Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

7.           Commitments and Contingencies

The Corporation is a party to certain financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk such as commitments under standby letters of credit, unused portions of lines of credit, overdraft protection and commitments to fund new loans.  In accordance with U.S. GAAP, these financial instruments are not recorded in the financial statements.  The Corporation's policy is to record such instruments when funded.  These transactions involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit, interest rate and liquidity risk.  Such transactions are generally used by the Corporation to manage clients' requests for funding and other client needs.

In the normal course of business, there are various outstanding claims and legal proceedings involving the Corporation or its subsidiaries.  On February 14 and April 14, 2011, the Bank received separate settlement demands from representatives of beneficiaries of certain trusts for which the Bank has acted as trustee.  The settlement demands relate to alleged claims of, among other things, breach of the Bank's fiduciary duties as trustee, including the Bank's alleged failure to adequately diversify the relevant trust portfolios. The beneficiaries seek aggregate damages of up to approximately $27.0 million.  On September 16, 2011, the beneficiaries objected in the Surrogate's Court of the State of New York, County of Chemung (the "Surrogate's Court") to accountings with respect to the above-mentioned trusts provided by the Bank, based on allegations similar to those offered in the settlement demands.  The matter remains pending at the Surrogate Court.  Although these matters are inherently unpredictable, management will defend against these claims vigorously.  Management has concluded that it is reasonably possible, but not probable, that the financial position, results of operations or cash flows of the Corporation could be materially adversely affected in any particular period by the unfavorable resolution of these claims, not withstanding any potential recovery under applicable insurance coverage.  An amount of loss or range of loss cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.