ISBC 2017 Form 10-K & 2018 Proxy Statement

FORM 10-K Public funds deposits are an important source of funds for us and a reduced level of those deposits may hurt our profits. Public funds deposits are a significant source of funds for our lending and investment activities. At December 31, 2017, $4.70 billion, or 27.1% of our total deposits, consisted of public funds deposits from local government entities, primarily domiciled in the state of New Jersey, such as townships, school districts, hospital districts, sheriff departments and other municipalities, which are collateralized by letters of credit from the FHLB and investment securities. Given our use of these high-average balance public funds deposits as a source of funds, our inability to retain such funds could adversely affect our liquidity. Further, our public funds deposits are primarily interest-bearing demand deposit accounts or short-term time deposits and are therefore more sensitive to interest rate risks. If we are forced to pay higher rates on our public funds accounts to retain those funds, or if we are unable to retain such funds and we are forced to resort to other sources of funds for our lending and investment activities, such as borrowings from the FHLB, the interest expense associated with these other funding sources may be higher than the rates we are currently paying on our public funds deposits, which would adversely affect our net income. Public funds deposits are an important source of funds for us and legislation concerning a State-chartered bank in New Jersey could challenge our overall strategies and potentially reduce the level of public fund deposits. At December 31, 2017, we had $4.70 billion in municipal deposits from various municipalities and other governmental entities. Such deposits are generally used to fund our loans and investments. The State of New Jersey is considering creating a State Bank, whose purpose would be to promote economic development, commerce, and industry in the State. It intends to permit State funds, including funds from State institutions and any State public source, to be held by the State Bank. Given the degree of our funding reliance on New Jersey- based municipal deposits and the potential lending ability of the proposed State Bank, we are uncertain of the impact this proposal may have on us. The possible loss of public funds on deposit may increase the costs of our funding needs, which could have a negative impact on our net income and negatively impact liquidity. The proposed legislation was only recently introduced, and there is no assurance it will become law, or will become law in its current form. We could be required to repurchase mortgage loans or indemnify mortgage loan purchasers due to breaches of representations and warranties, borrower fraud, or certain borrower defaults, which could have an adverse impact on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition. We sell into the secondary market a portion of the residential mortgage loans that we originate through our mortgage subsidiary, Investors Home Mortgage. The whole loan sale agreements we enter into in connection with such loan sales require us to repurchase or substitute mortgage loans in the event there is a breach of any of representations or warranties. In addition, we may be required to repurchase mortgage loans as a result of borrower fraud or in the event of early payment default of the borrower on a mortgage loan. We have established a reserve for estimated repurchase and indemnification obligations on the residential mortgage loans that we sell. We make various assumptions and judgments in determining this reserve. If our assumptions are incorrect, our reserve may not be sufficient to cover losses from repurchase and indemnification obligations related to our residential loans sold. Such event would have an adverse effect on our earnings. FHLB funds are an important source of funding for the Company and a reduced level may have an adverse impact on our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition. We borrow directly from the FHLB and various financial institutions. Our financial flexibility will be severely constrained if we are unable to maintain our access to funding or if adequate financing is not available to accommodate future growth at acceptable interest rates. If we are unable to secure alternative funding or need to rely on more expensive funding sources, our operating margins, profitability and liquidity would be negatively impacted. 41