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Off-Balance Sheet Financial Instruments

The Company is a party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its clients. These financial instruments are commitments to extend credit, construction loans in process, unused lines of credit, standby letters of credit, and guaranteed accounts and may involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest-rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the consolidated balance sheets. The contract amounts of these instruments reflect the extent of involvement the Company has in these financial instruments.

The Company’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for available lines of credit, construction loans in process and standby letters of credit is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments as it does for on-balance-sheet instruments.

Commitments to extend credit, construction loans in process and unused lines of credit are agreements to lend to a client 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 some of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The Company evaluates each client’s credit worthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Company upon extension of credit, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the counterparty.

Standby letters of credit are written conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance of a client to a third party. These letters of credit are primarily issued to support third-party borrowing arrangements and generally have expiration dates within one year of issuance. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loans to clients. In the event the client does not perform in accordance with the terms of the agreement with the third party, we would be required to fund the commitment. The maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make is represented by the contractual amount of the commitment. If the commitment is funded, we would be entitled to seek recovery from the client. Some of the Company’s standby letters of credit are secured by collateral and those secured letters of credit totaled $606,000 at September 30, 2017.

Guaranteed accounts are irrevocable standby letters of credit issued by us to guarantee a client’s credit line with our third-party credit card company, First Arkansas Bank & Trust. As a part of this agreement, we are responsible for the established credit limit on certain accounts plus 10%. The maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make is represented by the dollar amount disclosed in the table below.

Standby letters of credit and commitments to extend credit typically result in loans with a market interest rate when funded.

In 2016, the Company entered into an agreement with another bank. This agreement references an interest rate swap that was transacted between the other bank and its loan client (the “Counterparty”). Should the Counterparty default on its obligations under the interest rate swap agreement with the other bank, then the Company would be liable for 13.208% of all swap liabilities. The maximum potential credit exposure under this contract at September 30, 2017 is $64,000.

The maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make for off-balance sheet financial instruments is represented by the dollar amount disclosed in the table below.


(in thousands)	At September 30, 2017
Commitments to extend credit	$	5,519

Construction loans in process	$	9,099

Unused lines of credit	$	41,231

Standby letters of credit	$	1,697

Guaranteed accounts	$	967