BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

General

Our unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of WSFS Financial Corporation (the Company or WSFS), Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB (WSFS Bank or the Bank), WSFS Wealth Management, LLC (Powdermill), WSFS Capital Management, LLC (West Capital), Cypress Capital Management, LLC (Cypress) and Christiana Trust Company of Delaware (Christiana Trust DE). We also have one unconsolidated subsidiary, WSFS Capital Trust III. WSFS Bank has four wholly owned subsidiaries: Beneficial Equipment Finance Corp., WSFS Investment Group, Inc. (WSFS Wealth Investments), 1832 Holdings, Inc., and Monarch Entity Services, LLC, and one majority-owned subsidiary, NewLane Finance Company.

Overview

Founded in 1832, the Bank is one of the ten oldest bank and trust companies continuously operating under the same name in the United States (U.S.). We provide residential and commercial real estate, commercial and consumer lending services, as well as retail deposit and cash management services. Our core banking business is commercial lending funded primarily by customer-generated deposits. In addition, we offer a variety of wealth management and trust services to personal and corporate customers. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures our customers’ deposits to their legal maximums. We serve our customers primarily from 152 offices located in Delaware (49), Pennsylvania (72), New Jersey (29), Virginia (1) and Nevada (1) and through our website at www.wsfsbank.com. Information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Basis of Presentation

In preparing the unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements, we are required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses. Amounts subject to significant estimates include the allowance for loan and lease losses and reserves for lending-related commitments, goodwill, intangible assets, post-retirement benefit obligations, the fair value of financial instruments, income taxes and other-than-temporary impairment (OTTI). Among other effects, changes to these estimates could result in future impairments of investment securities, goodwill and intangible assets, the establishment of the allowance and lending-related commitments as well as increased post-retirement benefits expense.

Our accounting and reporting policies conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the U.S. (GAAP), prevailing practices within the banking industry for interim financial information and Rule 10-01 of SEC Regulation S-X (Rule 10-01). Rule 10-01 does not require us to include all information and notes that would be required in audited financial statements. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with current period presentation. Operating results for the periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any future quarters or for the year ending December 31, 2019. These unaudited, interim Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 (the 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K) that was filed with the SEC on February 28, 2019 and is available at www.sec.gov or on our website at www.wsfsbank.com. All significant intercompany transactions were eliminated in consolidation.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

Accounting Guidance Adopted in 2019

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). This ASU revises the accounting related to lessee accounting. Under the new guidance, lessees will be required to recognize a lease liability and a right-of-use asset for substantially all leases. The new lease guidance also simplifies the accounting for sale and leaseback transactions primarily because lessees must recognize lease assets and lease liabilities. ASU 2016-02 is effective for the first interim period within annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. Adoption using the comparative modified retrospective transition approach is required; however, in July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-11, Leases-Targeted Improvements, which provides an optional transition method whereby comparative periods presented in the financial statements in the period of adoption do not need to be restated under Topic 842. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2019 using the transition option in ASU 2018-11 and the results of this adoption are recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. See Note 9 for additional disclosures resulting from our adoption of this standard.

Subsequent to adopting ASU 2016-02, in March 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-01, Leases (Topic 842): Codification Improvements, which makes targeted changes to lessor accounting and clarifies interim transition disclosure requirements upon adopting Topic 842. The guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this guidance on March 31, 2019. See Note 9 for additional disclosures resulting from our adoption of this standard.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-08, Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities. The new guidance requires the amortization period for certain non-contingent callable debt securities held at a premium to end at the earliest call date of the debt security. If the call option is not exercised at the earliest call date, the guidance requires the debt security's effective yield to be reset based on the contractual payment terms of the debt security. The guidance is effective in annual and interim periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. Use of the modified retrospective method, with a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings is required. The Company adopted this standard on January 1, 2019, on a modified retrospective basis and the adoption did not have an effect on the Consolidated Financial Statements.

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-12, Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities (Topic 815). The new guidance changes both the designation and measurement guidance for qualifying hedging relationships and simplifies the presentation of hedge results. Specifically, the guidance eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness and also aligns the recognition and presentation of the effects of the hedging instrument and the hedged item in the financial statements. Further, the new guidance provides entities the ability to apply hedge accounting to additional hedging strategies as well as permits a one-time reclassification of eligible to be hedged instruments from held to maturity to available for sale upon adoption. The guidance is effective in annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. Adoption using the modified retrospective approach is required for hedging relationships that exist as of the date of adoption; presentation and disclosure requirements are applied prospectively. The Company adopted this standard on January 1, 2019 on a modified retrospective basis for existing hedging relationships and on a prospective basis for presentation and disclosure requirements. The adoption of this standard did not have an effect on the Consolidated Financial Statements. See Note 16 for additional disclosures resulting from our adoption of this standard.

In October 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-16 Derivatives and Hedging - Inclusion of the Secured Overnight Financial Rate (SOFR) Overnight Index Swap (OIS) Rate as a Benchmark Interest Rate for Hedge Accounting Purposes (Topic 815). The new guidance applies to all entities that elect to apply hedge accounting to benchmark interest rate hedges under Topic 815. It permits the use of the OIS rate based on SOFR as a U.S. benchmark interest rate for hedge accounting purposes in addition to the existing applicable rates. The guidance is required to be adopted concurrently with ASU 2017-12, on a prospective basis for qualifying new or redesignated hedging relationships entered into on or after adoption. The Company adopted this standard on January 1, 2019 on a prospective basis and the adoption did not have an effect on the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Accounting Guidance Pending Adoption at March 31, 2019