Recent Accounting Pronouncements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Accounting Standards Update and Change in Accounting Principle [Abstract]

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Standards Adopted in 2023

First Guaranty adopted FASB ASC Topic 326 “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses: Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments” Update No. 2016-13 (“ASU 2016-13”). ASU 2016-13 on January 1, 2023. ASU 2016-13, referred to as the Current Expected Credit Loss (“CECL”) standard, requires financial assets measured on an amortized cost basis, including loans and held-to-maturity debt securities, to be presented at an amount net of an allowance for credit losses, which reflects expected losses for the full life of the financial asset. Unfunded lending commitments are also within the scope of this topic. Under prior GAAP losses were not recognized until the occurrence of the loss was probable.

CECL requires the measurement of all expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts and requires enhanced disclosures related to the significant estimates and judgments used in estimating credit losses, as well as the credit quality and underwriting standards of an organization’s portfolio. The CECL methodology requires that lifetime expected credit losses be recorded at the time the financial asset is originated or acquired, and be adjusted each period as a provision for credit losses for changes in expected lifetime credit losses. ASU 2016-13 does not specify the method for measuring expected credit losses, and an entity is allowed to apply methods that reasonably reflect its expectations of the lifetime credit loss estimate. First Guaranty developed a CECL model methodology that calculates expected credit losses over the life of the portfolio by analyzing the composition, characteristics and quality of the loan and securities portfolios, as well as prevailing economic conditions and forecasts. First Guaranty’s CECL calculation estimates loan losses using a combination of discounted cash flow and remaining life analyses.

First Guaranty adopted ASU 2016-13 using the modified retrospective approach for all loans and off-balance sheet credit exposures measured at amortized cost, other than purchased credit deteriorated (“PCD”) financial assets. Results for reporting periods beginning after December 31, 2022 are presented in accordance with ASU 2016-13 while prior period amounts continue to be reported in accordance with previously applicable GAAP.

ASU 2016-13 also amended the accounting model for purchased financial assets and replaced the guidance for purchased credit impaired (“PCI”) financial assets with the concept of PCDs. For PCD assets, the CECL estimate is recognized through the allowance for credit losses with an offset to the amortized cost basis of the PCD asset at the date of acquisition. Subsequent changes in the allowance for credit losses for PCD assets are recognized through a provision for credit losses on loans. First Guaranty used the prospective transition approach for PCD loans that were previously classified as PCI and accounted for under ASC 310-30, “Loans and Debt Securities Acquired with Deteriorated Credit Quality” (“ASC 310-30”). First Guaranty determined that certain PCI assets no longer met meet the criteria of PCD assets as of the date of adoption.

First Guaranty adopted ASU 2016-13 on January 1, 2023, and recorded a one-time, cumulative effect adjustment as shown in the table below (dollars in thousands).

	December 31, 2022		Impact of ASU 2016-13 Adoption		January 1, 2023
Assets:
Allowance for credit losses	$	(23,518)	$	(8,220)	$	(31,738)
Deferred tax asset	6,420		2,100		8,520
Remaining purchase discount on loans	(1,120)		1,120		—
Liabilities:
Reserve for unfunded loan commitments	—		(2,900)		(2,900)
Stockholders’ Equity
Retained earnings	76,351		(7,900)		68,451

In addition, ASU 2016-13 amends the accounting for credit losses on available for sale (“AFS”) securities, requiring expected credit losses on AFS securities to be recorded in an allowance for credit losses rather than as a write-down of the securities’ amortized cost. Declines in the fair value of AFS securities that are not considered credit related are recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income. In addition, expected credit losses on held to maturity (“HTM”) securities are required to be recorded in an allowance for credit losses rather than as a write-down of the securities’ amortized cost basis. First Guaranty’s AFS securities portfolio was not materially impacted by the adoption of ASC 326. A $100,000 allowance for HTM securities was recorded at the adoption of ASC 326.

The allowance for credit losses is measured on a pool basis when similar risk characteristics exist and is maintained at an amount which management believes is a current estimate of the expected credit losses for the full life of the relevant pool of loans and related unfunded lending commitments. For modeling purposes, loan pools include: Real Estate based pools for construction and land development, farmland, 1-4 family residential, multifamily, and non-farm non-residential and non-real-estate pools for agricultural, commercial and industrial, commercial leases and consumer and other. Management periodically reassesses each pool to confirm the loans within the pool continue to share similar characteristics and risk profiles and to determine whether further segmentation is necessary. The loss rates computed for each pool and expected pool-level funding rates are applied to the related unfunded lending commitments to calculate an allowance for credit losses.

Loans that do not share similar risk characteristics with other loans are excluded from the loan pools and individually evaluated for impairment. Individually evaluated loans are loans for which it is probable that all the amounts due under the contractual terms of the loan will not be collected.

FASB ASC Topic 326 “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses, Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures” Update No. 2022-02 (“ASU 2022-02”). ASU 2022-02 became effective for First Guaranty on January 1, 2023 and is applied prospectively. ASU 2022-02 amends Topic 326 to eliminate the accounting guidance for troubled debt restructurings (“TDRs”) by creditors that have adopted ASU 2016-13 and, instead, requires that an entity evaluate whether the modification represents a new loan or a continuation of an existing loan. The amendment also requires that public business entities disclose current-period gross charge-offs by year of origination for financing receivables and net investments in leases. The adoption of ASU 2022-02 did not have a material impact on First Guaranty’s consolidated financial statements.

Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

ASU No. 2023-09, "Improvements to Tax Disclosures" ("ASU 2023-09") is intended to enhance the transparency and decision usefulness of income tax disclosures primarily through changes to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information. This update is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024, though early adoption is permitted. We do not expect it to have a material effect on First Guaranty's consolidated financial statements.