In the normal course of business, various commitments and contingent liabilities are outstanding. The following table presents the Company’s significant commitments. Certain of these commitments are not included in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet.

	December 31
	2019		2018
	(In thousands)
Commitments to extend credit
Home equity lines of credit	$	5,442,160		5,484,197
Commercial real estate loans to be sold		164,076		229,401
Other commercial real estate		9,029,608		7,556,722
Residential real estate loans to be sold		423,056		245,211
Other residential real estate		448,375		219,351
Commercial and other		16,170,731		14,363,803
Standby letters of credit		2,441,432		2,326,991
Commercial letters of credit		41,059		55,808
Financial guarantees and indemnification contracts		4,108,572		3,529,136
Commitments to sell real estate loans		906,037		940,692

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to customers, generally having fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses that may require payment of a fee. In addition to the amounts presented in the preceding table, the Company had discretionary funding commitments to commercial customers of $9.1 billion and $8.6 billion at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, that the Company had the unconditional right to cancel prior to funding. Standby and commercial letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Standby letters of credit generally are contingent upon the failure of the customer to perform according to the terms of the underlying contract with the third party, whereas commercial letters of credit are issued to facilitate commerce and typically result in the commitment being funded when the underlying transaction is consummated between the customer and a third party. The credit risk associated with commitments to extend credit and standby and commercial letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved with extending loans to customers and is subject to normal credit policies. Collateral may be obtained based on management’s assessment of the customer’s creditworthiness.

Financial guarantees and indemnification contracts are predominantly comprised of recourse obligations associated with sold loans and other guarantees and commitments. Included in financial guarantees and indemnification contracts are loan principal amounts sold with recourse in conjunction with the Company’s involvement in the Fannie Mae DUS program. The Company’s maximum credit risk for recourse associated with loans sold under this program totaled approximately $3.9 billion and $3.4 billion at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Since many loan commitments, standby letters of credit, and guarantees and indemnification contracts expire without being funded in whole or in part, the contract amounts are not necessarily indicative of future cash flows.

The Company utilizes commitments to sell real estate loans to hedge exposure to changes in the fair value of real estate loans held for sale. Such commitments are considered derivatives and along

with commitments to originate real estate loans to be held for sale are recorded in the consolidated balance sheet at estimated fair market value.

The Company is contractually obligated to repurchase previously sold residential real estate loans that do not ultimately meet investor sale criteria related to underwriting procedures or loan documentation. When required to do so, the Company may reimburse loan purchasers for losses incurred or may repurchase certain loans. The Company reduces residential mortgage banking revenues by an estimate for losses related to its obligations to loan purchasers. The amount of those charges is based on the volume of loans sold, the level of reimbursement requests received from loan purchasers and estimates of losses that may be associated with previously sold loans. At December 31, 2019, the Company believes that its obligation to loan purchasers was not material to the Company’s consolidated financial position.

Wilmington Trust, N.A., a wholly owned bank subsidiary of M&T, provides retirement services, including serving in certain trustee roles relating to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (“ESOPs”). Beginning in 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it would increase its focus on ESOP transactions, particularly with regard to valuation issues relating to ESOP transactions. Beginning in late 2013, Wilmington Trust, N.A. began receiving requests for information and subpoenas relating to certain ESOP transactions for which it acted as trustee. In June 2016, Wilmington Trust, N.A. received a DOL subpoena seeking information on its global ESOP trustee business. In addition to these investigations, the DOL has commenced three lawsuits against Wilmington Trust, N.A. relating to its role as trustee of three ESOP transactions. In July 2019, Wilmington Trust, N.A. reached a settlement in principle with the DOL to resolve certain pending DOL ESOP matters. Although a formal settlement agreement has yet to be finalized and executed, the Company does not expect that the agreed-upon settlement will have a material incremental impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations. Wilmington Trust, N.A. is also currently a defendant in five pending private party lawsuits relating to its role as trustee for five ESOP transactions. Under applicable transaction documents, Wilmington Trust, N.A. may be entitled to indemnification by the ESOP plan sponsors. These matters could result in damages, settlements, penalties, restitution, reputational damage or additional costs and expenses.

M&T and its subsidiaries are subject in the normal course of business to various pending and threatened legal proceedings and other matters in which claims for monetary damages are asserted. On an on-going basis management, after consultation with legal counsel, assesses the Company’s liabilities and contingencies in connection with such proceedings. For those matters where it is probable that the Company will incur losses and the amounts of the losses can be reasonably estimated, the Company records an expense and corresponding liability in its consolidated financial statements. To the extent the pending or threatened litigation could result in exposure in excess of that liability, the amount of such excess is not currently estimable. Although not considered probable, the range of reasonably possible losses for such matters in the aggregate, beyond the existing recorded liability, was between $0 and $50 million. Although the Company does not believe that the outcome of pending litigations will be material to the Company’s consolidated financial position, it cannot rule out the possibility that such outcomes will be material to the consolidated results of operations for a particular reporting period in the future.