Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company may use derivative financial instruments, including interest rate swaps, caps, options, floors, and other interest rate derivative contracts, to hedge all or a portion of the interest rate risk associated with its borrowings. The principal objective of such arrangements is to minimize the risks and/or costs associated with the Company’s operating and financial structure as well as to hedge specific anticipated transactions. The Company does not intend to utilize derivatives for speculative or other purposes other than interest rate risk management. The use of derivative financial instruments carries certain risks, including the risk that the counterparties to these contractual arrangements are not able to perform under the agreements. To mitigate this risk, the Company only enters into derivative financial instruments with counterparties with high credit ratings and with major financial institutions with which the Company and its affiliates may also have other financial relationships. The Company does not anticipate that any of the counterparties will fail to meet their obligations.

The Company’s objectives in using interest rate derivatives are to add stability to interest expense and to manage its exposure to interest rate movements. To accomplish this objective, the Company primarily uses interest rate swaps as part of its interest rate risk management strategy. Interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges involve the receipt of variable-rate amounts from a counterparty in exchange for the Company making fixed-rate payments over the life of the agreements without exchange of the underlying notional amount.

The following table summarizes the terms and fair values of the Company's derivative financial instruments, as well as their classification on the Consolidated Balance Sheets:



						Fair Value
(in thousands)						Assets (Liabilities)⁽¹⁾
Effective Date	Maturity Date	Notional Amount		Counterparty Pays Variable Rate of	Regency Pays Fixed Rate of	September 30, 2018		December 31, 2017
4/3/17	12/2/20	$	300,000	1 Month LIBOR with Floor	1.824%	$	6,410	1,804
8/1/16	1/5/22	265,000		1 Month LIBOR with Floor	1.053%	15,286		10,744
4/7/16	4/1/23	20,000		1 Month LIBOR	1.303%	1,310		801
12/1/16	11/1/23	33,000		1 Month LIBOR	1.490%	2,151		1,166
6/2/17	6/2/27	37,500		1 Month LIBOR with Floor	2.366%	1,645		(177	)
						$	26,802	14,338

⁽¹⁾ Derivatives in an asset position are included within Other assets in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets, while those in a liability position are included within Accounts payable and other liabilities.

These derivative financial instruments are all interest rate swaps, which are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges. The Company does not use derivatives for trading or speculative purposes and, as of September 30, 2018, does not have any derivatives that are not designated as hedges. The Company has master netting agreements; however, the Company does not have multiple derivatives subject to a single master netting agreement with the same counterparties. Therefore, none are offset in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

The changes in the fair value of derivatives designated and qualifying as cash flow hedges is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) ("AOCI") and subsequently reclassified into earnings in the period that the hedged forecasted transaction affects earnings.

The following table represents the effect of the derivative financial instruments on the accompanying consolidated financial statements:



Location and Amount of Gain (Loss) Recognized in OCI on Derivative					Location and Amount of Gain (Loss) Reclassified from AOCI into Income						Total Interest Expense presented in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in which the effects of cash flow hedges are recorded
	Three months ended September 30,					Three months ended September 30,						Three months ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2018		2017			2018			2017			2018		2017
Interest rate swaps	$	2,717	(39	)	Interest expense	$	(1,148	)	(2,329	)	Interest expense, net	$	36,618	34,679

Location and Amount of Gain (Loss) Recognized in OCI on Derivative					Location and Amount of Gain (Loss) Reclassified from AOCI into Income						Total Interest Expense presented in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in which the effects of cash flow hedges are recorded
	Nine months ended September 30,					Nine months ended September 30,						Nine months ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2018		2017			2018			2017			2018		2017
Interest rate swaps	$	16,511	(3,911	)	Interest expense	$	(4,701	)	(8,054	)	Interest expense, net	$	111,477	97,285

As of September 30, 2018, the Company expects approximately $600,000 of net deferred losses on derivative instruments in AOCI, including the Company's share from its Investments in real estate partnerships, to be reclassified into earnings during the next 12 months. Included in the reclass is $7.9 million which is related to previously settled swaps on the Company's ten year fixed rate unsecured loans.