Commercial Commitments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

We have entered into various commercial commitments, such as guarantees and standby letters of credit, related to certain transactions. These commercial commitments require us to fulfill specific obligations in the event of third party demands. Similar to our balance sheet investments, these commitments expose us to credit, market, and equipment risk. Accordingly, we evaluate these commitments and other contingent obligations using techniques similar to those we use to evaluate funded transactions.

The following table shows our commercial commitments (in millions):



	September 30 2015		December 31 2014
Lease payment guarantees	$	23.5	$	28.5
Standby letters of credit	8.6		8.7
Performance bonds	0.4		0.4
Total commercial commitments (1)	$	32.5	$	37.6

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(1) The carrying value of liabilities on the balance sheet for commercial commitments was $4.4 million at September 30, 2015 and $5.1 million at December 31, 2014. The expirations of these commitments range from 2017 to 2023. We are not aware of any event that would require us to satisfy any of our commitments.

Lease payment guarantees are commitments to financial institutions to make lease payments for a third party in the event they default. We reduce any liability that may result from these guarantees by the value of the underlying asset or group of assets.

We are also parties to standby letters of credit and performance bonds, which primarily relate to contractual obligations and general liability insurance coverages. No material claims have been made against these obligations, and no material losses are anticipated.