Commitments, Contingent Liabilities and Guarantees

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments, Contingent Liabilities and Guarantees

22. Commitments, Contingent Liabilities, and Guarantees

Commitments to Extend Credit or Funding

Loan commitments provide for financing on predetermined terms as long as the client continues to meet specified criteria. These agreements generally carry variable rates of interest and have fixed expiration dates or termination clauses. We typically charge a fee for our loan commitments. Since a commitment may expire without resulting in a loan, our aggregate outstanding commitments may significantly exceed our eventual cash outlay.

Loan commitments involve credit risk not reflected on our balance sheet. We mitigate exposure to credit risk with internal controls that guide how we review and approve applications for credit, establish credit limits and, when necessary, demand collateral. In particular, we evaluate the creditworthiness of each prospective borrower on a case-by-case basis and, when appropriate, adjust the allowance for credit losses on lending-related commitments. Additional information pertaining to this allowance is included in Note 1 (“Summary of Significant Accounting Policies”) under the heading “Liability for Credit Losses on Lending-Related Commitments,” and in Note 5 (“Asset Quality”).

We also provide financial support to private equity investments, including existing direct portfolio companies and indirect private equity funds, to satisfy unfunded commitments. These unfunded commitments are not recorded on our balance sheet. Additional information on principal investing commitments is provided in Note 6 (“Fair Value Measurements”). Other unfunded equity investment commitments at December 31, 2019, and December 31, 2018, related to tax credit investments and were primarily attributable to LIHTC investments. Unfunded tax credit investment commitments are recorded on our balance sheet in “other liabilities.” Additional information on LIHTC commitments is provided in Note 13 (“Variable Interest Entities”).

The following table shows the remaining contractual amount of each class of commitment related to extending credit or funding principal investments as of December 31, 2019, and December 31, 2018. For loan commitments and commercial letters of credit, this amount represents our maximum possible accounting loss on the unused commitment if the borrower were to draw upon the full amount of the commitment and subsequently default on payment for the total amount of the then outstanding loan.

December 31, in millions	2019		2018
Loan commitments:
Commercial and other	$	45,323	$	42,653
Commercial real estate and construction	2,961		2,691
Home equity	9,945		9,982
Credit cards	6,560		6,152
Total loan commitments	64,789		61,478
Commercial letters of credit	91		86
Purchase card commitments	729		621
Principal investing commitments	21		26
Tax credit investment commitments	547		520
Total loan and other commitments	$	66,177	$	62,731

Legal Proceedings

Litigation. From time to time, in the ordinary course of business, we and our subsidiaries are subject to various litigation, investigations, and administrative proceedings. Private, civil litigations may range from individual actions involving a single plaintiff to putative class action lawsuits with potentially thousands of class members. Investigations may involve both formal and informal proceedings, by both government agencies and self-regulatory bodies. These matters may involve claims for substantial monetary relief. At times, these matters may present novel claims or legal theories. Due to the complex nature of these various other matters, it may be years before some matters are resolved. While it is impossible to ascertain the ultimate resolution or range of financial liability, based on information presently known to us, we do not believe there is any matter to which we are a party, or involving any of our properties that, individually or in the aggregate, would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. We continually monitor and reassess the potential materiality of these litigation matters. We note, however, that in light of the inherent uncertainty in legal proceedings there can be no assurance that the ultimate resolution will not exceed established reserves. As a result, the outcome of a particular matter, or a combination of matters, may be material to our results of operations for a particular period, depending upon the size of the loss or our income for that particular period.

Guarantees

We are a guarantor in various agreements with third parties. The following table shows the types of guarantees that we had outstanding at December 31, 2019. Information pertaining to the basis for determining the liabilities recorded in connection with these guarantees is included in Note 1 (“Summary of Significant Accounting Policies”) under the heading “Contingencies and Guarantees.”

December 31, 2019	Maximum Potential Undiscounted Future Payments		Liability Recorded
in millions
Financial guarantees:
Standby letters of credit	$	3,303	$	72
Recourse agreement with FNMA	4,862		7
Residential mortgage reserve	1,825		7
Written put options (a)	2,446		32
Total	$	12,436	$	118

(a) The maximum potential undiscounted future payments represent notional amounts of derivatives qualifying as guarantees.

We determine the payment/performance risk associated with each type of guarantee described below based on the probability that we could be required to make the maximum potential undiscounted future payments shown in the preceding table. We use a scale of low (0% to 30% probability of payment), moderate (greater than 30% to 70% probability of payment), or high (greater than 70% probability of payment) to assess the payment/performance risk, and have determined that the payment/performance risk associated with each type of guarantee outstanding at December 31, 2019, is low.

Standby letters of credit. KeyBank issues standby letters of credit to address clients’ financing needs. These instruments obligate us to pay a specified third party when a client fails to repay an outstanding loan or debt instrument or fails to perform some contractual nonfinancial obligation. Any amounts drawn under standby letters of credit are treated as loans to the client; they bear interest (generally at variable rates) and pose the same credit risk

to us as a loan. At December 31, 2019, our standby letters of credit had a remaining weighted-average life of 2 years, with remaining actual lives ranging from less than 1 year to as many as 15 years.

Recourse agreement with FNMA. We participate as a lender in the FNMA Delegated Underwriting and Servicing program. FNMA delegates responsibility for originating, underwriting, and servicing mortgages, and we assume a limited portion of the risk of loss during the remaining term on each commercial mortgage loan that we sell to FNMA. We maintain a reserve for such potential losses in an amount that we believe approximates the fair value of our liability. At December 31, 2019, the outstanding commercial mortgage loans in this program had a weighted-average remaining term of 7.7 years, and the unpaid principal balance outstanding of loans sold by us as a participant was $16.5 billion. The maximum potential amount of undiscounted future payments that we could be required to make under this program, as shown in the preceding table, is equal to approximately 30% of the principal balance of loans outstanding at December 31, 2019. If we are required to make a payment, we would have an interest in the collateral underlying the related commercial mortgage loan; any loss we incur could be offset by the amount of any recovery from the collateral.

Residential Mortgage Banking. We often originate and sell residential mortgage loans and retain the servicing rights. Our loan sales activity is generally conducted through loan sales in a secondary market sponsored by FNMA and FHLMC and through the issuance of GNMA mortgage backed securities. Subsequent to the sale of mortgage loans, we do not typically retain any interest in the underlying loans except through our relationship as the servicer of the loans.

As is customary in the mortgage banking industry, we, or banks we have acquired, have made certain representations and warranties related to the sale of residential mortgage loans (including loans sold with servicing rights released) and to the performance of our obligations as servicer. The breach of any such representations or warranties could result in losses for us. Our maximum exposure to loss is equal to the outstanding principal balance of the sold loans; however, any loss would be reduced by any payments received on the loans or through the sale of collateral.

At December 31, 2019, the unpaid principal balance outstanding of loans sold by us was $6.1 billion. The maximum potential amount of undiscounted future payments that we could be required to make under this program, as shown in the preceding table, is equal to approximately 30% of the principal balance of loans outstanding at December 31, 2019. 

Our liability for estimated repurchase obligations on loans sold, which is included in other liabilities on our balance sheet, was $7 million at December 31, 2019.

Written put options. In the ordinary course of business, we “write” put options for clients that wish to mitigate their exposure to changes in interest rates and commodity prices. At December 31, 2019, our written put options had an average life of three years. These instruments are considered to be guarantees, as we are required to make payments to the counterparty (the client) based on changes in an underlying variable that is related to an asset, a liability, or an equity security that the client holds. We are obligated to pay the client if the applicable benchmark interest rate or commodity price is above or below a specified level (known as the “strike rate”). These written put options are accounted for as derivatives at fair value, as further discussed in Note 8 (“Derivatives and Hedging Activities”). We mitigate our potential future payment obligations by entering into offsetting positions with third parties.

Written put options where the counterparty is a broker-dealer or bank are accounted for as derivatives at fair value but are not considered guarantees since these counterparties typically do not hold the underlying instruments. In addition, we are a purchaser and seller of credit derivatives, which are further discussed in Note 8.

Default guarantees. Some lines of business participate in guarantees that obligate us to perform if the debtor (typically a client) fails to satisfy all of its payment obligations to third parties. We generally undertake these guarantees for one of two possible reasons: (i) either the risk profile of the debtor should provide an investment return, or (ii) we are supporting our underlying investment in the debtor. We do not hold collateral for the default guarantees. If we were required to make a payment under a guarantee, we would receive a pro rata share should the third party collect some or all of the amounts due from the debtor. At December 31, 2019, we had less than $1 million of default guarantees.

Other Off-Balance Sheet Risk

Other off-balance sheet risk stems from financial instruments that do not meet the definition of a guarantee as specified in the applicable accounting guidance, and from other relationships.

Indemnifications provided in the ordinary course of business. We provide certain indemnifications, primarily through representations and warranties in contracts that we execute in the ordinary course of business in connection with loan and lease sales and other ongoing activities, as well as in connection with purchases and sales of businesses. We maintain reserves, when appropriate, with respect to liability that reasonably could arise as a result of these indemnities.

Intercompany guarantees. KeyCorp, KeyBank, and certain of our affiliates are parties to various guarantees that facilitate the ongoing business activities of other affiliates. These business activities encompass issuing debt, assuming certain lease and insurance obligations, purchasing or issuing investments and securities, and engaging in certain leasing transactions involving clients.