Commitments and contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Commitments and contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and contingencies

21.    Commitments and contingencies

In the normal course of business, various commitments and contingent liabilities are outstanding. The following table presents the Company’s significant commitments. Certain of these commitments are not included in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet.

	December 31
	2011		2010
	(In thousands)
Commitments to extend credit
Home equity lines of credit	$	6,393,332	$	6,281,366
Commercial real estate loans to be sold		177,982		72,930
Other commercial real estate and construction		2,818,071		1,672,006
Residential real estate loans to be sold		182,474		161,583
Other residential real estate		129,466		151,111
Commercial and other		10,442,754		8,332,199
Standby letters of credit		3,930,271		3,917,318
Commercial letters of credit		44,981		76,962
Financial guarantees and indemnification contracts		1,903,254		1,609,944
Commitments to sell real estate loans		635,899		734,696

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to customers, generally having fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses that may require payment of a fee. Standby and commercial letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Standby letters of credit generally are contingent upon the failure of the customer to perform according to the terms of the underlying contract with the third party, whereas commercial letters of credit are issued to facilitate commerce and typically result in the commitment being funded when the underlying transaction is consummated between the customer and a third party. The credit risk associated with commitments to extend credit and standby and commercial letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved with extending loans to customers and is subject to normal credit policies. Collateral may be obtained based on management’s assessment of the customer’s creditworthiness.

Financial guarantees and indemnification contracts are oftentimes similar to standby letters of credit and include mandatory purchase agreements issued to ensure that customer obligations are fulfilled, recourse obligations associated with sold loans, and other guarantees of customer performance or compliance with designated rules and regulations. Included in financial guarantees and indemnification contracts are loan principal amounts sold with recourse in conjunction with the Company’s involvement in the Fannie Mae DUS program. The Company’s maximum credit risk for recourse associated with loans sold under this program totaled approximately $1.8 billion and $1.6 billion at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Since many loan commitments, standby letters of credit, and guarantees and indemnification contracts expire without being funded in whole or in part, the contract amounts are not necessarily indicative of future cash flows.

The Company utilizes commitments to sell real estate loans to hedge exposure to changes in the fair value of real estate loans held for sale. Such commitments are considered derivatives and along with commitments to originate real estate loans to be held for sale are generally recorded in the consolidated balance sheet at estimated fair market value.

The Company occupies certain banking offices and uses certain equipment under noncancellable operating lease agreements expiring at various dates over the next 28 years. Minimum lease payments under noncancellable operating leases are summarized in the following table:

	(In thousands)
Year ending December 31:
2012	$	81,168
2013		75,339
2014		63,512
2015		53,903
2016		41,324
Later years		128,505
	$	443,751

The Company has an agreement with the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League whereby the Company obtained the naming rights to a football stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Under the agreement, the Company is obligated to pay $5 million per year through 2013 and $6 million per year from 2014 through 2017.

The Company reinsures credit life and accident and health insurance purchased by consumer loan customers. The Company also enters into reinsurance contracts with third party insurance companies who insure against the risk of a mortgage borrower’s payment default in connection with certain mortgage loans originated by the Company. When providing reinsurance coverage, the Company receives a premium in exchange for accepting a portion of the insurer’s risk of loss. The outstanding loan principal balances reinsured by the Company were approximately $74 million at December 31, 2011. Assets of subsidiaries providing reinsurance that are available to satisfy claims totaled approximately $48 million at December 31, 2011. The amounts noted above are not necessarily indicative of losses which may ultimately be incurred. Such losses are expected to be substantially less because most loans are repaid by borrowers in accordance with the original loan terms. Management believes that any reinsurance losses that may be payable by the Company will not be material to the Company’s consolidated financial position.

The Company is contractually obligated to repurchase previously sold residential real estate loans that do not ultimately meet investor sale criteria related to underwriting procedures or loan documentation. When required to do so, the Company may reimburse loan purchasers for losses incurred or may repurchase certain loans. The Company reduces residential mortgage banking revenues by an estimate for losses related to its obligations to loan purchasers. The amount of those charges is based on the volume of loans sold, the level of reimbursement requests received from loan purchasers and estimates of losses that may be associated with previously sold loans. At December 31, 2011, management believes that any remaining liability arising out of the Company’s obligation to loan purchasers is not material to the Company’s consolidated financial position.

M&T and its subsidiaries are subject in the normal course of business to various pending and threatened legal proceedings in which claims for monetary damages are asserted. Management, after consultation with legal counsel, does not anticipate that the aggregate ultimate liability arising out of litigation pending or threatened against M&T or its subsidiaries will be material to the Company’s consolidated financial position. On an on-going basis the Company assesses its liabilities and contingencies in connection with such legal proceedings. For those matters where it is probable that the Company will incur losses and the amounts of the losses can be reasonably estimated, the Company records an expense and corresponding liability in its consolidated financial statements. To the extent the pending or threatened litigation could result in exposure in excess of that liability, the amount of such excess is not currently estimable. Although not considered probable, the range of reasonably possible losses for such matters in the aggregate, beyond the existing recorded liability, was between $0 and $40 million. Although the Company does not believe that the outcome of pending litigations will be material to the Company’s consolidated financial position, it cannot rule out the possibility that such outcomes will be material to the consolidated results of operations for a particular reporting period in the future.