Note 12 - Financial Instruments with Off-balance-sheet Risk

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Financial Instruments Disclosure [Text Block]

(12) Financial Instruments with Off-Balance-Sheet Risk

The Company is 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 consist primarily of commitments to extend credit. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk in excess of the amount recognized in the consolidated balance sheets. The contract or notional amounts of those instruments reflect the extent of involvement the Company has in particular classes of financial instruments.

The Company's exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit is represented by the contractual notional 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.

	In Thousands
	Contract or Notional Amount
	2019		2018
Financial instruments whose contract amounts represent credit risk:
Unused commitments to extend credit	$	632,686		582,897
Standby letters of credit		72,901		80,165
Total	$	705,587		663,062

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 be drawn upon, the total commitment amounts generally represent future cash requirements. The Company evaluates each customer's credit-worthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral, if deemed necessary by the Company upon extension of credit, is based on management's credit evaluation of the counterparty. Collateral normally consists of real property.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Those guarantees are primarily issued to support public and private borrowing arrangements, including commercial paper, bond financing, and similar transactions. Most guarantees extend from one to two years. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities to customers. The fair value of standby letters of credit is estimated using the fees currently charged to enter into similar agreements, taking into account the remaining terms of the agreements, the likelihood of the counterparties drawing on such financial instruments and the present creditworthiness of such counterparties. Such commitments have been made on terms which are competitive in the markets in which the Company operates; thus, the fair value of standby letters of credit equals the carrying value for the purposes of this disclosure. The maximum potential amount of future payments that the Company could be required to make under the guarantees totaled $73,000,000 at December 31, 2019.