Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

NOTE 18 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Commitments

The Corporation 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.

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee by the borrower or obligor. Since a portion of the commitments is expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The Corporation evaluates each customer's creditworthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral, if any, obtained upon extension of credit is based on management's credit evaluation of the customer. Collateral held varies but may include accounts receivable, inventory, property, equipment and income-producing commercial properties.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to guarantee the financial or performance obligation of a customer to a third party. Commercial letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to facilitate foreign and domestic trade transactions for customers. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is similar to that involved in extending loan facilities. These obligations are underwritten consistently with commercial lending standards. The maximum exposure to loss for standby and commercial letters of credit is equal to the contractual (or notional) amount of the instruments.

The Corporation records a reserve for unfunded commitments, included in other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets, which represents management's estimate of losses inherent in commitments to extend credit and letters of credit. See "Note 4 - Loans and Allowance for Credit Losses," for additional information.

The following table presents the Corporation’s commitments to extend credit and letters of credit:


	2021		2020
	(in thousands)
Commercial and industrial	$	5,072,008	$	5,245,041
Real estate - commercial mortgage and real estate - construction	1,914,238		1,787,963
Real estate - home equity	1,744,922		1,618,051
Total commitments to extend credit	$	8,731,168	$	8,651,055

Standby letters of credit	$	298,275	$	308,168
Commercial letters of credit	54,196		56,229
Total letters of credit	$	352,471	$	364,397

Residential Lending

The Corporation originates and sells residential mortgages to secondary market investors. The Corporation provides customary representations and warranties to secondary market investors that specify, among other things, that the loans have been underwritten to the standards of the secondary market investor. The Corporation may be required to repurchase specific loans, or reimburse the investor for a credit loss incurred on a sold loan if it is determined that the representations and warranties have not been met. Under some agreements with secondary market investors, the Corporation may have additional credit exposure beyond customary representations and warranties, based on the specific terms of those agreements.

The Corporation maintains a reserve for estimated credit losses related to loans sold to investors. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the total reserve for losses on residential mortgage loans sold was $1.1 million, for each period, including reserves for both representation and warranty and credit loss exposures. With the adoption of CECL on January 1, 2020, the reserve for estimated losses on certain residential mortgage loans sold to investors was reclassified to ACL - OBS credit exposures. In addition, a component of ACL - OBS credit exposures of $3.8 million and $5.3 million as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively, related to additional credit exposure for potential loan repurchases.

Legal Proceedings

The Corporation is involved in various pending and threatened claims and other legal proceedings in the ordinary course of its business activities. The Corporation evaluates the possible impact of these matters, taking into consideration the most recent information available. A loss reserve is established for those matters for which the Corporation believes a loss is both probable and reasonably estimable. Once established, the reserve is adjusted as appropriate to reflect any subsequent developments. Actual losses with respect to any such matter may be more or less than the amount estimated by the Corporation. For matters where a loss is not probable, or the amount of the loss cannot be reasonably estimated by the Corporation, no loss reserve is established.

In addition, from time to time, the Corporation is involved in investigations or other forms of regulatory or governmental inquiry covering a range of possible issues and, in some cases, these may be part of similar reviews of the specified activities of other companies. These inquiries or investigations could lead to administrative, civil or criminal proceedings involving the Corporation, and could result in fines, penalties, restitution, other types of sanctions, or the need for the Corporation to undertake remedial actions, or to alter its business, financial or accounting practices. The Corporation's practice is to cooperate fully with regulatory and governmental inquiries and investigations.

As of the date of this Report, the Corporation believes that any liabilities, individually or in the aggregate, that may result from the final outcomes of pending legal proceedings, or regulatory or governmental inquiries or investigations, will not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition of the Corporation. However, legal proceedings, inquiries and investigations are often unpredictable, and it is possible that the ultimate resolution of any such matters, if unfavorable, may be material to the Corporation's results of operations in any future period, depending, in part, upon the size of the loss or liability imposed and the operating results for the period, and could have a material adverse effect on the Corporation's business. In addition, regardless of the ultimate outcome of any such legal proceeding, inquiry or investigation, any such matter could cause the Corporation to incur additional expenses, which could be significant, and possibly material, to the Corporation's results of operations in any future period.

Kress v. Fulton Bank, N.A.

On October 15, 2019, a former Fulton Bank teller supervisor, D. Kress, filed a putative collective and class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and other teller supervisors, tellers, and other similar non-exempt employees in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, D. Kress v. Fulton Bank, N.A., Case No. 1:19-cv-18985. Fulton Bank accepted summons without a formal service of process on January 20, 2020. The lawsuit alleges that Fulton Bank did not record or otherwise account for the amount of time D. Kress and putative collective and class members spent conducting branch opening security procedures. The allegation is that, as a result, Fulton Bank did not properly compensate those employees for their regular and overtime wages. The lawsuit alleges that by doing so, Fulton violated: (i) the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and seeks back overtime wages for a period of three years, liquidated damages and attorney fees and costs; (ii) the New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law and seeks back overtime wages for a period of six years, treble damages and attorney fees and costs; and (iii) the New Jersey Wage Payment Law and seeks back wages for a period of six years, treble damages and attorney fees and costs. The lawsuit also asserts New Jersey common law claims seeking compensatory damages and interest. The Corporation and counsel representing plaintiffs ("Plaintiffs' Counsel") reached and executed a formal Settlement Agreement to resolve this lawsuit. Plaintiffs' Counsel filed a Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class and Collective Settlement and Provisional Certification of Settlement Class and Collective ("the Motion") with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ("the Court"). The Corporation is not able to provide any assurance that the Court will grant the Motion. If the Court grants the Motion, subject to final approval by

the Court, the Settlement Agreement will be administered according to its terms. The financial terms of the Settlement Agreement are not expected to be material to the Corporation. The Corporation established an accrued liability during the third quarter of 2020 for the costs expected to be incurred in connection with the Settlement Agreement. The accrued liability is included in "other liabilities" on the consolidated balance sheets.