Significant Accounting Policies

Nature of Operations. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (“Cullen/Frost”) is a financial holding company and a bank holding company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas that provides, through its subsidiaries, a broad array of products and services throughout numerous Texas markets. The terms “Cullen/Frost,” “the Corporation,” “we,” “us” and “our” mean Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and its subsidiaries, when appropriate. In addition to general commercial and consumer banking, other products and services offered include trust and investment management, insurance, brokerage, mutual funds, leasing, treasury management, capital markets advisory and item processing.

Basis of Presentation. The consolidated financial statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q include the accounts of Cullen/Frost and all other entities in which Cullen/Frost has a controlling financial interest. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The accounting and financial reporting policies we follow conform, in all material respects, to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and to general practices within the financial services industry.

The consolidated financial statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q have not been audited by an independent registered public accounting firm, but in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of our financial position and results of operations. All such adjustments were of a normal and recurring nature. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, the financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements, and notes thereto, for the year ended December 31, 2016, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 3, 2017 (the “2016 Form 10-K”). Operating results for the interim periods disclosed herein are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for a full year or any future period.

Use of Estimates. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The allowance for loan losses and the fair values of financial instruments and the status of contingencies are particularly subject to change.

Cash Flow Reporting. Additional cash flow information was as follows:



	Six Months Ended June 30,
	2017		2016
Cash paid for interest	$	6,666	$	5,770
Cash paid for income taxes	22,801		25,979
Significant non-cash transactions:
Unsettled purchases of securities	80,586		306,564
Loans foreclosed and transferred to other real estate owned and foreclosed assets	—		422

Accounting Changes, Reclassifications and Restatements. Certain items in prior financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation. As more fully described in our 2016 Form 10-K, during the third quarter of 2016, we elected to adopt the provisions of ASU 2016-09, “Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting,” in advance of the required application date of January 1, 2017. Our financial statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 have been restated to reflect the adoption of ASU 2016-09 as of January 1, 2016. As a result, compared to previously reported amounts, our consolidated income statement reflects decreases in income tax expense of $28 thousand and $65 thousand for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively, and corresponding increases in net income of $28 thousand and $65 thousand for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively. The increase in net income during the six months ended June 30, 2016 resulted in a $0.01 increase in previously reported diluted earnings per share.