Note 23 - Junior Subordinated Debentures

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Subordinated Borrowings [Abstract]

Subordinated Borrowings Disclosure [Text Block]

23. JUNIOR SUBORDINATED DEBENTURES

The Company has sponsored a trust, First South Preferred Trust I (the Trust), of which 100% of the common equity is owned by the Company. The Trust was formed for the purpose of issuing company-obligated preferred trust securities (the Preferred Trust Securities) to third-party investors and investing the proceeds from the sale of such Preferred Trust Securities solely in junior subordinated debt securities of the Company (the Debentures). The Debentures held by the Trust are the sole assets of the Trust. Distributions on the Preferred Trust Securities issued by the Trust are payable quarterly at a rate equal to the interest rate being earned by the Trust on the Debentures held by that Trust. The Preferred Trust Securities are subject to mandatory redemption, in whole or in part, upon repayment of the Debentures. The Company has entered into an agreement, which fully and unconditionally guarantees the Preferred Trust Securities subject to the terms of the guarantee. The Debentures held by the Trust are first redeemable, in whole or in part, by the Company on or after September 30, 2008. Subject to certain limitations, the Junior Subordinated Debentures qualify as Tier 1 capital for the Company under current Federal Reserve Board guidelines.

In July of 2013, the banking regulators issued the final Basel III capital rules. Under these rules, bank holding companies with less than $15 billion in consolidated total assets as of December 31, 2009, that issued trust preferred securities prior to May 19, 2010, are permanently grandfathered as Tier 1 or Tier 2 capital.

Consolidated debt obligations as of December 31, 2015 related to a subsidiary Trust holding solely Debentures of the Company follows:

LIBOR + 2.95% junior subordinated debentures owed to First South Preferred Trust I due September 26, 2033	$	10,000,000
LIBOR + 2.95% junior subordinated debentures owed to First South Preferred Trust I due September 26, 2033		310,000
Total junior subordinated debentures owed to unconsolidated subsidiary trust	$	10,310,000

The trust preferred securities bear interest at three-month LIBOR plus 2.95% payable quarterly. As noted above, effective December 30, 2014, the Company swapped the interest rate on these debentures to a fixed rate of 5.54% for the ensuing five year period. This strategy was executed to provide the Company with protection to a rising rate environment.