COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Note 15)

Lease Commitments

Certain bank facilities are occupied under non-cancelable long-term operating leases, which expire at various dates through 2058. Certain lease agreements provide for renewal options and increases in rental payments based upon increases in the consumer price index or the lessors’ cost of operating the facility. Minimum aggregate lease payments for the remainder of the lease terms are as follows:



			Sublease
Year	Gross Rents		Rents		Net Rents
	(in thousands)
2016	$	28,255	$	2,534	$	25,721
2017	27,051		2,527		24,524
2018	26,455		1,972		24,483
2019	25,851		1,799		24,052
2020	25,311		1,396		23,915
Thereafter	292,933		8,458		284,475
Total lease commitments	$	425,856	$	18,686	$	407,170

Net occupancy expense for years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013 included net rental expense of approximately $31.7 million, $21.2 million, and $19.9 million, respectively, net of rental income of $3.8 million, $3.1 million, and $3.3 million, respectively, for leased bank facilities.

In December 2013, Valley terminated a 20 year branch operating lease related to a building sale-leaseback transaction entered into during 2007. As a result of the lease termination, Valley recognized a gain of $11.3 million within the net gains on sales of assets category of other non-interest income for the year ended December 31, 2013. The $11.3 million gain represented the outstanding deferred gain on the original building sale that would have been amortized to income over the remaining lease term. The negotiated lease termination penalty recognized in 2013 was immaterial.

Financial Instruments With Off-balance Sheet Risk

In the ordinary course of business in meeting the financial needs of its customers, Valley, through its subsidiary Valley National Bank, is a party to various financial instruments, which are not reflected in the consolidated financial statements. These financial instruments include standby and commercial letters of credit, unused portions of lines of credit and commitments to extend various types of credit. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk in excess of the amounts recognized in the consolidated financial statements. The commitment or contract amount of these instruments is an indicator of the Bank’s level of involvement in each type of instrument as well as the exposure to credit loss in the event of non-performance by the other party to the financial instrument. The Bank seeks to limit any exposure of credit loss by applying the same credit policies in making commitments, as it does for on-balance sheet lending facilities.

The following table provides a summary of financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk at December 31, 2015 and 2014:



	2015		2014
	(in thousands)
Commitments under commercial loans and lines of credit	$	2,554,146	$	2,290,048
Home equity and other revolving lines of credit	822,506		749,716
Outstanding commercial mortgage loan commitments	724,236		429,474
Standby letters of credit	198,253		194,562
Outstanding residential mortgage loan commitments	54,293		79,849
Commitments under unused lines of credit—credit card	50,532		54,128
Commercial letters of credit	4,249		5,618
Commitments to sell loans	41,860		27,932

Obligations to advance funds under commitments to extend credit, including commitments under unused lines of 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 specified expiration dates, which may be extended upon request, or other termination clauses and generally require payment of a fee. These commitments do not necessarily represent future cash requirements as it is anticipated that many of these commitments will expire without being fully drawn upon. The Bank’s lending activity for outstanding loan commitments is primarily to customers within the states of New Jersey, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania.

Standby letters of credit represent the guarantee by the Bank of the obligations or performance of the bank customer in the event of the default of payment or nonperformance to a third party beneficiary.

Loan sale commitments represent contracts for the sale of residential mortgage loans to third parties in the ordinary course of the Bank’s business. These commitments require the Bank to deliver loans within a specific period to the third party. The risk to the Bank is its non-delivery of loans required by the commitment, which could lead to financial penalties. The Bank has not defaulted on its loan sale commitments.

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

Valley is exposed to certain risks arising from both its business operations and economic conditions. Valley principally manages its exposure to a wide variety of business and operational risks through management of its core business activities. Valley manages economic risks, including interest rate and liquidity risks, primarily by managing the amount, sources, and duration of its assets and liabilities and, from time to time, the use of derivative financial instruments. Specifically, Valley enters into derivative financial instruments to manage exposures that arise from business activities that result in the payment of future known and uncertain cash amounts, the value of which are determined by interest rates. Valley’s derivative financial instruments are used to manage differences in the amount, timing, and duration of Valley’s known or expected cash receipts and its known or expected cash payments related to assets and liabilities as outlined below.

Cash Flow Hedges of Interest Rate Risk. Valley’s objectives in using interest rate derivatives are to add stability to interest expense and to manage its exposure to interest rate movements. To accomplish this objective, Valley uses interest rate swaps and caps as part of its interest rate risk management strategy. Interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges involve the payment of either fixed or variable-rate amounts in exchange for the receipt of variable or fixed-rate amounts from a counterparty. Interest rate caps designated as cash flow hedges involve the receipt of variable-rate amounts from a counterparty if interest rates rise above the strike rate on the contract in exchange for an up-front premium.

At December 31, 2015, Valley had the following cash flow hedge derivatives:

•

Four interest rate swaps with a total notional amount of $300 million to hedge the changes in cash flows associated with prime-rate-indexed deposits, consisting of consumer and commercial money market deposit accounts. Two of the four swaps, totaling $200 million, expire in October 2016 and require Valley to pay fixed-rate amounts at approximately 4.73 percent, in exchange for the receipt of variable-rate payments at the prime rate. The other two swaps totaling $100 million require the payment by Valley of fixed-rate amounts at approximately 5.11 percent in exchange for the receipt of variable-rate payments at the prime rate and expire in July 2017.


•	One interest rate cap with a total notional amount of $125 million with a strike rate of 7.44 percent and a maturity date of September 27, 2023 used to hedge the total change in cash flows associated with prime-rate indexed deposits, consisting of consumer and commercial money market deposit accounts, which have variable interest rates indexed to the prime rate.

•

Three forward starting interest rate swaps with a total notional amount of $300 million to hedge the changes in cash flows associated with certain brokered money market deposits. Starting in November 2015, the interest rate swaps required Valley to pay fixed-rate amounts ranging from approximately 2.57 percent to 2.97 percent, in exchange for the receipt of variable-rate payments at the three-month LIBOR rate. The three swaps have expiration dates ranging from November 2018 to November 2020.

•

Four forward starting interest rate swaps with a total notional amount of $182 million to hedge the changes in cash flows associated with borrowed funds. Starting in March and April 2016, the interest rate swaps required Valley to pay fixed-rate amounts ranging from approximately 2.51 percent to 2.88 percent, in exchange for the receipt of variable-rate payments at the three-month LIBOR rate. The four swaps have expiration dates ranging from March 2019 to September 2020.

During the third quarter of 2013, Valley entered into a $65 million forward-settle interest rate swap to protect Valley against adverse fluctuations in interest rates by reducing its exposure to variability in cash flows related to interest payments on its subordinated notes issuance in September 2013. The forward-settle swap was cash settled to coincide with the date of the subordinated note issuance. The change in fair value of the forward-settle swap was recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss and is amortized into interest expense over the life of the debt.

Fair Value Hedges of Fixed Rate Assets and Liabilities. Valley is exposed to changes in the fair value of certain of its fixed rate assets or liabilities due to changes in benchmark interest rates based on one-month LIBOR. From time to time, Valley uses interest rate swaps to manage its exposure to changes in fair value. Interest rate swaps designated as fair value hedges involve the receipt of variable rate payments from a counterparty in exchange for Valley making fixed rate payments over the life of the agreements without the exchange of the underlying notional amount. For derivatives that are designated and qualify as fair value hedges, the gain or loss on the derivative as well as the loss or gain on the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk are recognized in earnings. Valley includes the gain or loss on the hedged items in the same income statement line item as the loss or gain on the related derivatives.

At December 31, 2015, Valley had the following fair value hedge derivatives:


•	One interest rate swap with a notional amount of approximately $8.2 million used to hedge the change in the fair value of a commercial loan.


•	One interest rate swap transaction with a notional amount of $125 million, maturing in September 2023, used to hedge the change in the fair value of Valley’s 5.125 percent subordinated notes issued in September 2013.

Non-designated Hedges. Derivatives not designated as hedges may be used to manage Valley’s exposure to interest rate movements or to provide service to customers but do not meet the requirements for hedge accounting under U.S. GAAP. Derivatives not designated as hedges are not entered into for speculative purposes. Under a program, Valley executes interest rate swaps with commercial lending customers to facilitate their respective risk management strategies. These interest rate swaps with customers are simultaneously offset by interest rate swaps that Valley executes with a third party, such that Valley minimizes its net risk exposure resulting from such transactions. As the interest rate swaps associated with this program do not meet the strict hedge accounting requirements, changes in the fair value of both the customer swaps and the offsetting swaps are recognized directly in earnings.

During the second quarter of 2014, Valley issued $25 million of market linked certificates of deposit through a broker dealer. The rate paid on these hybrid instruments is based on a formula derived from the spread between the long and short ends of the constant maturity swap (CMS) rate curve. This type of instrument is referred to as a "steepener" since it derives its value from the slope of the CMS curve. Valley has determined that these hybrid instruments contain an embedded swap contract which has been bifurcated from the host contract. Valley entered into a swap (with a total notional amount of $25 million) almost simultaneously with the deposit issuance where the receive rate on the swap mirrors the pay rate on the brokered deposits. The bifurcated derivative and the stand alone swap are both marked to market through other non-interest expense. Although these instruments do not meet the hedge accounting requirements, the change in fair value of both the bifurcated derivative and the stand alone swap tend to move in opposite directions with changes in the three-month LIBOR rate and, therefore, provide an effective economic hedge.

Valley also regularly enters into mortgage banking derivatives which are non-designated hedges. These derivatives include interest rate lock commitments provided to customers to fund certain residential mortgage loans to be sold into the secondary market and forward commitments for the future delivery of such loans. Valley enters into forward commitments for the future delivery of residential mortgage loans when interest rate lock commitments are entered into in order to economically hedge the effect of future changes in interest rates on Valley’s commitments to fund the loans as well as on its portfolio of mortgage loans held for sale.

Amounts included in the consolidated statements of financial condition related to the fair value of Valley’s derivative financial instruments were as follows:



	December 31, 2015						December 31, 2014
	Fair Value						Fair Value
	Other Assets		Other Liabilities		Notional Amount		Other Assets		Other Liabilities		Notional Amount
	(in thousands)
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments:
Cash flow hedge interest rate caps and swaps	$	1,284	$	24,823	$	907,000	$	2,229	$	19,302	$	1,007,000
Fair value hedge interest rate swaps	7,658		1,306		133,209		6,257		1,482		133,406
Total derivatives designated as hedging instruments	$	8,942	$	26,129	$	1,040,209	$	8,486	$	20,784	$	1,140,406
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments:
Interest rate swaps and embedded derivatives	$	24,628	$	24,623	$	654,134	$	12,464	$	12,455	$	378,849
Mortgage banking derivatives	204		92		73,438		37		91		40,857
Total derivatives not designated as hedging instruments	$	24,832	$	24,715	$	727,572	$	12,501	$	12,546	$	419,706

Gains (losses) included in the consolidated statements of income and in other comprehensive income (loss), on a pre-tax basis, related to interest rate derivatives designated as hedges of cash flows were as follows:



	2015			2014			2013
	(in thousands)
Amount of loss reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss to interest expense	$	(7,075	)	$	(6,663	)	$	(6,898	)
Amount of (loss) gain recognized in other comprehensive income	(12,360		)	(20,910		)	4,255

The net gains or losses related to cash flow hedge ineffectiveness were immaterial during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013. The accumulated net after-tax losses related to effective cash flow hedges included in accumulated other comprehensive loss were $17.6 million and $14.5 million at December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Amounts reported in accumulated other comprehensive loss related to cash flow interest rate derivatives are reclassified to interest expense as interest payments are made on the hedged variable interest rate liabilities. Valley estimates that $11.8 million will be reclassified as an increase to interest expense in 2016.

Gains (losses) included in the consolidated statements of income related to interest rate derivatives designated as hedges of fair value were as follows:



	2015			2014			2013
	(in thousands)
Derivative—interest rate swaps:
Interest income	$	176		$	(13	)	$	728
Interest expense	1,400			9,380			(3,774		)
Hedged item—loans, deposits and long-term borrowings:
Interest income	$	(176	)	$	13		$	(728	)
Interest expense	(1,473		)	(9,449		)	3,805

During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, the amounts recognized in non-interest expense related to the ineffectiveness of fair value hedges were immaterial. Valley also recognized a net reduction to interest expense of $100 thousand and $584 thousand for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, related to Valley’s fair value hedges on brokered time deposits, which includes net settlements on the derivatives. The fair value hedges on brokered time deposits expired in March 2014.

Net gains (losses) included in the consolidated statements of income related to derivative instruments not designated as hedging instruments were as follows:



	2015		2014			2013
	(in thousands)
Non-designated hedge interest rate derivatives
Other non-interest expense	$	158	$	(214	)	$	128

Collateral Requirements and Credit Risk Related Contingency Features. By using derivatives, Valley is exposed to credit risk if counterparties to the derivative contracts do not perform as expected. Management attempts to minimize counterparty credit risk through credit approvals, limits, monitoring procedures and obtaining collateral where appropriate. Credit risk exposure associated with derivative contracts is managed at Valley in conjunction with Valley’s consolidated counterparty risk management process. Valley’s counterparties and the risk limits monitored by management are periodically reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors.

Valley has agreements with its derivative counterparties providing that if Valley defaults on any of its indebtedness, including default where repayment of the indebtedness has not been accelerated by the lender, then Valley could also be declared in default on its derivative counterparty agreements. Additionally, Valley has an agreement with several of its derivative counterparties that contains provisions that require Valley’s debt to maintain an investment grade credit rating from each of the major credit rating agencies from which it receives a credit rating. If Valley’s credit rating is reduced below investment grade or such rating is withdrawn or suspended, then the counterparty could terminate the derivative positions, and Valley would be required to settle its obligations under the agreements. As of December 31, 2015, Valley was in compliance with all of the provisions of its derivative counterparty agreements. As of December 31, 2015, the fair value of derivatives in a net liability position, which includes accrued interest but excludes any adjustment for nonperformance risk, related to these agreements was $36.0 million. Valley has derivative counterparty agreements that require minimum collateral posting thresholds for certain counterparties. At December 31, 2015, Valley had $53.0 million in collateral posted with its counterparties.

Litigation

In the normal course of business, Valley may be a party to various outstanding legal proceedings and claims. In the opinion of management, the financial condition, results of operations, and liquidity of Valley should not be materially affected by the outcome of such legal proceedings and claims.