FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS WITH OFF-BALANCE SHEET RISK

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Fair Value Off Balance Sheet Risk [Abstract]

Financial Instruments With Off - Balance Sheet Risk [Text Block]

8. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS WITH OFF-BALANCE SHEET RISK

The Bank is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit. Those instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the consolidated statements of condition.

The Bank’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Bank uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for its other lending activities.

Financial instruments whose contractual amounts represent off-balance sheet credit risk were as follows (000s omitted):

	Contractual Amount
	March 31,		December 31,
	2013		2012
Commitments to extend credit:
Unused portion of commercial lines of credit	$	53,145	$	59,826
Unused portion of credit card lines of credit		3,081		3,048
Unused portion of home equity lines of credit		15,827		16,356
Standby letters of credit and financial guarantees written		3,680		3,730
All other off-balance sheet commitments		-		-

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contract. Most commercial lines of credit are secured by real estate mortgages or other collateral, and generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses. Since the lines of credit may expire without being drawn upon, the total committed amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. Credit card lines of credit have various established expiration dates, but are fundable on demand. Home equity lines of credit are secured by real estate mortgages, a majority of which have ten year expiration dates, but are fundable on demand. The Bank evaluates each customer’s creditworthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of the collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Bank upon extension of credit, is based on Management’s credit evaluation of the counterparty.

Standby letters of credit written are conditional commitments issued by the Bank to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Those guarantees are primarily issued to support public and private borrowing arrangements and other business transactions.