FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS WITH OFF-BALANCE SHEET RISK

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS WITH OFF-BALANCE SHEET RISK [Abstract]

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS WITH OFF-BALANCE SHEET RISK

18. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS WITH OFF-BALANCE SHEET RISK

The Bank is party to various financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers and to reduce its own exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit. Those instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amounts recognized in the statements of financial condition. The contract or notional amounts of those instruments reflect the extent of the Bank's involvement in particular classes of financial instruments.  Approximately $76.4 million in commitments to extend credit and $1.6 million in letters of credit were added with the PSB acquisition for the year ended December 31, 2012.

The Bank's exposure to loan loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit, standby letters of credit, and financial guarantees is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Bank uses the same credit policies, including considerations of collateral requirements, in making these commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments.

	Contract or Notional Amount
	2012		2011
Financial instruments whose contract amounts represent credit risk: (in thousands)
Commitments to extend credit	$	237,085	$	152,145
Letters of credit		9,958		8,347

Commitments to extend 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 fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee.  Since many of the commitments are expected to expire without being fully drawn upon, the total commitment amounts disclosed above do not necessarily represent future cash requirements.  Substantially all of these commitments are at variable rates.

Commercial letters of credit and financial guarantees are conditional commitments issued by the Bank to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party.  The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities to its customers.  Approximately 88% and 90% of these letters of credit were secured by marketable securities, cash on deposit, or other assets at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.