are not held liable for any representations made by PPP borrowers in connection with a borrower's request for PPP covered loan forgiveness.
To provide liquidity to small business lenders and the broader credit markets, and to help stabilize the financial system, on April 7, 2020, the Federal Reserve Banks extended credit under the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (“PPPLF”). Under the PPPLF, each Federal Reserve Bank can extend non-recourse loans to institutions eligible to make PPP covered loans. Under the PPPLF, only PPP covered loans guaranteed by the SBA under the Paycheck Protection Program with respect to both principal and interest and that are originated by an eligible institution may be pledged as collateral to the Federal Reserve Banks. The Company was approved and subsequently received $31,298,000 in PPPLF advances, with such advances remaining outstanding at September 30, 2020.
The SBA began approving PPP forgiveness applications and remitting forgiveness payments to PPP lenders for PPP borrowers on October 2, 2020. On October 8, 2020, the SBA, in consultation with the U.S. Treasury Department, released a simpler loan forgiveness application for PPP loans of $50,000 or less to streamline the PPP forgiveness process to provide financial and administrative relief to American’s smallest businesses and eased the burden on PPP lenders, allowing them to process forgiveness applications more swiftly. As of September 30, 2020, Juniata funded 508 PPP loans through the SBA, for a total of $31,531,000. At September 30, 2020, Juniata had 367 PPP loans, totaling $6,066,000, with a balance of $50,000 or less. As of September 30, 2020, Juniata had not yet submitted a forgiveness application on behalf of its PPP borrowers.
Critical Accounting Policies:
Disclosure of the Company’s significant accounting policies is included in the Company’s critical accounting policies in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. Some of these policies require significant judgments, estimates, and assumptions to be made by management, most particularly in connection with determining the provision for loan losses and the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses.
General:
The following discussion relates to the consolidated financial condition of the Company as of September 30, 2020, compared to December 31, 2019, and the consolidated results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, compared to the same periods in 2019. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the interim consolidated financial statements and related notes included herein.
Overview:
Juniata Valley Financial Corp. is a Pennsylvania corporation organized in 1983 to be the holding company of The Juniata Valley Bank. The Bank is a state-chartered bank headquartered in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. Juniata Valley Financial Corp. and its subsidiary bank derive substantially all of their income from banking and bank-related services, including interest earned on residential real estate, commercial mortgage, commercial and consumer loans, interest earned on investment securities and fee income from deposit services and other financial services provided to its customers.
Financial Condition:
Total assets as of September 30, 2020, were $775,092,000, an increase of $104,460,000, or 15.6%, compared to December 31, 2019. Comparing asset balances at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, debt securities available for sale increased by $86,162,000, mainly driven by a $68,589,000 increase in deposits due deposits of government payments and decreased consumer spending. Over the same period, loans increased by $20,164,000, predominantly due to PPP loan funding. Short-term debt increased by $11,446,000 at September 30, 2020 compared to year-end 2019, while long-term debt declined by $10,000,000 over the same period. Additionally, advances from the Federal Reserve Bank increased $31,298,000 as of September 30, 2020 compared to December 31, 2019 due to Juniata’s participation in the