Item 1.    Financial Statements

See accompanying notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited).

See accompanying notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited).

See accompanying notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited).

See accompanying notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited).

See accompanying notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited).

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)

September 30, 2017

Note 1: Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies

Nature of Operations

Chemical Financial Corporation ("Corporation" or "Chemical") operates in a single operating segment — commercial banking. The Corporation is a financial holding company, headquartered in Midland, Michigan, that operates through one commercial bank, Chemical Bank. Chemical Bank operates within Michigan, Ohio and Indiana as a Michigan state-chartered commercial bank. Chemical Bank operates through an internal organizational structure of seven regional banking units and offers a full range of traditional banking and fiduciary products and services to the residents and business customers in the bank’s geographical market areas. The products and services offered by the regional banking units, through branch banking offices, are generally consistent throughout the Corporation, as is the pricing of those products and services. The marketing of products and services throughout the Corporation’s regional banking units is generally uniform, as many of the markets served by the regional banking units overlap. The distribution of products and services is generally uniform throughout the Corporation’s regional banking units and is achieved primarily through retail branch banking offices, automated teller machines and electronically accessed banking products.

The Corporation’s primary sources of revenue are interest from its loan products and investment securities, service charges and fees from customer deposit accounts, wealth management revenue and net gain on sale of loans and other mortgage banking revenue.

Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Corporation and its subsidiaries have been prepared in accordance with United States ("U.S.") generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") for interim financial information and with instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, the interim consolidated financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Corporation’s consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Corporation’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments believed necessary to present fairly the financial condition and results of operations of the Corporation for the periods presented. Operating results for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2017 .

Use of Estimates

Management makes estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying footnotes. Estimates that are particularly susceptible to significant change include the determination of the allowance for loan losses, expected cash flows from acquired loans, fair value amounts related to business combinations, income taxes, goodwill impairment and those assets and liabilities that require fair value measurement. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Recently Adopted Accounting Principles

Stock Compensation

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting ("ASU 2016-09"), which simplifies the accounting for employee share-based payment transactions including the accounting for income taxes, forfeitures and statutory holding requirements, as well as classification on the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-09 is effective for public companies for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted for any interim or annual period. If an entity early adopts the amendments, any adjustment should be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year. The Corporation elected to early adopt ASU 2016-09 during the fourth quarter of 2016. All quarters during the year ended December 31, 2016 have been adjusted as a result of this adoption.

Prior to adoption of ASU 2016-09, all excess tax benefits resulting from the exercise or settlement of share-based payment transactions were recognized in additional-paid-in-capital ("APIC") and accumulated in an APIC pool, while tax deficiencies were either offset against the APIC pool or recognized in the income statement if no APIC pool was available. The new guidance eliminates additions to the APIC pool and all excess tax benefits and deficiencies are recognized as an income tax benefit or expense in the income statement prospectively. Accordingly, periods prior to January 1, 2016 have not been adjusted. During the year ended December 31, 2016, $2.2 million of excess tax benefits were recognized as income tax benefit.

Loan Servicing Rights

Effective January 1, 2017, the Corporation elected to account for all loan servicing rights ("LSRs") previously accounted for under the lower of cost or fair value method under the fair value method. The guidance in Accounting Standards Codification Subtopic 860-50, "Transfers and Servicing-Servicing Assets and Liabilities" provides that an entity may make an irrevocable decision to subsequently measure a class of servicing assets and servicing liabilities at fair value at the beginning of any fiscal year. The guidance allows for the Corporation to apply this election prospectively to all new and existing servicing assets and servicing liabilities. Management believes this election will provide more comparable results to peers as many of those within our industry group account for loan servicing rights under the fair value method. The change in accounting policy in the first quarter of 2017 resulted in a cumulative adjustment to increase retained earnings in the amount of $3.7 million , net of taxes.

Investment Securities

The Corporation elected to early adopt Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2017-08, Receivables-Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs (Subtopic 310-20): Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities ("ASU 2017-08") during the second quarter of 2017. The guidance in ASU 2017-08 shortens the amortization period for certain callable debt securities that are held at a premium to the earliest call date. Debt securities held at a discount will continue to be amortized as a yield adjustment over the life of the instrument. The early adoption of ASU 2017-08 in the second quarter of 2017 did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

Note 2: Mergers and Acquisitions

Merger with Talmer Bancorp, Inc.

On August 31, 2016, the Corporation completed a merger with Talmer Bancorp, Inc. ("Talmer") for total consideration of $1.61 billion . As a result of the merger, the Corporation issued 32.1 million shares of its common stock based on an exchange ratio where each Talmer shareholder received 0.4725 shares of the Corporation's common stock, and $1.61 in cash, for each share of Talmer common stock. In conjunction with the merger, the Corporation entered into and drew on a $125.0 million credit facility. The proceeds from the credit facility were used to pay off the Corporation's $25.0 million line-of-credit and a $37.5 million line-of-credit of Talmer, with the remaining proceeds used to partially fund the cash portion of the merger consideration. The Corporation incurred $7.0 million and $43.1 million of merger and acquisition-related transaction expenses during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016 , respectively, primarily related to the merger with Talmer. As a result of the merger, Talmer Bank and Trust became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Corporation. Talmer Bank and Trust was consolidated with and into Chemical Bank during the fourth quarter of 2016.

The Corporation determined that the merger with Talmer constitutes a business combination as defined by ASC 805. The assets and liabilities associated with the merger with Talmer were recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position at fair value in accordance with the guidance provided in ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements, as of the merger date as presented in the following table.

During the third quarter of 2017, prior to August 31, 2017, additional valuation information was obtained related to the fair value of certain liabilities and deferred tax assets, which resulted in an adjustment to goodwill acquired in the Talmer transaction. The adjustment recorded during the third quarter of 2017 resulted in a $1.0 million increase to the amount of goodwill recorded for the Talmer transaction.

Unaudited Pro Forma Combined Results of Operations

The following unaudited pro forma financial information presents the consolidated results of operation of the Corporation and Talmer as if the merger had occurred as of January 1, 2016. The unaudited pro forma combined results of operations are presented solely for information purposes and are not intended to represent or be indicative of the consolidated results of operations that Chemical would have reported had these transactions been completed as of the dates and for the periods presented, nor are they necessarily indicative of future results. In particular, no adjustments have been made to eliminate the amount of Talmer's provision for loan losses incurred prior to the acquisition date that would not have been necessary had the acquired loans been recorded at fair value as of the beginning of each period indicated. In accordance with Article 11 of SEC Regulation S-X, transaction costs directly attributable to the acquisitions have been excluded.

Note 3: Fair Value Measurements

Fair value, as defined by GAAP, is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. A fair value measurement assumes that the transaction to sell the asset or transfer the liability occurs in the principal market for the asset or liability or, in the absence of a principal market, the most advantageous market for the asset or liability. The price in the principal (or most advantageous) market used to measure the fair value of the asset or liability is not adjusted for transaction costs. An orderly transaction is a transaction that assumes exposure to the market for a period prior to the measurement date to allow for market activities that are usual and customary for transactions involving such assets and liabilities; it is not a forced transaction. Market participants are buyers and sellers in the principal market that are (i) independent, (ii) knowledgeable, (iii) able to transact and (iv) willing to transact.

The Corporation utilizes fair value measurements to record fair value adjustments to certain assets and liabilities and to determine fair value disclosures. Investment securities — available-for-sale, loans held-for-sale, loan servicing rights and derivatives are recorded at fair value on a recurring basis. Additionally, the Corporation may be required to record other assets, such as impaired loans, goodwill, other intangible assets, other real estate and repossessed assets, at fair value on a nonrecurring basis. These nonrecurring fair value adjustments typically involve the application of lower of cost or market accounting or write-downs of individual assets.

The Corporation determines the fair value of its financial instruments based on a three-level hierarchy established by GAAP. The classification and disclosure of assets and liabilities within the hierarchy is based on whether the inputs to the valuation methodology used for measurement are observable or unobservable. Observable inputs reflect market-derived or market-based information obtained from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect management’s estimates about market data. The three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value within the GAAP hierarchy are as follows:

A description of the valuation methodologies used for instruments measured at fair value, as well as the general classification of such instruments pursuant to the valuation hierarchy, is set forth below. These valuation methodologies were applied to all of the Corporation’s financial assets and financial liabilities carried at fair value and all financial instruments disclosed at fair value. Transfers of assets or liabilities between levels of the fair value hierarchy are recognized at the beginning of the reporting period, when applicable.

In general, fair value is based upon quoted market prices, where available. If quoted market prices are not available, fair value is based upon third-party pricing services when available. Fair value may also be based on internally developed models that primarily use, as inputs, observable market-based parameters. Valuation adjustments may be required to record financial instruments at fair value. Any such valuation adjustments are applied consistently over time. The Corporation's valuation methodologies may produce a fair value calculation that may not be indicative of net realizable value or reflective of future fair values.

While management believes the Corporation’s valuation methodologies are appropriate and consistent with other market participants, the use of different methodologies or assumptions to determine the fair value of certain financial instruments could result in a different estimate of fair value at the reporting date. Furthermore, the fair value amounts may change significantly after the date of the statement of financial position from the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and related notes.

Assets and Liabilities Recorded at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

Investment securities: Investment securities classified as available-for-sale are recorded at fair value on a recurring basis. Fair value measurement is based upon quoted prices, if available. If quoted prices are not available, fair values are generally measured using independent pricing models or other model-based valuation techniques that include market inputs, such as benchmark yields, reported trades, broker dealer quotes, issuer spreads, two-sided markets, benchmark securities, bids, offers, reference data and industry and economic events.

Loans held-for-sale: The Corporation has elected the fair value option for all loans held-for-sale. Accordingly, loans held-for-sale are recorded at fair value on a recurring basis. The fair values of loans held-for-sale are based on the market price for similar loans sold in the secondary market, and therefore, are classified as Level 2 valuations.

Loan servicing rights: Effective January 1, 2017, the Corporation elected to account for all LSRs under the fair value measurement method. LSRs acquired related to the merger with Talmer effective August 31, 2016 were also previously accounted for under the fair value measurement method based on accounting election.  A third party valuation model is used to determine the fair value at the end of each reporting period utilizing a discounted cash flow analysis using interest rates and prepayment speed assumptions currently quoted for comparable instruments and a discount rate determined by management.  Because of the nature of the valuation inputs, the Corporation classifies loan servicing rights as Level 3.  Refer to Note 8, "Loan Servicing Rights," for the assumptions included in the valuation of loan servicing rights.

Derivatives: The Corporation enters into interest rate lock commitments with prospective borrowers to be sold into the secondary market and forward commitments for the future delivery of mortgage loans to third party investors, which are carried at fair value on a recurring basis. The fair value of these commitments is based on the fair value of related mortgage loans determined using observable market data. Interest rate lock commitments are adjusted for expectations of exercise and funding. This adjustment is not considered to be a material input. The Corporation classifies interest rate lock commitments and forward contracts related to mortgage loans to be delivered for sale as recurring Level 2.

 

Derivative instruments held or issued for risk management or customer-initiated activities are traded in over-the counter markets where quoted market prices are not readily available. Fair value for over-the-counter derivative instruments is measured on a recurring basis using third party models that use primarily market observable inputs, such as yield curves and option volatilities. The fair value for these derivatives may include a credit valuation adjustment that is determined by applying a credit spread for the counterparty or the Corporation, as appropriate, to the total expected exposure of the derivative after considering collateral and other master netting arrangements. These adjustments, which are considered Level 3 inputs, are based on estimates of current credit spreads to evaluate the likelihood of default. The Corporation assessed the significance of the impact of the credit valuation adjustments on the overall valuation of its derivative positions at both September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 and it was determined that the credit valuation adjustments were not significant to the overall valuation of its derivatives. As a result, the Corporation classifies its risk management interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges and customer-initiated derivatives valuations in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

Foreign exchange forward and option contracts are entered into primarily to accommodate the needs of the customer. These derivatives are not designated as hedging. Fair value of foreign exchange forward and option contracts are measured on a recurring basis using third party models that use primarily market observable inputs, such as yield curves and option volatilities. The Corporation classifies its foreign exchange forward and option contracts in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

Written and purchased option derivatives consist of instruments to facilitate an equity-linked time deposit product (the "Power Equity CD"). The Power Equity CD is a time deposit that provides the purchaser a guaranteed return of principal at maturity plus a potential equity return, while the Corporation receives a known stream of funds based on equity returns. The written and purchased options are mirror derivative instruments which are carried at fair value on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position. Fair value measurements for the Power Equity CD are determined using quoted prices of underlying stocks, along with other terms and features of the derivative instrument. As a result, the Power Equity CD derivatives are classified as Level 2 valuations.