Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Commitments and Contingent Liabilities [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

Note 12.  Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

In the normal course of business, Pinnacle Financial has entered into off-balance sheet financial instruments which include commitments to extend credit (i.e., including unfunded lines of credit) and standby letters of credit. Commitments to extend credit are usually the result of lines of credit granted to existing borrowers under agreements that the total outstanding indebtedness will not exceed a specific amount during the term of the indebtedness.  Typical borrowers are commercial concerns that use lines of credit to supplement their treasury management functions, thus their total outstanding indebtedness may fluctuate during any time period based on the seasonality of their business and the resultant timing of their cash flows.  Other typical lines of credit are related to home equity loans granted to consumers.  Commitments to extend credit generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee.  At December 31, 2011, these commitments amounted to $937.1 million.

Standby letters of credit are generally issued on behalf of an applicant (customer) to a specifically named beneficiary and are the result of a particular business arrangement that exists between the applicant and the beneficiary.  Standby letters of credit have fixed expiration dates and are usually for terms of two years or less unless terminated beforehand due to criteria specified in the standby letter of credit.  A typical arrangement involves the applicant routinely being indebted to the beneficiary for such items as inventory purchases, insurance, utilities, lease guarantees or other third party commercial transactions.  The standby letter of credit would permit the beneficiary to obtain payment from Pinnacle Financial under certain prescribed circumstances.  Subsequently, Pinnacle Financial would then seek reimbursement from the applicant pursuant to the terms of the standby letter of credit.  At December 31, 2011, these commitments amounted to $76.2 million.

Pinnacle Financial follows the same credit policies and underwriting practices when making these commitments as it does for on-balance sheet instruments.  Each customer's creditworthiness is evaluated on a case-by-case basis and the amount of collateral obtained, if any, is based on management's credit evaluation of the customer.  Collateral held varies but may include cash, real estate and improvements, marketable securities, accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, and personal property.

The contractual amounts of these commitments are not reflected in the consolidated financial statements and would only be reflected if drawn upon.  Since many of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the contractual amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements.  However, should the commitments be drawn upon and should our customers default on their resulting obligation to us, Pinnacle Financial's maximum exposure to credit loss, without consideration of collateral, is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments.  At December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, Pinnacle Financial had accrued $1,198,000 and $998,000 for the inherent risks associated with off balance sheet commitments.

Various legal proceedings to which Pinnacle Financial or a subsidiary of Pinnacle Financial is party arise from time to time in the normal course of business. Except as described below, as of the date hereof, there are no material pending legal proceedings to which Pinnacle Financial or any of its subsidiaries is a party or of which any of its or its subsidiaries' properties are subject.

During the fourth quarter, a customer of Pinnacle National's filed a punative class action lawsuit (styled John Higgins, et al. v. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc., d/b/a Pinnacle National Bank) in Davidson County, Tennessee Circuit Court against Pinnacle National and Pinnacle Financial, on his own behalf, as well as on behalf of a purported class of Pinnacle National's customers within the State of Tennessee alleging that Pinnacle National's method of ordering debit card transactions had caused customers of Pinnacle National to incur higher overdraft charges than had a different method been used.  In support of his claims, the plaintiff asserts theories of breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment and unconscionability. The plaintiff is seeking, among other remedies, an award of unspecified compensatory, pre-judgment interest, costs and attorneys' fees.  On January 17, 2012, Pinnacle Financial and Pinnacle National filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. As of December 31, 2011, the Company cannot reasonably estimate the probability of a potential loss, if any, associated with this litigation and intends to contest this matter vigorously.