NOTE C:

ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The accounting policies of the Company, as applied in the consolidated interim financial statements presented herein, are substantially the same as those followed on an annual basis as presented on pages 63 through 71 of the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 1, 2018.

Investment Securities

The Company can classify its investments in debt securities as held-to-maturity, available-for-sale, or trading. Held-to-maturity securities are those for which the Company has the positive intent and ability to hold until maturity, and are reported at cost, which is adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Available-for-sale debt securities are reported at fair value with net unrealized gains and losses reflected as a separate component of shareholders' equity, net of applicable income taxes. Equity securities with a readily determinable fair value are reported at fair value with net unrealized gains and losses recognized in the consolidated statements of income. None of the Company's investment securities have been classified as trading securities at September 30, 2018. Certain equity securities that do not have a readily determinable fair value are stated at cost, less impairment, adjusted for observable price changes in orderly transactions for identical or similar investments of the same issuer. These securities include restricted stock of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (“Federal Reserve”), the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston (collectively referred to as “FHLB”), as well as other equity securities. During the third quarter of 2018, the Company adjusted the carrying value of an equity security without a readily determinable fair value based on observable price changes for identical investments of the same issuer. This adjustment resulted in a $0.8 million unrealized gain on equity securities.

Fair values for investment securities are based upon quoted market prices, where available. If quoted market prices are not available, fair values are based upon quoted market prices of comparable instruments, or a discounted cash flow model using market estimates of interest rates and volatility.

The Company conducts an assessment of all securities in an unrealized loss position to determine if other-than-temporary impairment (“OTTI”) exists on a quarterly basis. An unrealized loss exists when the current fair value of an individual security is less than its amortized cost basis. The OTTI assessment considers the security structure, recent security collateral performance metrics, if applicable, external credit ratings, failure of the issuer to make scheduled interest or principal payments, judgment about, and expectations of, future performance, and relevant independent industry research, analysis and forecasts. The severity of the impairment and the length of time the security has been impaired is also considered in the assessment. The assessment of whether an OTTI decline exists is performed on each security, regardless of the classification of the security as available-for-sale or held-to-maturity and involves a high degree of subjectivity and judgment that is based on the information available to management at a point in time.

An OTTI loss must be recognized for a debt security in an unrealized loss position if there is intent to sell the security or it is more likely than not the Company will be required to sell the security prior to recovery of its amortized cost basis. In this situation, the amount of loss recognized in income is equal to the difference between the fair value and the amortized cost basis of the security. Even if management does not have the intent, and it is not more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the securities, an evaluation of the expected cash flows to be received is performed to determine if a credit loss has occurred. For debt securities, a critical component of the evaluation for OTTI is the identification of credit-impaired securities, where the Company does not expect to receive cash flows sufficient to recover the entire amortized cost basis of the security. In the event of a credit loss, only the amount of impairment associated with the credit loss would be recognized in income. The portion of the unrealized loss relating to other factors, such as liquidity conditions in the market or changes in market interest rates, is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss.

The specific identification method is used in determining the realized gains and losses on sales of investment securities and OTTI charges. Premiums and discounts on securities are amortized and accreted, respectively, on the interest method basis over the period to maturity or estimated life of the related security. Purchases and sales of securities are recognized on a trade date basis.

Revenue Recognition

On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASU No. 2014-09 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) and all subsequent ASUs that modified Topic 606. The implementation of the new standard did not have a material impact on the measurement or recognition of revenue; as such, a cumulative effect adjustment to opening retained earnings was not deemed necessary. Results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2018 are presented under Topic 606, while prior period amounts were not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting under Topic 605.

Topic 606 does not apply to revenue associated with financial instruments, including revenue from loans and securities. In addition, certain noninterest income streams such as fees associated with mortgage servicing rights, financial guarantees, derivatives, and certain credit card fees are also not in scope of the newly adopted guidance. Topic 606 is applicable to the Company’s noninterest revenue streams including its deposit related fees, electronic payment interchange fees, merchant income, trust, asset management and other wealth management revenues, insurance commissions and benefit plan services income. However, the recognition of these revenue streams did not change significantly upon adoption of Topic 606. Noninterest revenue streams in-scope of Topic 606 are discussed below.

Deposit Service Fees

Deposit service fees consist of account activity fees, monthly service fees, check orders, debit and credit card income, ATM fees, Merchant services income and other revenues from processing wire transfers, bill pay service, cashier’s checks and foreign exchange. Debit and credit card income is primarily comprised of interchange fees earned at the time the Company’s debit and credit cards are processed through card payment networks such as Visa. ATM fees are primarily generated when a Company cardholder uses a non-Company ATM or a non-Company cardholder uses a Company ATM. Merchant services income mainly represents fees charged to merchants to process their debit and credit card transactions, in addition to account management fees. The Company’s performance obligation for deposit service fees is generally satisfied, and the related revenue recognized, when the services are rendered or the transaction has been completed. Payment for deposit service fees is typically received at the time it is assessed through a direct charge to customers’ accounts or on a monthly basis. Deposit service fees revenue primarily relates to the Company’s Banking operating segment.

Other Banking Services

Other banking services consists of other recurring revenue streams such as commissions from sales of credit life insurance, safe deposit box rental fees, mortgage banking income, bank owned life insurance income and other miscellaneous revenue streams. Commissions from the sale of credit life insurance are recognized at the time of sale of the policies. Safe deposit box rental fees are charged to the customer on an annual basis and recognized upon receipt of payment. The Company determined that since rentals and renewals occur fairly consistently over time, revenue is recognized on a basis consistent with the duration of the performance obligation. Mortgage banking income and bank owned life insurance income are not within the scope of Topic 606. Other banking services revenue primarily relates to the Company’s Banking operating segment.

Employee Benefit Services

Employee benefit services income consists of revenue received from retirement plan services, collective investment fund services, fund administration, transfer agency, consulting and actuarial services. The Company’s performance obligation that relates to plan services are satisfied over time and the resulting fees are recognized monthly or quarterly, based upon the market value of the assets under management and the applicable fee rate or on a time expended basis. Payment is generally received a few days after month end or quarter end. The Company does not earn performance-based incentives. Transactional services such as consulting services, mailings, or other ad hoc services are provided to existing trust and asset management customers. The Company’s performance obligation for these transactional-based services is generally satisfied, and related revenue recognized, at a point in time (i.e., as incurred). Payment is received shortly after services are rendered. Employee benefit services revenue primarily relates to the Company’s Employee Benefit Services operating segment.

Insurance Services

Insurance services primarily consists of commissions received on insurance product sales and consulting services. The Company acts in the capacity of a broker or agent between the Company’s customer and the insurance carrier. The Company’s performance obligation related to insurance sales for both property and casualty insurance and employee benefit plans is generally satisfied upon the later of the issuance or effective date of the policy. The Company’s performance obligation related to consulting services is considered transactional in nature and is generally satisfied when the services have been completed and related revenue recognized at a point in time. Payment is received at the time services are rendered. The Company earns performance based incentives, commonly known as contingency payments, which usually are based on certain criteria established by the insurance carrier such as premium volume, growth and insured loss ratios. Contingent payments are accrued for based upon management’s expectations for the year. Commission expense associated with sales of insurance products is expensed as incurred. Insurance services revenue primarily relates to the Company’s All Other operating segment.

Wealth Management Services

Wealth management services income is primarily comprised of fees earned from the management and administration of trusts and other customer assets. The Company generally has two types of performance obligations related to these services. The Company’s performance obligation that relates to advisory and administration services are satisfied over time and the resulting fees are recognized monthly, based upon the market value of the assets under management and the applicable fee rate. Payment is generally received soon after month end or quarter end through a direct charge to customers’ accounts. The Company does not earn performance-based incentives. Transactional services such as tax return preparation services, purchases and sales of investments and insurance products are also available to existing trust and asset management customers. The Company’s performance obligation for these transactional-based services is generally satisfied, and related revenue recognized, at a point in time (i.e. as incurred). Payment is generally received on a monthly basis. Wealth management services revenue primarily relates to the Company’s All Other operating segment.

Contract Balances

A contract asset balance occurs when an entity performs a service for a customer before the customer pays consideration (resulting in a contract receivable) or before payment is due (resulting in a contract asset). A contract liability balance is an entity’s obligation to transfer a service to a customer for which the entity has already received payment (or payment is due) from the customer. The Company’s noninterest revenue streams are largely based on transactional activity, or standard month-end revenue accruals such as asset management fees based on month-end market values. Consideration is often received immediately or shortly after the Company satisfies its performance obligation and revenue is recognized. The Company does not typically enter into long-term revenue contracts with customers, and therefore, does not experience significant contract balances. As of September 30, 2018, $26.9 million of accounts receivable, including $7.9 million of unbilled fee revenue, and $2.9 million of unearned revenue was recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Condition. As of December 31, 2017, $29.8 million of accounts receivable, including $6.5 million of unbilled fee revenue, and $3.9 million of unearned revenue was recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Condition.

Contract Acquisition Costs

In connection with the adoption of Topic 606, an entity is required to capitalize, and subsequently amortize into expense, certain incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer if these costs are expected to be recovered. The incremental costs of obtaining a contract are those costs that an entity incurs to obtain a contract with a customer that it would not have incurred if the contract had not been obtained (for example, sales commission). The Company utilizes the practical expedient method which allows entities to immediately expense contract acquisition costs when the asset that would have resulted from capitalizing these costs would have been amortized in one year or less. Upon adoption of Topic 606, the Company did not capitalize any contract acquisition costs.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). This new guidance supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in ASC 605, Revenue Recognition, and is based on the principle that revenue is recognized to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods and services. In doing so, companies generally will be required to use more judgment and make more estimates than under prior guidance. These may include identifying performance obligations in the contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. Since the guidance does not apply to revenue associated with financial instruments, including loans and securities that are accounted for under other GAAP, the new guidance did not have a material impact on revenue most closely associated with financial instruments, including interest income, interest expense and mortgage banking income. The Company completed a comprehensive assessment of the revenue streams and reviewed related contracts potentially affected by the ASU for all segments of its business. Based on this assessment, the Company concluded that ASU 2014-09 did not materially change the manner in which the Company recognized revenue for these revenue streams. The Company also completed its evaluation of certain costs related to these revenue streams to determine whether such costs should be presented as expenses or contra-revenue (i.e. gross versus net) and timing of compensatory payments to producers. Based on the Company’s evaluation, it was determined that changes in the presentation of expenses and timing of the recognition of compensation expense did not materially affect noninterest income or expense. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2018 utilizing the modified retrospective approach. Since there was no net income impact upon adoption of the new guidance, a cumulative effect adjustment to opening retained earnings was not deemed necessary.

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. This guidance addresses certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial instruments. The primary focus of this guidance is to supersede the guidance to classify equity securities with readily determinable fair values into different categories (trading or available-for-sale) and requires equity securities to be measured at fair value with changes in the fair value recognized through net income. This guidance requires adoption through a cumulative-effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2018. The impact of the adoption of this guidance resulted in the reclassification of $0.2 million of other comprehensive income to retained earnings. See the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income and Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230). The amendments provide guidance on the following eight specific cash flow issues: 1) debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs; 2) settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing; 3) contingent consideration payments made after a business combination; 4) proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims; 5) proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, including bank-owned life insurance policies; 6) distributions received from equity method investees; 7) beneficial interests in securitization transactions; and 8) separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2018 on a retrospective basis. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, Compensation – Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost. This guidance requires the service cost component of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit costs to be presented separately from other components of net benefit cost in the statement of income. This ASU is effective for the Company for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2018 and applied the guidance on a modified retrospective basis for the presentation of other components of net periodic benefit cost in the Consolidated Statements of Income. The impact of the adoption of this guidance resulted in the reclassification of net periodic benefit income of $1.9 million and $5.1 million from salaries and employee benefits to other expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively.

New Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). This new guidance supersedes the lease requirements in Topic 840, Leases and is based on the principle that a lessee should recognize in the statement of financial position a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. The accounting applied by a lessor is largely unchanged from that applied under the previous guidance. In addition, the guidance requires an entity to separate the lease components from the nonlease components in a contract. The ASU requires disclosures about the amount, timing, and judgments related to a reporting entity’s accounting for leases and related cash flows. The standard is required to be applied to all leases in existence as of the date of adoption using a modified retrospective transition approach. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted for all companies in any interim or annual period. The Company occupies certain offices and uses certain equipment under non-cancelable operating lease agreements, which currently are not reflected in its consolidated statement of condition. The Company expects to recognize lease liabilities and right of use assets associated with these lease agreements; however, the extent of the impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements is currently under evaluation. The Company is in the process of a system implementation to facilitate the change in accounting.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326). This new guidance significantly changes how entities will measure credit losses for most financial assets and certain other instruments that are not measured at fair value through net income. This ASU will replace the “incurred loss” model under existing guidance with an “expected loss” model for instruments measured at amortized cost, and require entities to record allowances for available-for-sale debt securities rather than reduce the carrying amount, as they do today under the other-than-temporary impairment model. This ASU also simplifies the accounting model for purchased credit-impaired debt securities and loans. This guidance requires adoption through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is adopted. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted for all companies as of fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the guidance will have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, and expects a change in the allowance for loan losses resulting from the change to expected losses for the estimated life of the financial asset. The amount of the change in the allowance for loan losses resulting from the new guidance will be impacted by the portfolio composition and asset quality at the adoption date, as well as economic conditions and forecasts at the time of adoption. Implementation efforts include evaluation of data requirements, segmentation of the Company’s loan portfolio, guidance interpretation and consideration of relevant internal processes and controls.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350). The amendments simplify how an entity is required to test goodwill for impairment by eliminating the requirement to measure a goodwill impairment loss by comparing the implied fair value of a reporting unit’s goodwill with the carrying amount of that goodwill. Instead, an entity will perform its goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount, and recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value. Impairment loss recognized under this new guidance will be limited to the goodwill allocated to the reporting unit. This ASU is effective prospectively for the Company for annual or interim goodwill impairment tests in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for interim or annual goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. This ASU is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities. This new guidance amends current guidance to better align hedge accounting with risk management activities and reduce the complexity involved in applying hedge accounting. Under this new guidance, the concept of hedge ineffectiveness will be eliminated. Ineffective income generated by cash flow and net investment hedges will be recognized in the same financial reporting period and income statement line item as effective income, so as to reflect the full cost of hedging at one time and in one place. Ineffective income generated by fair value hedges will continue to be reflected in current period earnings; however, it will be recognized in the same income statement line item as effective income. The guidance will also allow any contractually specified variable rate to be designated as the hedged risk in a cash flow hedge. With respect to fair value hedges of interest rate risk, the guidance will allow changes in the fair value of the hedged item to be calculated solely using changes in the benchmark interest rate component of the instrument’s total contractual coupon cash flows. This ASU is effective for the Company for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. This ASU is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.