COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

The Company 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 balance sheet. The contract or notional amounts of those instruments reflect the maximum exposure the Company has in particular classes of financial instruments. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments.

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of conditions established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee. Since some of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The Company evaluates each customer’s creditworthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Company, upon extension of credit is based on a credit evaluation of the borrower. Collateral obtained varies but may include real estate, equipment, stocks, bonds, and certificates of deposit.

The following table is a summary of the contractual amount of the Company’s exposure to off-balance sheet commitments.



	March 31, 2016		December 31, 2015

Lending commitments:
Commitments to extend credit	$	1,468,090	$	799,058
Commercial letters of credit	22,108		16,342
Other commitments:
Standby letters of credit issued by the FHLB on the Bank's behalf	46,000		10,000

The reserve for unfunded commitments was $1,257 and $603 as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively, which was recorded in other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.