17. ON BALANCE SHEET DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Notes to Financial Statements

NOTE 17. ON BALANCE SHEET DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company has stand alone derivative financial instruments in the form of forward option contracts. These transactions involve both credit and market risk. The notional amounts are amounts on which calculations, payments, and the value of the derivative are based. Notional amounts do not represent direct credit exposures. Direct credit exposure is limited to the net difference between the calculated amounts to be received and paid, if any. Such difference, which represents the fair value of the derivative instruments, is reflected on the Company’s balance sheet as derivative assets and derivative liabilities.

The Company is exposed to credit-related losses in the event of nonperformance by the counterparties to these agreements. The Company controls the credit risk of its financial contracts through credit approvals, limits and monitoring procedures, and does not expect any counterparties to fail their obligations. The Company deals only with primary dealers.

Derivative instruments are generally either negotiated Over-the-Counter (OTC) contracts or standardized contracts executed on a recognized exchange. Negotiated OTC derivative contracts are generally entered into between two counterparties that negotiate specific agreement terms, including the underlying instrument, amount, exercise prices and maturity.

The Company issues to customer’s certificates of deposit with an interest rate that is derived from the rate of return on the stock of the companies that comprise The Dow Jones Industrial Average. In order to manage the interest rate risk associated with this deposit product, the Company has purchased a series of forward option contracts. These contracts provide the Company with a rate of return commensurate with the return of The Dow Jones Industrial Average from the time of the contract until maturity of the related certificates of deposit. These contracts are accounted for as fair value hedges. Because the certificates of deposit can be redeemed by the customer at any time and the related forward options contracts cannot be cancelled by the Company, the hedge is not considered effective. The ineffective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative instrument, if any, is recognized currently in earnings. There was no ineffective portion included in the consolidated income statement for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

At December 31, the information pertaining to the forward option contracts, included in other assets and other liabilities on the balance sheet, is as follows:

	2016		2015
Notional amount	$	189,629	$	189,629
Fair market value of contracts, included in other assets		26,327		15,162

Mortgage Banking Derivatives

Commitments to fund certain mortgage loans originated by VBS (rate lock commitments) to be sold into the secondary market and best efforts commitments for the future delivery of mortgage loans to third party investors are considered derivatives. It is the practice of VBS to enter into best efforts 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 changes in interest rates resulting from its commitments to fund the loans. These mortgage banking derivatives are not designated hedge relationships. The fair value of the mortgage banking derivatives were estimated based on changes in interest rates from the date of the commitments and were considered immaterial at December 31, 2016 and 2015.