Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Off-balance sheet commitments

First Guaranty 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 and to reduce its own exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby and commercial 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 balance sheets. The contract or notional amounts of those instruments reflect the extent of the involvement in particular classes of financial instruments.

The exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit and standby and commercial letters of credit is represented by the contractual notional amount of those instruments. The same credit policies are used in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for balance sheet instruments. Unless otherwise noted, collateral or other security is not required to support financial instruments with credit risk.

Set forth below is a summary of the notional amounts of the financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk at December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.


Contract Amount	December 31, 2023		December 31, 2022
(in thousands)
Commitments to Extend Credit	$	304,218	$	246,968
Unfunded Commitments under lines of credit	$	214,546	$	253,906
Commercial and Standby letters of credit	$	13,971	$	14,222

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. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee. Since commitments may expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. Each customer's creditworthiness is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary upon extension of credit, is based on Management's credit evaluation of the counterpart. Collateral requirements vary but may include accounts receivable, inventory, property, plant and equipment, residential real estate and commercial properties.

Standby and commercial letters of credit are conditional commitments to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. These guarantees are primarily issued to support public and private borrowing arrangements, including commercial paper, bond financing and similar transactions. The majority of these guarantees are short-term, one year or less; however, some guarantees extend for up to three years. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities. Collateral requirements are the same as on-balance sheet instruments and commitments to extend credit.

There were no losses incurred on off-balance sheet commitments in 2023 or 2022.