Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Credit-Related Financial Instruments

In the normal course of business, the Company offers financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk to meet the financing needs of its customers. These transactions include commitments to extend credit, standby letters of credit, and commercial letters of credit, which involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk.

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


(In thousands)	At March 31, 2024		At December 31, 2023
Commitments to extend credit	$	11,171,394	$	12,026,597
Standby letters of credit	497,573		482,462
Commercial letters of credit	36,300		54,382
Total credit-related financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk	$	11,705,267	$	12,563,441

The Company enters into contractual commitments to extend credit to its customers (i.e., revolving credit arrangements, term loan commitments, and short-term borrowing agreements), generally with fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and that require payment of a fee. Substantially all of the Company’s commitments to extend credit are contingent upon its customers maintaining specific credit standards at the time of loan funding, and are often secured by real estate collateral. Since the majority of the Company’s commitments typically expire without being funded, the total contractual amount does not necessarily represent the Company’s future payment requirements.

Standby letters of credit are written conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee its customers’ performance to a third party. In the event the customer does not perform in accordance with the terms of its agreement with a third-party, the Company would be required to fund the commitment. The contractual amount of each standby letter of credit represents the maximum amount of potential future payments the Company could be required to make. Historically, the majority of the Company’s standby letters of credit expire without being funded. However, if the commitment were funded, the Company has recourse against the customer. The Company’s standby letter of credit agreements are often secured by cash or other collateral.

Commercial letters of credit are issued to finance either domestic or foreign customer trade arrangements. As a general rule, drafts are committed to be drawn when the goods underlying the transaction are in transit. Similar to standby letters of credit, the Company’s commercial letter of credit agreements are often secured by the underlying goods subject to trade.

Allowance for Credit Losses on Unfunded Loan Commitments

An ACL is recorded under the CECL methodology and included in Accrued expenses and other liabilities on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets to provide for the unused portion of commitments to lend that are not unconditionally cancellable by the Company. At March 31, 2024, and December 31, 2023, the ACL on unfunded loan commitments totaled $24.5 million and $24.7 million, respectively.

Litigation

The Company is subject to certain legal proceedings and unasserted claims and assessments in the ordinary course of business. Legal contingencies are evaluated based on information currently available, including advice of counsel and assessment of available insurance coverage. The Company establishes an accrual for specific legal matters when it determines that the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome is probable and the loss is reasonably estimable. Once established, each accrual is adjusted to reflect any subsequent developments. Legal contingencies are subject to inherent uncertainties, and unfavorable rulings may occur that could cause the Company to either adjust its litigation accrual or incur actual losses that exceed the current estimate, which ultimately could have a material adverse effect, either individually or in the aggregate, on its business, financial condition, or operating results. The Company will consider settlement of cases when it is in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholders. The Company intends to defend itself in all claims asserted against it, and management currently believes that the outcome of these contingencies will not be material, either individually or in the aggregate, to the Company or its consolidated financial position.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Special Assessment

On November 29, 2023, the FDIC published a final rule implementing a special assessment for certain banks to recover losses incurred by protecting uninsured depositors of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank upon their failure in March 2023. The final rule levies a special assessment to certain banks at a quarterly rate of 3.36 basis points based on their uninsured deposits balance reported as of December 31, 2022. The special assessment is to be collected for an anticipated total of eight quarterly assessment periods beginning with the first quarter of 2024, which has a payment date of June 28, 2024. Based on the final rule, the Company had estimated that its special assessment charge was approximately $47.2 million at December 31, 2023.

On February 23, 2024, the Company received notification from the FDIC that the estimated loss attributable to the protection of uninsured depositors at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank was $20.4 billion, an increase of approximately $4.1 billion from the estimated $16.3 billion described in the final rule. Based on the Company’s evaluation of all information available at March 31, 2024, the Company recorded an additional $11.9 million towards its estimated special assessment charge. The FDIC plans to provide institutions subject to the special assessment with an updated estimate of each institution’s quarterly and total special assessment expense with its first quarter 2024 special assessment invoice, to be released in June 2024.