Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

1) Basis of Presentation

        The unaudited consolidated financial statements of Heritage Commerce Corp (the "Company") and its wholly owned subsidiary, Heritage Bank of Commerce (sometimes referred to as "HBC"), have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations for reporting on Form 10-Q. Accordingly, certain information and notes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") for annual financial statements are not included herein. The interim statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes that were included in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. The Company has also established the following unconsolidated subsidiary grantor trusts: Heritage Capital Trust I; Heritage Statutory Trust I; Heritage Statutory Trust II; and Heritage Commerce Corp Statutory Trust III which are Delaware Statutory business trusts formed for the exclusive purpose of issuing and selling trust preferred securities.

        HBC is a commercial bank serving customers located in Santa Clara, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties of California. No customer accounts for more than 10% of revenue for HBC or the Company. Management evaluates the Company's performance as a whole and does not allocate resources based on the performance of different lending or transaction activities. Accordingly, the Company and its subsidiary operate as one business segment.

        In the Company's opinion, all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of these consolidated financial statements have been included and are of a normal and recurring nature. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.

        The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ significantly from these estimates.

        The results for the three months ended March 31, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for any subsequent period or for the entire year ending December 31, 2012.

Reclassifications

        Certain reclassifications of prior year balances have been made to conform to the current year presentation. These reclassifications had no impact on the Company's consolidated financial position, results of operations or net change in cash and cash equivalents.

Adoption of New Accounting Standards

        In May 2011, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to improve the comparability between U.S. GAAP fair value accounting and reporting requirements and International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") fair value accounting and reporting requirements. Additional disclosures required by the update include: (i) disclosure of quantitative information regarding the unobservable inputs used in any fair value measurement classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy in addition to an explanation of the valuation techniques used in valuing Level 3 items and information regarding the sensitivity in the valuation of Level 3 items to changes in the values assigned to unobservable inputs; (ii) categorization by level within the fair value hierarchy of items not recognized on the Statement of Financial Position at fair value but for which fair values are required to be disclosed; and (iii) instances where the fair values disclosed for non-financial assets were based on a highest and best use assumption when in fact the assets are not being utilized in that capacity. The amendments in the update are effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011. The effect of adopting this standard did not have a material effect on the Company's operating results or financial condition, but the additional disclosures are included in Note 8.

        In June 2011, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to increase the prominence of items included in Other Comprehensive Income and facilitate the convergence of U.S. GAAP with IFRS. The update prohibits continued presentation of Other Comprehensive Income in the statement of Stockholders' Equity. The update requires that all non-owner changes in stockholders' equity be presented in either a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but continuous statements. The amendments in the update are effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011. The adoption of this amendment changed the presentation of the statement of comprehensive income for the Company to two consecutive statements, instead of presented as part of the consolidated statements of shareholder's equity.