Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities [Abstract]

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

9. Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

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, primarily by managing the amount, sources and duration of its assets and liabilities and through the use of derivative 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 fixed rate borrowings. The Company also has interest rate derivatives that result from a service provided to certain qualifying customers and, therefore, are not used to manage interest rate risk in the Company’s assets or liabilities. The Company manages a matched book with respect to its derivative instruments in order to minimize its net risk exposure resulting from such transactions.

Derivatives Not Designated as Hedging Instruments

The Company enters into interest rate swaps to facilitate customer transactions and meet their financing needs. These swaps are considered derivatives, but are not designated in hedging relationships. These instruments have interest rate and credit risk associated with them. To mitigate the interest rate risk, the Company enters into offsetting interest rate swaps with counterparties. The counterparty swaps are also considered derivatives and are also not designated in hedging relationships. Interest rate swaps are recorded within other assets or other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet at their estimated fair value. Changes to the fair value of assets and liabilities arising from these derivatives are included, net, in other operating income in the consolidated statement of income.

As of March 31, 2020, the Company had sixteen risk participation agreements with financial institution counterparties for interest rate swaps related to participated loans. The fair values included in other assets and other liabilities on the unaudited interim consolidated balance sheet applicable to these agreements amounts to $387 thousand and $173 thousand, respectively as of March 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2019, the Company had fifteen risk participation agreements with financial institution counterparties for interest rate swaps related to participated loans. The fair values included in other assets and other liabilities on the unaudited interim consolidated balance sheet applicable to these agreements amounts to $112 thousand and $82 thousand, respectively. Risk participation agreements provide credit protection to the financial institution that originated the swap transaction should the borrower fail to perform on its obligation. The Company enters into both risk participation agreements in which it purchases credit protection from other financial institutions and those in which it provides credit protection to other financial institutions.

Derivatives Designated as Hedging Instruments

The Company has entered into interest rate swaps to modify the interest rate characteristics of certain short-term Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) advances from variable rate to fixed rate in order to reduce the impact of changes in future cash flows due to market interest rate changes. These agreements are designated as cash flow hedges.

The following table depicts the fair value adjustment recorded related to the notional amount of derivatives outstanding as well as the notional amount of risk participation agreements:

	March 31,		December 31,
(In thousands)	2020		2019
Derivatives Not Designated as Hedging Instruments:
Fair value adjustment included in other assets and other liabilities
Interest rate derivatives	$	118,576	$	41,650
Notional amount:
Interest rate derivatives		2,121,606		963,209
Risk participation agreements		108,701		97,614
Derivatives Designated as Hedging Instruments:
Fair value adjustment included in other assets
Interest rate derivatives		-		4
Fair value adjustment included in other liabilities
Interest rate derivatives		295		45
Notional amount:
Interest rate derivatives		25,000		50,000

For derivatives designated and that qualify as cash flow hedges of interest rate risk, the gain or loss on the derivative is recorded in AOCI and subsequently reclassified into interest expense in the same period during which the hedge transaction affects earnings. Amounts reported in AOCI related to derivatives will be reclassified to interest expense as interest payments are made on the Company’s short-term rate borrowings. During the next twelve months, the Company estimates that an additional $288 thousand will be reclassified from AOCI as a reduction to interest expense.

The following table indicates the effect of cash flow hedge accounting on AOCI and on the unaudited interim consolidated statement of income:

	March 31,
(In thousands)	2020			2019
Derivatives Designated as Hedging Instruments:
Interest rate derivatives - included component
Amount of (loss) recognized in other comprehensive income	$	(255	)	$	(170	)
Amount of  loss (gain) reclassified from AOCI into interest expense		10			(799	)

The following table indicates the gain or loss recognized in income on derivatives not designating as a hedging relationship:

	March 31,
(In thousands)	2020		2019
Derivatives Not Designated as Hedging Instruments:
Decrease (Increase) in other income	$	143	$	(87	)