SUMMARY OF RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

SUMMARY OF RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

ORGANIZATION

ORGANIZATION

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp., a New York corporation, (the “Company”) is a bank holding company whose principal activity is the ownership and management of Metropolitan Commercial Bank (the “Bank”), its wholly-owned subsidiary. The Bank’s primary market is the New York metropolitan area. The Bank offers a traditional range of services to individuals, businesses and others needing banking services. Its primary lending products are commercial real estate loans and commercial and industrial loans. Substantially all loans are secured by specific items of collateral including business assets, consumer assets, and commercial and residential real estate. Commercial loans are expected to be repaid from the cash flows from the operations of the business. The Bank’s primary deposit products are checking, savings, and term deposit accounts, and its deposit accounts are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) up to the maximum amounts allowed by law.

The Company and the Bank are subject to the regulations of certain state and federal agencies and, accordingly, are periodically examined by those regulatory authorities. As a consequence of the extensive regulation of commercial banking activities, the Company’s business is affected by state and federal legislation and regulations.

Derivatives

The following accounting policy represents a material update and addition to the accounting policies previously disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 as filed with the SEC.

Derivatives: The Company has entered into an interest rate cap derivative that, based on the Company’s intentions and belief as to the likely effectiveness as a hedge, was designated as a cash flow hedge. A cash flow hedge is a hedge of a forecasted transaction or the variability of cash flows to be received or paid related to a recognized asset or liability.  For a cash flow hedge, the gain or loss on the derivative is reported in accumulated other comprehensive income and is reclassified into earnings in the same periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. Changes in the fair value of the derivative that are not highly effective in hedging the changes in expected cash flows of the hedged item are recognized immediately in current earnings. The amounts are reclassified to earnings in the same income statement line item that is used to present the earnings effect of the hedged item when the hedged item affects earnings.

The Company formally documents the relationship between derivatives and hedged items, as well as the risk management objective and the strategy for undertaking hedged transactions at the inception of the hedging relationship. The documentation includes linking the cash flow hedges to specific assets and liabilities on the balance sheet or to specific forecasted transactions or group of forecasted transactions. The Company also formally assesses, both at the hedge’s inception and on an ongoing basis, whether the derivative instruments that are used are highly effective in offsetting changes in cash flows of the hedged items. The Company discontinues hedge accounting when it determines that the derivative is no longer effective in offsetting changes in the cash flows of the hedged item, the derivative is settled or terminates, a hedged forecasted transaction is no longer probable, or treatment of the derivative as a hedge is no longer appropriate or intended.

When a cash flow hedge is discontinued but the hedged cash flows or forecasted transactions are still expected to occur, gains or losses that were accumulated in accumulated other comprehensive income are amortized into earnings over the same periods in which the hedged transactions will affect earnings. If the forecasted transaction is deemed probable to not occur, the derivative gain or loss reported in accumulated other comprehensive income is reclassified into current earnings.