Note 9 – Commitments and Contingencies

Lease Commitments — The Company leases 140 sites under non-cancelable operating leases. The leases contain various provisions for increases in rental rates, based either on changes in the published Consumer Price Index or a predetermined escalation schedule. Substantially all of the leases provide the Company with the option to extend the lease term one or more times following expiration of the initial term.

Rent expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 was $4.3 million and $8.6 million and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 was $4.0 million and $8.2 million. Rent expense was offset by rent income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 of $304,000 and $608,000, respectively, compared to $200,000 and $472,000, respectively, in the comparable periods in 2011.

Financial Instruments with Off-Balance-Sheet Risk — The Company's financial statements do not reflect various commitments and contingent liabilities that arise in the normal course of the Bank's business and involve elements of credit, liquidity, and interest rate risk.

The following table presents a summary of the Bank's commitments and contingent liabilities:


(in thousands)
	As of June 30, 2012
Commitments to extend credit	$	1,325,115
Commitments to extend overdrafts	$	213,395
Forward sales commitments	$	372,696
Commitments to originate loans held for sale	$	261,900
Standby letters of credit	$	59,267

The Bank is a party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet credit risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit, standby letters of credit and financial guarantees. Those instruments involve elements of credit and interest-rate risk similar to the risk involved in on-balance sheet items recognized in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The contract or notional amounts of those instruments reflect the extent of the Bank's involvement in particular classes of financial instruments.

The Bank's exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit, and financial guarantees written, is represented by the contractual notional amount of those instruments. The Bank uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance-sheet instruments.

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any covenant or condition established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee. Since many of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. While most standby letters of credit are not utilized, a significant portion of such utilization is on an immediate payment basis. The Bank evaluates each customer's creditworthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if it is deemed necessary by the Bank upon extension of credit, is based on management's credit evaluation of the counterparty. Collateral varies but may include cash, accounts receivable, inventory, premises and equipment and income-producing commercial properties.

Standby letters of credit and financial guarantees written are conditional commitments issued by the Bank to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. These guarantees are primarily issued to support public and private borrowing arrangements, including international trade finance, commercial paper, bond financing and similar transactions. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities to customers. The Bank holds cash, marketable securities, or real estate as collateral supporting those commitments for which collateral is deemed necessary. The Bank has not been required to perform on any financial guarantees and did not incur any losses in connection with standby letters of credit during the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively. At June 30, 2012, approximately $26.8 million of standby letters of credit expire within one year, and $32.5 million expire thereafter. Upon issuance, the Bank recognizes a liability equivalent to the amount of fees received from the customer for these standby letter of credit commitments. Fees are recognized ratably over the term of the standby letter of credit. The estimated fair value of guarantees associated with standby letters of credit was $255,000 as of June 30, 2012.

Mortgage loans sold to investors may be sold with servicing rights retained, for which the Bank makes only standard legal representations and warranties as to meeting certain underwriting and collateral documentation standards. In the past two years, the Bank has had to repurchase fewer than 20 loans due to deficiencies in underwriting or loan documentation and has not realized significant losses related to these repurchases. Management believes that any liabilities that may result from such recourse provisions are not significant.

Legal Proceedings— The Bank owns 468,659 shares of Class B common stock of Visa Inc. which are convertible into Class A common stock at a conversion ratio of 0.4206 per Class A share. As of June 30, 2012, the value of the Class A shares was $123.60 per share. Utilizing the conversion ratio, the value of unredeemed Class A equivalent shares owned by the Bank was $24.4 million as of June 30, 2012, and has not been reflected in the accompanying financial statements. The shares of Visa Class B common stock are restricted and may not be transferred. Visa member banks are required to fund an escrow account to cover settlements, resolution of pending litigation and related claims. If the funds in the escrow account are insufficient to settle all the covered litigation, Visa may sell additional Class A shares and use the proceeds to settle litigation, and thereby reducing the conversion ratio. If funds remain in the escrow account after all litigation is settled, the Class B conversion ratio will be increased to reflect that surplus.

In the ordinary course of business, various claims and lawsuits are brought by and against the Company, the Bank and Umpqua Investments. In the opinion of management, there is no pending or threatened proceeding in which an adverse decision could result in a material adverse change in the Company's consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

On July 13, 2012, Visa, Inc. announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding obligating it to enter into a settlement agreement to resolve the multi-district interchange litigation brought by the class plaintiffs in the matter styled In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, No. 05-MD-1720 (JG) (JO). The claims originally were brought by a class of U.S. retailers in 2005. The proposed settlement is subject to court approval and VISA’s share of the settlement to be paid is estimated to be approximately $4.1 billion. The effect of this proposed settlement on the value of the Bank’s Class B common stock is unknown at this time.

Concentrations of Credit Risk - The Company grants real estate mortgage, real estate construction, commercial, agricultural and installment loans and leases to customers throughout Oregon, Washington, California, and Nevada. In management’s judgment, a concentration exists in real estate-related loans, which represented approximately 79% of the Bank’s non-covered loan and lease portfolio at June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011. Commercial real estate concentrations are managed to assure wide geographic and business diversity. Although management believes such concentrations have no more than the normal risk of collectability, a substantial decline in the economy in general, material increases in interest rates, changes in tax policies, tightening credit or refinancing markets, or a decline in real estate values in the Company’s primary market areas in particular, such as has been seen with the deterioration in the residential development market since 2007, could have an adverse impact on the repayment of these loans. Personal and business incomes, proceeds from the sale of real property, or proceeds from refinancing, represent the primary sources of repayment for a majority of these loans.

The Bank recognizes the credit risks inherent in dealing with other depository institutions. Accordingly, to prevent excessive exposure to any single correspondent, the Bank has established general standards for selecting correspondent banks as well as internal limits for allowable exposure to any single correspondent. In addition, the Bank has an investment policy that sets forth limitations that apply to all investments with respect to credit rating and concentrations with an issuer.