14. COMMITMENTS, CONTINGENCIES AND GUARANTEES

In the normal course of business, the Company is a party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in order to meet the financing needs of its customers and to reduce its own exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit, commercial letters of credit, standby letters of credit, and futures contracts. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The contract or notional amount of those instruments reflects the extent of involvement the Company has in particular classes of financial instruments.

The Company’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instruments for commitments to extend credit, commercial letters of credit, and standby letters of credit is represented by the contract or notional amount of those instruments. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance-sheet instruments.

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the agreement. These conditions generally include, but are not limited to, each customer being current as to repayment terms of existing loans and no deterioration in the customer’s financial condition. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee. The interest rate is generally a variable rate. If the commitment has a fixed interest rate, the rate is generally not set until such time as credit is extended. For credit card customers, the Company has the right to change or terminate terms or conditions of the credit card account at any time. Since a large portion of the commitments and unused credit card lines are never actually drawn upon, the total commitment amount does not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The Company evaluates each customer’s creditworthiness on an individual basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Company upon extension of credit, is based on management’s credit evaluation. Collateral pledged by customers varies but may include accounts receivable, inventory, real estate, plant and equipment, stock, securities and certificates of deposit.

Commercial letters of credit are issued specifically to facilitate trade or commerce. Under the terms of a commercial letter of credit, as a general rule, drafts will be drawn when the underlying transaction is consummated as intended.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by the Company payable upon the non-performance of a customer’s obligation to a third party. The Company issues standby letters of credit for terms ranging from three months to six years. The Company generally requires the customer to pledge collateral to support the letter of credit. The maximum liability to the Company under standby letters of credit at December 31, 2017 and 2016, was $316.1 million and $376.6 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, standby letters of credit totaling $42.5 million and $67.4 million, respectively, were with related parties to the Company.

The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities. The Company holds collateral supporting those commitments when deemed necessary. Collateral varies but may include such items as those described for commitments to extend credit.

Futures contracts are contracts for delayed delivery of securities or money market instruments in which the seller agrees to make delivery at a specified future date, of a specified instrument, at a specified yield. Risks arise from the possible inability of counterparties to meet the terms of their contracts and from movement in securities values and interest rates. Instruments used in trading activities are carried at market value and gains and losses on futures contracts are settled in cash daily. Any changes in the market value are recognized in trading and investment banking income.

The Company uses contracts to offset interest rate risk on specific securities held in the trading portfolio. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, there were no notional amounts outstanding for these contracts. There were no open futures contract positions during the year ended December 31, 2017. Open futures contract positions average notional amount was $0.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2016. Net futures activity resulted in losses of $6 thousand and of $142 thousand and gains of $35 thousand for 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively. The Company controls the credit risk of its futures contracts through credit approvals, limits and monitoring procedures.

The Company also enters into foreign exchange contracts on a limited basis. For operating purposes, the Company maintains certain balances in foreign banks. Foreign exchange contracts are purchased on a monthly basis to avoid foreign exchange risk on these foreign balances. The Company will also enter into foreign exchange contracts to facilitate foreign exchange needs of customers. The Company will enter into a contract to buy or sell a foreign currency at a future date only as part of a contract to sell or buy the foreign currency at the same future date to a customer. During 2017, contracts to purchase and to sell foreign currency averaged approximately $36.8 million compared to $40.5 million during 2016. The net gains on these foreign exchange contracts for 2017, 2016 and 2015 were $1.9 million, $1.6 million and $1.8 million, respectively.

With respect to group concentrations of credit risk, most of the Company’s business activity is with customers in the states of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arizona, Illinois, and Texas. At December 31, 2017, the Company did not have any significant credit concentrations in any particular industry.

The following table summarizes the Company’s off-balance sheet financial instruments as described above.

	Contract or Notional Amount December 31,
	2017		2016
Commitments to extend credit for loans (excluding credit card loans)	$	6,689,467	$	6,471,404
Commitments to extend credit under credit card loans		2,975,507		2,798,433
Commercial letters of credit		813		1,098
Standby letters of credit		316,054		376,617
Forward contracts		29,007		49,352
Spot foreign exchange contracts		628		3,725