Off-Balance-Sheet Arrangements, Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies

Financial Instruments with Off-Balance-Sheet Risk. In the normal course of business, we enter into various transactions, which, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles are not included in our consolidated balance sheets. We enter into these transactions to meet the financing needs of our customers. These transactions include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit, which involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk and interest rate risk in excess of the amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets. We minimize our exposure to loss under these commitments by subjecting them to credit approval and monitoring procedures.

We enter into contractual commitments to extend credit, normally with fixed expiration dates or termination clauses, at specified rates and for specific purposes. Substantially all of our commitments to extend credit are contingent upon customers maintaining specific credit standards at the time of loan funding. Standby letters of credit are written conditional commitments we issued to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. In the event the customer does not perform in accordance with the terms of the agreement with the third party, we would be required to fund the commitment. The maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make is represented by the contractual amount of the commitment. If the commitment were funded, we would be entitled to seek recovery from the customer. Our policies generally require that standby letter of credit arrangements contain security and debt covenants similar to those contained in loan agreements.

We consider the fees collected in connection with the issuance of standby letters of credit to be representative of the fair value of our obligation undertaken in issuing the guarantee. In accordance with applicable accounting standards related to guarantees, we defer fees collected in connection with the issuance of standby letters of credit. The fees are then recognized in income proportionately over the life of the standby letter of credit agreement. The deferred standby letter of credit fees represent the fair value of our potential obligations under the standby letter of credit guarantees.

Year-end financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk were as follows:



	2017		2016
Commitments to extend credit	$	7,949,400	$	7,476,420
Standby letters of credit	236,595		239,482
Deferred standby letter of credit fees	1,843		2,054

Credit Card Guarantees. We guarantee the credit card debt of certain customers to the merchant bank that issues the cards. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, the guarantees totaled approximately $8.4 million and $8.3 million, of which amounts, $1.2 million and $975 thousand were fully collateralized.

Lease Commitments. We lease certain office facilities and office equipment under operating leases. Rent expense for all operating leases totaled $30.5 million in 2017, $28.9 million in 2016 and $28.9 million in 2015. Future minimum lease payments due under non-cancelable operating leases at December 31, 2017 were as follows:



2018	$	27,990
2019	28,790
2020	31,907
2021	30,855
2022	28,639
Thereafter	347,187
	$	495,368

It is expected that certain leases will be renewed, or equipment replaced with new leased equipment, as these leases expire. Aggregate future minimum rentals to be received under non-cancelable subleases greater than one year at December 31, 2017, were $445 thousand.

We lease certain branch facilities from various partnership interests of certain directors. Payments related to these leases totaled $1.4 million in 2017, $1.0 million in 2016 and $963 thousand in 2015.

Change in Control Agreements. We have change-in-control agreements with certain executive officers. Under these agreements, each covered person could receive, upon the effectiveness of a change-in-control, two to three times (depending on the person) his or her base compensation plus the target bonus established for the year, and any unpaid base salary and pro rata target bonus for the year in which the termination occurs, including vacation pay. Additionally, the executive’s insurance benefits will continue for two to three full years after the termination and all long-term incentive awards will immediately vest.

Litigation. We are subject to various claims and legal actions that have arisen in the course of conducting business. Management does not expect the ultimate disposition of these matters to have a material adverse impact on our financial statements.