Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

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 involve elements of credit, interest rate or liquidity risk and include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit.

Commitments to extend credit are legally binding agreements to lend to customers. These commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of fees. Since many of these 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 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. 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 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 standby letters of credit as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019:


(Dollars in thousands)	June 30, 2020		December 31, 2019
Unused commitments to extend credit	$	11,705,547	$	10,682,378
Standby letters of credit	104,655		99,601

BancShares has investments in qualified affordable housing projects primarily for the purposes of fulfilling Community Reinvestment Act requirements and obtaining tax credits. Affordable housing project investments were $169.3 million and $167.8 million as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively, and were recorded in other assets. Unfunded commitments to fund future investments in affordable housing projects totaled $68.3 million and $70.0 million as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively, and were recorded in other liabilities.

BancShares and various subsidiaries have been named as defendants in legal actions arising from their normal business activities in which damages in various amounts were claimed. BancShares has also been 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.