Note 14.

Litigation, Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation

In the normal course of business, the Company is a defendant in various legal actions and asserted claims. While the Company and its legal counsel are unable to assess the ultimate outcome of each of these matters with certainty, the Company believes the resolution of these actions, singly or in the aggregate, should not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, results of operations or cash flows of the Company.

Commitments and Contingencies

The Company is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit, standby letters of credit, and financial guarantees. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk beyond the amount recognized in the balance sheets. The contractual amounts of these instruments reflect the extent of involvement the Company has in particular classes of financial instruments. If the other party to a financial instrument does not perform, the Company’s credit loss exposure is the same as the contractual amount of the instrument. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments.

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 drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The Company evaluates each customer’s creditworthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the customer. Collateral may include accounts receivable, inventory, property, plant and equipment, and income producing commercial properties. Commitments to extend credit also include outstanding commitments related to mortgage loans that are sold on a best efforts basis into the secondary loan market. The Company maintains a reserve for the risk inherent in unfunded lending commitments, which is included in other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets.

Standby letters of credit and financial guarantees are conditional commitments issued by the Company 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 credit to customers. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary, to secure the customer’s performance under certain letters of credit is based on management’s credit evaluation of the customer.

The following table presents the Company’s off-balance sheet financial instruments as of the dates indicated:


	March 31, 2016		December 31, 2015
(Amounts in thousands)
Commitments to extend credit	$	242,581	$	235,302
Standby letters of credit and financial guarantees		7,556		7,765

Total off-balance sheet risk		250,137		243,067


Reserve for unfunded commitments	$	326	$	326

The Company provided for letters of credit with the FHLB totaling $22.69 million as of March 31, 2016, and December 31, 2015. The letters of credit provide an attractive alternative to pledging securities for public unit deposits.

The Company issued $15.46 million of trust preferred securities in a private placement through the Trust. The Company has committed to irrevocably and unconditionally guarantee the following payments or distributions to holders of the trust preferred securities to the extent the Trust has not made such payments or distributions and the Company has the funds available: accrued and unpaid distributions, the redemption price, and, upon a dissolution or termination of the Trust, the lesser of the liquidation amount and all accrued and unpaid distributions and the amount of assets of the Trust remaining available for distribution.