Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

Commitments and Guarantees

Commercial Mortgage Loan Commitments

	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
	(in millions)
Total outstanding mortgage loan commitments	$	2,026	$	3,299
Portion of commitment where prearrangement to sell to investor exists	$	693	$	1,490

In connection with the Company’s commercial mortgage operations, it originates commercial mortgage loans. Commitments for loans that will be held for sale are recognized as derivatives and recorded at fair value. In certain of these transactions, the Company pre-arranges that it will sell the loan to an investor, including to government sponsored entities as discussed below, after the Company funds the loan.

Commitments to Purchase Investments (excluding Commercial Mortgage Loans)

	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
	(in millions)
Expected to be funded from the general account and other operations outside the separate accounts	$	6,525	$	6,941
Expected to be funded from separate accounts	$	32	$	147

The Company has other commitments to purchase or fund investments, some of which are contingent upon events or circumstances not under the Company’s control, including those at the discretion of the Company’s counterparties. The Company anticipates a portion of these commitments will ultimately be funded from its separate accounts.

 Indemnification of Securities Lending and Securities Repurchase Transactions

	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
	(in millions)
Indemnification provided to certain clients for securities lending and securities repurchase transactions(1)	$	5,824	$	5,399
Fair value of related collateral associated with above indemnifications(1)	$	5,957	$	5,503
Accrued liability associated with guarantee	$	0	$	0

__________ 

(1) As of September 30, 2019, indemnification provided to certain clients and fair value of related collateral associated with such indemnification include $64 million and $63 million, respectively, related to securities repurchase transactions.

In the normal course of business, the Company may facilitate securities lending or securities repurchase transactions on behalf of certain client accounts (collectively, “the accounts”). In certain of these arrangements, the Company has provided an indemnification to the accounts to hold them harmless against losses caused by counterparty (i.e., borrower) defaults associated with such transactions facilitated by the Company. In securities lending transactions, collateral is provided by the counterparty to the accounts at the inception of the transaction in an amount at least equal to 102% of the fair value of the loaned securities and the collateral is maintained daily to equal at least 102% of the fair value of the loaned securities. In securities repurchase transactions, collateral is provided by the counterparty to the accounts at the inception of the transaction in an amount at least equal to 95% of the fair value of the securities subject to repurchase and the collateral is maintained daily to equal at least 95% of the fair value of the securities subject to repurchase. The Company is only at risk if the counterparty to the transaction defaults and the value of the collateral held is less than the value of the securities loaned to, or subject to repurchase from, such counterparty. The Company believes the possibility of any payments under these indemnities is remote.

Credit Derivatives Written

As discussed further in Note 5, the Company writes credit derivatives under which the Company is obligated to pay the counterparty the referenced amount of the contract and receive in return the defaulted security or similar security.

Guarantees of Asset Values

	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
	(in millions)
Guaranteed value of third-parties’ assets	$	80,102	$	79,215
Fair value of collateral supporting these assets	$	82,037	$	77,897
Asset (liability) associated with guarantee, carried at fair value	$	1	$	2

Certain contracts underwritten by the Retirement segment include guarantees related to financial assets owned by the guaranteed party. These contracts are accounted for as derivatives and carried at fair value. The collateral supporting these guarantees is not reflected on the Unaudited Interim Consolidated Statements of Financial Position.

Indemnification of Serviced Mortgage Loans

	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
	(in millions)
Maximum exposure under indemnification agreements for mortgage loans serviced by the Company	$	2,072	$	1,828
First-loss exposure portion of above	$	610	$	543
Accrued liability associated with guarantees	$	19	$	17

As part of the commercial mortgage activities of the Company’s PGIM segment, the Company provides commercial mortgage origination, underwriting and servicing for certain government sponsored entities, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The

Company has agreed to indemnify the government sponsored entities for a portion of the credit risk associated with certain of the mortgages it services through a delegated authority arrangement. Under these arrangements, the Company originates multi-family mortgages for sale to the government sponsored entities based on underwriting standards they specify, and makes payments to them for a specified percentage share of losses they incur on certain loans serviced by the Company. The Company’s percentage share of losses incurred generally varies from 2% to 20% of the loan balance, and is typically based on a first-loss exposure for a stated percentage of the loan balance, plus a shared exposure with the government sponsored entity for any losses in excess of the stated first-loss percentage, subject to a contractually specified maximum percentage. The Company determines the liability related to this exposure using historical loss experience, and the size and remaining life of the asset. The Company serviced $16,370 million and $14,335 million of mortgages subject to these loss-sharing arrangements as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively, all of which are collateralized by first priority liens on the underlying multi-family residential properties. As of September 30, 2019, these mortgages had a weighted-average debt service coverage ratio of 1.80 times and a weighted-average loan-to-value ratio of 61%. As of December 31, 2018, these mortgages had a weighted average debt service coverage ratio of 1.83 times and a weighted-average loan-to-value ratio of 62%. The Company had no losses related to indemnifications that were settled for both the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.

Other Guarantees

	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
	(in millions)
Other guarantees where amount can be determined	$	68	$	77
Accrued liability for other guarantees and indemnifications	$	0	$	0

The Company is also subject to other financial guarantees and indemnity arrangements. The Company has provided indemnities and guarantees related to acquisitions, dispositions, investments and other transactions that are triggered by, among other things, breaches of representations, warranties or covenants provided by the Company. These obligations are typically subject to various time limitations, defined by the contract or by operation of law, such as statutes of limitation. In some cases, the maximum potential obligation is subject to contractual limitations, while in other cases such limitations are not specified or applicable. Included above are $12 million and $13 million as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively, of yield maintenance guarantees related to certain investments the Company sold. The Company does not expect to make any payments on these guarantees and is not carrying any liabilities associated with these guarantees.

Since certain of these obligations are not subject to limitations, it is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount due under these guarantees. The accrued liabilities identified above do not include retained liabilities associated with sold businesses.

Contingent Liabilities

On an ongoing basis, the Company and its regulators review its operations including, but not limited to, sales and other customer interface procedures and practices, and procedures for meeting obligations to its customers and other parties. These reviews may result in the modification or enhancement of processes or the imposition of other action plans, including concerning management oversight, sales and other customer interface procedures and practices, and the timing or computation of payments to customers and other parties. In certain cases, if appropriate, the Company may offer customers or other parties remediation and may incur charges, including the cost of such remediation, administrative costs and regulatory fines.

The Company is subject to the laws and regulations of states and other jurisdictions concerning the identification, reporting and escheatment of unclaimed or abandoned funds, and is subject to audit and examination for compliance with these requirements. For additional discussion of these matters, see “—Litigation and Regulatory Matters” below.

It is possible that the results of operations or the cash flow of the Company in a particular quarterly or annual period could be materially affected as a result of payments in connection with the matters discussed above or other matters depending, in part, upon the results of operations or cash flow for such period. Management believes, however, that ultimate payments in connection with these matters, after consideration of applicable reserves and rights to indemnification, should not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position.

Litigation and Regulatory Matters

The Company is subject to legal and regulatory actions in the ordinary course of its businesses. Pending legal and regulatory actions include proceedings relating to aspects of the Company’s businesses and operations that are specific to it and proceedings that are typical of the businesses in which it operates, including in both cases businesses that have been either divested or placed in wind down status. Some of these proceedings have been brought on behalf of various alleged classes of complainants. In certain of these matters, the plaintiffs are seeking large and/or indeterminate amounts, including punitive or exemplary damages. The outcome of litigation or a regulatory matter, and the amount or range of potential loss at any particular time, is often inherently uncertain.

The Company establishes accruals for litigation and regulatory matters when it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of that loss can be reasonably estimated. For litigation and regulatory matters where a loss may be reasonably possible, but not probable, or is probable but not reasonably estimable, no accrual is established but the matter, if potentially material, is disclosed, including matters discussed below. The Company estimates that as of September 30, 2019, the aggregate range of reasonably possible losses in excess of accruals established for those litigation and regulatory matters for which such an estimate currently can be made is less than $250 million. Any estimate is not an indication of expected loss, if any, or the Company’s maximum possible loss exposure on such matters. The Company reviews relevant information with respect to its litigation and regulatory matters on a quarterly and annual basis and updates its accruals, disclosures and estimates of reasonably possible loss based on such reviews.

The following discussion of litigation and regulatory matters provides an update of those matters discussed in Note 22 to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and should be read in conjunction with the complete descriptions provided in the Form 10-K.

Labor and Employment Matters

 Prudential of Brazil Labor and Employment Matters

Prudential of Brazil (“POB”) sells insurance products to consumers through life planner franchisees (“Life Planners”), who are engaged as independent life insurance brokers and not as employees. When a Life Planner’s contractual relationship with POB is terminated, in many cases the Life Planner commences a labor suit against POB alleging entitlement to employment related benefits. POB is a defendant in numerous such lawsuits in Brazil brought by former Life Planners and has been subject to regulatory actions challenging the validity of POB’s franchise model. POB has continued to receive additional labor suits and regulatory actions involving the operation of its franchise model notwithstanding steps that POB has taken to attempt to mitigate the labor risk by modifying its franchise model. POB continues to evaluate changes to its franchise model to further mitigate this risk.

Individual Annuities, Individual Life and Group Insurance

Behfarin v. Pruco Life

In October 2019, plaintiff filed: (1) the First Amended Complaint adding Prudential Insurance Company of America and Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey as defendants; and (2) a motion seeking preliminary certification of a settlement class, appointment of a class representative and class counsel, and preliminary approval of the proposed class action settlement.

Huffman v. The Prudential Insurance Company of America

In April 2019, the court entered a Final Judgment and Order of Dismissal. This matter is now closed.

Escheatment Litigation

Total Asset Recovery Services, LLC v. MetLife, Inc., et al., Prudential Financial, Inc., The Prudential Insurance Company of America, and Prudential Insurance Agency, LLC

In April 2019, defendants’ motion to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint was granted and plaintiff subsequently filed a Notice of Appeal with the New York State Supreme Court, First Department.

Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (“RMBS”) Trustee Litigation

PICA et al. v. Bank of New York Mellon

In October 2019, the federal court action was dismissed with prejudice. This matter is now closed.

PICA et al. v. Citibank N.A.

In June 2019, the federal court action was dismissed with prejudice, and in September 2019, the state court action was also dismissed with prejudice. This matter is now closed.

PICA et al. v. HSBC, et al.

In May 2019, the court dismissed the case with prejudice. This matter is now closed.

PICA et al. v. U.S. Bank N.A.

In April 2019, a decision and order were issued dismissing plaintiffs’ state court action with prejudice. This matter is now closed.

PICA et al. v. Wells Fargo Bank, et al.

In May 2019, the state court entered an Order and Final Judgment approving the class action settlement and dismissing the case with prejudice.

LIBOR Litigation

Prudential Investment Portfolios 2, f/k/a Dryden Core Investment Fund, o/b/o Prudential Core Short-Term Bond Fund and Prudential Core Taxable Money Market Fund v. Bank of America Corporation, et al.

In June 2019, the court issued two orders approving stipulations dismissing with prejudice Prudential’s claims against Citigroup Inc., Citibank, N.A., Citigroup Funding Inc., and Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

Regulatory Matters

Securities Lending and Foreign Tax Reclaim Matter

In 2016, the Company self-reported to the SEC and the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”), and notified other regulators, that in some cases it failed to maximize securities lending income for the benefit of certain separate account investments due to a long-standing restriction benefiting the Company that limited the availability of loanable securities. The Company has removed the restriction and implemented a remediation plan for the benefit of customers. As part of the Company’s review of this matter, in 2018 it further self-reported to the SEC, and notified other regulators, that in some cases it failed to timely process foreign tax reclaims for the separate account investments. The Company has corrected the foreign tax reclaim process and has implemented a remediation plan for the benefit of customers.

The DOL’s review of the securities lending matter is closed. In September 2019, the Company reached a settlement of these matters with the SEC. As part of the settlement the Company agreed to pay a fine of $5 million and disgorgement of $27.6 million, and consented to the entry of an Administrative Order containing findings that two subsidiaries of the Company violated certain sections of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Advisers Act Rules and ordering the subsidiaries to cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of those provisions. In reaching this settlement, the Company neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s findings.

Summary

The Company’s litigation and regulatory matters are subject to many uncertainties, and given their complexity and scope, their outcome cannot be predicted. It is possible that the Company’s results of operations or cash flow in a particular quarterly or annual period could be materially affected by an ultimate unfavorable resolution of pending litigation and regulatory matters depending, in part, upon the results of operations or cash flow for such period. In light of the unpredictability of the Company’s litigation and regulatory matters, it is also possible that in certain cases an ultimate unfavorable resolution of one or more pending litigation or regulatory matters could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position. Management believes,

however, that, based on information currently known to it, the ultimate outcome of all pending litigation and regulatory matters, after consideration of applicable reserves and rights to indemnification, is not likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position.