Derivative Financial Instruments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative Financial Instruments

The notional amount and fair value of the Company’s derivative financial instruments as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were as follows:

		September 30, 2017						December 31, 2016
(dollars in thousands)	Notional Amount			Fair Value			Notional Amount			Fair Value
Interest Rate Lock Commitments		$	50,050	$	958			$	55,223	$	1,067
Forward Commitments		51,263		19				104,962		847
Interest Rate Swap Agreements
Receive Fixed/Pay Variable Swaps		378,618		2,187				357,441		1,381
Pay Fixed/Receive Variable Swaps		378,618		(1,830		)		357,441		(1,395		)
Foreign Exchange Contracts		56,130		(677		)		38,172		(757		)

The following table presents the Company’s derivative financial instruments, their fair values, and their location in the consolidated statements of condition as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016:

Derivative Financial Instruments	September 30, 2017				December 31, 2016
Not Designated as Hedging Instruments 1	Asset		Liability		Asset		Liability
(dollars in thousands)	Derivatives		Derivatives		Derivatives		Derivatives
Interest Rate Lock Commitments	$	962	$	4	$	1,236	$	169
Forward Commitments	76		57		873		26
Interest Rate Swap Agreements	10,522		10,165		11,569		11,583
Foreign Exchange Contracts	26		703		53		810
Total	$	11,586	$	10,929	$	13,731	$	12,588

¹  Asset derivatives are included in other assets and liability derivatives are included in other liabilities in the consolidated statements of condition.

The following table presents the Company’s derivative financial instruments and the amount and location of the net gains or losses recognized in the consolidated statements of income for the three and nine months endedSeptember 30, 2017 and 2016:

	Location of
Derivative Financial Instruments	Net Gains (Losses)	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
Not Designated as Hedging Instruments	Recognized in the	September 30,						September 30,
(dollars in thousands)	Statements of Income	2017			2016			2017			2016
Interest Rate Lock Commitments	Mortgage Banking	$	1,550		$	4,154		$	4,472		$	8,113
Forward Commitments	Mortgage Banking	(434		)	(934		)	(1,322		)	(2,430		)
Interest Rate Swap Agreements	Other Noninterest Income	10			1,595			690			2,416
Foreign Exchange Contracts	Other Noninterest Income	754			772			2,600			2,245
Total		$	1,880		$	5,587		$	6,440		$	10,344

Management has received authorization from the Bank’s Board of Directors to use derivative financial instruments as an end-user in connection with the Bank’s risk management activities and to accommodate the needs of the Bank’s customers.  As with any financial instrument, derivative financial instruments have inherent risks.  Market risk is defined as the risk of adverse financial impact due to fluctuations in interest rates, foreign exchange rates, and equity prices.  Market risks associated with derivative financial instruments are balanced with the expected returns to enhance earnings performance and shareholder value, while limiting the volatility of each.  The Company uses various processes to monitor its overall market risk exposure, including sensitivity analysis, value-at-risk calculations, and other methodologies.

Derivative financial instruments are also subject to credit and counterparty risk, which is defined as the risk of financial loss if a borrower or counterparty is either unable or unwilling to repay borrowings or settle transactions in accordance with the underlying contractual terms.  Credit and counterparty risks associated with derivative financial instruments are similar to those relating to traditional financial instruments.  The Company manages derivative credit and counterparty risk by evaluating the creditworthiness of each borrower or counterparty, adhering to the same credit approval process used for commercial lending activities.

As of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company did not designate any derivative financial instruments as formal hedging relationships.  The Company’s free-standing derivative financial instruments are required to be carried at their fair value on the Company’s consolidated statements of condition.  These financial instruments have been limited to interest rate lock commitments (“IRLCs”), forward commitments, interest rate swap agreements, foreign exchange contracts, and conversion rate swap agreements.

The Company enters into IRLCs for residential mortgage loans which commit us to lend funds to a potential borrower at a specific interest rate and within a specified period of time.  IRLCs that relate to the origination of mortgage loans that will be held for sale are considered derivative financial instruments under applicable accounting guidance.  Outstanding IRLCs expose the Company to the risk that the price of the mortgage loans underlying the commitments may decline due to increases in mortgage interest rates from inception of the rate lock to the funding of the loan.  To mitigate this risk, the Company utilizes forward commitments as economic hedges against the potential decreases in the values of the loans held for sale.  IRLCs and forward commitments are free-standing derivatives which are carried at fair value with changes recorded in the mortgage banking component of noninterest income in the Company’s consolidated statements of income.

The Company enters into interest rate swap agreements to facilitate the risk management strategies of a small number of commercial banking customers.  The Company mitigates the interest rate risk of entering into these agreements by entering into equal and offsetting interest rate swap agreements with highly rated third party financial institutions.  The interest rate swap agreements are free-standing derivatives and are recorded at fair value in the Company’s consolidated statements of condition. Fair value changes are recorded in other noninterest income in the Company’s consolidated statements of income.  The Company is party to master netting arrangements with its financial institution counterparties; however, the Company does not offset assets and liabilities under these arrangements for financial statement presentation purposes.  Collateral, usually in the form of cash or marketable securities, is posted by the counterparty with net liability positions in accordance with contract thresholds.  See Note 6 Balance Sheet Offsetting for more information.

The Company’s interest rate swap agreements with financial institution counterparties may contain credit-risk-related contingent features tied to a specified credit rating of the Company.  Under these provisions, should the Company’s specified rating fall below a particular level (e.g., investment grade rating), or if the Company no longer obtains the specified rating, the counterparty may require the Company to pledge collateral on an immediate and ongoing basis (subject to the requirement that such swaps are in a net liability position beyond the level specified in the contract), or require immediate settlement of the swap agreement.  Other credit-risk-related contingent features may also allow the counterparty to require immediate settlement of the swap agreement if the Company fails to maintain a specified minimum level of capitalization. 

With regard to derivative contracts not centrally cleared through a clearinghouse, new regulations require collateral to be posted by the party with a net liability position (i.e., the threshold for posting collateral was reduced to zero, subject to certain minimum transfer amounts).  The requirements generally apply to new derivative contracts entered into after the applicable compliance date of the regulation (March 1, 2017 for the Company), although certain counterparties may elect to apply lower thresholds to existing contracts.

Parties to a centrally cleared over-the-counter derivative exchange daily payments that reflect the daily change in value of the derivative. These payments are commonly referred to as variation margin. Historically, variation margin payments have typically been treated as collateral against the derivative position. Effective 2017, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and LCH.Clearnet Limited (collectively, the “clearinghouses”) amended their rulebooks to legally characterize variation margin payments for over-the-counter derivatives they clear as settlements of the derivatives’ mark-to-market exposure rather than collateral against the exposures. This rule change effectively results in any derivative cleared through the clearinghouses to have a fair value that approximates zero on a daily basis. During the second quarter of 2017, the Company executed its first swap agreements cleared through the clearinghouses. As of September 30, 2017, the application of the rule change reduced the swap agreement liability by $0.4 million, as reflected in the table above. Going forward, the Company expects most of the swap agreements executed with third party financial institutions will be required to be cleared through the clearinghouses. The uncleared swap agreements executed with third party financial institutions will remain subject to the collateral requirements and credit-risk-related contingent features described in the previous paragraphs, and therefore, are not subject to the variation margin rule change. Likewise, the swap agreements executed with the Company’s commercial banking customers will remain uncleared and will also not be subject to the variation margin rule change.

The Company utilizes foreign exchange contracts to offset risks related to transactions executed on behalf of customers.  The foreign exchange contracts are free-standing derivatives which are carried at fair value with changes included in other noninterest income in the Company’s consolidated statements of income.

As each sale of Visa Class B restricted shares was completed, the Company entered into a conversion rate swap agreement with the buyer that requires payment to the buyer in the event Visa further reduces the conversion ratio of Class B into Class A unrestricted common shares.  In the event of Visa increasing the conversion ratio, the buyer would be required to make payment to the Company.  As of September 30, 2017, the conversion rate swap agreement was valued at zero (i.e., no contingent liability recorded) as further reductions to the conversion ratio were deemed neither probable nor reasonably estimable by management. See Note 2 Investment Securities for more information.