Note 2

INVESTMENT SECURITIES

Investment Portfolio Composition. The amortized cost and related market value of investment securities at December 31 were as follows:

During the third quarter of 2013, the Company transferred certain securities from available for sale to held to maturity. Transfers of securities into the held to maturity categories from available for sale are made at fair value on the date of the transfer. The securities had an aggregate fair value of $63.0 million with an aggregate net unrealized loss of $523,000 on the date of the transfer. The net unamortized, unrealized loss on the transferred securities included in accumulated other comprehensive income in the accompanying balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 totaled $352,000. This amount will be amortized out of accumulated other comprehensive income over the remaining life of the underlying securities as an adjustment of the yield on those securities.

Securities with an amortized cost of $370.1 million and $337.9 million at December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively, were pledged to secure public deposits and for other purposes.

The Bank, as a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (“FHLB”), is required to own capital stock in the FHLB based generally upon the balances of residential and commercial real estate loans, and FHLB advances.  FHLB stock which is included in other securities is pledged to secure FHLB advances.  No ready market exists for this stock, and it has no quoted market value; however, redemption of this stock has historically been at par value.

Investment Sales. The total proceeds from the sale of investment securities and the gross realized gains and losses from the sale of such securities for each of the last three years are as follows:

Maturity Distribution. As of December 31, 2015, the Company’s investment securities had the following maturity distribution based on contractual maturity. Expected maturities may differ from contractual maturities because borrowers may have the right to call or prepay obligations. Mortgage-backed securities and certain amortizing U.S. government agency securities are shown separately since they are not due at a certain maturity date.

Other Than Temporarily Impaired Securities. The following table summarizes the investment securities with unrealized losses at December 31, aggregated by major security type and length of time in a continuous unrealized loss position:

Management evaluates securities for other than temporary impairment at least quarterly, and more frequently when economic or market concerns warrant such evaluation. Declines in the fair value of held-to-maturity and available-for-sale securities below their cost that are deemed to be other than temporary are reflected in earnings as realized losses. In estimating other-than-temporary impairment losses, the Company considers, (i) whether it has decided to sell the security, (ii) whether it is more likely than not that the Company will have to sell the security before its market value recovers, and (iii) whether the present value of expected cash flows is sufficient to recover the entire amortized cost basis. When assessing a security’s expected cash flows, the Company considers, among other things, (i) the length of time and the extent to which the fair value has been less than cost and (ii) the financial condition and near-term prospects of the issuer. In analyzing an issuer’s financial condition, management considers whether the securities are issued by the federal government or its agencies, whether downgrades by rating agencies have occurred, regulatory issues, and analysts’ reports.

At December 31, 2015, there were 295 positions (combined AFS and HTM) with unrealized losses totaling $1.2 million. Of the 295 positions, 134 were Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities (GNMA), U.S. Treasuries, or SBA securities, all of which carry the full faith and credit guarantee of the U.S. Government. Of these 134 positions, there were 22 GNMA positions and 22 SBA positions in an unrealized loss position for longer than 12 months. There were 141 municipal bonds in an unrealized loss position that were pre-refunded, or rated “AA-“or better. Fourteen of these positions were in an unrealized loss position for longer than 12 months. The remaining 20 securities were government agency bonds, which have been in an unrealized loss position for less than 12 months. All of these debt securities are in a loss position because they were acquired when the general level of interest rates was lower than that on December 31, 2015. The Company believes that the unrealized losses in these debt securities are temporary in nature and that the full principal will be collected as anticipated. Because the declines in the market value of these investments are attributable to changes in interest rates and not credit quality and because the Company has the present ability and intent to hold these investments until there is a recovery in fair value, which may be at maturity, the Company does not consider these investments to be other-than-temporarily impaired at December 31, 2015.