Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

In preparing the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP, the Company’s management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and the disclosures provided. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Material estimates which are particularly susceptible to significant change in the near term relate to the fair value of investment securities, fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations, goodwill, income taxes and the determination of the allowance for loan losses.

Leases

Effective January 1, 2019, a determination is made at inception if an arrangement contains a lease. For arrangements that contain a lease, the Company recognizes the lease on the balance sheet as a right of use asset and corresponding lease liability. Lease-related assets, or right of use assets, are recognized on the lease commencement date at amounts equal to the respective lease liabilities, adjusted for prepaid lease payments, initial direct costs, and lease incentives received. Lease-related liabilities are recognized at the present value of the remaining contractual fixed lease payments, discounted using our incremental borrowing rate. Operating lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, while variable lease payments are expensed as incurred.

Topic 842 requires the use of the rate implicit in the lease whenever this rate is readily determinable. If not readily determinable, the Company utilizes its incremental borrowing rate at lease inception, on a collateralized basis, over a similar term. For operating leases existing prior to January 1, 2019, the Company used a borrowing rate that corresponded to the remaining lease term.

The Company’s lease agreements often include one or more options to renew at the Company’s discretion. If at lease inception, the Company considers the exercising of a renewal option to be reasonably certain, the Company will include the extended term in the calculation of the right-of-use asset and lease liability.

Impact of recently adopted accounting standards

On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02 “Leases (Topic 842) and all subsequent ASUs that modified Topic 842. The Company made the following elections for all leases in connection with the adoption of this guidance:

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The Company elected the package of practical expedients to not reassess prior conclusions related to contracts containing leases, lease classification and initial direct costs;

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The Company did not elect the hindsight practical expedient;

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The Company elected the optional transition method that allows companies to use the effective date as the date of initial application on transition. As a result, the Company did not adjust comparative period financial information or make the newly required lease disclosures for periods before the effective date;

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The Company elected not to apply the above guidance to short-term leases;

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The Company elected to separate the lease components from the nonlease components and exclude the nonlease components from the right-of-use asset and lease liability; and

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The Company did not elect the land easement practical expedient.

At the date of adoption, the Company recorded approximately $8.1 million on its Consolidated Balance Sheets to reflect the right of use asset and associated lease liability. The Company utilized its incremental borrowing rate, on a collateralized basis, for the remaining contractual lease term.

ASU 2017-08, "Receivables - Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs (Subtopic 310-20), Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities." ASU 2017-08 shortens the amortization period for certain callable debt securities held at a premium, requiring the premium to be amortized to the earliest call date. ASU 2017-08 does not require an accounting change for securities held at a discount; the discount continues to be amortized to maturity. This guidance was effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

ASU 2017-12, "Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities." ASU 2017-12 amends Topic 815 to reduce the cost and complexity of applying hedge accounting and expands the types of relationships that qualify for hedge accounting. The guidance eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness, requires all items that affect earnings to be presented in the same income statement line as the hedged item, provides for applying hedge accounting to additional hedging strategies, provides for new approaches to measuring the hedged item in fair value hedges of interest rate risk, and eases the requirements for effective testing and hedge documentation. This guidance was effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. During the first quarter of 2019, the Company adopted this guidance, reassessed classification of certain investments, and transferred $573.6 million of securities from held to maturity to available for sale.

ASU 2018-07, "Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting." ASU 2018-07 expands the scope of Topic 718 to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from nonemployees. This guidance was effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Recently issued accounting standards

ASU 2016-13, "Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments." ASU 2016-13 implements a change from the current impaired loss model to an expected credit loss model over the life of an instrument, including loans and securities held to maturity. The expected credit loss model is expected to result in earlier recognition of losses. ASU 2016-13 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 including interim periods with those years. The Company is executing a project plan to implement this guidance. The project plan includes an assessment of data, development of methodologies, model validation, parallel runs, refining qualitative factors and forecast periods and evaluating related disclosures. The Company is currently assessing the impact of adopting ASU 2016-13, which will be significantly influenced by the composition, characteristics and quality of the loan portfolio as well as the prevailing economic conditions and forecasts as of the adoption date.