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Commitments And Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments and Contingencies
Guarantees of Indebtedness
The payments of principal and interest on senior notes issued by our top-tier holding company, our primary Canadian operating subsidiary and a European subsidiary under our Euro medium term note program are guaranteed by our primary U.S. operating subsidiary, AFSI. At March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the par value of these senior notes was $11.3 billion and $8.4 billion. See Note 16 - "Guarantor Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements" for further discussion.
Legal Proceedings
As a consumer finance company, we are subject to various consumer claims and litigation seeking damages and statutory penalties, based upon, among other things, usury, disclosure inaccuracies, wrongful repossession, violations of bankruptcy stay provisions, certificate of title disputes, fraud, breach of contract and discriminatory treatment of credit applicants. Some litigation against us could take the form of class action complaints by consumers and certain legal actions include claims for substantial compensatory and/or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages. We establish reserves for legal claims when payments associated with the claims become probable and the payments can be reasonably estimated. Given the inherent difficulty of predicting the outcome of litigation and regulatory matters, it is generally very difficult to predict what the eventual outcome will be, and when the matter will be resolved. The actual costs of resolving legal claims may be higher or lower than any amounts reserved for the claims. At March 31, 2015, we estimated our reasonably possible legal exposure for unfavorable outcomes to be a range of up to $93 million and have accrued $38 million.
In July 2014, we were served with a subpoena by the U.S. Department of Justice directing us to produce certain documents relating to our and our subsidiaries’ and affiliates’ origination and securitization of sub-prime automobile loans since 2007 in connection with an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in contemplation of a civil proceeding for potential violations of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. Among other matters, the subpoena requests information relating to the underwriting criteria used to originate these automobile loans and the representations and warranties relating to those underwriting criteria that were made in connection with the securitization of the automobile loans. We were subsequently served with additional investigative subpoenas to produce documents from state attorneys general and other governmental offices relating to our sub-prime auto finance business and securitization of sub-prime auto loans. In October 2014, we received a document request from the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with its investigation into certain practices in sub-prime auto loan securitization.  We are investigating these matters internally and believe that we are cooperating with all requests. Such investigations could in the future result in the imposition of damages, fines or civil or criminal claims and/or penalties. No assurance can be given that the ultimate outcome of the investigations or any resulting proceedings would not materially and adversely affect us or any of our subsidiaries and affiliates.
Other Administrative Tax Matters
We accrue non-income tax liabilities for contingencies when management believes that a loss is probable and the amounts can be reasonably estimated, while contingent gains are recognized only when realized. In the event any losses are sustained in excess of accruals, they will be charged against income at that time.
In evaluating indirect tax matters, we take into consideration factors such as our historical experience with matters of similar nature, specific facts and circumstances, and the likelihood of prevailing. We reevaluate and update our accruals as matters progress over time. It is reasonably possible that some of the matters for which accruals have not been established could be decided unfavorably to us and could require us to make expenditures for which we estimate the aggregate risk to be a range of up to $50 million.