Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
As a financial institution, the Corporation’s primary source of market risk is interest rate risk, which is the exposure to fluctuations in the Corporation’s future earnings resulting from changes in interest rates. This exposure is correlated to the repricing characteristics of the Corporation’s portfolio of assets and liabilities. Each asset or liability reprices either at maturity or during the life of the instrument.
The principal purpose of asset/liability management is to maximize current and future net interest income within acceptable levels of interest rate risk while satisfying liquidity and capital requirements. Net interest income is enhanced by increasing the net interest margin and the growth in earning assets. As a result, the primary goal of interest rate risk management is to maintain a balance between risk and reward such that net interest income is maximized while risk is maintained at an acceptable level.
The Corporation uses an asset-liability management model to measure the effect of interest rate changes on its net interest income. The Corporation’s management also reviews asset-liability maturity gap and repricing analyses regularly. The Corporation does not always attempt to achieve a precise match between interest sensitive assets and liabilities because it believes that an actively managed amount of interest rate risk is inherent and appropriate in the management of the Corporation’s profitability.
Asset-liability modeling techniques and simulation involve assumptions and estimates that inherently cannot be measured with precision. Key assumptions in these analyses include maturity and repricing characteristics of assets and liabilities, prepayments on amortizing assets, non-maturing deposit sensitivity, and loan and deposit pricing. These assumptions are inherently uncertain due to the timing, magnitude, and frequency of rate changes and changes in market conditions and management strategies, among other factors. However, the analyses are useful in quantifying risk and provide a relative gauge of the Corporation’s interest rate risk position over time.
Management reviews interest rate risk on a quarterly basis and reports to the ALCO. This review includes earnings shock scenarios whereby interest rates are immediately increased and decreased by 100, 200, 300, and 400 basis points. These scenarios, detailed in the table below, indicate that there would not be a significant variance in net interest income over a one-year period due to interest rate changes; however, actual results could vary significantly. At December 31, 2021 and 2020, all interest rate risk levels according to the model were within the tolerance limits of ALCO-approved policy. In addition, the table does not take into consideration changes that management would make to realign its assets and liabilities in the event of an unexpected changing interest rate environment. Due to the current low interest rate environment, the 300 and 400 basis point declining interest rate scenarios have been excluded the following table.
December 31, 2021 December 31, 2020
Change in
Basis Points % Change in Net
Interest Income Change in
Basis Points % Change in Net
Interest Income
400 23.7% 400 5.0%
300 17.4% 300 2.8%
200 12.1% 200 1.7%
100 6.5% 100 (0.2)%
(100) (4.8)% (100) (7.2)%
(200) (9.0)% (200) (11.4)%
At December 31, 2021, the Corporation has approximately $1.8 billion in outstanding loan balances that are rate sensitive over the next twelve months.
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