Commitments and Letters of Credit

First Commonwealth is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financial needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit, standby letters of credit and commercial letters of credit. Those instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. First Commonwealth’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party of the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit, standby letters of credit and commercial letters of credit is represented by the contract or notional amount of those instruments. First Commonwealth uses the same credit policies for underwriting all loans, including these commitments and conditional obligations.

As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, First Commonwealth did not own or trade other financial instruments with significant off-balance sheet risk including derivatives such as futures, forwards, option contracts and the like, although such instruments may be appropriate to use in the future to manage interest rate risk. See Note 7, “Derivatives,” for a description of interest rate derivatives entered into by First Commonwealth.

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 for 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 December 31:



	2016		2015
	(dollars in thousands)
Financial instruments whose contract amounts represent credit risk:
Commitments to extend credit	$	1,733,820	$	1,643,187
Financial standby letters of credit	18,108		17,843
Performance standby letters of credit	26,630		26,497
Commercial letters of credit	1,301		1,672

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer 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 many of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. First Commonwealth evaluates each customer’s creditworthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by First Commonwealth upon extension of credit, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the counterparty. Collateral that is held varies but may include accounts receivable, inventory, property, plant and equipment, and residential and income-producing commercial properties.

The notional amounts outstanding at December 31, 2016 include amounts issued in 2016 of $0.4 million in financial standby letters of credit and $3.0 million in performance standby letters of credit. There were $0.2 million commercial letters of credit issued during 2016. A liability of $0.2 million has been recorded as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, 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 $4.1 million and $4.4 million as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. This liability is reflected in “Other liabilities” in the Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. 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.