LEASE COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

LEASE COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

13.          LEASE COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Commitments

The Company has a non-cancelable lease for office space which commenced in May 2002 and expires in December 2014.  Merganser has a non-cancelable lease for office space, which commenced on May 2003 and expires in May 2014.  Merganser subleases a portion of its leased space to a subtenant.  FIDAC has a lease for office space which commenced in October 2010 and expires in February 2016. The lease expense for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010 were $2.5 million, $1.9 million, and $1.8 million, respectively.  The Company’s aggregate future minimum lease payments total $5.6 million.  The following table details the lease payments.

Year Ending December	Lease Commitment		Sublease Income		Net Amount
	(dollars in thousands)
2013		2,937		60		2,877
2014		2,509		-		2,509
2015		159		-		159
2016		26		-		26
Later years		-		-		-
	$	5,631	$	60	$	5,571

Contingencies

From time to time, the Company is involved in various claims and legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business.  In the opinion of management, the ultimate disposition of these matters will not have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and therefore no accrual is required as of December 31, 2012 and 2011.