Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Note 12 — Commitments and Contingencies

Credit-Related Commitments

In the ordinary course of business, the Company enters into financial instruments, such as commitments to extend credit and letters of credit, to meet the financing needs of its customers. Such instruments are not reflected in the accompanying consolidated financial statements until they are funded, although they expose the Company to varying degrees of credit risk and interest rate risk in much the same way as funded loans.

Commitments to extend credit include revolving commercial credit lines, non-revolving loan commitments issued mainly to finance the merger and development or construction of real property or equipment, and credit card and personal credit lines. The availability of funds under commercial credit lines and loan commitments generally depends on whether the borrower continues to meet credit standards established in the underlying contract and has not violated other contractual conditions. Loan commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee by the borrower. Credit card and personal credit lines are generally subject to cancellation if the borrower’s credit quality deteriorates. A number of commercial and personal credit lines are used only partially or, in some cases, not at all before they expire, and the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements of the Company.

A substantial majority of the letters of credit are standby agreements that obligate the Company to fulfill a customer’s financial commitments to a third party if the customer is unable to perform. The Company issues standby letters of credit primarily to provide credit enhancement to its customers’ other commercial or public financing arrangements and to help them demonstrate financial capacity to vendors of essential goods and services.

The contract amounts of these instruments reflect the Company’s exposure to credit risk. The Company undertakes the same credit evaluation in making loan commitments and assuming conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments and may require collateral or other credit support.

The table below presents the Company’s commitments to extend credit by commitment expiration date for the dates indicated:


(Dollars in thousands) September 30, 2024
	Less than One Year		One-Three Years		Three-Five Years		Greater than Five Years		Total
Commitments to extend credit(1)	$	789,841	$	634,711	$	329,739	$	41,184	$	1,795,475
Standby letters of credit	141,770		67,823		11,273		350		221,216
Total off-balance sheet commitments	$	931,611	$	702,534	$	341,012	$	41,534	$	2,016,691
December 31, 2023
Commitments to extend credit(1)	$	955,486	$	990,690	$	349,918	$	58,954	$	2,355,048
Standby letters of credit	103,280		20,458		32,957		—		156,695
Total off-balance sheet commitments	$	1,058,766	$	1,011,148	$	382,875	$	58,954	$	2,511,743

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(1)Includes $717.3 million and $759.4 million of unconditionally cancellable commitments at September 30, 2024, and December 31, 2023, respectively.

At September 30, 2024, the Company held 39 unfunded letters of credit from the FHLB totaling $729.2 million, with expiration dates ranging from October 16, 2024, to September 22, 2027. At December 31, 2023, the Company held 31 unfunded letters of credit from the FHLB totaling $693.6 million, with expiration dates ranging from January 14, 2024, to September 22, 2027.

Management establishes an asset-specific allowance for certain lending-related commitments and computes a formula-based allowance for performing consumer and commercial lending-related commitments. These are computed using a methodology similar to that used for the commercial loan portfolio, modified for expected maturities and probabilities of drawdown. The reserve for lending-related commitments was $3.4 million and $4.7 million at September 30, 2024, and December 31, 2023, respectively, and is included in accrued expenses and other liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Loss Contingencies

During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company discovered certain questioned activity involving a former banker. The activity involved the banker, who has since been terminated, facilitating advances in and among certain customer loans and accounts that, in one or more instances, may not have been appropriately documented. The Company has notified its insurance providers of anticipated claims resulting from this activity, but there is no consideration in the Company’s financial results of any potential insurance recoveries. The Company’s investigation into the questioned activity and impact on its financial statements remains ongoing.

As a result of these specific activities, the Company recorded a provision for loan credit losses of $3.2 million during the quarter ended June 30, 2024. Also, during the quarter ended June 30, 2024, several of the relationships impacted by the activity were placed on non-accrual and we recorded an additional $4.1 million provision for loan credit losses in conjunction with these loan relationships. No additional provision for loan credit losses, or release of provision, has been made related to this activity during the quarter ended September 30, 2024. Therefore, we have total loan loss reserves related to the questioned/impacted activity of $7.3 million at September 30, 2024.

Also, as a result of the questioned activity and during the second and third quarters ended June 30, 2024, and September 30, 2024, the Company recorded additional expenses totaling $2.3 million, which consisted of a loss contingency and interest expense accrual of $1.2 million and legal and professional fees of $1.1 million, recorded in noninterest expense.

The Company continues to work with a third-party forensic accounting team to confirm the Bank’s identification and reconciliation of the activity, and also assist in evaluating any additional impact from the questioned activity. There is at least a reasonable possibility that an additional loss may have been incurred in excess of the amount accrued above and that a change in the estimate will occur in the near term. As of the date of this report, management has assessed that an estimate for this additional loss cannot be made. At this time, we believe that any ultimate loss arising from the situation will not be material to our financial position.

From time to time, the Company is also party to various other legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business. Currently, management has not identified any other loss contingencies, either individually or in the aggregate, that would have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position or liquidity of the Company.