12. Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

Contingencies

On January 27, 2017, a putative class action lawsuit was filed by a Bank customer alleging that FHB improperly charged an overdraft fee in circumstances where an account had sufficient funds to cover the transaction at the time the transaction was authorized but not at the time the transaction was presented for payment, and that this practice constituted an unjust and deceptive trade practice and a breach of contract. The lawsuit further alleged that FHB’s practice of assessing a one-time continuous negative balance overdraft fee on accounts remaining in a negative balance for a seven-day period constituted a usurious interest charge and an unfair and deceptive trade practice. On October 2, 2018, the parties reached an agreement in principle to resolve this class action lawsuit. In connection with the anticipated settlement agreement, the Company recorded an expense of approximately $4.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 2018. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Court entered an order preliminarily approving the settlement agreement, pursuant to which the Company funded a $4.1 million settlement account. The final approval hearing has been set for August 6, 2019.

In addition to the litigation noted above, various other legal proceedings are pending or threatened against the Company. After consultation with legal counsel, management does not expect that the aggregate liability, if any, resulting from these proceedings would have a material effect on the Company’s unaudited interim consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Financial Instruments with Off-Balance Sheet Risk

The Company is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby and commercial letters of credit which are not reflected in the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements.

Unfunded Commitments to Extend Credit

A commitment to extend credit is a legally binding agreement to lend funds to a customer, usually at a stated interest rate and for a specified purpose. Commitments are reported net of participations sold to other institutions. Such commitments have fixed expiration dates and generally require a fee. The extension of a commitment gives rise to credit risk. The actual liquidity requirements or credit risk that the Company will experience is expected to be lower than the contractual amount of commitments to extend credit because a significant portion of those commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon. Certain commitments are subject to loan agreements containing covenants regarding the financial performance of the customer that must be met before the Company is required to fund the commitment. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments to extend credit as it does in making loans. In addition, the Company manages the potential credit risk in commitments to extend credit by limiting the total amount of arrangements, both by individual customer and in the aggregate, by monitoring the size and expiration structure of these portfolios and by applying the same credit standards maintained for all of its related credit activities. Commitments to extend credit are reported net of participations sold to other institutions of $85.6 million and $92.3 million at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively.

Standby and Commercial Letters of Credit

Standby letters of credit are issued on behalf of customers in connection with contracts between the customers and third parties. Under standby letters of credit, the Company assures that the third parties will receive specified funds if customers fail to meet their contractual obligations. The credit risk to the Company arises from its obligation to make payment in the event of a customer’s contractual default. Standby letters of credit are reported net of participations sold to other institutions of $17.3 million as of both March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018. The Company also had commitments for commercial and similar letters of credit. Commercial letters of credit are issued specifically to facilitate commerce whereby the commitment is typically drawn upon when the underlying transaction between the customer and a third-party is consummated. The maximum amount of potential future payments guaranteed by the Company is limited to the contractual amount of these letters. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities to customers. Collateral held supports those commitments for which collateral is deemed necessary. The commitments outstanding as of March 31, 2019 have maturities ranging from April 2019 to July 2021. Substantially all fees received from the issuance of such commitments are deferred and amortized on a straight-line basis over the term of the commitment.

Financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 were as follows:


	March 31,		December 31,
(dollars in thousands)	2019		2018
Financial instruments whose contract amounts represent credit risk:
Commitments to extend credit	$	5,468,976	$	5,549,591
Standby letters of credit		186,321		204,324
Commercial letters of credit		9,602		7,535

Guarantees

The Company sells residential mortgage loans in the secondary market primarily to The Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”) that may potentially require repurchase under certain conditions. This risk is managed through the Company’s underwriting practices. The Company services loans sold to investors and loans originated by other originators under agreements that may include repurchase remedies if certain servicing requirements are not met. This risk is managed through the Company’s quality assurance and monitoring procedures. Management does not anticipate any material losses as a result of these transactions.

Foreign Exchange Contracts

The Company has forward foreign exchange contracts that represent commitments to purchase or sell foreign currencies at a future date at a specified price. The Company’s utilization of forward foreign exchange contracts is subject to the primary underlying risk of movements in foreign currency exchange rates and to additional counterparty risk should its counterparties fail to meet the terms of their contracts. Forward foreign exchange contracts are utilized to mitigate the Company’s risk to satisfy customer demand for foreign currencies and are not used for trading purposes. See “Note 11. Derivative Financial Instruments” for more information.

Reorganization Transactions

On April 1, 2016, a series of reorganization transactions (the “Reorganization Transactions”) were undertaken to facilitate FHI’s IPO. In connection with the Reorganization Transactions, FHI distributed its interest in BWHI, including Bank of the West (“BOW”) to BNPP so that BWHI was held directly by BNPP. As a result of the Reorganization Transactions that occurred on April 1, 2016, various tax or other contingent liabilities could arise related to the business of BOW, or related to the Company’s operations prior to the restructuring when it was known as BWC, including its then wholly owned subsidiary, BOW. The Company is not able to determine the ultimate outcome or estimate the amounts of these contingent liabilities, if any, at this time.