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Commitments, Guarantees, and Contingent Liabilities
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Commitments, Guarantees, and Contingent Liabilities [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS, GUARANTEES AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES COMMITMENTS, GUARANTEES, AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
Commitments and Guarantees
The following schedule presents the contractual amounts related to off-balance sheet financial instruments used to meet the financing needs of our customers:
(In millions)March 31,
2024		December 31,
2023
Unfunded lending commitments 1
$28,677 $28,940 
Standby letters of credit:
Financial576 548 
Performance218 206 
Commercial letters of credit19 22 
Mortgage-backed security purchase agreements 2
67 66 
Total unfunded commitments$29,557 $29,782 
1 Net of participations.
2 Represents agreements with Farmer Mac to purchase securities backed by certain agricultural mortgage loans.
For more information about these commitments and guarantees including their terms and collateral requirements, see Note 16 of our 2023 Form 10-K.
Legal Matters
We are involved in various legal proceedings or governmental inquiries, which may include litigation in court and arbitral proceedings, as well as investigations, examinations, and other actions brought or considered by governmental and self-regulatory agencies. Litigation may relate to lending, deposit and other customer relationships, vendor and contractual issues, employee matters, intellectual property matters, personal injuries and torts, regulatory and legal compliance, and other matters. While most matters relate to individual claims, we are also subject to putative class action claims and similar broader claims. Proceedings, investigations, examinations, and other actions brought or considered by governmental and self-regulatory agencies may relate to our banking, investment advisory, trust, securities, and other products and services; our customers’ involvement in money laundering, fraud, securities violations and other illicit activities or our policies and practices relating to such customer activities; and our compliance with the broad range of banking, securities and other laws and regulations applicable to us. At any given time, we may be in the process of responding to subpoenas, requests for documents, data and testimony relating to such matters and engaging in discussions to resolve the matters.
At March 31, 2024, we were subject to the following material litigation:
•Two civil cases, Lifescan Inc. and Johnson & Johnson Health Care Services v. Jeffrey Smith, et. al., brought against us in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in December 2017, and Roche Diagnostics and Roche Diabetes Care Inc. v. Jeffrey C. Smith, et. al., brought against us in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in March 2019. In these cases, certain manufacturers and distributors of medical products seek to hold us liable for allegedly fraudulent practices of a borrower of the Bank who filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017. The cases are in the late stages of discovery. No trial has been set.
•Sipple v. Zions Bancorporation, N.A., brought against us in the District Court of Clark County, Nevada in February 2021 with respect to foreign transaction fees. This case is in the discovery phase and trial has been scheduled for October 2024. The parties are currently engaged in settlement discussions.
At least quarterly, we review outstanding and new legal matters, utilizing then-available information. In accordance with applicable accounting guidance, if we determine that a loss from a matter is probable and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated, we establish an accrual for the loss. In the absence of such a determination, no accrual is made. Once established, accruals are adjusted to reflect developments relating to the matters.
In our review, we also assess whether we can determine the range of reasonably possible losses for significant matters in which we are unable to determine that the likelihood of a loss is remote. Because of the difficulty of predicting the outcome of legal matters, discussed subsequently, we are able to meaningfully estimate such a range only for a limited number of matters. Based on information available at March 31, 2024, we estimated that the aggregate range of reasonably possible losses for those matters to be from zero to approximately $10 million in excess of amounts accrued. The matters underlying the estimated range will change from time to time, and actual results may vary significantly from this estimate. Those matters for which a meaningful estimate is not possible are not included within this estimated range and, therefore, this estimated range does not represent our maximum loss exposure.
Based on our current knowledge, we believe that our estimated liability for litigation and other legal actions and claims, reflected in our accruals and determined in accordance with applicable accounting guidance, is adequate and that liabilities in excess of the amounts currently accrued, if any, arising from litigation and other legal actions and claims for which an estimate as previously described is possible, will not have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. However, in light of the significant uncertainties involved in these matters, and the very large or indeterminate damages sought in some of these matters, an adverse outcome in one or more of these matters could be material to our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows for any given reporting period.
Any estimate or determination relating to the future resolution of litigation, arbitration, governmental or self-regulatory examinations, investigations or actions or similar matters is inherently uncertain and involves significant judgment. This is particularly true in the early stages of a legal matter, when legal issues and facts have not been well articulated, reviewed, analyzed, and vetted through discovery, preparation for trial or hearings, substantive and productive mediation or settlement discussions, or other actions. It is also particularly true with respect to class action and similar claims involving multiple defendants, matters with complex procedural requirements or substantive issues or novel legal theories, and examinations, investigations and other actions conducted or brought by governmental and self-regulatory agencies, in which the normal adjudicative process is not applicable. Accordingly, we usually are unable to determine whether a favorable or unfavorable outcome is remote, reasonably likely, or probable, or to estimate the amount or range of a probable or reasonably likely loss, until relatively late in the course of a legal matter, sometimes not until a number of years have elapsed. Accordingly, our judgments and estimates relating to claims will change from time to time in light of developments and actual outcomes will differ from our estimates. These differences may be material.