OTHER INVESTMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

4.	OTHER INVESTMENTS

The Company is required to own stock in the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (“FRB-Atlanta”) and, as a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank system, own stock in the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (“FHLB-Dallas”). The Company accounts for FRB-Atlanta and FHLB-Dallas stock as other investments along with stock ownership in two correspondent banks and a Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) investment in a Senior Housing Crime Prevention program in Louisiana. The CRA investment consisted of three government-sponsored agency mortgage-backed securities purchased by the Company and held by the Senior Housing Crime Prevention program. The majority of the interest earned on the security provides income to the program.

For impairment analysis, the Company reviews financial statements and regulatory capital ratios for each of the banks in which the Company owns stock to verify financial stability and regulatory compliance with capital requirements. As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, based upon quarterly reviews, we determined that there was no impairment in the bank stocks held as other investments.

The aggregate carrying amount of other investments consisted of the following (in thousands):

	December 31, 2011		December 31, 2010
FRB-Atlanta	$	2,071	$	1,624
FHLB-Dallas		586		584
Other bank stocks		853		713
CRA investment		2,127		2,141
	$	5,637	$	5,062

- Definition

The entire disclosure for investments accounted for under the cost-method. The carrying amount of such investments may be adjusted, for example, distributions in excess of cost (return of capital) or for other-than-temporary impairments. The cost method and lower-of-cost or market, an adaptation of the cost method, is generally followed for most investments in noncontrolled corporations, in some corporate joint ventures, and to a lesser extent in unconsolidated subsidiaries in which the entity does not have the ability to exercise significant influence.

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