Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements, Guarantees and Other Commitments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Disclosure Off Balance Sheet Arrangements Guarantees And Other Commitments Additional Information [Abstract]

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements, Guarantees and Other Commitments

In the normal course of business, we use financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk to meet the financing needs of our customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit, commercial and standby letters of credit and commitments to invest in venture capital and private equity fund investments. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk. Credit risk is defined as the possibility of sustaining a loss because other parties to the financial instrument fail to perform in accordance with the terms of the contract.

Commitments to Extend Credit

The following table summarizes information related to our commitments to extend credit at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018:



(Dollars in thousands)	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
Loan commitments available for funding: (1)
Fixed interest rate commitments	$	2,154,186	$	1,839,190
Variable interest rate commitments	17,272,556		14,821,815
Total loan commitments available for funding	19,426,742		16,661,005
Commercial and standby letters of credit (2)	2,847,676		2,252,016
Total unfunded credit commitments	$	22,274,418	$	18,913,021
Commitments unavailable for funding (3)	$	3,306,209	$	2,723,835
Allowance for unfunded credit commitments (4)	63,108		55,183


(1)	Represents commitments which are available for funding, due to clients meeting all collateral, compliance and financial covenants required under loan commitment agreements.


(2)	See below for additional information on our commercial and standby letters of credit.


(3)	Represents commitments which are currently unavailable for funding due to clients failing to meet all collateral, compliance and financial covenants under loan commitment agreements.


(4)	Our allowance for unfunded credit commitments includes an allowance for both our unfunded loan commitments and our letters of credit.

Commercial and Standby Letters of Credit

The table below summarizes our commercial and standby letters of credit at September 30, 2019. The maximum potential amount of future payments represents the amount that could be remitted under letters of credit if there were a total default by the guaranteed parties, without consideration of possible recoveries under recourse provisions or from the collateral held or pledged.



(Dollars in thousands)	Expires In One Year or Less		Expires After One Year		Total Amount Outstanding		Maximum Amount of Future Payments
Financial standby letters of credit	$	2,571,352	$	58,290	$	2,629,642	$	2,629,642
Performance standby letters of credit	119,666		19,102		138,768		138,768
Commercial letters of credit	79,266		—		79,266		79,266
Total	$	2,770,284	$	77,392	$	2,847,676	$	2,847,676

Deferred fees related to financial and performance standby letters of credit were $16.6 million at September 30, 2019 and $14.1 million at December 31, 2018. At September 30, 2019, collateral in the form of cash of $1.6 billion was available to us to reimburse losses, if any, under financial and performance standby letters of credit.

Commitments to Invest in Venture Capital and Private Equity Funds

Subject to applicable regulatory requirements, including the Volcker Rule, we make commitments to invest in venture capital and private equity funds, which generally make investments in privately-held companies. Commitments to invest in these funds are generally made for a 10-year period from the inception of the fund. Although the limited partnership agreements governing these investments typically do not restrict the general partners from calling 100% of committed capital in one year, it is customary for these funds to call most of the capital commitments over 5 to 7 years, and in certain cases, the funds may not call 100% of committed capital. The actual timing of future cash requirements to fund these commitments is generally dependent upon the investment cycle, overall market conditions, and the nature and type of industry in which the privately held companies operate. The following table details our total capital commitments, unfunded capital commitments, and our ownership percentage in each fund at September 30, 2019:



(Dollars in thousands)	SVBFG Capital Commitments		SVBFG Unfunded Commitments		SVBFG Ownership of each Fund (3)
CP I, LP	$	6,000	$	270	10.7	%
CP II, LP (1)	1,200		162		5.1
Capital Preferred Return Fund, LP	12,688		—		20.0
Growth Partners, LP	24,670		1,340		33.0
Strategic Investors Fund, LP	15,300		688		12.6
Strategic Investors Fund II, LP	15,000		1,050		8.6
Strategic Investors Fund III, LP	15,000		1,275		5.9
Strategic Investors Fund IV, LP	12,239		2,325		5.0
Strategic Investors Fund V funds	515		131		Various
Other venture capital and private equity fund investments (equity method accounting)	21,782		5,732		Various
Debt funds (equity method accounting)	58,493		—		Various
Other fund investments (2)	286,293		6,111		Various
Total	$	469,180	$	19,084


(1)	Our ownership includes direct ownership of 1.3 percent and indirect ownership interest of 3.8 percent through our investment in Strategic Investors Fund II, LP.


(2)	Represents commitments to 217 funds (primarily venture capital funds) where our ownership interest is generally less than five percent of the voting interests of each such fund.


(3)	We are subject to the Volcker Rule, which restricts or limits us from sponsoring or having ownership interests in “covered” funds including venture capital and private equity funds. See “Business - Supervision and Regulation” under Part 1, Item 1 of our 2018 Form 10-K.

The following table details the amounts of remaining unfunded commitments to venture capital and private equity funds by our consolidated managed funds of funds (including our interest and the noncontrolling interests) at September 30, 2019:



(Dollars in thousands)	Unfunded Commitments
Strategic Investors Fund, LP	$	1,338
Capital Preferred Return Fund, LP	1,563
Growth Partners, LP	2,527
Total	$	5,428