Commitments and Contingencies

The Banks are party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of clients. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit and involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amounts recognized in the Consolidated Financial Statements. The contract amounts reflect the extent of involvement the Banks have in these particular classes of financial instruments.

In the event of non-performance, the Banks’ exposure to credit loss for commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit is represented by the contractual amount of these instruments. The Banks use the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as they do for instruments reflected in the Consolidated Financial Statements. An accrual for credit losses on financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk would be recorded separate from any valuation account related to any such recognized financial instrument. As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, there were no accrued credit losses for financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk.

Financial instruments whose contract amounts represent potential credit risk at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, are as follows:



	At December 31,
	2016		2015
	(In Thousands)
Commitments to extend credit, primarily commercial loans	$	539,146	$	512,627
Standby letters of credit	11,771		18,622

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a client as long as there is no violation of any condition in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may have a fixed interest rate or a rate which varies with the prime rate or other market indices and may require payment of a fee. Since some commitments expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements of the Banks. The Banks evaluate the creditworthiness of each client on a case-by-case basis and generally extend credit only on a secured basis. Collateral obtained varies but consists primarily of commercial real estate, accounts receivable, inventory, equipment and securities. There is generally no market for commercial loan commitments, the fair value of which would approximate the present value of any fees expected to be received as a result of the commitment. These are not considered to be material to the financial statements.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by the Banks to guarantee the performance of a client to a third party. Generally, standby letters of credit expire within one year and are collateralized by accounts receivable, equipment, inventory and commercial properties. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities to clients. The fair value of standby letters of credit is recorded as a liability when the standby letter of credit is issued. The fair value has been estimated to approximate the fees received by the Banks for issuance. The fees are recorded into income and the fair value of the guarantee is decreased ratably over the term of the standby letter of credit.

In the ordinary course of business, the Corporation sells the guaranteed portion of SBA loans, as well as participation interests in other originated loans, to third parties. The Corporation has a continuing involvement in each of the transferred lending arrangements by way of relationship management, servicing the loans, as well as being subject to normal and customary requirements of the SBA loan program; however, there are no further obligations to the third-party participant required of the Corporation, other than standard representations and warranties related to sold amounts. In the event of a loss resulting from default and a determination by the SBA that there is a deficiency in the manner in which the loan was originated, funded or serviced by the Corporation, the SBA may require the Corporation to repurchase the loan, deny its liability under the guaranty, reduce the amount of the guaranty, or, if it has already paid under the guaranty, seek recovery of the principal loss related to the deficiency from the Corporation. The Corporation must comply with applicable SBA regulations in order to maintain the guaranty. In addition, the Corporation retains the option to repurchase the sold guaranteed portion of an SBA loan if the loan defaults.

Management has assessed estimated losses inherent in the outstanding guaranteed portion of SBA loans sold in accordance with ASC 450, Contingencies, and determined a recourse reserve based on the probability of future losses for these loans to be $1.7 million at December 31, 2016, which is reported in accrued interest payable and other liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. No recourse reserve was recorded as of December 31, 2015. To date, the Corporation has not experienced significant losses related to the guaranteed portion of SBA loans.

The summary of the activity in the SBA recourse reserve for the year ended December 31, 2016 is as follows:



	At December 31,
	2016
	(In Thousands)
Balance at the beginning of the period	$	—
SBA recourse provision	2,068
Charge-offs, net	(318		)
Balance at the end of the period	$	1,750

In the normal course of business, various legal proceedings involving the Corporation are pending. Management, based upon advice from legal counsel, does not anticipate any significant losses as a result of these actions. Management believes that any liability arising from any such proceedings currently existing or threatened will not have a material adverse effect on the Corporation’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows.