The Corporation utilizes a variety of financial instruments in the normal course of business to meet the financial needs of its customers and to manage its own exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. These financial instruments include lending-related and other commitments (see below) as well as derivative instruments (see Note 9). The following is a summary of lending-related commitments:


($ in thousands)	Mar 31, 2024		Dec 31, 2023
Commitments to extend credit, excluding commitments to originate residential mortgage loans held for sale(a)(b)	$	10,828,869	$	11,170,147
Commercial letters of credit(a)	4,580		3,697
Standby letters of credit(c)	230,396		212,029

(a) These off-balance sheet financial instruments are exercisable at the market rate prevailing at the date the underlying transaction will be completed and, thus, are deemed to have no current fair value, or the fair value is based on fees currently charged to enter into similar agreements and was not material at March 31, 2024 or December 31, 2023.

As a financial services provider, the Corporation routinely enters into commitments to extend credit. Such commitments are subject to the same credit policies and approval process accorded to loans made by the Corporation, with each customer’s creditworthiness evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require the payment of a fee. The Corporation’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to these financial instruments is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Corporation upon extension of credit, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the customer. Since a significant portion of commitments to extend credit are subject to specific restrictive loan covenants or may expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash flow requirements. An allowance for unfunded commitments is maintained at a level believed by management to be sufficient to absorb expected lifetime losses related to unfunded commitments (including unfunded loan commitments and letters of credit).

The following table presents a summary of the changes in the allowance for unfunded commitments:


($ in thousands)	Three Months Ended March 31, 2024		Year Ended December 31, 2023
Allowance for unfunded commitments
Balance at beginning of period	$	34,776	$	38,776


Provision for unfunded commitments	(3,000)		(4,000)

Balance at end of period	$	31,776	$	34,776

Lending-related commitments include commitments to extend credit, commitments to originate residential mortgage loans held for sale, commercial letters of credit, and standby letters of credit. Commitments to extend credit are legally binding agreements to lend to customers at predetermined interest rates, as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contracts. Interest rate lock commitments to originate residential mortgage loans held for sale and forward commitments to sell residential mortgage loans are considered derivative instruments, and the fair value of these commitments is recorded in other assets and accrued expenses and other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. The Corporation’s derivative and hedging activity is further described in Note 9. Commercial and standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Commercial letters of credit are issued specifically to facilitate commerce and typically result in the commitment being drawn on when the underlying transaction is consummated between the customer and the third party, while standby letters of credit generally are contingent upon the failure of the customer to perform according to the terms of the underlying contract with the third party.

The Corporation invests in qualified affordable housing projects, historic projects, new market projects, and opportunity zone funds for the purpose of community reinvestment and obtaining tax credits and other tax benefits. Return on the Corporation's investment in these projects and funds comes in the form of the tax credits and tax losses that pass through to the Corporation, and deferral or elimination of capital gain recognition for tax purposes. The aggregate carrying value of these investments at March 31, 2024 was $215 million, compared to $219 million at December 31, 2023, included in tax credit and other investments on the consolidated balance sheets. The Corporation utilizes the proportional amortization method to account for investments in qualified affordable housing projects.

Under the proportional amortization method, the Corporation amortizes the initial cost of the investment in proportion to the tax credits and other tax benefits. The Corporation recognized additional income tax expense attributable to the amortization of investments in qualified affordable housing projects of $9 million for both the three months ended March 31, 2024 and

The Corporation’s unfunded equity contributions relating to investments in qualified affordable housing and historic projects are recorded in accrued expenses and other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. The Corporation’s remaining unfunded equity contributions totaled $31 million at March 31, 2024 and $27 million at December 31, 2023. Additionally, at March 31, 2024, the Corporation also invests in a private SBA loan fund, recorded in equity securities on the consolidated balance sheets, the purpose of which is to identify CRA qualifying loans within a target region, which has a remaining unfunded equity contribution of $3 million.

The Corporation has principal investment commitments to provide capital-based financing to private companies through either direct investment in specific companies or through investment funds and partnerships. The timing of future cash requirements to fund such principal investment commitments is generally dependent on the investment cycle, whereby privately held companies are funded by private equity investors and ultimately sold, merged, or taken public through an initial offering, which can vary based on overall market conditions, as well as the nature and type of industry in which the companies operate. The Corporation also invests in loan pools that support CRA loans. The timing of future cash requirements to fund these pools is dependent upon loan demand, which can vary over time. The aggregate carrying value of these investments was $40 million at both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, included in tax credit and other investments on the consolidated balance sheets.

The Corporation is party to various pending and threatened claims and legal proceedings arising in the normal course of business activities, some of which involve claims for substantial amounts. Although there can be no assurance as to the ultimate outcomes, the Corporation believes it has meritorious defenses to the claims asserted against it in its currently outstanding matters and intends to continue to defend itself vigorously with respect to such legal proceedings. The Corporation will consider settlement of cases when, in management’s judgment, it is in the best interests of the Corporation and its shareholders.

On at least a quarterly basis, the Corporation assesses its liabilities and contingencies in connection with all pending or threatened claims and litigation, utilizing the most recent information available. On a matter by matter basis, an accrual for loss is established for those matters which the Corporation believes it is probable that a loss may be incurred and that the amount of such loss can be reasonably estimated. Once established, each accrual is adjusted as appropriate to reflect any subsequent developments. Accordingly, management’s estimate will change from time to time, and actual losses may be more or less than the current estimate. For matters where a loss is not probable, or the amount of the loss cannot be estimated, no accrual is established.

Resolution of legal claims is inherently unpredictable, and in many legal proceedings various factors exacerbate this inherent unpredictability, including where the damages sought are unsubstantiated or indeterminate, it is unclear whether a case brought as a class action will be allowed to proceed on that basis, discovery is not complete, the proceeding is not yet in its final stages, the matters present legal uncertainties, there are significant facts in dispute, there are a large number of parties (including where it is uncertain how liability, if any, will be shared among multiple defendants), or there is a wide range of potential results.

Management believes that the legal proceedings currently pending against it should not have a material adverse effect on the Corporation’s consolidated financial condition. However, in light of the uncertainties involved in such proceedings, there is no assurance that the ultimate resolution of these matters will not significantly exceed the reserves the Corporation has currently accrued or that a matter will not have material reputational or other qualitative consequences. As a result, the outcome of a particular matter may be material to the Corporation’s operating results for a particular period, depending on, among other factors, the size of the loss or liability imposed and the level of the Corporation’s income for that period.

A variety of consumer products, including mortgage and deposit products, and certain fees and charges related to such products, have come under increased regulatory scrutiny. It is possible that regulatory authorities could bring enforcement actions, including civil money penalties, or take other actions against the Corporation in regard to these consumer products. The Bank could also determine of its own accord, or be required by regulators, to refund or otherwise make remediation payments to customers in connection with these products, fees and charges. It is not possible at this time for management to assess the probability of a material adverse outcome or reasonably estimate the amount of any potential loss related to such matters.

In recent consent orders with financial institutions, the CFPB has asserted that certain overdraft charges constitute “unfair and abusive acts and practices.” In certain instances, these financial institutions have agreed to make restitution to customers and to pay civil money penalties. Included in the practices that the CFPB has asserted are “unfair and abusive” are 1) overdraft fees on transactions that had a sufficient balance at the time authorized but then later settled with an insufficient balance (“APSN Fees”), and 2) repeat insufficient funds fees on transactions resubmitted for payment after they were initially declined (“Representment Fees”). In light of these orders, the Corporation has undertaken a review of its current and past practices regarding APSN Fees and Representment Fees. Such review could result in changes to our overdraft fee policies, which would reduce our fee income in future periods and which could also result in a decision to make remediation payments to current and past customers who incurred such fees. The Corporation’s financial results may be materially impacted in any period in which the Corporation determines to make any such remediation payments. In addition to the review described above, the Corporation received an arbitration request in July 2023 which, among other things, sought to recover APSN Fees and Representment Fees on behalf of approximately 1,400 current and former deposit customers of the Corporation (the “arbitration request”). After mediation of the arbitration request, a settlement of up to $2.1 million including attorneys' fees was concluded in February 2024.

The Corporation sells residential mortgage loans to investors in the normal course of business. Residential mortgage loans sold to others are predominantly conventional residential first lien mortgages originated under the Corporation's usual underwriting procedures, and are most often sold on a nonrecourse basis, primarily to the GSEs. The Corporation’s agreements to sell residential mortgage loans in the normal course of business usually require certain representations and warranties on the underlying loans sold, related to credit information, loan documentation, collateral, and insurability. Subsequent to being sold, if a material underwriting deficiency or documentation defect is discovered, the Corporation may be obligated to repurchase the loan or reimburse the GSEs for losses incurred (collectively, “make whole requests”). The make whole requests and any related risk of loss under the representations and warranties are largely driven by borrower performance. The Corporation also sells qualifying residential mortgage loans guaranteed by U.S. government agencies into GNMA pools.

As a result of make whole requests, the Corporation has repurchased loans with aggregate principal balances of $1 million and $5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and the year ended December 31, 2023, respectively. There were no loss reimbursement and settlement claims paid in the three months ended March 31, 2024 or for the year ended December 31, 2023. Make whole requests since January 1, 2023 generally arose from loans originated since January 1, 2021 with such balances totaling $3.9 billion at the time of sale, consisting primarily of loans sold to GSEs. As of March 31, 2024, $3.3 billion of those loans originated since January 1, 2021 remain outstanding.

The balance in the mortgage repurchase reserve at the balance sheet date reflects the estimated amount of potential loss the Corporation could incur from repurchasing a loan, as well as loss reimbursements, indemnifications, and other settlement resolutions. The mortgage repurchase reserve, included in accrued expenses and other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets, was approximately $704,000 at March 31, 2024 and $835,000 at December 31, 2023.

The Corporation may also sell residential mortgage loans with limited recourse (limited in that the recourse period ends prior to the loan’s maturity, usually after certain time and/or loan paydown criteria have been met), whereby repurchase could be required if the loan had defined delinquency issues during the limited recourse periods. At both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, there were $15 million of residential mortgage loans sold with such recourse risk. There have been limited instances and immaterial historical losses on repurchases for recourse under the limited recourse criteria.

The Corporation has a subordinate position to the FHLB in the credit risk on residential mortgage loans it sold to the FHLB Mortgage Partnership Finance Traditional program in exchange for a monthly credit enhancement fee. The Corporation resumed selling loans to the FHLB with such credit risk retention in February 2024, but prior to that, had not sold any loans with this credit risk retention since February 2005. At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, there were $37 million and $16 million, respectively, of such residential mortgage loans with credit risk recourse, upon which there have been immaterial historical losses to the Corporation.