CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES
For an overview of the Company’s critical accounting policies, see the section captioned “Critical Accounting Policies” included in Part II. Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, of the Company’s 2021 Annual Report. There have been no significant changes in the Company’s critical accounting policies during the nine months of 2022.
LIQUIDITY
The Company has an asset and liability management program that assists management in maintaining net interest margins during times of both rising and falling interest rates and in maintaining sufficient liquidity. A measurement of liquidity is the ratio of net deposits and short-term liabilities divided by the sum of net cash, short-term investments and marketable assets. This measurement for liquidity of the Company at September 30, 2022, was 15.00% and at December 31, 2021, was 39.71%. The decrease was due to a decrease in interest bearing cash and cash equivalents and a decline in the fair market value of investment securities coupled with increased pledging requirements to collateralize public deposit funds as of September 30, 2022. Management believes it maintains adequate liquidity for the Company’s current needs.
The Company’s primary source of liquidity is customer deposits, which were $1,134,936 at September 30, 2022, and $1,111,892 at December 31, 2021. Other sources of liquidity include investment securities, the Company’s line of credit with the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”), the Company’s secured line of credit with First Horizon Bank (“FHN”) and federal funds lines with correspondent banks. The Company had $245,381 invested in available-for-sale investment securities at September 30, 2022, and $647,557 at December 31, 2021. The decrease in securities available-for-sale is the result of the transfer of securities available-for-sale to held-to-maturity during the third quarter to help further mitigate any negative impacts on shareholders’ equity that could result from continued interest rate hikes. See Note 6 to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements for more details of the transfer.
The Company also had $22,532 in interest bearing deposits at other banks at September 30, 2022 and $68,563 at December 31, 2021. The Company had secured and unsecured federal funds lines with correspondent banks in the amount of $45,000 at both September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021. In addition, the Company has the ability to draw on its line of credit with the FHLB and FHN. At September 30, 2022, the Company had unused and available $168,109 of its line of credit with the FHLB and at December 31, 2021, the Company had unused and available $221,088 of its line of credit with the FHLB. The decrease in the amount available under the Company’s line of credit with the FHLB from the end of 2021 to September 30, 2022, was the result of a decrease in the amount of loans eligible for the collateral pool securing the Company’s line of credit with the FHLB. The secured line of credit with FHN was originated on June 9, 2021. At September 30, 2022, the Company had unused and available $2,000 of its secured line of credit with FHN. The Company had federal funds purchased of $-0- as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021. The Company may purchase federal funds from correspondent banks on a temporary basis to meet short term funding needs.
When the Company has more funds than it needs for its reserve requirements or short-term liquidity needs, the Company increases its investment portfolio, increases the balances in interest bearing due from bank accounts or sells federal funds. It is management’s policy to maintain an adequate portion of its portfolio of assets and liabilities on a short-term basis to ensure rate flexibility and to meet loan funding and liquidity needs. When deposits decline or do not grow sufficiently to fund loan demand, management will seek funding either through federal funds purchased or advances from the FHLB.
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