Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

Lease Commitments: The Company leases locations as well as equipment under various non-cancellable operating leases that expire between 2013 and 2045. The majority of the leases contain renewal options and provisions for increases in rental rates based on an agreed upon index or predetermined escalation schedule. As of December 31, 2012, minimum future rental payments, exclusive of taxes and other charges, of these leases were:

Years Ending December 31,	(in thousands)
2013	$	4,309
2014	4,018
2015	3,454
2016	2,032
2017	1,468
Thereafter	7,329
Total minimum payments	$	22,610

Total rental expense on buildings and equipment, net of rental income of $639 thousand, $655 thousand and $591 thousand, was $4.5 million, $4.6 million and $4.5 million, for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Financial Instruments with Off-Balance Sheet Risk: In the normal course of business, the Company makes loan commitments (typically unfunded loans and unused lines of credit) and issues standby letters of credit to accommodate the financial needs of its customers.

Standby letters of credit commit the Company to make payments on behalf of customers under specified conditions. Historically, no significant losses have been incurred by the Company under standby letters of credit. Both arrangements have credit risk essentially the same as that involved in extending loans to customers and are subject to the Company’s normal credit policies, including collateral requirements, where appropriate. At December 31, 2012 and 2011, the Company’s loan commitments amounted to $888.5 million and $709.9 million, respectively. Standby letters of credit were $19.5 million and $30.9 million at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. In addition, commitments under commercial letters of credit used to facilitate customers’ trade transactions amounted to $46 thousand and $243 thousand at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Pending acquisition: On September 25, 2012, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with West Coast Bancorp ("West Coast"). The closing of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain customary conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approvals and the approval of West Coast's and our respective shareholders. Under the terms of the merger agreement, the aggregate merger consideration payable by Columbia will consist of 12,809,525 shares of Columbia common stock and $264.5 million in cash (subject to increase under certain circumstances). If the merger agreement is terminated (i) due to our failure to obtain requisite approval from our shareholders or (ii) due to our failure to obtain regulatory approval, we will be required to pay West Coast a termination fee of $5.0 million.

Legal Proceedings: The Company and its subsidiary are from time to time defendants in and are threatened with various legal proceedings arising from their regular business activities. Management, after consulting with legal counsel, is of the opinion that the ultimate liability, if any, resulting from these pending or threatened actions and proceedings will not have a material effect on the financial statements of the Company.