Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Credit-Related Financial Instruments

The Company offers credit-related financial instruments, in the normal course of business to meet certain financing needs of its customers, that involve off-balance sheet risk. These transactions may include an unused commitment to extend credit, standby letter of credit, or commercial letter of credit. Such transactions involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk.

Commitments to Extend Credit. The Company makes commitments under various terms to lend funds to customers at a future point in time. These commitments include revolving credit arrangements, term loan commitments, and short-term borrowing agreements. Most of these loans have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses where a fee may be required. Since commitments routinely expire without being funded, or after required availability of collateral occurs, the total commitment amount does not necessarily represent future liquidity requirements.

Standby Letter of Credit. A standby letter of credit commits the Company to make payments on behalf of customers if certain specified future events occur. The Company has recourse against the customer for any amount required to be paid to a third party under a standby letter of credit, which is often part of a larger credit agreement under which security is provided. Historically, a large percentage of standby letters of credit expire without being funded. The contractual amount of a standby letter of credit represents the maximum amount of potential future payments the Company could be required to make, and is the Company's maximum credit risk.

Commercial Letter of Credit. A commercial letter of credit is issued to facilitate either domestic or foreign trade arrangements for customers. As a general rule, drafts are committed to be drawn when the goods underlying the transaction are in transit. Similar to a standby letter of credit, a commercial letter of credit is often secured by an underlying security agreement including the assets or inventory they relate to.

The following table summarizes the outstanding amounts of credit-related financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk:

	At December 31,
(In thousands)	2019		2018
Commitments to extend credit	$	6,162,658	$	5,840,585
Standby letter of credit	188,103		189,040
Commercial letter of credit	29,180		21,181
Total credit-related financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk	$	6,379,941	$	6,050,806

These commitments subject the Company to potential exposure in excess of amounts recorded in the financial statements, and therefore, management maintains a specific reserve for unfunded credit commitments. This reserve is reported as a component of accrued expenses and other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet.

The following table provides a summary of activity in the reserve for unfunded credit commitments:

	Years ended December 31,
(In thousands)	2019		2018		2017
Beginning balance	$	2,506	$	2,362	$	2,287
(Benefit) provision	(139)		144		75
Ending balance	$	2,367	$	2,506	$	2,362