COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

To meet the financing needs of its customers, BancShares and its subsidiaries have financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit, standby letters of credit and recourse obligations on mortgage loans sold. These instruments involve elements of credit, interest rate or liquidity risk.

Commitments to extend credit are legally binding agreements to lend to customers. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of fees. Since many of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future liquidity requirements. Established credit standards control the credit risk exposure associated with these commitments. In some cases, BancShares requires that collateral be pledged to secure the commitment, including cash deposits, securities and other assets.

Standby letters of credit are commitments guaranteeing performance of a customer to a third party. Those commitments are primarily issued to support public and private borrowing arrangements, and the fair value of those commitments is not material. To mitigate its risk, BancShares’ credit policies govern the issuance of standby letters of credit. The credit risk related to the issuance of these letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loans to clients and, therefore, these letters of credit are collateralized when necessary.

The following table presents the commitments to extend credit and unfunded commitments as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017:



(Dollars in thousands)	March 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
Unused commitments to extend credit	$	9,994,802	$	9,629,365
Standby letters of credit	81,059		81,530
Unfunded commitments for investments in affordable housing projects	63,803		61,819

Affordable housing project investments were $134.4 million and $128.0 million as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, and are included in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Pursuant to standard representations and warranties relating to residential mortgage loan sales sold on a non-recourse basis, contingent obligations exist for various events that may occur following the loan sale. If underwriting or documentation deficiencies are discovered at any point in the life of the loan or if the loan fails to perform per the terms of the loan purchase agreement, typically within 180 days from the date of sale, the investor may require BancShares to repurchase the loan or to repay a portion of the sale proceeds. Other liabilities included reserves of $867 thousand and $882 thousand as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, for estimated losses arising from these standard representation and warranty provisions.

BancShares and various subsidiaries have been named as defendants in legal actions arising from their normal business activities in which damages in various amounts are claimed. BancShares is also exposed to litigation risk relating to the prior business activities of banks from which assets were acquired and liabilities assumed in the various merger transactions. Although the amount of any ultimate liability with respect to such matters cannot be determined, in the opinion of management, any such liability will not have a material effect on BancShares’ consolidated financial statements.