DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS [Abstract]

19. DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

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

Cash Flow Hedges of Interest Rate Risk

The Company’s objectives in using interest rate derivatives are to add stability to interest income and expense and to manage its exposure to interest rate movements. To accomplish this objective, the Company has entered into interest rate swaps as part of its interest rate risk management strategy. These interest rate swaps are designated as cash flow hedges and involve the receipt of variable rate amounts from a counterparty in exchange for the Company making fixed interest payments. As of December 31, 2023, and 2022, the Company had six interest rate swaps with a notional of $50.5 million associated with the Company’s cash outflows associated with various floating-rate amounts.

For derivatives designated as cash flow hedges, the effective portion of changes in the fair value of the derivative is initially reported in other comprehensive income (outside of earnings), net of tax, and subsequently reclassified to earnings when the hedged transaction affects earnings, and the ineffective portion of changes in the fair value of the derivative is recognized directly in earnings. The Company assesses the effectiveness of each hedging relationship by comparing the changes in cash flows of the derivative hedging instrument with the changes in cash flows of the designated hedged transactions. The Company did not recognize any hedge ineffectiveness in earnings during the periods ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. Amounts reported in accumulated other comprehensive income related to derivatives will be reclassified to interest expense as interest payments are made on the Company’s variable-rate liabilities.

Customer Swaps

The Company also enters into derivative contracts, which consist of interest rate swaps, to facilitate the needs of customers desiring to manage interest rate risk. These swaps are not designated as accounting hedges under ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging. In order to economically hedge the interest rate risk associated with offering this product, the Company simultaneously enters into derivative contracts with third parties to offset the customer contracts, such that the Company minimizes its net risk exposure resulting from such transactions. The derivative contracts are structured such that the notional amounts decrease over time to generally match the expected amortization of the underlying loans. These derivatives are not speculative and arise from a service provided to customers. The Company utilizes a loan hedging program to accommodate clients preferring a fixed rate loan. The loan documents include an addendum with a zero premium collar. The zero premium collar is a cap and floor at the same interest rate, resulting in a fixed rate to the borrower. To hedge this embedded option, the Company enters into a dealer facing trade exactly mirroring the terms of the loan addendum. At December 31, 2023, the Company had interest rate swaps related to this program with an aggregate notional amount of $69.5 million.

Mortgage Banking Derivatives

To Be Announced Securities

To be announced securities (“TBAs”) are “forward delivery” securities considered derivative instruments under derivatives and hedging accounting guidance. The Company utilizes TBAs to protect against the price risk inherent in derivative loan commitments. TBAs are valued based on forward dealer marks from the Company’s approved counterparties. The Company utilizes a third-party market pricing service, which compiles current prices for instruments from market sources and those prices represent the current executable price. TBAs are recorded at fair value on the consolidated statements of financial condition in mortgage banking derivatives or other liabilities with changes in fair value recorded as a gain (loss) from hedging instruments in non-interest income in the Consolidated Statements of Income. The fair value of the Company’s derivative instruments, other than IRLCs, that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis is determined by utilizing quoted prices from dealers in such securities or third-party models utilizing observable market inputs.

Interest Rate Lock Commitments

Interest rate loan commitments known as IRLCs that relate to the origination of mortgages that will be held for sale upon funding are considered derivative instruments under the derivatives and hedging accounting guidance FASB ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging. IRLCs are recognized at fair value on the consolidated statements of financial condition as mortgage banking derivatives or as other liabilities with changes in their fair values recorded as a gain (loss) from hedging instruments in non-interest income in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

Forward Loan Sales Commitments

Outstanding IRLCs are subject to interest rate risk and related price risk during the period from the date of issuance through the date of loan funding, cancellation or expiration. IRLC generally range between 30 and 90 days; however, the borrower is not obligated to obtain the loan. The Company is subject to fallout risk related to IRLCs, which is realized if approved borrowers choose not to close on the loans within the terms of the IRLCs. Forward loan sales commitments are recognized at fair value on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition as mortgage banking derivatives or as other liabilities with changes in their fair values recorded as a gain (loss) from hedging instruments in non-interest income in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

Counterparty Credit Risk

As a result of its derivative contracts, the Company is exposed to credit risk. Specifically, approved counterparties and exposure limits are defined. On at least an annual basis, the customer derivative contracts and related counterparties are evaluated for credit risk with an adjustment made to the contracts fair value. In accordance with the interest rate agreements with derivative dealers, the Company may be required to post margin to these counterparties. At December 31, 2023, the Company has required collateral with certain of its derivative counterparties in the amount of $13.0 million and was holding $10.9 million of collateral from derivative counterparties.

The following table reflects the estimated fair value positions of derivative contracts as of December 31, 2023 and 2022:

Derivatives designated as hedging instruments under ASC 815 (in thousands):

						Fair Value December 31,
Third party interest rate swaps	Balance Sheet Location	Notional Amount		Interest rate Paid	Interest rate Received	2023		2022
Maturing in 2025	Fair value of derivative instruments - asset	$	15,000	Fixed - 0.57%	Compounded Overnight SOFR + 26.161	$	887	$	1,269
Maturing in 2027	Fair value of derivative instruments - asset		10,000	Fixed - 0.65%	Compounded Overnight SOFR + 26.161		1,009		1,324
Maturing in 2027	Fair value of derivative instruments - asset		7,500	Fixed - 3.57%	Compounded Overnight SOFR + 26.161+280		764		995
Maturing in 2027	Fair value of derivative instruments - asset		6,000	Fixed - 0.61%	Compounded Overnight SOFR + 26.161		630		822
Maturing in 2029	Fair value of derivative instruments - asset		6,000	Fixed - 0.72%	Compounded Overnight SOFR + 26.161		894		1,065
Maturing in 2032	Fair value of derivative instruments - asset		6,000	Fixed - 0.82%	Compounded Overnight SOFR + 26.161		1,257		1,398
		$	50,500			$	5,441	$	6,873

Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments under ASC 815 (in thousands):

		December 31, 2023					December 31, 2022
Interest Rate Products	Balance Sheet Location	Notional Amount		Fair Value			Notional Amount		Fair Value
Zero Premium Collar	(Fair value of derivative instruments - liability)	$	69,462	$	(7,922	)	$	71,776	$	(9,726	)
IRLCs	Fair value of derivative instruments - asset		21,225		324			-		-
Dealer Offset to Zero Premium Collar	Fair value of derivative instruments - asset		69,462		7,922			71,776		9,726

The following table presents the effect of the Company’s cash flow hedge accounting on Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):

The Effect of Fair Value and Cash Flow Hedge Accounting on Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
	Amount of (Loss) Gain Recognized in OCI on Derivatives							Location of Gain Reclassified from Accumulated OCI into Income	Amount of (loss) gain reclassified from Accumulated OCI into income
	Year Ended December 31,								Year Ended December 31,
Derivatives in Hedging relationships	2023				2022				2023			2022
Interest rate Products		$	(1,431	)		$	4,963	Interest Expense		$	2,203		$	145