NOTE 10 - CERTAIN TRANSFERS OF FINANCIAL ASSETS AND VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

The Company has transferred loans and securities in sale or securitization transactions for which the Company retains certain beneficial interests, servicing rights, and/or recourse. These transfers of financial assets include certain residential mortgage loans, guaranteed student loans, and commercial and corporate loans, as discussed in the following section, "Transfers of Financial Assets." Cash receipts on beneficial interests held related to these transfers were $11 million, $12 million and $19 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively. The servicing fees related to these asset transfers (excluding servicing fees for residential and commercial mortgage loan transfers to GSEs, which are discussed in Note 9, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets”) were immaterial for each of the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015.

When a transfer or other transaction occurs with a VIE, the Company first determines whether it has a VI in the VIE. A VI is typically in the form of securities representing retained interests in transferred assets and, at times, servicing rights, and for commercial mortgage loans sold to Fannie Mae, the loss share guarantee. When determining whether to consolidate the VIE, the Company evaluates whether it is a primary beneficiary which has both (i) the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIE, and (ii) the obligation to absorb losses, or the right to receive benefits, that could potentially be significant to the VIE.

To determine whether a transfer should be accounted for as a sale or a secured borrowing, the Company evaluates whether: (i) the transferred assets are legally isolated, (ii) the transferee has the right to pledge or exchange the transferred assets, and (iii) the Company has relinquished effective control of the transferred assets. If all three conditions are met, then the transfer is accounted for as a sale.

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. No events occurred during the year ended December 31, 2017 that changed the Company’s previous conclusions regarding whether it is the primary beneficiary of the VIEs described herein. Furthermore, no events occurred during the year ended December 31, 2017 that changed the Company’s sale conclusion with regards to previously transferred residential mortgage loans, guaranteed student loans, or commercial and corporate loans.

Transfers of Financial Assets

The following discussion summarizes transfers of financial assets to entities for which the Company has retained some level of continuing involvement.

Consumer Loans

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, and servicing rights are retained.

The Company sold residential mortgage loans to Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, which resulted in pre-tax net gains of $213 million, $331 million, and $232 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively. Net gains/losses on the sale of residential mortgage LHFS are recorded at inception of the associated IRLCs and reflect the change in value of the loans resulting from changes in interest rates from the time the Company enters into the related IRLCs with borrowers until the loans are sold, but do not include the results of hedging activities initiated by the Company to mitigate this market risk. See Note 17, "Derivative Financial Instruments," for further discussion of the Company's hedging activities. The Company has made certain representations and warranties with respect to the transfer of these loans. See Note 16, “Guarantees,” for additional information regarding representations and warranties.

In a limited number of securitizations, the Company has received securities in addition to cash in exchange for the transferred loans, while also retaining servicing rights. The securities received are measured at fair value and classified as securities AFS. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, the fair value of securities received totaled $22 million and $30 million, respectively.

The Company evaluates securitization entities in which it has a VI for potential consolidation under the VIE consolidation model. Notwithstanding the Company's role as servicer, the Company typically does not have power over the securitization entities as a result of rights held by the master servicer. In certain transactions, the Company does have power as the servicer, but does not have an obligation to absorb losses, or the right to receive benefits, that could potentially be significant. In all such cases, the Company does not consolidate the securitization entity. Total assets of the unconsolidated entities in which the Company has a VI were $147 million and $203 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The Company’s maximum exposure to loss related to these unconsolidated residential mortgage loan securitizations is comprised of the loss of value of any interests it retains, which was $22 million and $30 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and any repurchase obligations or other losses it incurs as a result of any guarantees related to these securitizations, which is discussed further in Note 16, “Guarantees.”

Guaranteed Student Loans

The Company has securitized government-guaranteed student loans through a transfer of loans to a securitization entity and retained the residual interest in the entity. The Company concluded that this entity should be consolidated because the Company has (i) the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIE and (ii) the obligation to absorb losses, and the right to receive benefits, that could potentially be significant. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets reflected $192 million and $225 million of assets held by the securitization entity and $189 million and $222 million of debt issued by the entity, respectively, inclusive of related accrued interest.

To the extent that the securitization entity incurs losses on its assets, the securitization entity has recourse to the guarantor of the underlying loan, which is backed by the Department of Education up to a maximum guarantee of 98%, or in the event of death, disability, or bankruptcy, 100%. When not fully guaranteed, losses 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 servicing responsibilities, the Company, which functions as the master servicer, may be required to repurchase the defaulted loan(s) at par value. If the breach was caused by the subservicer, the Company would seek reimbursement from the subservicer up to the guaranteed amount. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss related to the securitization entity would arise from a breach of its servicing responsibilities. To date, loss claims filed with the guarantor that have been denied due to servicing errors have either been, or are in the process of, being cured, or reimbursement has been provided to the Company by the subservicer, or in limited cases, absorbed by the Company.

Commercial and Corporate Loans

In connection with the Pillar acquisition completed in December 2016, the Company acquired licenses and approvals to originate and sell certain commercial mortgage loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to originate FHA insured loans, and to issue and sell Ginnie Mae commercial MBS secured by FHA insured loans. The Company transferred commercial loans to these Agencies and GSEs, which resulted in pre-tax net gains of $37 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. No associated gains or losses were recognized for the year ended December 31, 2016. The loans are exchanged for cash or securities that are readily redeemable for cash, with servicing rights retained. The Company has made certain representations and warranties with respect to the transfer of these loans and has entered into a loss share guarantee related to certain loans transferred to Fannie Mae. See Note 16, “Guarantees,” for additional information regarding the commercial mortgage loan loss share guarantee.

The Company's total managed loans, including the LHFI portfolio and other transferred loans (securitized and unsecuritized), are presented in the following table by portfolio balance and delinquency status (accruing loans 90 days or more past due and all nonaccrual loans) at December 31, 2017 and 2016, as well as the related net charge-offs for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016.



	Portfolio Balance				Past Due and Nonaccrual				Net Charge-offs
	December 31, 2017		December 31, 2016		December 31, 2017		December 31, 2016		Year Ended December 31
(Dollars in millions)	December 31, 2017		December 31, 2016		December 31, 2017		December 31, 2016		2017			2016
LHFI portfolio:
Commercial		$75,477		$78,224		$247		$426		$127			$252
Consumer	67,704		65,074		1,832		1,707		240			231
Total LHFI portfolio	143,181		143,298		2,079		2,133		367			483
Managed securitized loans ¹:
Commercial ²	5,760		4,761		—		—		—			—
Consumer	134,160		127,153		171		115		8		³	11		³
Total managed securitized loans	139,920		131,914		171		115		8			11
Managed unsecuritized loans ⁴	2,200		2,985		340		438		—			—
Total managed loans		$285,301		$278,197		$2,590		$2,686		$375			$494

¹ Excludes loans that have completed the foreclosure or short sale process (i.e., involuntary prepayments).

² Comprised of commercial mortgages sold through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae securitizations, whereby servicing has been retained by the Company.

³ Amounts associated with $602 million and $922 million of managed securitized loans at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Net charge-off data is not reported to the Company for the remaining balance of $133.6 billion and $126.2 billion of managed securitized loans at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

⁴ Comprised of unsecuritized loans the Company originated and sold to private investors with servicing rights retained. Net charge-offs on these loans are not presented in the table as the data is not reported to the Company by the private investors that own these related loans.

Other Variable Interest Entities

In addition to exposure to VIEs arising from transfers of financial assets, the Company also has involvement with VIEs from other business activities.

Total Return Swaps

The Company facilitates matched book TRS transactions on behalf of clients, whereby a VIE purchases reference assets identified by a client and the Company enters into a TRS with the VIE, with a mirror-image TRS facing the client. The TRS contract between the VIE and the Company hedges the Company's exposure to the TRS contract with its third party client. The Company provides senior financing to the VIE, in the form of demand notes to fund the purchase of the reference assets. The TRS contracts pass through interest and other cash flows on the reference assets to the third party clients, along with exposing those clients to decreases in value 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 margin collateral, in addition to ongoing margin as the fair values of the underlying reference assets change.

The Company evaluated the related VIEs for consolidation, noting that the Company and its third party clients are VI holders. 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 VIEs were designed for the benefit of the third parties and would not exist if the Company did not enter into the TRS contracts on their behalf. The activities of the VIEs are restricted to buying and selling the reference assets and the risks/benefits of any such assets owned by the VIEs are passed to the third party clients via the TRS contracts. The Company determined that it is not the primary beneficiary of the VIEs, as the design of its matched book TRS business results in the Company having no substantive power to direct the significant activities of the VIEs, and therefore, the VIEs are not consolidated.

At December 31, 2017 and 2016, the outstanding notional amounts of the Company's VIE-facing TRS contracts were $1.7 billion and $2.1 billion, and related senior financing outstanding to VIEs were $1.7 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively. These financings were measured at fair value and classified within Trading assets and derivative instruments on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company entered into client-facing TRS contracts of the same outstanding notional amounts. The notional amounts of the TRS contracts with VIEs represent the Company’s maximum exposure to loss, although this exposure has been mitigated via the TRS contracts with third party clients. For additional information on the Company’s TRS contracts and its involvement with these VIEs, see Note 17, “Derivative Financial Instruments.”

Community Development Investments

As part of its community reinvestment initiatives, the Company invests in multi-family affordable housing developments and other community development entities as a limited partner and/or a debt provider. The Company receives tax credits for its limited partner investments. The Company has determined that the majority of the related partnerships are VIEs.

The Company has concluded that it is not the primary beneficiary of affordable housing partnerships when it invests as a limited partner and there is a third party general partner. The investments are accounted for in accordance with the accounting guidance for investments in affordable housing projects. The general partner, or an affiliate of the general partner, often provides guarantees to the limited partner, which protects the Company from construction and operating losses and tax credit allocation deficits. Assets of $2.3 billion and $1.7 billion in these and other community development partnerships were not included in the Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The Company's limited partner interests had carrying values of $1.1 billion and $780 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and are recorded in Other assets on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss for these investments totaled $1.4 billion and $1.1 billion at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss would result from the loss of its limited partner investments, net of liabilities, along with $350 million and $306 million of loans, interest-rate swap fair value exposures, or letters of credit issued by the Company to the entities at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The remaining exposure to loss is primarily attributable to unfunded equity commitments that the Company is required to fund if certain conditions are met.

The Company also owns noncontrolling interests in funds whose purpose is to invest in community developments. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company's investment in these funds totaled $278 million and $200 million, respectively. The Company's maximum exposure to loss on its investment in these funds is comprised of its equity investments in the funds, loans issued, and any additional unfunded equity commitments, which totaled $643 million and $562 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

During the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, the Company recognized $108 million, $92 million, and 68 million of tax credits for qualified affordable housing projects, and $109 million, $87 million, and $66 million of amortization on these qualified affordable housing projects, respectively. These tax credits and amortization, net of the related tax benefits, are recorded in the Provision for income taxes.

Certain of the Company's community development investments do not qualify as affordable housing projects for accounting purposes. The Company recognized tax credits for these investments of $90 million, $64 million, and $53 million during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively, in the Provision for income taxes. Amortization recognized on these investments totaled $70 million, $46 million, and $35 million during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively, recorded in Amortization in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Income.