Derivatives

Derivatives Not Designated as Hedging Instruments

First Commonwealth is a party to interest rate derivatives that are not designated as hedging instruments. These derivatives relate to interest rate swaps that First Commonwealth enters into with customers to allow customers to convert variable rate loans to a fixed rate. First Commonwealth pays interest to the customer at a floating rate on the notional amount and receives interest from the customer at a fixed rate for the same notional amount. At the same time the interest rate swap is entered into with the customer, an offsetting interest rate swap is entered into with another financial institution. First Commonwealth pays the other financial institution interest at the same fixed rate on the same notional amount as the swap entered into with the customer, and receives interest from the financial institution for the same floating rate on the same notional amount.

The changes in the fair value of the swaps offset each other, except for the credit risk of the counterparties, which is determined by taking into consideration the risk rating, probability of default and loss given default for all counterparties.

We have 37 risk participation agreements with financial institution counterparties for interest rate swaps related to loans in which we are a participant. The risk participation agreements provide credit protection to the financial institution should the borrower fail to perform on its interest rate derivative contract with the financial institution. We have twelve risk participation agreements with financial institution counterparties for interest rate swaps related to loans in which we are the lead bank. The risk participation agreement provides credit protection to us should the borrower fail to perform on its interest rate derivative contract with us.

First Commonwealth is also party to interest rate caps that are not designated as hedging instruments. These derivatives relate to contracts that First Commonwealth enters into with loan customers that provide a maximum interest rate on their variable rate loan. At the same time the interest rate cap is entered into with the customer, First Commonwealth enters into an offsetting interest rate cap with another financial institution. The notional amount and maximum interest rate on both interest cap contracts are identical.

The fee received, less the estimate of the loss for the credit exposure, was recognized in earnings at the time of the transaction.

Derivatives Designated as Hedging Instruments

The Company has entered into two interest rate swap contracts that were designated as cash flow hedges. The interest rate swaps have a total notional amount of $115.0 million with an original maturity of four years. The Company's risk management objective for these hedges is to reduce its exposure to variability in expected future cash flows related to interest payments on commercial loans benchmarked to the 1-month LIBOR rate. Therefore, the interest rate swaps convert the interest payments on the first $115.0 million of 1-month LIBOR based commercial loans into fixed rate payments.

The periodic net settlement of interest rate swaps is recorded as an adjustment to "Interest and fees on loans" in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, there was a $0.1 million negative impact on interest income as a result of these interest rate swaps, respectively. Changes in the fair value of the effective portion of cash flow hedges are reported in OCI. When the cash flows associated with the hedged item are realized, the gain or loss included in OCI is recognized in "Interest and fees on loans," the same line item in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income as the income on the hedged items. The cash flow hedges were highly effective at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, and changes in the fair value attributed to hedge ineffectiveness were not material.

The Company also enters into interest rate lock commitments in conjunction with its mortgage origination business. These are commitments to originate loans whereby the interest rate on the loan is determined prior to funding and the customers have locked into that interest rate. The Company locks the rate in with an investor and commits to deliver the loan if settlement occurs (“best efforts”) or commits to deliver the locked loan in a binding (“mandatory”) delivery program with an investor. Loans under mandatory rate lock commitments are covered under forward sales contracts of mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”). Forward sales contracts of MBS are recorded at fair value with changes in fair value recorded in "Other noninterest expense" in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income. The impact to noninterest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2018 totaled $62 thousand.

Interest rate lock commitments and commitments to deliver loans to investors are considered derivatives. The market value of interest rate lock commitments and best efforts contracts are not readily ascertainable with precision because they are not actively traded in stand-alone markets. We determine the fair value of rate lock commitments and delivery contracts by measuring the fair value of the underlying asset, which is impacted by current interest rates and taking into consideration the probability that the rate lock commitments will close or will be funded. At March 31, 2018, the underlying funded mortgage loan commitments had a carrying value of $7.0 million and a fair value of $7.2 million, while the underlying unfunded mortgage loan commitments had a notional amount of $18.3 million. At December 31, 2017, the underlying funded mortgage loan commitments had a carrying value of $14.3 million and a fair value of $14.7 million, while the underlying unfunded mortgage loan commitments had a notional amount of $13.8 million.

In addition, a small amount of interest income on loans is exposed to changes in foreign exchange rates. Several commercial borrowers have a portion of their operations outside of the United States and borrow funds on a short-term basis to fund those operations. In order to reduce the risk related to the translation of foreign denominated transactions into U.S. dollars, the Company enters into foreign exchange forward contracts. These contracts relate principally to the Euro and the Canadian dollar. The contracts are recorded at fair value with changes in fair value recorded in "Other noninterest expense" in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income. The impact on other noninterest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2018 totaled $3 thousand. At March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the underlying loans had a carrying value of $7.8 million and $10.0 million, respectively, and a fair value of $7.8 million and $10.1 million, respectively.

The following table depicts the credit value adjustment recorded related to the notional amount of derivatives outstanding as well as the notional amount of risk participation agreements participated to other banks:



	March 31, 2018			December 31, 2017
	(dollars in thousands)
Derivatives not Designated as Hedging Instruments
Credit value adjustment	$	(2	)	$	(791	)
Notional amount:
Interest rate derivatives	408,973			401,304
Interest rate caps	46,361			46,444
Risk participation agreements	189,491			197,660
Sold credit protection on risk participation agreements	(63,345		)	(46,170		)
Derivatives Designated as Hedging Instruments
Interest rate swaps:
Fair value adjustment	(590		)	459
Notional amount	115,000			150,000
Interest rate forwards:
Fair value adjustment	81			19
Notional amount	22,000			17,000
Foreign exchange forwards:
Fair value adjustment	(13		)	(70		)
Notional amount	7,858			10,077

The table below presents the amount representing the change in the fair value of derivative assets and derivative liabilities attributable to credit risk included in "Other income" on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income:



	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2018			2017
	(dollars in thousands)
Non-hedging interest rate derivatives
Increase in other income	$	789		$	2
Hedging interest rate derivatives
(Decrease) increase in interest and fees on loans	(81		)	249
Increase in other expense	—			78
Hedging interest rate forwards
(Decrease) increase in other expense	(62		)	112
Hedging foreign exchange forwards
(Decrease) increase in other expense	(3		)	2

The fair value of our derivatives is included in a table in Note 10, “Fair Values of Assets and Liabilities,” in the line items

“Other assets” and “Other liabilities.”