COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

NOTE 9—COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

• Lending Commitments

        The Bank is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit. Those instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk in excess of the amount recognized in the consolidated balance sheets. The contract or notional amounts of those instruments reflect the extent of involvement the Company has in particular classes of financial instruments.

        Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any 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. Commitments to extend credit totaled $709.8 million and $691.5 million at June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.

        Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Those guarantees are primarily issued to support private borrowing arrangements. Most guarantees expire within one year from the date of issuance. The Company generally requires collateral or other security to support financial instruments with credit risk. Standby letters of credit totaled $29.5 million and $32.0 million at June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.

        The Company has investments in low income housing project partnerships, which provide the Company income tax credits, and in a few small business investment companies. As of June 30, 2012, the Company had commitments to contribute capital to these entities totaling $15.6 million.

• Legal Matters

        In the ordinary course of our business, we are party to various legal actions, which we believe are incidental to the operation of our business. The outcome of such legal actions and the timing of ultimate resolution are inherently difficult to predict. In the opinion of management, based upon information currently available to us, any resulting liability, in addition to amounts already accrued, would not have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial statements of operations.