Guarantees and Contingent Liabilities

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Guarantees and Contingent Liabilities [Abstract]

Note 14 Guarantees and Contingent Liabilities

Visa Restructuring and Card Association Litigation The Company’s payment services business issues and acquires credit and debit card transactions through the Visa U.S.A. Inc. card association or its affiliates (collectively “Visa”). In 2007, Visa completed a restructuring and issued shares of Visa Inc. common stock to its financial institution members in contemplation of its initial public offering (“IPO”) completed in the first quarter of 2008 (the “Visa Reorganization”). As a part of the Visa Reorganization, the Company received its proportionate number of shares of Visa Inc. common stock, which were subsequently converted to Class B shares of Visa Inc. (“Class B shares”). The Company and certain of its subsidiaries have been named as defendants along with Visa U.S.A. Inc. (“Visa U.S.A.”) and MasterCard International (collectively, the “Card Associations”), as well as several other banks, in antitrust lawsuits challenging the practices of the Card Associations (the “Visa Litigation”). Visa U.S.A. member banks have a contingent obligation to indemnify Visa Inc. under the Visa U.S.A. bylaws (which were modified at the time of the restructuring in October 2007) for potential losses arising from the Visa Litigation. The indemnification by the Visa U.S.A. member banks has no specific maximum amount. The Company has also entered into judgment and loss sharing agreements with Visa U.S.A. and certain other banks in order to apportion financial responsibilities arising from any potential adverse judgment or negotiated settlements related to the Visa Litigation.

In 2007 and 2008, Visa announced settlement agreements relating to certain of the Visa Litigation matters. Visa U.S.A. member banks remain obligated to indemnify Visa Inc. for potential losses arising from the remaining Visa Litigation. Using proceeds from its IPO and through subsequent reductions to the conversion ratio applicable to the Class B shares held by Visa U.S.A. member banks, Visa Inc. has established an escrow account for the benefit of member financial institutions to fund the expenses of the Visa Litigation, as well as the members’ proportionate share of any judgments or settlements that may arise out of the Visa Litigation. The receivable related to the escrow account is classified in other liabilities as a direct offset to the related Visa Litigation contingent liability, and will decline as amounts are paid out of the escrow account. During the first quarter of 2011, Visa deposited additional funds into the escrow account and further reduced the conversion ratio applicable to the Class B shares. As a result, the Company recognized a gain of $22 million during the first quarter of 2011 related to the effective repurchase of a portion of the Class B shares.

At June 30, 2011, the carrying amount of the Company’s liability related to the remaining Visa Litigation matters, was $28 million. Class B shares are non-transferable, except for transfers to other Visa U.S.A. member banks. The remaining Class B shares held by the Company will be eligible for conversion to Class A shares upon settlement of the Visa Litigation.

The following table is a summary of other guarantees and contingent liabilities of the Company at June 30, 2011:


			Maximum
			Potential
	Carrying		Future
(Dollars in Millions)	Amount		Payments
Standby letters of credit	$	100	$	19,290
Third-party borrowing arrangements		–		129
Securities lending indemnifications		–		9,114
Asset sales (a)		241		1,903
Merchant processing		74		78,715
Contingent consideration arrangements		5		5
Minimum revenue guarantees		24		37
Other		53		8,924


(a)		The maximum potential future payments does not include loan sales where the Company provides standard representations and warranties to the buyer against losses related to loan underwriting documentation. For these types of loan sales, the maximum potential future payments are not readily determinable because the Company’s obligation under these agreements depends upon the occurrence of future events.

Merchant Processing The Company, through its subsidiaries, provides merchant processing services. Under the rules of credit card associations, a merchant processor retains a contingent liability for credit card transactions processed. This contingent liability arises in the event of a billing dispute between the merchant and a cardholder that is ultimately resolved in the cardholder’s favor. In this situation, the transaction is “charged-back” to the merchant and the disputed amount is credited or otherwise refunded to the cardholder. If the Company is unable to collect this amount from the merchant, it bears the loss for the amount of the refund paid to the cardholder.

The Company currently processes card transactions in the United States, Canada and Europe for airline companies. In the event of liquidation of these merchants, the Company could become financially liable for refunding tickets purchased through the credit card associations under the charge-back provisions. Charge-back risk related to these merchants is evaluated in a manner similar to credit risk assessments and, as such, merchant processing contracts contain various provisions to protect the Company in the event of default. At June 30, 2011, the value of airline tickets purchased to be delivered at a future date was $7.4 billion. The Company held collateral of $609 million in escrow deposits, letters of credit and indemnities from financial institutions, and liens on various assets.

Asset Sales The Company regularly sells loans to government-sponsored entities (“GSEs”) as part of its mortgage banking activities. The Company provides customary representations and warranties to the GSEs in conjunction with these sales. These representations and warranties generally require the Company to repurchase assets if it is subsequently determined that a loan did not meet specified criteria, such as a documentation deficiency or rescission of mortgage insurance. If the Company is unable to cure or refute a repurchase request, the Company is generally obligated to repurchase the loan or otherwise reimburse the counterparty for losses. At June 30, 2011, the Company had reserved $173 million for potential losses from representations and warranty obligations. The reserve is based on the Company’s repurchase and loss trends, and quantitative and qualitative factors that may result in anticipated losses being different from historical loss trends, including loan vintage, underwriting characteristics and macroeconomic trends.

Checking Account Overdraft Fee Litigation The Company is a defendant in three separate cases primarily challenging the Company’s daily ordering of debit transactions posted to customer checking accounts for the period from 2003 to 2010. The plaintiffs have requested class action treatment; however, no class has been certified. The court has denied a motion by the Company to dismiss these cases. The Company believes it has meritorious defenses against these matters, including class certification. As these cases are in the early stages and no damages have been specified, no specific loss range or range of loss can be determined currently.

Other During the second quarter of 2011, the Company and its two primary banking subsidiaries entered into Consent Orders with U.S. federal banking regulators regarding the Company’s residential mortgage servicing and foreclosure processes. The Company has not been notified of any monetary penalty related to the Consent Orders, however, the Consent Orders could result in fines, penalties, restitutions or other alterations to the Company’s business practices. Other governmental authorities are reported to be discussing various actions with certain mortgage servicers, although the Company has not been notified of any pending regulatory actions or penalties beyond the Consent Orders. Such actions could also lead to fines, settlements or alterations in business practices.

The Company is subject to various other litigation, investigations and legal and administrative cases and proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of its businesses. Due to their complex nature, it may be years before some matters are resolved. While it is impossible to ascertain the ultimate resolution or range of financial liability with respect to these contingent matters, the Company believes that the aggregate amount of such liabilities will not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, results of operations or cash flows of the Company.

For additional information on the nature of the Company’s guarantees and contingent liabilities, refer to Note 22 in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.