Note 8 – Cash Value of Life Insurance

A summary of the activity in the balance of cash value of life insurance follows (dollars in thousands):

As of December 31, 2015, the Bank was the owner and beneficiary of 187 life insurance policies, issued by 14 life insurance companies, covering 59 current and former employees and directors. These life insurance policies are recorded on the Company’s financial statements at their reported cash (surrender) values. As a result of current tax law and the nature of these policies, the Bank records any increase in cash value of these policies as nontaxable noninterest income. If the Bank decided to surrender any of the policies prior to the death of the insured, such surrender may result in a tax expense related to the life-to-date cumulative increase in cash value of the policy. If the Bank retains such policies until the death of the insured, the Bank would receive nontaxable proceeds from the insurance company equal to the death benefit of the policies. The Bank has entered into Joint Beneficiary Agreements (JBAs) with certain of the insured that for certain of the policies provide some level of sharing of the death benefit, less the cash surrender value, among the Bank and the beneficiaries of the insured upon the receipt of death benefits. See Note 15 of these consolidated financial statements for additional information on JBAs.