Note 13. Commitments, Contingencies, and Concentrations of Credit Risk

See Note 11 with respect to future obligations under noncancelable operating leases.

In the normal course of the Company's business, there are various outstanding commitments and contingent liabilities such as commitments to extend credit that are not reflected in the financial statements. The following table presents the Company's outstanding loan commitments at December 31, 2014.

($ in millions)

Type of Commitment	Fixed Rate		Variable Rate		Total
Outstanding closed-end loan commitments	$	56		129		185
Unfunded commitments on revolving lines of credit, credit cards and home equity loans		65		191		256
Total	$	121		320		441

At December 31, 2014 and 2013, the Company had $14.1 million and $14.5 million, respectively, in standby letters of credit outstanding. The Company has no carrying amount for these standby letters of credit at either of those dates. The nature of the standby letters of credit is a guarantee made on behalf of the Company's customers to suppliers of the customers to guarantee payments owed to the supplier by the customer. The standby letters of credit are generally for terms for one year, at which time they may be renewed for another year if both parties agree. The payment of the guarantees would generally be triggered by a continued nonpayment of an obligation owed by the customer to the supplier. The maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted) the Company could be required to make under the guarantees in the event of nonperformance by the parties to whom credit or financial guarantees have been extended is represented by the contractual amount of the standby letter of credit. In the event that the Company is required to honor a standby letter of credit, a note, already executed with the customer, is triggered which provides repayment terms and any collateral. Over the past two years, the Company has only had to honor a few standby letters of credit, which have been or are being repaid by the borrower without any loss to the Company. Management expects any draws under existing commitments to be funded through normal operations.

The Company is not involved in any legal proceedings which, in management's opinion, could have a material effect on the consolidated financial position of the Company. In November 2014, the Company received a Wells Notice from the SEC related to the Company's alleged failure to disclose certain related party transactions from 2009 - 2011. Since receipt of the Wells Notice letter, the Company has pursued negotiation discussions with the SEC staff in an attempt to resolve these matters. Based upon the discussion to date, management believes it is more likely than not that a settlement will be reached, involving a cease and desist order regarding these matters, but without any admissions by the Company, and a financial penalty in an amount that is not expected to have a material effect on the Company.

The Bank grants primarily commercial and installment loans to customers throughout its market area, which consists of Anson, Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Buncombe, Cabarrus, Carteret, Chatham, Columbus, Dare, Davidson, Duplin, Guilford, Harnett, Hoke, Iredell, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, New Hanover, Onslow, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Rowan, Scotland, Stanly and Wake Counties in North Carolina, Chesterfield, Dillon, and Florence Counties in South Carolina, and Montgomery, Roanoke, Washington and Wythe Counties in Virginia. The real estate loan portfolio can be affected by the condition of the local real estate market. The commercial and installment loan portfolios can be affected by local economic conditions.

The Company's loan portfolio is not concentrated in loans to any single borrower or to a relatively small number of borrowers. Additionally, management is not aware of any concentrations of loans to classes of borrowers or industries that would be similarly affected by economic conditions.

In addition to monitoring potential concentrations of loans to particular borrowers or groups of borrowers, industries and geographic regions, the Company monitors exposure to credit risk that could arise from potential concentrations of lending products and practices such as loans that subject borrowers to substantial payment increases (e.g. principal deferral periods, loans with initial interest-only periods, etc), and loans with high loan-to-value ratios. Additionally, there are industry practices that could subject the Company to increased credit risk should economic conditions change over the course of a loan's life. For example, the Company makes variable rate loans and fixed rate principal-amortizing loans with maturities prior to the loan being fully paid (i.e. balloon payment loans). These loans are underwritten and monitored to manage the associated risks. The Company has determined that there is no concentration of credit risk associated with its lending policies or practices.

The Company's investment portfolio consists principally of obligations of government-sponsored enterprises, mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, corporate bonds, FHLB stock and general obligation municipal securities. The following are the fair values at December 31, 2014 of available for sale and held to maturity securities to any one issuer/guarantor that exceed $2.0 million, with such amounts representing the maximum amount of credit risk that the Company would incur if the issuer did not repay the obligation.

($ in thousands)
Issuer	Amortized Cost		Fair Value
Freddie Mac – mortgage-backed securities	$	88,585		88,815
Fannie Mae – mortgage-backed securities		63,032		63,013
Small Business Administration		52,696		51,656
Ginnie Mae - mortgage-backed securities		50,407		50,610
Federal Farm Credit bonds		17,546		17,531
Federal Home Loan Bank System - bonds		10,000		9,990
Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta - common stock		6,016		6,016
Craven County, North Carolina municipal bond		3,598		3,849
Spartanburg, South Carolina Sanitary Sewer District municipal bond		3,279		3,542
South Carolina State municipal bond		2,152		2,361
Virginia State Housing Authority municipal bond		2,098		2,277

The Company places its deposits and correspondent accounts with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, the Federal Reserve Bank, BB&T, and Bank of America and sells its federal funds to Bank of America. At December 31, 2014, the Company had deposits in the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta totaling $3.3 million, deposits of $140.5 million in the Federal Reserve Bank, deposits of $33.4 million in Bank of America, and deposits of $2.5 million with BB&T. None of the deposits held at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta or the Federal Reserve Bank are FDIC-insured, however the Federal Reserve Bank is a government entity and therefore risk of loss is minimal. The deposits held at Bank of America and BB&T are FDIC-insured up to $250,000. The Company also had $24.8 million in deposits with various holders through an internet-based CD marketplace. All of these deposits are 100% FDIC-insured.