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Certain Transfers of Financial Assets and Variable Interest Entities
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
Certain Transfers of Financial Assets and Variable Interest Entities [Abstract]  
Transfers and Servicing of Financial Assets [Text Block]
NOTE 10 - CERTAIN TRANSFERS OF FINANCIAL ASSETS AND VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES
Certain Transfers of Financial Assets and related Variable Interest Entities
The Company has transferred residential mortgage loans, student loans, commercial and corporate loans, and CDO securities in sale or securitization transactions in which the Company has, or had, continuing involvement. All such transfers have been accounted for as sales by the Company. The Company’s continuing involvement in such transfers includes owning certain beneficial interests, including senior and subordinate debt instruments, as well as equity interests, servicing or collateral manager responsibilities, and guarantee or recourse arrangements. Except as specifically noted herein, the Company is not required to provide additional financial support to any of the entities to which the Company has transferred financial assets, nor has the Company provided any support it was not otherwise obligated to provide. Upon completion of transfers of assets that satisfy the conditions to be reported as a sale, the Company derecognizes the transferred assets and recognizes at fair value any beneficial interests in the transferred financial assets, such as trading assets or securities AFS, as well as servicing rights retained and guarantee liabilities incurred. See Note 18, “Fair Value Election and Measurement,” for further discussion of the Company’s fair value methodologies. No events occurred during the year ended December 31, 2013 that changed the Company’s sale accounting conclusion in regards to the residential mortgage loans, student loans, commercial and corporate loans, or CDO securities.
When evaluating transfers and other transactions with VIEs for consolidation, the Company first determines if it has a VI in the VIE. A VI is typically in the form of securities representing retained interests in the transferred assets and, at times, servicing rights and collateral manager fees. If the Company has a VI in the entity, it then evaluates whether or not it has both (1) the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIE, and (2) the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the VIE to determine if the Company should consolidate the VIE.
Below is a summary of transfers of financial assets to VIEs for which the Company has retained some level of continuing involvement:
Residential Mortgage Loans
The Company typically transfers first lien residential mortgage loans in conjunction with Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac securitization transactions whereby the loans are exchanged for cash or securities that are readily redeemable for cash proceeds and servicing rights. The Company sold residential mortgage loans to these entities, which resulted in pre-tax net gains of $186 million, $1.0 billion, and $397 million, including servicing rights, for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, respectively. These net gains are included within mortgage production related income/(loss) in the Consolidated Statements of Income. These net gains include the change in value of the loans as a result of changes in interest rates from the time the related IRLCs were issued to the borrowers but do not include the results of hedging activities initiated by the Company to mitigate this market risk. See Note 16, “Derivative Financial Instruments,” for further discussion of the Company’s hedging activities. As seller, the Company has made certain representations and warranties with respect to the originally transferred loans, including those transferred under Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac programs, and those representations and warranties are discussed in Note 17, “Guarantees.”
In a limited number of securitizations, the Company has received securities representing retained interests in the transferred loans in addition to cash and servicing rights in exchange for the transferred loans. The received securities are carried at fair value as either trading assets or securities AFS. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the fair value of securities received totaled $71 million and $98 million, respectively, and were valued using a third party pricing service.
The Company evaluated these securitization transactions for consolidation under the VIE consolidation guidance. As servicer of the underlying loans, the Company is generally deemed to have power over the securitization. However, if a single party, such as the issuer or the master servicer, effectively controls the servicing activities or has the unilateral ability to terminate the Company as servicer without cause, then that party is deemed to have power over the securitization. In almost all of its securitization transactions, the Company does not have power over the VIE as a result of these rights held by the master servicer. In certain transactions, the Company does have power as the servicer; however, the Company does not also have an obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the securitization. The absorption of losses and the receipt of benefits would generally manifest itself through the retention of senior or subordinated interests. Total assets at December 31, 2013 and 2012, of the unconsolidated trusts in which the Company has a VI are $350 million and $445 million, respectively.
The Company’s maximum exposure to loss related to the unconsolidated VIEs in which it holds a VI is comprised of the loss of value of any interests it retains and any repurchase obligations it incurs as a result of a breach of its representations and warranties, which is discussed in Note 17, “Guarantees.”
Commercial and Corporate Loans
The Company has involvement with CLO entities that own commercial leveraged loans and bonds, certain of which were transferred by the Company to the CLOs. In addition to retaining certain securities issued by the CLOs, the Company also acts as collateral manager for these CLOs. The securities retained by the Company and the fees received as collateral manager represent a VI in the CLOs, which are considered to be VIEs. The Company has determined that it is the primary beneficiary of and, thus, has consolidated one of these CLOs as it has both the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses and the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the CLO. The Company's involvement with the CLO includes receiving fees for its duties as collateral manager, including eligibility for performance fees, as well as ownership in one of the senior interests in the CLO and certain preference shares of the CLO. Substantially all of the assets and liabilities of the CLO are loans and issued debt, respectively. The loans are classified within LHFS at fair value and the debt is included within long-term debt at fair value on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. See Note 18, “Fair Value Election and Measurement,” for a discussion of the Company’s methodologies for estimating the fair values of these financial instruments. At December 31, 2013, the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets reflected $261 million of loans held by the CLO and $256 million of debt issued by the CLO. At December 31, 2012, the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets reflected $319 million of loans held by the CLO and $286 million of debt issued by the CLO. Although the Company consolidates the CLO, its creditors have no recourse to the general credit of the Company, as the liabilities of the CLO are paid only to the extent of available cash flows from the CLO’s assets.
For the remaining CLOs, which are also considered to be VIEs, the Company has determined that it is not the primary beneficiary as it does not have an obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the entities that could potentially be significant to the VIE. The Company's preference share exposure was valued at $3 million at December 31, 2013 and 2012. The Company’s only remaining involvement with these VIEs is through its collateral manager role. The Company receives fees for managing the assets of these vehicles; these fees are considered adequate compensation and are commensurate with the level of effort required to provide such services. The fees received by the Company from these entities are recorded as trust and investment management income in the Consolidated Statements of Income. Senior fees earned by the Company are generally not considered at risk; however, subordinate fees earned by the Company are subject to the availability of cash flows and to the priority of payments. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, these VIEs had $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion of estimated assets, respectively, and $1.6 billion and $1.7 billion of estimated liabilities, respectively.
Student Loans
During 2006, the Company completed a securitization of government-guaranteed student loans through a transfer of loans to a securitization SPE, which previously qualified as a QSPE, and retained the related residual interest in the SPE. The Company concluded that this securitization of government-guaranteed student loans (the “Student Loan entity”) should be consolidated. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets reflected $344 million and $384 million, respectively, of assets held by the Student Loan entity and $341 million and $380 million, respectively, of debt issued by the Student Loan entity.
Payments from the assets in the SPE must first be used to settle the obligations of the SPE, with any remaining payments remitted to the Company as the owner of the residual interest. To the extent that losses occur on the SPE’s assets, the SPE has recourse to the federal government as the guarantor up to a maximum guarantee amount of 97%. Losses in excess of the government guarantee reduce the amount of available cash payable to the Company as the owner of the residual interest. To the extent that losses result from a breach of the master servicer’s servicing responsibilities, the SPE has recourse to the Company; the SPE may require the Company to repurchase the loan from the SPE at par value. If the breach was caused by the subservicer, the Company has recourse to seek reimbursement from the subservicer up to the guaranteed amount. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss related to the SPE is represented by the potential losses resulting from a breach of servicing responsibilities. To date, all loss claims filed with the guarantor that have been denied due to servicing errors have either been cured or reimbursement has been provided to the Company by the subservicer.
CDO Securities
The Company has transferred bank trust preferred securities in securitization transactions. The Company's maximum exposure to loss at December 31, 2013 and 2012, includes current senior interests held in trading securities, which have fair values of $54 million and $52 million, respectively.
As further discussed in Note 18, "Fair Value Election and Measurement," the Company valued these interests by constructing a pricing matrix of values based on a range of overcollateralization levels that are derived from discussions with the dealer community along with limited trade data. The primary inputs and assumptions considered by the Company in valuing these retained interests were overcollateralization levels (impacted by credit losses) and the discount margin over LIBOR. While all the underlying collateral is currently eligible for repayment by the obligor, given the nature of the collateral and the current repricing environment, the Company assumed no prepayment would occur before the final maturity, which is approximately 20 years on a weighted average basis. The expected discount margin over LIBOR ranged from 4.3% to 5.5% at December 31, 2013 based on discussion with the dealer community with limited trade data adjusted for specific deal factors. At December 31, 2013, a 10% and 20% adverse change in the assumed market yield results in declines of approximately $4 million and $7 million, respectively, in the fair value of these securities. In evaluating the impact of credit losses, consideration was given to the underlying collateral of the VIEs, which is highly concentrated, and as a result, the default or deferral of certain large exposures adversely impacts the value of the interests. The Company estimates that if each of the VIEs in which the Company holds retained positions experienced three additional large deferrals or defaults, it should not have a significant impact on the fair value of the retained securities.
At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the total assets of the trust preferred CDO entities in which the Company has remaining exposure to loss were $816 million and $1.2 billion, respectively. The Company determined that it was not the primary beneficiary of any of these VIEs as the Company lacks the power to direct the significant activities of any of the VIEs. Subsequent to December 31, 2013, the Company sold all interests in these VIEs.
The following tables present certain information for the years ended December 31, related to the Company’s asset transfers in which it has continuing economic involvement.
(Dollars in millions)
2013
 
2012
 
2011
Cash flows on interests held1:
 
 
 
 
 
  Residential Mortgage Loans2

$32

 

$27

 

$48

  Commercial and Corporate Loans
1

 
1

 
1

  CDO Securities
3

 
2

 
2

    Total cash flows on interests held

$36

 

$30

 

$51

Servicing or management fees1:
 
 
 
 
 
  Residential Mortgage Loans2

$2

 

$3

 

$3

  Commercial and Corporate Loans
9

 
10

 
10

    Total servicing or management fees

$11

 

$13

 

$13


1 The transfer activity is related to unconsolidated VIEs.
2 Does not include GSE mortgage loan transfers

Portfolio balances and delinquency balances based on accruing loans 90 days or more past due and all nonaccrual loans at December 31, 2013 and 2012, and net charge-offs related to managed portfolio loans (both those that are owned or consolidated by the Company and those that have been transferred) for the year ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 are as follows:

 
Portfolio Balance1
 
Past Due2
 
Net Charge-offs
 
December 31, 2013
 
December 31, 2012
 
December 31, 2013
 
December 31, 2012
 
Year Ended December 31
 
(Dollars in millions)
 
2013
 
2012
Type of loan:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial

$64,310

 

$58,888

 

$272

 

$320

 

$153

 

$303

Residential
43,190

 
43,199

 
1,296

 
1,941

 
444

 
1,285

Consumer
20,377

 
19,383

 
631

 
68

 
81

 
93

Total loan portfolio
127,877

 
121,470

 
2,199

 
2,329

 
678

 
1,681

Managed securitized loans:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial
1,617

 
1,767

 
29

 
23

 

 

Residential
100,695

 
104,877

 
493

3 
2,186

3 
23

 
30

Total managed loans

$230,189

 

$228,114

 

$2,721

 

$4,538

 

$701

 

$1,711


1Excludes $1.7 billion and $3.4 billion of LHFS at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.
2Excludes $17 million and $38 million of past due LHFS at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.
3Excludes loans that have completed the foreclosure or short sale process (i.e., involuntary prepayments).

Other Variable Interest Entities
In addition to the Company’s involvement with certain VIEs related to transfers of financial assets, the Company also has involvement with VIEs from other business activities.
Total Return Swaps
The Company has involvement with various VIEs related to its TRS business. Under the matched book TRS business model, the VIEs purchase assets (typically commercial leveraged loans) from the market, which are identified by third party clients, that serve as the underlying reference assets for a TRS between the VIE and the Company and a mirror TRS between the Company and its third party clients. The TRS contracts between the VIEs and the Company hedge the Company’s exposure to the TRS contracts with its third party clients. These third parties are not related parties to the Company, nor are they and the Company de facto agents of each other. In order for the VIEs to purchase the reference assets, the Company provides senior financing, in the form of demand notes, to these VIEs. The TRS contracts pass through interest and other cash flows on the assets owned by the VIEs to the third parties, along with exposing the third parties to depreciation on the assets and providing them with the rights to appreciation on the assets. The terms of the TRS contracts require the third parties to post initial collateral, in addition to ongoing margin as the fair values of the underlying assets change. Although the Company has always caused the VIEs to purchase a reference asset in response to the addition of a reference asset by its third party clients, there is no legal obligation between the Company and its third party clients for the Company to purchase the reference assets or for the Company to cause the VIEs to purchase the assets.
The Company considered the VIE consolidation guidance, which requires an evaluation of the substantive contractual and non-contractual aspects of transactions involving VIEs established subsequent to January 1, 2010. The Company and its third party clients are the only VI holders. As such, the Company evaluated the nature of all VIs and other interests and involvement with the VIEs, in addition to the purpose and design of the VIEs, relative to the risks they were designed to create. The purpose and design of a VIE are key components of a consolidation analysis and any power should be analyzed based on the substance of that power relative to the purpose and design of the VIE. The VIEs were designed for the benefit of the third parties and would not exist if the Company did not enter into the TRS contracts with the third parties. The activities of the VIEs are restricted to buying and selling reference assets with respect to the TRS contracts entered into between the Company and its third party clients and the risks/benefits of any such assets owned by the VIEs are passed to the third party clients via the TRS contracts. The TRS contracts between the Company and its third party clients have a substantive effect on the design of the overall transaction and the VIEs. Based on its evaluation, the Company has determined that it is not the primary beneficiary of the VIEs, as the design of the TRS business results in the Company having no substantive power to direct the significant activities of the VIEs.
At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the Company had $1.5 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively, in senior financing outstanding to VIEs, which was classified within trading assets and derivatives on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and carried at fair value. These VIEs had entered into TRS contracts with the Company with outstanding notional amounts of $1.5 billion and $1.9 billion at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively, and the Company had entered into mirror TRS contracts with third parties with the same outstanding notional amounts. At December 31, 2013, the fair values of these TRS assets and liabilities were $35 million and $31 million, respectively, and at December 31, 2012, the fair values of these TRS assets and liabilities were $51 million and $46 million, respectively, reflecting the pass-through nature of these structures. The notional amounts of the TRS contracts with the VIEs represent the Company’s maximum exposure to loss, although such exposure to loss has been mitigated via the TRS contracts with third parties. For additional information on the Company’s TRS with these VIEs, see Note 16, “Derivative Financial Instruments.”
Community Development Investments
As part of its community reinvestment initiatives, the Company invests primarily within its footprint in multi-family affordable housing developments and other community development entities as a limited and/or general partner and/or a debt provider. The Company receives tax credits for various investments. The Company has determined that the related partnerships are VIEs. For partnerships where the Company operates strictly as the general partner, the Company consolidates these partnerships on its Consolidated Balance Sheets. As the general partner, the Company typically guarantees the tax credits due to the limited partner and is responsible for funding construction and operating deficits. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, total assets, which consist primarily of fixed assets and cash attributable to the consolidated entities, were $3 million, and total liabilities, excluding intercompany liabilities, were $1 million. Security deposits from the tenants are recorded as liabilities on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company maintains separate cash accounts to fund these liabilities and these assets are considered restricted. The tenant liabilities and corresponding restricted cash assets were not material at December 31, 2013 and 2012. While the obligations of the general partner are generally non-recourse to the Company, as the general partner, the Company may from time to time step in when needed to fund deficits. During the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, the Company did not provide any significant amount of funding as the general partner or to cover any deficits the partnerships may have generated.
For other partnerships, the Company acts only in a limited partnership capacity. The Company has determined that it is not the primary beneficiary of these partnerships and accounts for its interests in accordance with the accounting guidance for investments in affordable housing projects. The general partner or an affiliate of the general partner provides guarantees to the limited partner, which protects the Company from losses attributable to operating deficits, construction deficits, and tax credit allocation deficits. Partnership assets of $1.5 billion and $1.2 billion in these partnerships were not included in the Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The limited partner interests had carrying values of $252 million and $186 million at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively, and are recorded in other assets in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss for these investments totaled $697 million and $505 million at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss would be borne by the loss of the equity investments along with $303 million and $236 million of loans, interest-rate swaps, or letters of credit issued by the Company to the entities at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The difference between the maximum exposure to loss and the investment and loan balances is primarily attributable to the unfunded equity commitments. Unfunded equity commitments are amounts that the Company has committed to the entities upon the entities meeting certain conditions. If these conditions are met, the Company will invest these additional amounts in the entities.
Additionally, the Company owns noncontrolling interests in funds whose purpose is to invest in community developments. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the Company's investment in these funds totaled $138 million and $63 million, respectively, and the Company's maximum exposure to loss on its equity investments, which is comprised of its investments in the funds plus any additional unfunded equity commitments, was $217 million and $110 million, respectively.
When the Company owns both the limited partner and general partner interests or acts as the indemnifying party, the Company consolidates the entities. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, total assets, which consist primarily of fixed assets and cash, attributable to the consolidated non-VIE partnerships were $151 million and $239 million, respectively, and total liabilities, excluding intercompany liabilities, primarily representing third party borrowings, were $58 million and $100 million, respectively.
During 2012, the Company decided to sell certain consolidated affordable housing properties, and accordingly, recorded an impairment charge to adjust the carrying values to their estimated net realizable values. Upon moving to held for sale, most of these affordable housing properties were sold during 2013 resulting in an aggregate gain recognized upon sale of $17 million. At December 31, 2013, market indicators remain consistent with the carrying values of the remaining properties to be sold and marketing efforts continue with an expected disposition in the first quarter of 2014.
Registered and Unregistered Funds Advised by RidgeWorth
RidgeWorth, a registered investment advisor and majority owned subsidiary of the Company, serves as the investment advisor for various private placement, common and collective funds, and registered mutual funds (collectively the “Funds”). The Company evaluates these Funds to determine if the Funds are VIEs. In February 2010, the FASB issued guidance that defers the application of the existing VIE consolidation guidance for investment funds meeting certain criteria. All of the registered and unregistered Funds advised by RidgeWorth meet the scope exception criteria, thus, are not evaluated for consolidation under the guidance. Accordingly, the Company continues to apply the consolidation guidance in effect prior to the issuance of the existing guidance to interests in funds that qualify for the deferral.
The Company has concluded that some of the Funds are VIEs. However, the Company has determined that it is not the primary beneficiary of these funds as the Company does not absorb a majority of the expected losses nor expected returns of the funds. The Company’s exposure to loss is limited to the investment advisor and other administrative fees it earns and if applicable, any equity investments. The total unconsolidated assets of these funds at December 31, 2013 and 2012, were $247 million and $372 million, respectively.
On December 11, 2013, it was publicly announced that the Company had reached a definitive agreement to sell RidgeWorth to an investor group led by a private equity fund managed by Lightyear Capital LLC. The sale is expected to close during the second quarter of 2014. See additional discussion of the planned sale in Note 20 , "Business Segment Reporting."