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Off-balance Sheet Lending-related Financial Instruments, Guarantees, and Other Commitments
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Off-Balance Sheet Lending-Related Financial Instruments, Guarantees and Other Commitments [Abstract]  
Off-balance Sheet Lending-related Financial Instruments, Guarantees, and Other Commitments Off–balance sheet lending-related
financial instruments, guarantees, and
other commitments
JPMorgan Chase provides lending-related financial instruments (e.g., commitments and guarantees) to address the financing needs of its customers and clients. The contractual amount of these financial instruments represents the maximum possible credit risk to the Firm should the customer or client draw upon the commitment or the Firm be required to fulfill its obligation under the guarantee, and should the customer or client subsequently fail to perform according to the terms of the contract. Most of these commitments and guarantees are refinanced, extended, cancelled, or expire without being drawn or a default occurring. As a result, the total contractual amount of these instruments is not, in the Firm’s view, representative of its expected future credit exposure or funding requirements.
To provide for probable credit losses inherent in wholesale and certain consumer lending-commitments, an allowance for credit losses on lending-related commitments is maintained. Refer to Note 13 for further information regarding the allowance for credit losses on lending-related commitments. The following table summarizes the contractual amounts and carrying values of off-balance sheet lending-related financial instruments, guarantees and other commitments at December 31, 2018 and 2017. The amounts in the table below for credit card and home equity lending-related commitments represent the total available credit for these products. The Firm has not experienced, and does not anticipate, that all available lines of credit for these products will be utilized at the same time. The Firm can reduce or cancel credit card lines of credit by providing the borrower notice or, in some cases as permitted by law, without notice. In addition, the Firm typically closes credit card lines when the borrower is 60 days or more past due. The Firm may reduce or close HELOCs when there are significant decreases in the value of the underlying property, or when there has been a demonstrable decline in the creditworthiness of the borrower.
Off–balance sheet lending-related financial instruments, guarantees and other commitments
 
 
Contractual amount
 
Carrying value(i)
 
2018
 
2017
 
2018
2017
By remaining maturity at December 31,
(in millions)
Expires in 1 year or less
Expires after
1 year through
3 years
Expires after
3 years through
5 years
Expires after 5 years
Total
 
Total
 
 
 
Lending-related
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consumer, excluding credit card:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Home equity
$
796

$
1,095

$
1,813

$
17,197

$
20,901

 
$
20,360

 
$
12

$
12

Residential mortgage(a)
5,469



12

5,481

 
5,736

 


Auto
6,954

878

78

101

8,011

 
9,255

 
2

2

Consumer & Business Banking
10,580

566

102

425

11,673

 
13,202

 
19

19

Total consumer, excluding credit card
23,799

2,539

1,993

17,735

46,066

 
48,553

 
33

33

Credit card
605,379




605,379

 
572,831

 


Total consumer(b)
629,178

2,539

1,993

17,735

651,445

 
621,384

 
33

33

Wholesale:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other unfunded commitments to extend credit(c)
62,384

123,751

154,177

11,178

351,490

 
331,160

 
852

840

Standby letters of credit and other financial guarantees(c)
14,408

11,462

5,248

2,380

33,498

 
35,226

 
521

636

Other letters of credit(c)
2,608

177

40


2,825

 
3,712

 
3

3

Total wholesale(d)
79,400

135,390

159,465

13,558

387,813

 
370,098

 
1,376

1,479

Total lending-related
$
708,578

$
137,929

$
161,458

$
31,293

$
1,039,258

 
$
991,482

 
$
1,409

$
1,512

Other guarantees and commitments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Securities lending indemnification agreements and guarantees(e)
$
186,077

$

$

$

$
186,077

 
$
179,490

 
$

$

Derivatives qualifying as guarantees
2,099

299

12,614

40,259

55,271

 
57,174

 
367

304

Unsettled resale and securities borrowed agreements
102,008




102,008

 
76,859

 


Unsettled repurchase and securities loaned agreements
57,732




57,732

 
44,205

 


Loan sale and securitization-related indemnifications:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mortgage repurchase liability
NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

 
NA

 
89

111

Loans sold with recourse
NA

NA

NA

NA

1,019

 
1,169

 
30

38

Exchange & clearing house guarantees and commitments(f)(g)
58,960




58,960

 
13,871

 


Other guarantees and commitments (g)(h)
3,874

542

299

3,468

8,183

 
8,206

 
(73
)
(76
)
(a)
Includes certain commitments to purchase loans from correspondents.
(b)
Predominantly all consumer lending-related commitments are in the U.S.
(c)
At December 31, 2018 and 2017, reflected the contractual amount net of risk participations totaling $282 million and $334 million, respectively, for other unfunded commitments to extend credit; $10.4 billion and $10.4 billion, respectively, for standby letters of credit and other financial guarantees; and $385 million and $405 million, respectively, for other letters of credit. In regulatory filings with the Federal Reserve these commitments are shown gross of risk participations.
(d)
Predominantly all wholesale lending-related commitments are in the U.S.
(e)
At December 31, 2018 and 2017, collateral held by the Firm in support of securities lending indemnification agreements was $195.6 billion and $188.7 billion, respectively. Securities lending collateral primarily consists of cash and securities issued by governments that are members of G7 and U.S. government agencies.
(f)
At December 31, 2018, includes guarantees to the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation under the sponsored member repo program and commitments and guarantees associated with the Firm’s membership in certain clearing houses. At December 31, 2017 includes commitments and guarantees associated with the Firm’s membership in certain clearing houses.
(g)
Certain guarantees and commitments associated with the Firm’s membership in clearing houses previously disclosed in “other guarantees and commitments” are now disclosed in “Exchange and clearing house guarantees and commitments”. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform with the current period presentation.
(h)
At December 31, 2018 and 2017, primarily includes letters of credit hedged by derivative transactions and managed on a market risk basis, and unfunded commitments related to institutional lending. Additionally, includes unfunded commitments predominantly related to certain tax-oriented equity investments.
(i)
For lending-related products, the carrying value represents the allowance for lending-related commitments and the guarantee liability; for derivative-related products, the carrying value represents the fair value.
Other unfunded commitments to extend credit
Other unfunded commitments to extend credit generally consist of commitments for working capital and general corporate purposes, extensions of credit to support commercial paper facilities and bond financings in the event that those obligations cannot be remarketed to new investors, as well as committed liquidity facilities to clearing organizations. The Firm also issues commitments under multipurpose facilities which could be drawn upon in several forms, including the issuance of a standby letter of credit.
The Firm acts as a settlement and custody bank in the U.S. tri-party repurchase transaction market. In its role as settlement and custody bank, the Firm in part is exposed to the intra-day credit risk of its cash borrower clients, usually broker-dealers. This exposure arises under secured clearance advance facilities that the Firm extended to its clients (i.e. cash borrowers); these facilities contractually limit the Firm’s intra-day credit risk to the facility amount and must be repaid by the end of the day. As of December 31, 2017, the secured clearance advance facility maximum outstanding commitment amount was $1.5 billion. As of December 31, 2018 the Firm no longer offers such arrangements to its clients.
Guarantees
U.S. GAAP requires that a guarantor recognize, at the inception of a guarantee, a liability in an amount equal to the fair value of the obligation undertaken in issuing the guarantee. U.S. GAAP defines a guarantee as a contract that contingently requires the guarantor to pay a guaranteed party based upon: (a) changes in an underlying asset, liability or equity security of the guaranteed party; or (b) a third party’s failure to perform under a specified agreement. The Firm considers the following off–balance sheet arrangements to be guarantees under U.S. GAAP: standby letters of credit and other financial guarantees, securities lending indemnifications, certain indemnificat
ion agreements included within third-party contractual arrangements, certain derivative contracts and the guarantees under the sponsored member repo program.
As required by U.S. GAAP, the Firm initially records guarantees at the inception date fair value of the obligation assumed (e.g., the amount of consideration received or the net present value of the premium receivable). For certain types of guarantees, the Firm records this fair value amount in other liabilities with an offsetting entry recorded in cash (for premiums received), or other assets (for premiums receivable). Any premium receivable recorded in other assets is reduced as cash is received under the contract, and the fair value of the liability recorded at inception is amortized into income as lending and deposit-related fees over the life of the guarantee contract. For indemnifications provided in sales agreements, a portion of the sale proceeds is allocated to the guarantee, which adjusts the gain or loss that would otherwise result from the transaction. For these indemnifications, the initial liability is amortized to income as the Firm’s risk is reduced (i.e., over time or when the indemnification expires). Any contingent liability that exists as a result of issuing the guarantee or indemnification is recognized when it becomes probable and reasonably estimable. The contingent portion of the liability is not recognized if the estimated amount is less than the carrying amount of the liability recognized at inception (adjusted for any amortization). The contractual amount and carrying value of guarantees and indemnifications are included in the table on page 272. For additional information on the guarantees, see below.
Standby letters of credit and other financial guarantees
Standby letters of credit and other financial guarantees are conditional lending commitments issued by the Firm to guarantee the performance of a client or customer to a third party under certain arrangements, such as commercial paper facilities, bond financings, acquisition financings, trade and similar transactions.
The following table summarizes the contractual amount and carrying value of standby letters of credit and other financial guarantees and other letters of credit arrangements as of December 31, 2018 and 2017.
Standby letters of credit, other financial guarantees and other letters of credit
 
2018
 
2017
December 31,
(in millions)
Standby letters of credit and
other financial guarantees
 
Other letters
of credit
 
Standby letters of credit and
other financial guarantees
 
Other letters
of credit
Investment-grade(a)
 
$
26,420

 
 
$
2,079

 
 
$
28,492

 
 
$
2,646

Noninvestment-grade(a)
 
7,078

 
 
746

 
 
6,734

 
 
1,066

Total contractual amount
 
$
33,498

 
 
$
2,825

 
 
$
35,226

 
 
$
3,712

Allowance for lending-related commitments
 
$
167

 
 
$
3

 
 
$
192

 
 
$
3

Guarantee liability
 
354

 
 

 
 
444

 
 

Total carrying value
 
$
521

 
 
$
3

 
 
$
636

 
 
$
3

Commitments with collateral
 
$
17,400

 
 
$
583

 
 
$
17,421

 
 
$
878

(a)
The ratings scale is based on the Firm’s internal ratings which generally correspond to ratings as defined by S&P and Moody’s.
Securities lending indemnifications
Through the Firm’s securities lending program, counterparties’ securities, via custodial and non-custodial arrangements, may be lent to third parties. As part of this program, the Firm provides an indemnification in the lending agreements which protects the lender against the failure of the borrower to return the lent securities. To minimize its liability under these indemnification agreements, the Firm obtains cash or other highly liquid collateral with a market value exceeding 100% of the value of the securities on loan from the borrower. Collateral is marked to market daily to help assure that collateralization is adequate. Additional collateral is called from the borrower if a shortfall exists, or collateral may be released to the borrower in the event of overcollateralization. If a borrower defaults, the Firm would use the collateral held to purchase replacement securities in the market or to credit the lending client or counterparty with the cash equivalent thereof.
Derivatives qualifying as guarantees
The Firm transacts certain derivative contracts that have the characteristics of a guarantee under U.S. GAAP. These contracts include written put options that require the Firm to purchase assets upon exercise by the option holder at a specified price by a specified date in the future. The Firm may enter into written put option contracts in order to meet client needs, or for other trading purposes. The terms of written put options are typically five years or less.
Derivatives deemed to be guarantees also includes stable value contracts, commonly referred to as “stable value products”, that require the Firm to make a payment of the difference between the market value and the book value of a counterparty’s reference portfolio of assets in the event that market value is less than book value and certain other conditions have been met. Stable value products are transacted in order to allow investors to realize investment returns with less volatility than an unprotected portfolio. These contracts are typically longer-term or may have no stated maturity, but allow the Firm to elect to terminate the contract under certain conditions.
The notional value of derivatives guarantees  generally represents the Firm’s maximum exposure. However, exposure to certain stable value products is contractually limited to a substantially lower percentage of the notional amount.
The fair value of derivative guarantees reflects the probability, in the Firm’s view, of whether the Firm will be required to perform under the contract. The Firm reduces exposures to these contracts by entering into offsetting transactions, or by entering into contracts that hedge the market risk related to the derivative guarantees.

The following table summarizes the derivatives qualifying as guarantees as of December 31, 2018 and 2017.
(in millions)
December 31, 2018

 
December 31, 2017

Notional amounts
 
 
 
Derivative guarantees
$
55,271

 
$
57,174

Stable value contracts with contractually limited exposure
28,637

 
29,104

Maximum exposure of stable value contracts with contractually limited exposure
2,963

 
3,053

 
 
 
 
Fair value
 
 
 
Derivative payables
367

 
304

Derivative receivables

 


In addition to derivative contracts that meet the characteristics of a guarantee, the Firm is both a purchaser and seller of credit protection in the credit derivatives market. For a further discussion of credit derivatives, refer to Note 5.
Unsettled securities financing agreements
In the normal course of business, the Firm enters into resale and securities borrowed agreements. At settlement, these commitments result in the Firm advancing cash to and receiving securities collateral from the counterparty. The Firm also enters into repurchase and securities loaned agreements. At settlement, these commitments result in the Firm receiving cash from and providing securities collateral to the counterparty. Such agreements settle at a future date. These agreements generally do not meet the definition of a derivative, and therefore, are not recorded on the Consolidated balance sheets until settlement date. These agreements predominantly have regular-way settlement terms. For a further discussion of securities financing agreements, refer to Note 11.
Loan sales- and securitization-related indemnifications
Mortgage repurchase liability
In connection with the Firm’s mortgage loan sale and securitization activities with GSEs the Firm has made representations and warranties that the loans sold meet certain requirements, and that may require the Firm to repurchase mortgage loans and/or indemnify the loan purchaser if such representations and warranties are breached by the Firm. Further, although the Firm’s securitizations are predominantly nonrecourse, the Firm does provide recourse servicing in certain limited cases where it agrees to share credit risk with the owner of the mortgage loans. To the extent that repurchase demands that are received relate to loans that the Firm purchased from third parties that remain viable, the Firm typically will have the right to seek a recovery of related repurchase losses from the third party. Generally, the maximum amount of future payments the Firm would be required to make for breaches of these representations and warranties would be equal to the unpaid principal balance of such loans that are deemed to have defects that were sold to purchasers (including securitization-related SPEs) plus, in certain circumstances, accrued interest on such loans and certain expenses.
Private label securitizations
The liability related to repurchase demands associated with private label securitizations is separately evaluated by the Firm in establishing its litigation reserves.
For additional information regarding litigation, refer to Note 29.
Loans sold with recourse
The Firm provides servicing for mortgages and certain commercial lending products on both a recourse and nonrecourse basis. In nonrecourse servicing, the principal credit risk to the Firm is the cost of temporary servicing advances of funds (i.e., normal servicing advances). In recourse servicing, the servicer agrees to share credit risk with the owner of the mortgage loans, such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or a private investor, insurer or guarantor. Losses on recourse servicing predominantly occur when foreclosure sales proceeds of the property underlying a defaulted loan are less than the sum of the outstanding principal balance, plus accrued interest on the loan and the cost of holding and disposing of the underlying property. The Firm’s securitizations are predominantly nonrecourse, thereby effectively transferring the risk of future credit losses to the purchaser of the mortgage-backed securities issued by the trust. At December 31, 2018 and 2017, the unpaid principal balance of loans sold with recourse totaled $1.0 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively. The carrying value of the related liability that the Firm has recorded in accounts payable and other liabilities on the Consolidated balance sheets, which is representative of the Firm’s view of the likelihood it will have to perform under its recourse obligations, was $30 million and $38 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
Other off-balance sheet arrangements
Indemnification agreements – general
In connection with issuing securities to investors outside the U.S., the Firm may agree to pay additional amounts to the holders of the securities in the event that, due to a change in tax law, certain types of withholding taxes are imposed on payments on the securities. The terms of the securities may also give the Firm the right to redeem the securities if such additional amounts are payable. The Firm may also enter into indemnification clauses in connection with the licensing of software to clients (“software licensees”) or when it sells a business or assets to a third party (“third-party purchasers”), pursuant to which it indemnifies software licensees for claims of liability or damages that may occur subsequent to the licensing of the software, or third-party purchasers for losses they may incur due to actions taken by the Firm prior to the sale of the business or assets. It is difficult to estimate the Firm’s maximum exposure under these indemnification arrangements, since this would require an assessment of future changes in tax law and future claims that may be made against the Firm that have not yet occurred. However, based on historical experience, management expects the risk of loss to be remote.
Card charge-backs
Under the rules of Visa USA, Inc., and MasterCard International, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., is primarily liable for the amount of each processed card sales transaction that is the subject of a dispute between a cardmember and a merchant. If a dispute is resolved in the cardmember’s favor, Merchant Services will (through the cardmember’s issuing bank) credit or refund the amount to the cardmember and will charge back the transaction to the merchant. If Merchant Services is unable to collect the amount from the merchant, Merchant Services will bear the loss for the amount credited or refunded to the cardmember. Merchant Services mitigates this risk by withholding future settlements, retaining cash reserve accounts or by obtaining other collateral. However, in the unlikely event that: (1) a merchant ceases operations and is unable to deliver products, services or a refund; (2) Merchant Services does not have sufficient collateral from the merchant to provide cardmember refunds; and (3) Merchant Services does not have sufficient financial resources to provide cardmember refunds, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., would recognize the loss.
Merchant Services incurred aggregate losses of $30 million, $28 million, and $85 million on $1,366.1 billion, $1,191.7 billion, and $1,063.4 billion of aggregate volume processed for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Incurred losses from merchant charge-backs are charged to other expense, with the offset recorded in a valuation allowance against accrued interest and accounts receivable on the Consolidated balance sheets. The carrying value of the valuation allowance was $23 million and $7 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, which the Firm believes, based on historical experience and the collateral held by Merchant Services of $144 million and $141 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, is representative of the payment or performance risk to the Firm related to charge-backs.
Clearing Services – Client Credit Risk
The Firm provides clearing services for clients by entering into securities purchases and sales and derivative contracts with CCPs, including ETDs such as futures and options, as well as OTC-cleared derivative contracts. As a clearing member, the Firm stands behind the performance of its clients, collects cash and securities collateral (margin) as well as any settlement amounts due from or to clients, and remits them to the relevant CCP or client in whole or part. There are two types of margin: variation margin is posted on a daily basis based on the value of clients’ derivative contracts and initial margin is posted at inception of a derivative contract, generally on the basis of the potential changes in the variation margin requirement for the contract.
As a clearing member, the Firm is exposed to the risk of nonperformance by its clients, but is not liable to clients for the performance of the CCPs. Where possible, the Firm seeks to mitigate its risk to the client through the collection of appropriate amounts of margin at inception and throughout the life of the transactions. The Firm can also cease providing clearing services if clients do not adhere to
their obligations under the clearing agreement. In the event of nonperformance by a client, the Firm would close out the client’s positions and access available margin. The CCP would utilize any margin it holds to make itself whole, with any remaining shortfalls required to be paid by the Firm as a clearing member.
The Firm reflects its exposure to nonperformance risk of the client through the recognition of margin receivables from clients and margin payables to CCPs; the clients’ underlying securities or derivative contracts are not reflected in the Firm’s Consolidated Financial Statements.
It is difficult to estimate the Firm’s maximum possible exposure through its role as a clearing member, as this would require an assessment of transactions that clients may execute in the future. However, based upon historical experience, and the credit risk mitigants available to the Firm, management believes it is unlikely that the Firm will have to make any material payments under these arrangements and the risk of loss is expected to be remote.
For information on the derivatives that the Firm executes for its own account and records in its Consolidated Financial Statements, refer to Note 5.
Exchange & Clearing House Memberships
The Firm is a member of several securities and derivative exchanges and clearing houses, both in the U.S. and other countries, and it provides clearing services to its clients. Membership in some of these organizations requires the Firm to pay a pro rata share of the losses incurred by the organization as a result of the default of another member. Such obligations vary with different organizations. These obligations may be limited to the amount (or a multiple of the amount) of the Firm’s contribution to the guarantee fund maintained by a clearing house or exchange as part of the resources available to cover any losses in the event of a member default. Alternatively, these obligations may also include a pro rata share of the residual losses after applying the guarantee fund. Additionally, certain clearing houses require the Firm as a member to pay a pro rata share of losses that may result from the clearing house’s investment of guarantee fund contributions and initial margin, unrelated to and independent of the default of another member. Generally a payment would only be required should such losses exceed the resources of the clearing house or exchange that are contractually required to absorb the losses in the first instance. In certain cases, it is difficult to estimate the Firm’s maximum possible exposure under these membership agreements, since this would require an assessment of future claims that may be made against the Firm that have not yet occurred. However, based on historical experience, management expects the risk of loss to the Firm to be remote. Where the Firm’s maximum possible exposure can be estimated, the amount is disclosed in the table on page 272, in the Exchange & clearing house guarantees and commitments line.
Sponsored Member Repo Program
In 2018 the Firm commenced the sponsored member repo program, wherein the Firm acts as a sponsoring member to clear eligible overnight resale and repurchase agreements through the Government Securities Division of the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (“FICC”) on behalf of clients that become sponsored members under the FICC’s rules. The Firm also guarantees to the FICC the prompt and full payment and performance of its sponsored member clients’ respective obligations under the FICC’s rules. The Firm minimizes its liability under these overnight guarantees by obtaining a security interest in the cash or high quality securities collateral that the clients place with the clearing house therefore the Firm expects the risk of loss to be remote. The Firm’s maximum possible exposure, without taking into consideration the associated collateral, is included in the Exchange & clearing house guarantees and commitments line on page 272. For additional information on credit risk mitigation practices on resale agreements and the types of collateral pledged under repurchase agreements, refer to Note 11.
Guarantees of subsidiaries
In the normal course of business, the Parent Company may provide counterparties with guarantees of certain of the trading and other obligations of its subsidiaries on a contract-by-contract basis, as negotiated with the Firm’s counterparties. The obligations of the subsidiaries are included on the Firm’s Consolidated balance sheets or are reflected as off-balance sheet commitments; therefore, the Parent Company has not recognized a separate liability for these guarantees. The Firm believes that the occurrence of any event that would trigger payments by the Parent Company under these guarantees is remote.
The Parent Company has guaranteed certain long-term debt and structured notes of its subsidiaries, including JPMorgan Chase Financial Company LLC (“JPMFC”), a 100%-owned finance subsidiary. All securities issued by JPMFC are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by the Parent Company. These guarantees, which rank on a parity with the Firm’s unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness, are not included in the table on page 272 of this Note. For additional information, refer to Note 19.