Benefit Plans

Executive Retirement Plan

Effective May 5, 2015, the Company terminated its Executive Retirement Plan and recorded a charge of approximately $5.3 million, inclusive of the acceleration of $2.5 million recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet that was being amortized resulting in a total benefit obligation of $19.6 million in connection with the termination of the Executive Retirement Plan. The charge includes amounts resulting from assumed additional years of service for two plan participants who have not reached age 65 and payments associated with FICA and other tax obligations.

On May 6, 2016, the Company paid the total benefit obligation of $19.6 million which reduced Other liabilities on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets. As a result of the termination of the plan, and included in the payment of the total benefit obligation, Mr. Emery received a lump sum amount equal to his accrued benefit under the plan of approximately $14.4 million in May 2016.

Net periodic benefit cost for the Executive Retirement Plan for the three years in the period ended December 31, 2016 is comprised of the following:



	Year Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)	2016		2015			2014
Service cost	$	—	$	29		$	88
Interest cost	—		225			687
Amortization of prior service cost (benefit)	—		(198		)	(1,189		)
Amortization of net gain (loss)	—		343			469
	—		399			55
Net loss recognized in Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	—		—			2,570
Total recognized in net periodic benefit gain and Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) ⁽¹⁾	$	—	$	399		$	2,625

_____


(1)	2015 is a partial year due to the termination of the Executive Retirement Plan during the year.

The following table sets forth the benefit obligations as of December 31, 2016 and 2015:



	Year Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)	2016			2015
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	19,571		$	16,473
Service cost	—			29
Interest cost	—			225
Benefits paid	(19,575		)	(42		)
Amortization of net gain/loss and prior service cost	—			145
Actuarial loss, net	—			—
Settlement loss	4			5,260
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss arising from settlement on defined benefit pension plan	—			(2,519		)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	—		$	19,571

Amounts recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheets are as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)	2016		2015
Net liabilities included in other liabilities	$	—	$	(19,571	)
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	—		—

The Company's assumed discount rates and compensation increases, which are used to measure the year-end benefit obligations and earnings for the subsequent year related to the Executive Retirement Plan, which was terminated on May 5, 2015 and are detailed in the following table for the three years ended December 31, 2016 :



	2016		2015		2014
Discount rates	—	%	—	%	4.08	%
Compensation increases	—	%	—	%	2.7	%