Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

Commitments and letters of credit

Standby letters of credit and commercial letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by First Commonwealth to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. The contract or notional amount of these instruments reflects the maximum amount of future payments that First Commonwealth could be required to pay under the guarantees if there were a total default by the guaranteed parties, without consideration of possible recoveries under recourse provisions or from collateral held or pledged. In addition, many of these commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon; therefore, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements.

The following table identifies the notional amount of those instruments at:



	March 31, 2013		December 31, 2012
	(dollars in thousands)
Financial instruments whose contract amounts represent credit risk:
Commitments to extend credit	$	1,474,447	$	1,506,618
Financial standby letters of credit	40,829		47,185
Performance standby letters of credit	49,249		69,240
Commercial letters of credit	330		685

The current notional amounts outstanding as of March 31, 2013 include financial standby letters of credit of $36 thousand, performance standby letters of credit of $0.1 million, and there were no commercial letters of credit issued during the first three months of 2013. A liability of $0.2 million and $0.2 million has been recorded as of March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively, which represents the estimated fair value of letters of credit issued. The fair value of letters of credit is estimated based on the unrecognized portion of fees received at the time the commitment was issued.

Unused commitments and letters of credit provide exposure to future credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the borrower or guaranteed parties. Management’s evaluation of the credit risk in these commitments resulted in the recording of a liability of $2.3 million as of March 31, 2013 and $2.4 million as of December 31, 2012. The credit risk evaluation incorporated probability of default, loss given default and estimated utilization for the next twelve months for each loan category and the letters of credit.

Legal proceedings

McGrogan v. First Commonwealth Bank is a class action that was filed on January 12, 2009, in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The action alleges that First Commonwealth Bank (the “Bank”) promised class members a minimum interest rate of 8% on its IRA Market Rate Savings Account for as long as the class members kept their money on deposit in the IRA account. The class asserts that the Bank committed fraud, breached its modified contract with the class members, and violated the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practice and Consumer Protection Law when it resigned as custodian of the IRA Market Rate Savings Accounts in 2008 and offered the class members a roll-over IRA account with a 3.5% interest rate. At that time, there were 237 account holders with an average age of 64, and the aggregate balances in the IRA Market Rate Savings accounts totaled approximately $11.5 million. Plaintiffs seek monetary damages for the alleged breach of contract, punitive damages for the alleged fraud and Unfair Trade Practice and Consumer Protection Law violations and attorney’s fees. On July 27, 2011, the court granted class certification as to the breach of modified contract claim and denied class certification as to the fraud and Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practice and Consumer Protection Law claims. The breach of contract claim is predicated upon a letter sent to customers in 1998 which reversed an earlier decision by the Bank to reduce the rate paid on the accounts. The letter stated, in relevant part, “This letter will serve as notification that a decision has been made to re-establish the rate on your account to eight percent (8)%. This rate will be retroactive to your most recent maturity date and will continue going forward on deposits presently in the account and on annual additions.” On August 30, 2012, the Court entered an order granting the Bank’s motion for summary judgment and dismissing the class action claims. The Court found that the Bank retained the right to resign as custodian of the accounts and that the act of resigning as custodian and closing the accounts did not breach the terms of the underlying IRA contract. The Plaintiffs have filed an appeal with the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

Other matters

First Commonwealth identified an error related to historical tax reporting for approximately 700-900 customers. A liability related to this error is considered probable, resulting in the establishment of a $0.4 million contingency reserve as of March 31, 2013. This reserve represents management's best estimate of liability related to this issue. Although resolution of this issue is in the initial stages, there may be a range of reasonably possible losses in excess of the estimated liability that could result in a liability of up to $0.2 million in excess of the amount accrued. The contingent reserve is included in “Other liabilities” in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition.

There are no other material legal proceedings to which First Commonwealth or its subsidiaries are a party, or of which their property is the subject, except proceedings which arise in the normal course of business and, in the opinion of management, will not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated operations or financial position of First Commonwealth or its subsidiaries.