Allowance for Loan Losses

The Company’s ALLL covers estimated credit losses on individually evaluated loans that are determined to be impaired as well as estimated credit losses inherent in the remainder of the loan portfolio. The ALLL is prepared using the information provided by the Company’s credit review process together with data from peer institutions and economic information gathered from published sources.

The loan portfolio is segmented into groups of loans with similar risk characteristics. Each segment possesses varying degrees of risk based on, among other things, the type of loan, the type of collateral, and the sensitivity of the borrower or industry to changes in external factors such as economic conditions. An estimated loss rate calculated using the Company’s actual historical loss rates adjusted for current portfolio trends, economic conditions, and other relevant internal and external factors, is applied to each group’s aggregate loan balances.

The Company’s base ALLL factors are determined by management using the Bank’s annualized actual trailing charge-off data over intervals ranging from 84, 72, 36, 24, 12 and 6 months. Adjustments to those base factors are made for relevant internal and external factors. Those factors may include:


•	Changes in national, regional and local economic conditions, including trends in real estate values and the interest rate environment,


•	Changes in the nature and volume of the loan portfolio, including new types of lending,


•	Changes in volume and severity of past due loans, the volume of nonaccrual loans, and the volume and severity of adversely classified or graded loans, and


•	The existence and effect of concentrations of credit, and changes in the level of such concentrations.

The resulting total ALLL factor is compared for reasonableness against the 10-year average, 15-year average, and trailing 12 month total charge-off data for all Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insured commercial banks and savings institutions based in California. This factor is applied to balances graded pass-1through pass-5. For loans risk graded as watch or worse, progressively higher potential loss factors are applied based on management’s judgment, taking into consideration the specific characteristics of the Bank’s portfolio and analysis of results from a select group of the Company’s peers.