Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies

The Company’s exposure to credit loss in the event of non-performance by the other party to commitments to extend credit and standby letters of 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.

The contract amounts are as follows:

	September 30,		December 31,
(In thousands)	2013		2012
Financial instruments whose contract amounts represent credit risk:
Open-end lines of credit	$	28,402	$	20,515
Commitments to extend credit		14,092		24,030
Standby letters of credit and financial guarantees written		2,829		1,199

Litigation

From time to time, the Company is a party to routine legal proceedings within the normal course of business. Such routine legal proceedings in the aggregate are believed by management to be immaterial to the Company's financial condition or results of operations.

Royal Bank holds a 60% equity interest in each of CSC and RTL. The Company acquired its ownership interest in CSC in 2001. CSC and RTL acquired, through public auction, delinquent tax liens in various jurisdictions thereby assuming a superior lien position to most other lien holders, including mortgage lien holders. On March 4, 2009, each of CSC and RTL received grand jury subpoenas issued by the U.S. District Court for New Jersey (“Court”) upon application of the Antitrust Division of the United States DOJ. On February 23, 2012, the former President of CSC and RTL entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiring to rig bids at certain auctions for tax liens in New Jersey from 1998 until approximately the spring of 2009. On September 26, 2012, as a result of the former President’s guilty plea and pursuant to a plea agreement with the DOJ, CSC entered a guilty plea in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey to one count of conspiracy to commit bid-rigging at certain auctions for tax liens in New Jersey. Under the terms of the plea agreement, which the Court accepted at the September 26, 2012 plea hearing, the DOJ agreed not to bring further criminal charges against CSC and not to bring criminal charges against RTL, or any current or former director, officer, or employee of CSC and/or RTL, for any act or offense committed prior to the date of the plea agreement that was in furtherance of any agreement to rig bids at municipal tax lien sales or auctions in the State of New Jersey. The former President of CSC and RTL and any person who bid at any time at a tax lien auction on behalf of CSC and/or RTL are excluded from this non-prosecution protection. At the sentencing hearing held in December 2012, the sentencing judge agreed with the DOJ’s recommendation and imposed a $2.0 million fine for CSC, which had been previously recognized in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. After adjusting for the noncontrolling interest, the Company’s 60% share of the fine amounted to $1.2 million.

On March 13, 2012, March 30, 2012, April 20, 2012, May 2, 2012, May 11, 2012, May 18, 2012, June 18, 2012 and June 29, 2012, the former President of CSC and RTL, CSC, RTL and the Company were named defendants, among others, in putative class action lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (“Court”) on behalf of a proposed class of taxpayers who became delinquent in paying their municipal tax obligations: Boyer v. Robert W. Stein, Crusader Servicing Corp. Royal Tax Lien Services LLC, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., et al., Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division (“the Boyer Action”), Contarino v Robert W. Stein, Crusader Servicing Corp. Royal Tax Lien Services LLC, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., et al., U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey; MSC LLC v Robert W. Stein, Crusader Servicing Corp. Royal Tax Lien Services LLC, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., et al., U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey; English v Robert W. Stein, Crusader Servicing Corp. Royal Tax Lien Services LLC, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., et al., U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey; Ledford v Robert W. Stein, Crusader Servicing Corp. Royal Tax Lien Services LLC, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., et al., U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey; T&B Associates v Robert W. Stein, Crusader Servicing Corp. Royal Tax Lien Services LLC, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., et al., U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey; Jacobs et al v Robert W. Stein, Crusader Servicing Corp. Royal Tax Lien Services LLC, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., et al., U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey; Senatore Builders, LLC v Robert W. Stein, Crusader Servicing Corp. Royal Tax Lien Services LLC, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., et al., U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, respectively alleging a conspiracy to rig bids in municipal tax lien auctions. On June 12, 2012, the Court entered an Order consolidating for pretrial purposes the above actions with all subsequently filed or transferred related actions, collectively referred to as In re New Jersey Tax Sale Certificates Antitrust Litigation. On October 22, 2012, the Court appointed two law firms as interim class counsel and another law firm as liaison class counsel and further ordered appointed counsel to a master complaint for the consolidated action. On December 21, 2012, plaintiffs filed a Consolidated Master Class Action Complaint (the “Complaint”) against numerous defendants, including the former President of CSC and RTL, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., Royal Bank America, CSC and RTL. The Company filed a motion to dismiss the Complaint on March 8, 2013, which is currently pending before the Court. During the second quarter of 2013, the Company accrued a loss contingency of $1.65 million for a potential settlement with the plaintiffs. After adjusting for the noncontrolling interest, the Company’s 60% share of the loss contingency amounted to $990,000 on a pre-tax basis. Subsequently, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania, Inc., Royal Bank America, CSC, and RTL reached a settletment agreement with plaintiffs to settle the litigation for $1.65 million and other terms and conditions, including an opportunity for members of the proposed settlement class whose tax liens are currently held by CSC or RTL to redeem those liens for a one-time cash payment equaling 85% of the redemption amount by making such payment within 35 days of the date of written notice. The proposed settlement class does not include, and therefore the offer to redeem does not apply to, tax liens acquired at 0% interest or at a premium. The settlement is subject to Court approval after notice and a hearing. Members of the proposed settlement class will have an opportunity to object to the proposed settlement or opt-out.

On or about March 15, 2012, CSC, RTL and the Company were named defendants, among others, in a complaint filed by Marina Bay Towers Urban Renewal II, LP (“MBT”) in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Cape May County. The complaint alleges essentially the same claims as asserted in the Complaint. However MBT does not seek to represent a class and only seeks remedies related to itself. As of the date of this filing, the Company cannot reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss that may result from this proceeding.

In 2005, the Company purchased $25.0 million in Class B-1 Notes of a collateralized debt obligation (“CDO”) offered by Lehman Brothers, Inc. Concurrently with the issuance of the notes, the issuer entered into a credit swap with Lehman Brothers Special Financing (“LBSF”). Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. (“LBHI”) guaranteed LBSF’s obligations to the issuer under the credit swap. When LBHI filed for bankruptcy in September 2008, an event of default under the indenture occurred, and the trustee declared the notes to be immediately due and payable. The Company was repaid its principal on the notes in September 2008. In September 2010, LBSF filed suit in the United States Bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York against certain indenture trustees, certain special-purpose entities (issuers) and a class of noteholders and trust certificate holders who received distributions from the trustees, to recover funds that were allegedly improperly paid to the noteholders in forty-seven separate CDO transactions. In July 2012, LBSF added the Company as a defendant in the proceeding. In June 2013, LBSF voluntarily dismissed without prejudice and without costs all claims against the Company related to the CDO transaction.