenses provided in Article V of the Bylaws shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which any such director, officer or other person may now or hereafter be otherwise entitled whether contained in the certificate of incorporation, the Bylaws, a resolution of stockholders, a resolution of the Board of Directors, or an agreement providing such indemnification, the creation of such other rights being hereby expressly authorized. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the rights of indemnification and to the advancement of expenses provided in Article V of the Bylaws shall not be deemed exclusive of any rights, pursuant to statute or otherwise, of any such director, officer or other person in any such action or proceeding to have assessed or allowed in his or her favor, against the Corporation or otherwise, his or her costs and expenses incurred therein or in connection therewith or any part thereof.

SECTION 5. Severability: If Article V of the Bylaws or any part hereof shall be held unenforceable in any respect by a court of competent jurisdiction, it shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remainder of Article V of the Bylaws shall remain fully enforceable.

As permitted by Section 402(b) of the New York Business Corporation Law, Article SEVENTH of the Corporation’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, provides as follows:

SEVENTH: As to any act or omission occurring after the adoption of this provision, a director of the Corporation shall, to the maximum extent permitted by the laws of the State of New York, have no personal liability to the Corporation or any of its stockholders for damages for any breach of duty as a director, provided that this Article SEVENTH shall not eliminate or reduce the liability of a director in any case where such elimination or reduction is not permitted by law.

The Corporation maintains director and officer liability insurance coverage for its directors and officers and those of its subsidiaries. This coverage insures such persons against certain losses that may be incurred by them in their respective capacities as directors and officers.

Not applicable.

The list of exhibits is set forth under “Exhibit Index” immediately preceding the signature pages hereto and is incorporated by reference herein.

(a) Rule 415 Offering

The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) of this Item do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.

(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof; and

(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(b) Filings Incorporating Subsequent Exchange Act Documents By Reference

The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(c) Indemnification

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

EXHIBIT INDEX

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Buffalo, State of New York, on May 3, 2019.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities indicated on May 3, 2019.

Exhibit 5.1

John J. Zak

Partner

Direct Dial: 716.848.1253

Direct Fax: 716.819.4617

jzak@hodgsonruss.com

May 3, 2019

M&T Bank Corporation

One M&T Plaza

Buffalo, New York 14203

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are delivering this opinion at your request in connection with the registration by M&T Bank Corporation, a New York corporation (the “Company”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “Act”), of 3,737,081 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value of $0.50 per share (the “Shares”), for issuance and sale pursuant to the above-referenced registration statement (the “Registration Statement”) under the M&T Bank Corporation 2019 Equity Incentive Compensation Plan (the “Plan”).

The opinion set forth in this letter is based upon (1) our review of originals, or copies certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction as being true and complete copies of the originals, of (a) the Registration Statement as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on May 3, 2019, (b) the Plan, (c) the Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended and the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws and (d) such records of the Company and certificates of officers of the Company and of public officials and such documents as we have deemed relevant and necessary as the basis for the opinions set forth below (items 1(a) through 1(d) being collectively the “Reviewed Documents”) and (2) our review of such published sources of law as we have deemed necessary.

We have assumed without any inquiry or other investigation (a) the legal capacity of each natural person, (b) the accuracy on the date of this letter as well as the date made of each statement as to any factual matter contained in any of the Reviewed Documents, (c) the genuineness of each signature on any of the Reviewed Documents, the completeness of each of the Reviewed Documents, the authenticity of each of the Reviewed Documents submitted to us as an original, the conformity to the original of each of the Reviewed Documents submitted to us as a copy or retrieved from the Commission’s EDGAR database and the authenticity of the original of each of the Reviewed Documents submitted to us as a copy or retrieved from the Commission’s EDGAR database and (d) that, when issued in accordance with the Plan, appropriate certificates complying with applicable law evidencing the Shares will be properly executed or the Shares will be uncertificated shares complying with applicable law.

Based upon the foregoing, it is our opinion that the Shares have been duly authorized, and when the Shares are issued in accordance with the Plan, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

The Guaranty Building, 140 Pearl Street, Suite 100  |  Buffalo, New York 14202-4040  |  716.856.4000  |  HodgsonRuss.com

Albany ∎ Buffalo ∎ New York ∎ Palm Beach ∎ Saratoga Springs ∎ Toronto

M&T Bank Corporation May 3, 2019 Page 2

We express no opinion as to the law of any jurisdiction other than the laws of the State of New York.

We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as Exhibit 5.1 to the Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

Exhibit 23.1

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

We hereby consent to the incorporation by reference in this Registration Statement on Form S-8 of M&T Bank Corporation of our report dated February 20, 2019 relating to the financial statements and the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, which appears in M&T Bank Corporation’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Exhibit 24.1

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that the undersigned directors and/or officers of M&T Bank Corporation, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of New York (the “Corporation”), hereby constitute and appoint René F. Jones, Darren J. King, Laura P. O’Hara and Brian R. Yoshida, and each of them (with full power to each of them to act alone), his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents with full power of substitution and re-substitution, for him or her and on his or her behalf and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign, execute and to affix his or her seal to and file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (or any other governmental or regulatory authority) a registration statement (the “Registration Statement”) on Form S-8 or any other appropriate form, and any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) thereto, with all exhibits and any and all documents required to be filed with respect thereto, relating to the registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), of shares of the Corporation’s common stock, par value $0.50 per share (“Common Stock”) to be issued or sold pursuant to the M&T Bank Corporation 2019 Equity Incentive Compensation Plan; and in connection with any and all amendments to the Registration Statement and all instruments necessary or in connection therewith, including to sign the Registration Statement and any and all amendments and supplements relating thereto (including stickers and post-effective amendments), in the name and on behalf of the Corporation and in the name and on behalf of such officer or director of the Corporation, to sign any and all additional registration statements relating to the same offering of securities as the Registration Statement that are filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, to attest to the seal of the Corporation thereon, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and any applicable securities exchange or securities self-regulatory organization, hereby granting to such attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, the full power and authority to do and perform every act and thing requisite, necessary or advisable to be done in and about the premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as any such officer or director might or could do in person; and such persons are authorized to take or cause to be taken any and all such further actions in connection therewith in the name and on behalf of the Corporation as they, in their sole discretion, deem necessary or appropriate;

And each of the undersigned hereby ratifies and confirms all that any said attorney-in-fact and agent, or any substitute, lawfully does or causes to be done by virtue hereof.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of the undersigned directors and/or officers has hereunto set his or her hand as of the date specified.

Dated: January 15, 2019