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”). Visa U.S.A. Inc. (“Visa U.S.A.”) and MasterCard International (collectively, the “Card Associations”) are defendants 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.

Using proceeds from its IPO and through reductions to the conversion ratio applicable to the Class B shares held by Visa U.S.A. member banks, Visa Inc. has funded an escrow account for the benefit of member financial institutions to fund their indemnification obligations associated with 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. On October 19, 2012, Visa signed a settlement agreement to resolve class action claims associated with the multi-district interchange litigation, the largest of the remaining Visa Litigation matters. The settlement has not yet been finally approved by the court, is not yet binding, and has been challenged by some class members. At March 31, 2013, the carrying amount of the Company’s liability related to the Visa Litigation matters, net of its share of the escrow fundings, was $65 million and included the Company’s estimate of its share of the temporary reduction in interchange rates specified in the settlement agreement. The remaining Class B shares held by the Company will be eligible for conversion to Class A shares, and thereby become marketable, upon settlement of the Visa Litigation. These shares are excluded from the Company’s financial instruments disclosures included in Note 13.

The following table is a summary of other guarantees and contingent liabilities of the Company at March 31, 2013:


(Dollars in Millions)	Collateral Held		Carrying Amount		Maximum Potential Future Payments
Standby letters of credit	$	–	$	80	$	18,121
Third-party borrowing arrangements		–		–		308
Securities lending indemnifications		5,087		–		4,944
Asset sales		–		313		2,822	(a)
Merchant processing		796		81		79,390
Contingent consideration arrangements		–		12		14
Tender option bond program guarantee		5,176		–		4,897
Minimum revenue guarantees		–		14		15
Other		–		16		3,222

(a)

The maximum potential future payments do not include loan sales where the Company provides standard representation and warranties to the buyer against losses related to loan underwriting documentation defects that may have existed at the time of sale that generally are identified after the occurrence of a triggering event such as delinquency. For these types of loan sales, the maximum potential future payments is generally the unpaid principal balance of loans sold measured at the end of the current reporting period. Actual losses will be significantly less than the maximum exposure, as only a fraction of loans sold will have a representation and warranty breach, and any losses on repurchase would generally be mitigated by any collateral held against the loans.

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, Europe, Mexico and Brazil through wholly-owned subsidiaries and joint ventures with other financial institutions. In the event a merchant were to be unable to fulfill product or services subject to delayed delivery, such as airline tickets, 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 March 31, 2013, the value of airline tickets purchased to be delivered at a future date was $7.1 billion. The Company held collateral of $608 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 GSEs as part of its mortgage banking activities. The Company provides customary representation 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 March 31, 2013, the Company had reserved $233 million for potential losses from representation and warranty obligations, compared with $240 million at December 31, 2012. The Company’s reserve reflects management’s best estimate of losses for representation and warranty obligations. The Company’s reserving methodology uses current information about investor repurchase requests, and assumptions about defect rate, concur rate, repurchase mix, and loss severity, based upon the Company’s most recent loss trends. The Company also considers qualitative factors that may result in anticipated losses differing from historical loss trends, such as loan vintage, underwriting characteristics and macroeconomic trends.

The following table is a rollforward of the Company’s representation and warranty reserve:


	Three Months Ended March 31,
(Dollars in Millions)	2013			2012
Balance at beginning of period	$	240		$	160
Net realized losses		(23	)		(25	)
Additions to reserve		16			67

Balance at end of period	$	233		$	202

As of March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, the Company had $66 million and $131 million, respectively, of unresolved representation and warranty claims from the GSEs. The Company does not have a significant amount of unresolved claims from investors other than the GSEs.

Mortgage-Related Actions and Investigations Certain federal and state governmental authorities have reached a settlement agreement with five major financial institutions regarding their mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure activities. Those governmental authorities contacted other financial institutions, including the Company, to discuss their potential participation in a settlement. The Company has not agreed to any settlement at this point; however, if a settlement were reached it would likely include an agreement to comply with specified servicing standards, and settlement payments to governmental authorities as well as a monetary commitment that could be satisfied under various loan modification programs (in addition to the programs the Company already has in place). The Company has a $130 million accrued liability with respect to these and related matters.

The Company is currently subject to other investigations and examinations by government agencies and bank regulators concerning mortgage-related practices, including those related to origination practices for Federal Housing Administration insured residential home loans, compliance with underwriting guidelines relating to residential home loans sold to GSEs, and various practices related to lender-placed insurance. The Company is cooperating fully with these examinations and investigations, any of which could lead to administrative or legal proceedings or settlements involving remedies including fines, penalties, restitution or alterations in the Company’s business practices and in additional costs and expenses.

Other 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, including the matters described above, 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. However, if during any period a contingent matter, including any of the matters described above, should require an accrual or be resolved for an amount in excess of established accruals, the results of operations in that period could be adversely affected, potentially materially.

For additional information on the nature of the Company’s guarantees and contingent liabilities, refer to Note 21 in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012.