Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Securitizations and Other Variable Interest Entities

v3.5.0.2
Securitizations and Other Variable Interest Entities
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Securitizations and Other Variable Interest Entities
NOTE 6 – Securitizations and Other Variable Interest Entities

The Corporation utilizes VIEs in the ordinary course of business to support its own and its customers' financing and investing needs. The Corporation routinely securitizes loans and debt securities using VIEs as a source of funding for the Corporation and as a means of transferring the economic risk of the loans or debt securities to third parties. The assets are transferred into a trust or other securitization vehicle such that the assets are legally isolated from the creditors of the Corporation and are not available to satisfy its obligations. These assets can only be used to settle obligations of the trust or other securitization vehicle. The Corporation also administers, structures or invests in other VIEs including CDOs, investment vehicles and other entities. For more information on the Corporation's utilization of VIEs, see Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Principles and Note 6 – Securitizations and Other Variable Interest Entities to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation's 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The tables in this Note present the assets and liabilities of consolidated and unconsolidated VIEs at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, in situations where the Corporation has continuing involvement with transferred assets or if the Corporation otherwise has a variable interest in the VIE. The tables also present the Corporation's maximum loss exposure at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015 resulting from its involvement with consolidated VIEs and unconsolidated VIEs in which the Corporation holds a variable interest. The Corporation's maximum loss exposure is based on the unlikely event that all of the assets in the VIEs become worthless and incorporates not only potential losses associated with assets recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheet but also potential losses associated with off-balance sheet commitments such as unfunded liquidity commitments and other contractual arrangements. The Corporation's maximum loss exposure does not include losses previously recognized through write-downs of assets. As a result of new accounting guidance issued by the FASB, which was effective on January 1, 2016, the Corporation identified certain limited partnerships and similar entities that are now considered to be VIEs and are included in the unconsolidated VIE tables in this Note at September 30, 2016. The Corporation had a maximum loss exposure of $4.9 billion related to these VIEs, which had total assets of $13.4 billion.

The Corporation invests in asset-backed securities (ABS) issued by third-party VIEs with which it has no other form of involvement and enters into certain commercial lending arrangements that may also incorporate the use of VIEs to hold collateral. These securities and loans are included in Note 3 – Securities or Note 4 – Outstanding Loans and Leases. In addition, the Corporation uses VIEs such as trust preferred securities trusts in connection with its funding activities. For additional information, see Note 11 – Long-term Debt to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation's 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Corporation uses VIEs, such as common trust funds managed within GWIM, to provide investment opportunities for clients. These VIEs, which are generally not consolidated by the Corporation, as applicable, are not included in the tables in this Note.

Except as described below and in Note 6 – Securitizations and Other Variable Interest Entities to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation's 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Corporation did not provide financial support to consolidated or unconsolidated VIEs during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 or the year ended December 31, 2015 that it was not previously contractually required to provide, nor does it intend to do so.

First-lien Mortgage Securitizations

First-lien Mortgages

As part of its mortgage banking activities, the Corporation securitizes a portion of the first-lien residential mortgage loans it originates or purchases from third parties, generally in the form of RMBS guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, FNMA and FHLMC (collectively the GSEs), or Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) primarily in the case of FHA-insured and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-guaranteed mortgage loans. Securitization usually occurs in conjunction with or shortly after origination or purchase and the Corporation may also securitize loans held in its residential mortgage portfolio. In addition, the Corporation may, from time to time, securitize commercial mortgages it originates or purchases from other entities. The Corporation typically services the loans it securitizes. Further, the Corporation may retain beneficial interests in the securitization trusts including senior and subordinate securities and equity tranches issued by the trusts. Except as described below and in Note 7 – Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees, the Corporation does not provide guarantees or recourse to the securitization trusts other than standard representations and warranties.

The table below summarizes select information related to first-lien mortgage securitizations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015.

First-lien Mortgage Securitizations
 
 
 
Three Months Ended September 30
 
Residential Mortgage
 
 
 
Agency
 
Commercial Mortgage
(Dollars in millions)
2016
2015
 
2016
2015
Cash proceeds from new securitizations (1)
$
7,131

$
7,632

 
$
1,052

$
807

Gain on securitizations (2)
89

118

 
27

14

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nine Months Ended September 30
 
2016
2015
 
2016
2015
Cash proceeds from new securitizations (1)
$
18,580

$
22,304

 
$
3,031

$
5,695

Gain on securitizations (2)
322

475

 
18

46

(1) 
The Corporation transfers residential mortgage loans to securitizations sponsored by the GSEs or GNMA in the normal course of business and receives RMBS in exchange which may then be sold into the market to third-party investors for cash proceeds.
(2) 
A majority of the first-lien residential and commercial mortgage loans securitized are initially classified as LHFS and accounted for under the fair value option. Gains recognized on these LHFS prior to securitization, which totaled $149 million and $349 million, net of hedges, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 compared to $192 million and $623 million for the same periods in 2015, are not included in the table above.

In addition to cash proceeds as reported in the table above, the Corporation received securities with an initial fair value of $1.2 billion and $3.1 billion in connection with first-lien mortgage securitizations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 compared to $7.0 billion and $20.0 billion for the same periods in 2015. The receipt of these securities represents non-cash operating and investing activities and, accordingly, is not reflected on the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. All of these securities were initially classified as Level 2 assets within the fair value hierarchy. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, there were no changes to the initial classification.

The Corporation recognizes consumer MSRs from the sale or securitization of first-lien mortgage loans. Servicing fee and ancillary fee income on consumer mortgage loans serviced, including securitizations where the Corporation has continuing involvement, were $280 million and $868 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 compared to $307 million and $1.0 billion for the same periods in 2015. Servicing advances on consumer mortgage loans, including securitizations where the Corporation has continuing involvement, were $6.6 billion and $7.8 billion at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015. The Corporation may have the option to repurchase delinquent loans out of securitization trusts, which reduces the amount of servicing advances it is required to make. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, $684 million and $2.1 billion of loans were repurchased from first-lien securitization trusts primarily as a result of loan delinquencies or to perform modifications compared to $511 million and $2.4 billion for the same periods in 2015. The majority of these loans repurchased were FHA-insured mortgages collateralizing GNMA securities. For more information on MSRs, see Note 17 – Mortgage Servicing Rights.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Corporation deconsolidated agency residential mortgage securitization vehicles with total assets of $326 million and $3.1 billion following the sale of retained interests to third parties, after which the Corporation no longer had the unilateral ability to liquidate the vehicles. Gains on sale of $11 million and $125 million were recorded in other income in the Consolidated Statement of Income.
The table below summarizes select information related to first-lien mortgage securitization trusts in which the Corporation held a variable interest at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015.

First-lien Mortgage VIEs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Residential Mortgage
 
 
 
 
 
 
Non-agency
 
 
 
Agency
 
Prime
 
Subprime
 
Alt-A
 
Commercial Mortgage
(Dollars in millions)
September 30
2016
December 31
2015
 
September 30
2016
December 31
2015
 
September 30
2016
December 31
2015
 
September 30
2016
December 31
2015
 
September 30
2016
December 31
2015
Unconsolidated VIEs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Maximum loss exposure (1)
$
24,492

$
28,192

 
$
778

$
1,027

 
$
2,626

$
2,905

 
$
539

$
622

 
$
332

$
326

On-balance sheet assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Senior securities held (2):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trading account assets
$
1,345

$
1,297

 
$
14

$
42

 
$
54

$
94

 
$
84

$
99

 
$
29

$
59

Debt securities carried at fair value
19,322

24,369

 
478

613

 
2,274

2,479

 
315

340

 


Held-to-maturity securities
3,812

2,511

 


 


 


 
55

37

Subordinate securities held (2):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trading account assets


 
1

1

 
29

37

 
1

2

 
16

22

Debt securities carried at fair value


 
9

12

 
2

3

 
25

28

 
54

54

Held-to-maturity securities


 


 


 


 
13

13

Residual interests held


 


 


 


 
32

48

All other assets (3)
13

15

 
29

40

 


 
114

153

 


Total retained positions
$
24,492

$
28,192

 
$
531

$
708

 
$
2,359

$
2,613

 
$
539

$
622

 
$
199

$
233

Principal balance outstanding (4)
$
284,246

$
313,613

 
$
13,767

$
16,087

 
$
24,396

$
27,854

 
$
35,969

$
40,848

 
$
21,032

$
34,243

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated VIEs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Maximum loss exposure (1)
$
19,384

$
26,878

 
$
52

$
65

 
$
153

$
232

 
$

$

 
$

$

On-balance sheet assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trading account assets
$
383

$
1,101

 
$

$

 
$

$
188

 
$

$

 
$

$

Loans and leases (5)
18,562

25,328

 
83

111

 
572

675

 


 


All other assets
441

449

 
3


 
70

54

 


 


Total assets
$
19,386

$
26,878

 
$
86

$
111

 
$
642

$
917

 
$

$

 
$

$

On-balance sheet liabilities
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Long-term debt
$
2

$

 
$
34

$
46

 
$
613

$
840

 
$

$

 
$

$

All other liabilities
3

1

 


 


 


 


Total liabilities
$
5

$
1

 
$
34

$
46

 
$
613

$
840

 
$

$

 
$

$

(1) 
Maximum loss exposure includes obligations under loss-sharing reinsurance and other arrangements for non-agency residential mortgage and commercial mortgage securitizations, but excludes the liability for representations and warranties obligations and corporate guarantees and also excludes servicing advances and other servicing rights and obligations. For additional information, see Note 7 – Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees and Note 17 – Mortgage Servicing Rights.
(2) 
As a holder of these securities, the Corporation receives scheduled principal and interest payments. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, there were no OTTI losses recorded on those securities classified as AFS debt securities.
(3) 
Not included in the table above are all other assets of $326 million and $222 million, representing the unpaid principal balance of mortgage loans eligible for repurchase from unconsolidated residential mortgage securitization vehicles, principally guaranteed by GNMA, and all other liabilities of $326 million and $222 million, representing the principal amount that would be payable to the securitization vehicles if the Corporation was to exercise the repurchase option, at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015.
(4) 
Principal balance outstanding includes loans the Corporation transferred with which it has continuing involvement, which may include servicing the loans.
(5) 
Balance at September 30, 2016 includes $655 million from consolidated collateralized financing entities (CFE) that were measured using the fair value of the financial liabilities of those entities as the measurement basis.
Other Asset-backed Securitizations

The table below summarizes select information related to home equity loan, credit card and other asset-backed VIEs in which the Corporation held a variable interest at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015.

Home Equity Loan, Credit Card and Other Asset-backed VIEs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Home Equity Loan (1)
 
Credit Card (2, 3)
 
Resecuritization Trusts
 
Municipal Bond Trusts
 
Automobile and Other Securitization Trusts
(Dollars in millions)
September 30
2016
December 31
2015
 
September 30
2016
December 31
2015
 
September 30
2016
December 31
2015
 
September 30
2016
December 31
2015
 
September 30
2016
December 31
2015
Unconsolidated VIEs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Maximum loss exposure
$
3,338

$
3,988

 
$

$

 
$
10,200

$
13,046

 
$
1,760

$
1,572

 
$
49

$
63

On-balance sheet assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Senior securities held (4, 5):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trading account assets
$

$

 
$

$

 
$
670

$
1,248

 
$
26

$
2

 
$

$

Debt securities carried at fair value
48

57

 


 
2,585

4,341

 


 
49

53

Held-to-maturity securities


 


 
6,820

7,370

 


 


Subordinate securities held (4, 5):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trading account assets


 


 
55

17

 


 


Debt securities carried at fair value


 


 
71

70

 


 


All other assets


 


 


 


 

10

Total retained positions
$
48

$
57

 
$

$

 
$
10,201

$
13,046

 
$
26

$
2

 
$
49

$
63

Total assets of VIEs (6)
$
4,999

$
5,883

 
$

$

 
$
24,489

$
35,362

 
$
2,626

$
2,518

 
$
179

$
314

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated VIEs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Maximum loss exposure
$
163

$
231

 
$
25,101

$
32,678

 
$
180

$
354

 
$
1,770

$
1,973

 
$

$

On-balance sheet assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trading account assets
$

$

 
$

$

 
$
456

$
771

 
$
1,797

$
1,984

 
$

$

Loans and leases
263

321

 
34,872

43,194

 


 


 


Allowance for loan and lease losses
(16
)
(18
)
 
(1,060
)
(1,293
)
 


 


 


All other assets
6

20

 
283

342

 


 

1

 


Total assets
$
253

$
323

 
$
34,095

$
42,243

 
$
456

$
771

 
$
1,797

$
1,985

 
$

$

On-balance sheet liabilities
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Short-term borrowings
$

$

 
$

$

 
$

$

 
$
546

$
681

 
$

$

Long-term debt
123

183

 
8,977

9,550

 
276

417

 
12

12

 


All other liabilities


 
17

15

 


 
15


 


Total liabilities
$
123

$
183

 
$
8,994

$
9,565

 
$
276

$
417

 
$
573

$
693

 
$

$

(1) 
For unconsolidated home equity loan VIEs, the maximum loss exposure includes outstanding trust certificates issued by trusts in rapid amortization, net of recorded reserves. For both consolidated and unconsolidated home equity loan VIEs, the maximum loss exposure excludes the liability for representations and warranties obligations and corporate guarantees. For additional information, see Note 7 – Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees.
(2) 
At September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, loans and leases in the consolidated credit card trust included $17.3 billion and $24.7 billion of seller's interest.
(3) 
At September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, all other assets in the consolidated credit card trust included restricted cash, certain short-term investments, and unbilled accrued interest and fees.
(4) 
As a holder of these securities, the Corporation receives scheduled principal and interest payments. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, there were no OTTI losses recorded on those securities classified as AFS or HTM debt securities.
(5) 
The retained senior and subordinate securities were valued using quoted market prices or observable market inputs (Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy).
(6) 
Total assets include loans the Corporation transferred with which the Corporation has continuing involvement, which may include servicing the loan.

Home Equity Loans

The Corporation retains interests in home equity securitization trusts to which it transferred home equity loans. These retained interests include senior and subordinate securities and residual interests. In addition, the Corporation may be obligated to provide subordinate funding to the trusts during a rapid amortization event. The Corporation typically services the loans in the trusts. Except as described below and in Note 7 – Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees, the Corporation does not provide guarantees or recourse to the securitization trusts other than standard representations and warranties. There were no securitizations of home equity loans during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, and all of the home equity trusts that hold revolving home equity lines of credit have entered the rapid amortization phase.

The maximum loss exposure in the table above includes the Corporation's obligation to provide subordinate funding to the consolidated and unconsolidated home equity loan securitizations that have entered the rapid amortization phase. During this period, cash payments from borrowers are accumulated to repay outstanding debt securities and the Corporation continues to make advances to borrowers when they draw on their lines of credit. At September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, home equity loan securitizations in rapid amortization for which the Corporation has a subordinate funding obligation, including both consolidated and unconsolidated trusts, had $3.3 billion and $4.0 billion of trust certificates outstanding. The charges that will ultimately be recorded as a result of the rapid amortization events depend on the undrawn available credit on the home equity lines, performance of the loans, the amount of subsequent draws and the timing of related cash flows. Amounts actually funded by the Corporation totaled $1 million and $6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015.

Credit Card Securitizations

The Corporation securitizes originated and purchased credit card loans. The Corporation's continuing involvement with the securitization trust includes servicing the receivables, retaining an undivided interest (seller's interest) in the receivables, and holding certain retained interests including senior and subordinate securities, subordinate interests in accrued interest and fees on the securitized receivables, and cash reserve accounts. The seller's interest in the trust, which is pari passu to the investors' interest, is classified in loans and leases.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, $750 million and $2.3 billion of new senior debt securities were issued to third-party investors from the credit card securitization trust. There were no new senior debt securities issued to third-party investors for the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015.

The Corporation held subordinate securities issued by the credit card securitization trust with a notional principal amount of $7.5 billion at both September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015. These securities serve as a form of credit enhancement to the senior debt securities and have a stated interest rate of zero percent. There were $121 million and $371 million of these subordinate securities issued for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 compared to none for the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015.

Resecuritization Trusts

The Corporation transfers existing securities, typically MBS, into resecuritization vehicles at the request of customers seeking securities with specific characteristics. The Corporation may also resecuritize securities within its investment portfolio for purposes of improving liquidity and capital, and managing credit or interest rate risk. Generally, there are no significant ongoing activities performed in a resecuritization trust and no single investor has the unilateral ability to liquidate the trust.

The Corporation resecuritized $5.6 billion and $20.3 billion of securities during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 compared to $9.1 billion and $22.1 billion for the same periods in 2015. There were no resecuritizations of AFS debt securities during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015. Other securities transferred into resecuritization vehicles during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 were measured at fair value with changes in fair value recorded in trading account profits or other income prior to the resecuritization and no gain or loss on sale was recorded. Resecuritization proceeds included securities with an initial fair value of $430 million and $2.6 billion during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 compared to $3.5 billion and $5.2 billion for the same periods in 2015. All of these securities were classified as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy.

Municipal Bond Trusts

The Corporation administers municipal bond trusts that hold highly-rated, long-term, fixed-rate municipal bonds. The trusts obtain financing by issuing floating-rate trust certificates that reprice on a weekly or other short-term basis to third-party investors. The Corporation may transfer assets into the trusts and may also serve as remarketing agent and/or liquidity provider for the trusts. The floating-rate investors have the right to tender the certificates at specified dates. Should the Corporation be unable to remarket the tendered certificates, it may be obligated to purchase them at par under standby liquidity facilities. The Corporation also provides credit enhancement to investors in certain municipal bond trusts whereby the Corporation guarantees the payment of interest and principal on floating-rate certificates issued by these trusts in the event of default by the issuer of the underlying municipal bond.

The Corporation's liquidity commitments to unconsolidated municipal bond trusts, including those for which the Corporation was transferor, totaled $1.7 billion and $1.6 billion at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015. The weighted-average remaining life of bonds held in the trusts at September 30, 2016 was 6.2 years. There were no material write-downs or downgrades of assets or issuers during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015.
Automobile and Other Securitization Trusts

The Corporation transfers automobile and other loans into securitization trusts, typically to improve liquidity or manage credit risk. At September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Corporation serviced assets or otherwise had continuing involvement with automobile and other securitization trusts with outstanding balances of $179 million and $314 million, including trusts collateralized by other loans of $179 million and $189 million, and automobile loans of $0 and $125 million.

Other Variable Interest Entities


The table below summarizes select information related to other VIEs in which the Corporation held a variable interest at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015.

Other VIEs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
September 30, 2016
 
December 31, 2015
(Dollars in millions)
Consolidated
 
Unconsolidated
 
Total
 
Consolidated
 
Unconsolidated
 
Total
Maximum loss exposure
$
6,904

 
$
17,058

 
$
23,962

 
$
6,295

 
$
12,916

 
$
19,211

On-balance sheet assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trading account assets
$
3,063

 
$
438

 
$
3,501

 
$
2,300

 
$
366

 
$
2,666

Debt securities carried at fair value

 
84

 
84

 

 
126

 
126

Loans and leases
3,474

 
3,522

 
6,996

 
3,317

 
3,389

 
6,706

Allowance for loan and lease losses
(9
)
 
(29
)
 
(38
)
 
(9
)
 
(23
)
 
(32
)
Loans held-for-sale
209

 
921

 
1,130

 
284

 
1,025

 
1,309

All other assets
664

 
11,250

 
11,914

 
664

 
6,925

 
7,589

Total
$
7,401

 
$
16,186

 
$
23,587

 
$
6,556

 
$
11,808

 
$
18,364

On-balance sheet liabilities
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Long-term debt (1)
$
1,172

 
$

 
$
1,172

 
$
3,025

 
$

 
$
3,025

All other liabilities
3

 
2,746

 
2,749

 
5

 
2,697

 
2,702

Total
$
1,175

 
$
2,746

 
$
3,921

 
$
3,030

 
$
2,697

 
$
5,727

Total assets of VIEs
$
7,401

 
$
62,353

 
$
69,754

 
$
6,556

 
$
49,190

 
$
55,746


(1)
Includes $678 million and $2.8 billion of long-term debt at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015 issued by other consolidated VIEs, which has recourse to the general credit of the Corporation.

Customer Vehicles

Customer vehicles include credit-linked, equity-linked and commodity-linked note vehicles, repackaging vehicles, and asset acquisition vehicles, which are typically created on behalf of customers who wish to obtain market or credit exposure to a specific company, index, commodity or financial instrument. The Corporation may transfer assets to and invest in securities issued by these vehicles. The Corporation typically enters into credit, equity, interest rate, commodity or foreign currency derivatives to synthetically create or alter the investment profile of the issued securities.

The Corporation's maximum loss exposure to consolidated and unconsolidated customer vehicles totaled $3.7 billion and $3.9 billion at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, including the notional amount of derivatives to which the Corporation is a counterparty, net of losses previously recorded, and the Corporation's investment, if any, in securities issued by the vehicles. The maximum loss exposure has not been reduced to reflect the benefit of offsetting swaps with the customers or collateral arrangements. The Corporation also had liquidity commitments, including written put options and collateral value guarantees, with certain unconsolidated vehicles of $646 million and $691 million at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, that are included in the table above.

Collateralized Debt Obligation Vehicles

The Corporation receives fees for structuring CDO vehicles, which hold diversified pools of fixed-income securities, typically corporate debt or ABS, which the CDO vehicles fund by issuing multiple tranches of debt and equity securities. Synthetic CDOs enter into a portfolio of CDS to synthetically create exposure to fixed-income securities. CLOs, which are a subset of CDOs, hold pools of loans, typically corporate loans. CDOs are typically managed by third-party portfolio managers. The Corporation typically transfers assets to these CDOs, holds securities issued by the CDOs and may be a derivative counterparty to the CDOs, including a CDS counterparty for synthetic CDOs. The Corporation has also entered into total return swaps with certain CDOs whereby the Corporation absorbs the economic returns generated by specified assets held by the CDO.
The Corporation's maximum loss exposure to consolidated and unconsolidated CDOs totaled $819 million and $543 million at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015. This exposure is calculated on a gross basis and does not reflect any benefit from insurance purchased from third parties.

At September 30, 2016, the Corporation had $175 million of aggregate liquidity exposure, included in the Other VIEs table net of previously recorded losses, to unconsolidated CDOs which hold senior CDO debt securities or other debt securities on the Corporation's behalf.

Investment Vehicles

The Corporation sponsors, invests in or provides financing, which may be in connection with the sale of assets, to a variety of investment vehicles that hold loans, real estate, debt securities or other financial instruments and are designed to provide the desired investment profile to investors or the Corporation. At September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Corporation's consolidated investment vehicles had total assets of $970 million and $397 million. The Corporation also held investments in unconsolidated vehicles with total assets of $19.0 billion and $14.7 billion at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015. The Corporation's maximum loss exposure associated with both consolidated and unconsolidated investment vehicles totaled $5.8 billion and $5.1 billion at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015 comprised primarily of on-balance sheet assets less non-recourse liabilities.

In prior periods, the Corporation transferred servicing advance receivables to independent third parties in connection with the sale of MSRs. Portions of the receivables were transferred into unconsolidated securitization trusts. The Corporation retained senior interests in such receivables with a maximum loss exposure and funding obligation of $150 million and $150 million, including a funded balance of $84 million and $122 million at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, which were classified in other debt securities carried at fair value.

Leveraged Lease Trusts

The Corporation's net investment in consolidated leveraged lease trusts totaled $2.7 billion and $2.8 billion at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015. The trusts hold long-lived equipment such as rail cars, power generation and distribution equipment, and commercial aircraft. The Corporation structures the trusts and holds a significant residual interest. The net investment represents the Corporation's maximum loss exposure to the trusts in the unlikely event that the leveraged lease investments become worthless. Debt issued by the leveraged lease trusts is non-recourse to the Corporation.

Tax Credit Vehicles

The Corporation holds investments in unconsolidated limited partnerships and similar entities that construct, own and operate affordable housing, wind and solar projects. An unrelated third party is typically the general partner or managing member and has control over the significant activities of the vehicle. The Corporation earns a return primarily through the receipt of tax credits allocated to the projects. The maximum loss exposure included in the Other VIEs table was $10.8 billion at September 30, 2016 which includes the impact of the adoption of the new accounting guidance on determining whether limited partnerships and similar entities are VIEs. The maximum loss exposure included in this table was $6.5 billion at December 31, 2015 and primarily relates to affordable housing. The Corporation's risk of loss is generally mitigated by policies requiring that the project qualify for the expected tax credits prior to making its investment.

The Corporation's investments in affordable housing partnerships, which are reported in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheet, totaled $6.8 billion and $7.1 billion, including unfunded commitments to provide capital contributions of $2.2 billion and $2.4 billion at September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015. The unfunded commitments are expected to be paid over the next five years. The Corporation recognized tax credits and other tax benefits from investments in affordable housing partnerships of $337 million and $819 million, and reported pretax losses in other noninterest income of $200 million and $596 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016. For the same periods in 2015, the Corporation recognized tax credits and other benefits of $239 million and $727 million, and pretax losses of $153 million and $508 million. Tax credits are recognized as part of the Corporation's annual effective tax rate used to determine tax expense in a given quarter. Accordingly, the portion of a year's expected tax benefits recognized in any given quarter may differ from 25 percent. The Corporation may from time to time be asked to invest additional amounts to support a troubled affordable housing project. Such additional investments have not been and are not expected to be significant.