Note 4 - Investment Securities

The amortized cost, gross unrealized gains and losses, and estimated fair values of investment securities available for sale at September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014 are summarized below.



	September 30, 2015
(in thousands)	Amortized Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains	Gross Unrealized Losses		Fair Value
U.S. Treasury securities	$	43,159	514	—		43,673
U.S. Government agency securities	13,096		705	—		13,801
Securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises	126,734		866	—		127,600
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government agencies	208,785		2,458	(388	)	210,855
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises	2,531,543		22,314	(5,764	)	2,548,093
Collateralized mortgage obligations issued by U.S. Government agencies or sponsored enterprises	505,498		6,039	(917	)	510,620
State and municipal securities	4,437		110	(1	)	4,546
Equity securities	3,228		5,243	—		8,471
Other investments	20,161		51	(539	)	19,673
Total investment securities available for sale	$	3,456,641	38,300	(7,609	)	3,487,332

	December 31, 2014
(in thousands)	Amortized Cost⁽¹⁾		Gross Unrealized Gains	Gross Unrealized Losses		Fair Value
U.S. Treasury securities	$	42,636	190	—		42,826
U.S. Government agency securities	26,426		898	—		27,324
Securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises	81,332		710	—		82,042
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government agencies	177,678		2,578	(440	)	179,816
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises	2,250,897		19,915	(9,131	)	2,261,681
Collateralized mortgage obligations issued by U.S. Government agencies or sponsored enterprises	414,562		4,856	(2,342	)	417,076
State and municipal securities	5,024		183	(1	)	5,206
Equity securities	3,228		3,520			6,748
Other investments	19,121		7	(441	)	18,687
Total investment securities available for sale	$	3,020,904	32,857	(12,355	)	3,041,406


⁽¹⁾	Amortized cost is adjusted for other-than-temporary impairment charges in 2014, which have been recognized in the consolidated statements of income and were considered inconsequential.

At September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, investment securities with a carrying value of $2.13 billion and $2.12 billion respectively, were pledged to secure certain deposits and securities sold under repurchase agreements as required by law and contractual agreements.

Synovus has reviewed investment securities that are in an unrealized loss position as of September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014 for OTTI and does not consider any securities in an unrealized loss position to be other-than-temporarily impaired. If Synovus intended to sell a security in an unrealized loss position, the entire unrealized loss would be reflected in income. Synovus does not intend to sell investment securities in an unrealized loss position prior to the recovery of the unrealized loss, which may be until maturity, and has the ability and intent to hold those securities for that period of time. Additionally, Synovus is not currently aware of any circumstances which will require it to sell any of the securities that are in an unrealized loss position prior to the respective securities' recovery of all such unrealized losses.

Declines in the fair value of available for sale securities below their cost that are deemed to have OTTI are reflected in earnings as realized losses to the extent the impairment is related to credit losses. The amount of the impairment related to other factors is recognized in other comprehensive income. Currently, unrealized losses on debt securities are attributable to increases in interest rates on comparable securities from the date of purchase. Synovus regularly evaluates its investment securities portfolio to ensure that there are no conditions that would indicate that unrealized losses represent OTTI. These factors include the length of time the security has been in a loss position, the extent that the fair value is below amortized cost, and the credit standing of the issuer. As of September 30, 2015, Synovus had eight investment securities in a loss position for less than twelve months and thirty-two investment securities in a loss position for twelve months or longer.

Gross unrealized losses on investment securities and the fair value of the related securities, aggregated by investment category and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position, at September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, are presented below.



	September 30, 2015
	Less than 12 Months			12 Months or Longer		Total
(in thousands)	Fair Value		Gross Unrealized Losses	Fair Value	Gross Unrealized Losses	Fair Value	Gross Unrealized Losses
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government agencies	—		—	18,912	388	18,912	388
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises	225,845		745	591,427	5,019	817,272	5,764
Collateralized mortgage obligations issued by U.S. Government agencies or sponsored enterprises	—		—	76,198	917	76,198	917
State and municipal securities	—		—	48	1	48	1
Other investments	—		—	4,623	539	4,623	539
Total	$	225,845	745	691,208	6,864	917,053	7,609

	December 31, 2014
	Less than 12 Months			12 Months or Longer		Total
(in thousands)	Fair Value		Gross Unrealized Losses	Fair Value	Gross Unrealized Losses	Fair Value	Gross Unrealized Losses
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government agencies	—		—	21,488	440	21,488	440
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises	251,134		763	798,282	8,368	1,049,416	9,131
Collateralized mortgage obligations issued by U.S. Government agencies or sponsored enterprises	20,338		61	119,172	2,281	139,510	2,342
State and municipal securities	—		—	45	1	45	1
Other investments	—		—	3,680	441	3,680	441
Total	$	271,472	824	942,667	11,531	1,214,139	12,355

The amortized cost and fair value by contractual maturity of investment securities available for sale at September 30, 2015 are shown below. The expected life of mortgage-backed securities or CMOs may differ from contractual maturities because issuers may have the right to call or prepay obligations with or without call or prepayment penalties. For purposes of the maturity table, mortgage-backed securities and CMOs, which are not due at a single maturity date, have been classified based on the final contractual maturity date.



	Distribution of Maturities at September 30, 2015
(in thousands)	Within One Year		1 to 5 Years	5 to 10 Years	More Than 10 Years	No Stated Maturity	Total
Amortized Cost
U.S. Treasury securities	$	18,287	24,872	—	—	—	43,159
U.S. Government agency securities	—		6,676	6,420	—	—	13,096
Securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises	80,679		46,055	—	—	—	126,734
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government agencies	—		—	20,052	188,733	—	208,785
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises	—		870	1,881,955	648,718	—	2,531,543
Collateralized mortgage obligations issued by U.S. Government agencies or sponsored enterprises	—		—	—	505,498	—	505,498
State and municipal securities	1,082		748	—	2,607	—	4,437
Equity securities	—		—	—	—	3,228	3,228
Other investments	—		—	15,000	2,000	3,161	20,161
Total amortized cost	$	100,048	79,221	1,923,427	1,347,556	6,389	3,456,641
Fair Value
U.S. Treasury securities	$	18,287	25,386	—	—	—	43,673
U.S. Government agency securities	—		6,990	6,811	—	—	13,801
Securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises	81,139		46,461	—	—	—	127,600
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government agencies	—		—	20,441	190,414	—	210,855
Mortgage-backed securities issued by U.S. Government sponsored enterprises	—		910	1,886,916	660,267	—	2,548,093
Collateralized mortgage obligations issued by U.S. Government agencies or sponsored enterprises	—		—	—	510,620	—	510,620
State and municipal securities	1,097		755	—	2,694	—	4,546
Equity securities	—		—	—	—	8,471	8,471
Other investments	—		—	15,051	1,531	3,091	19,673
Total fair value	$	100,523	80,502	1,929,219	1,365,526	11,562	3,487,332

Proceeds from sales, gross gains, and gross losses on sales of securities available for sale for the nine and three months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014 are presented below. Other-than-temporary impairment charges of $88 thousand are included in gross realized losses for the nine months ended September 30, 2014. The specific identification method is used to reclassify gains and losses out of other comprehensive income at the time of sale.



	Nine Months Ended September 30,				Three Months Ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2015		2014		2015	2014
Proceeds from sales of investment securities available for sale	$	82,156	20,815		—	—
Gross realized gains	2,710		1,419		—	—
Gross realized losses	—		(88	)	—	—
Investment securities gains, net	$	2,710	1,331		—	—