Note 14 - Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

14.   Commitments and Contingencies

        Litigation.  The Company is involved in various litigation concerning transactions entered into during the normal course of business.  Management, after consultation with legal counsel, does not believe that the resolution of such litigation will have a material effect upon its consolidated financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity taken as a whole.

        Lending.  In the normal course of business, the Company becomes a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk to meet the financing needs of its customers.  These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit in the form of loans or through commercial or standby letters of credit and financial guarantees.  Those instruments represent varying degrees of exposure to risk in excess of the amounts included in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.  The contractual or notional amount of these instruments indicates a level of activity associated with a particular class of financial instrument and is not a reflection of the level of expected losses, if any.

        The Company’s exposure to credit loss in the event of non-performance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments.  The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments.  Unless noted otherwise, the Company does not require collateral or other security to support financial instruments with credit risk.

        Financial instruments whose contract amounts represent the amount of credit risk include the following:

	2012		2011
	(In thousands)
Commitments to extend credit	$	1,740,463	$	1,626,523
Standby letters of credit		44,672		62,076
Commercial letters of credit		71,073		64,233
Bill of lading guarantees		77		187
Total	$	1,856,285	$	1,753,019

        Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer provided there is no violation of any condition established in the commitment agreement.  These commitments generally have fixed expiration dates and 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 by the Company upon extension of credit is based on management’s credit evaluation of the borrowers.

        As of December 31, 2012, the Company does not have fixed-rate or variable-rate commitments with characteristics similar to options, which provide the holder, for a premium paid at inception to the Company, the benefits of favorable movements in the price of an underlying asset or index with limited or no exposure to losses from unfavorable price movements.

As of December 31, 2012, commitments to extend credit of $1.7 billion include commitments to fund fixed rate loans of $115.4 million and adjustable rate loans of $1.6 billion.

Commercial letters of credit and bill of lading guarantees are issued to facilitate domestic and foreign trade transactions while standby letters of credit are issued to make payments on behalf of customers if certain specified future events occur.  The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit and bill of lading guarantees is essentially the same as that involved in making loans to customers.

        Leases.  The Company is obligated under a number of operating leases for premises and equipment with terms ranging from one to 50 years, many of which provide for periodic adjustment of rentals based on changes in various economic indicators.  Rental expense was $7.4 million for 2012, $6.7 million for 2011, and $6.6 million for 2010.   The following table shows future minimum payments under operating leases with terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 2012.

Year Ending December 31,	Commitments
	(In thousands)
2013	$	6,084
2014		4,939
2015		3,009
2016		2,028
2017		617
Thereafter		661
Total minimum lease payments	$	17,338

      Rental income was $0.3 million for 2012, $0.2 million for 2011, and $0.3 million for 2010.  The following table shows future rental payments to be received under operating leases with terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 2012:

Year Ending December 31,	Commitments
	(In thousands)
2013	$	108
2014		60
2015		11
Thereafter		-
Total minimum lease payments to be received	$	179