Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Loans, Notes and Mortgages

 v2.3.0.11
Loans, Notes and Mortgages
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2011
Loans, Notes and Mortgages [Abstract]  
Loans, Notes and Mortgages
 
Note 10.  Loans, Notes and Mortgages
 
Loans, notes, mortgages and related commitments to extend credit include:
 
  •  Consumer loans, which are substantially secured, including residential mortgages, home equity loans, and other loans to individuals for household, family, or other personal expenditures; and
 
  •  Commercial loans, including corporate and institutional loans (including corporate and financial sponsor, non-investment grade lending commitments), commercial mortgages, asset-backed loans, small- and middle-market business loans, and other loans to businesses.
 
The table below presents information on Merrill Lynch’s loans outstanding at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010.
 
                                                                 
Age Analysis of Outstanding Loans
(dollars in millions)
    June 30, 2011
                    Total Current
      Loans
   
    30-59 Days
  60-89 Days
  90 Days or more
  Total Past
  or Less Than
  Nonperforming
  Measured at
  Total
    Past Due   Past Due   Past Due   Due   30 Days Past Due   Loans(1)   Fair Value   Outstanding
 
 
Consumer loans
                                                               
Residential mortgage
  $ 10     $ 5     $ -     $ 15     $ 436     $ 30     $ -     $ 481  
Home equity
    1       -       -       1       120       4       -       125  
                                                                 
Total consumer
    11       5       -       16       556       34       -       606  
                                                                 
Commercial
                                                               
Commercial — U.S. 
    -       -       1       1       4,747       139       -       4,887  
Commercial real estate
    -       -       -       -       1,278       206       -       1,484  
Commercial — non-U.S. 
    -       -       1       1       3,014       74       -       3,089  
                                                                 
Total commercial loans
    -       -       2       2       9,039       419       -       9,460  
Commercial loans measured at fair value
    -       -       -       -       -       -       422       422  
                                                                 
Total commercial
    -       -       2       2       9,039       419       422       9,882  
                                                                 
Other(2)
    -       -       -       -       13,459       -       -       13,459  
                                                                 
Total loans
  $ 11     $ 5     $ 2     $ 18     $ 23,054     $ 453     $ 422     $ 23,947  
                                                                 
Allowance for loan losses
                                                            (64 )
                                                                 
Total loans, net
                                                          $ 23,883  
                                                                 
 
 
 
                                                                 
Age Analysis of Outstanding Loans
(dollars in millions)
    December 31, 2010
                    Total Current
      Loans
   
    30-59 Days
  60-89 Days
  90 Days or more
  Total Past
  or Less Than
  Nonperforming
  Measured at
  Total
    Past Due   Past Due   Past Due   Due   30 Days Past Due   Loans(1)   Fair Value   Outstanding
 
 
Consumer loans
                                                               
Residential mortgage
  $ 15     $ 8     $ -     $ 23     $ 451     $ 30     $ -     $ 504  
Home equity
    1               -       1       126       5       -       132  
                                                                 
Total consumer
    16       8       -       24       577       35       -       636  
                                                                 
Commercial
                                                               
Commercial — U.S. 
    1       1       19       21       5,591       210       -       5,822  
Commercial real estate
    -       -       -       -       1,632       212       -       1,844  
Commercial — non-U.S. 
    -       -       -       -       2,824       161       -       2,985  
                                                                 
Total commercial loans
    1       1       19       21       10,047       583       -       10,651  
Commercial loans measured at fair value
    -       -       -       -       -       -       318       318  
                                                                 
Total commercial
    1       1       19       21       10,047       583       318       10,969  
                                                                 
Other(3)
    -       -       -       -       14,368       -       -       14,368  
                                                                 
Total loans
  $ 17     $ 9     $ 19     $ 45     $ 24,992     $ 618     $ 318     $ 25,973  
                                                                 
Allowance for loan losses
                                                            (170 )
                                                                 
Total loans, net
                                                          $ 25,803  
                                                                 
 
 
(1) Excludes loans measured at fair value.
(2) Includes asset-backed loans and loans held-for-sale of $9.7 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively, as of June 30, 2011.
(3) Includes asset-backed loans and loans held-for-sale of $9.2 billion and $5.2 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2010.
 
Merrill Lynch monitors the credit quality of its loans on an ongoing basis. Merrill Lynch’s commercial loans are evaluated using pass rated or reservable criticized as the primary credit quality indicator. The term reservable criticized refers to those commercial loans that are internally classified or listed by Merrill Lynch as special mention, substandard or doubtful. These assets pose an elevated risk and may have a high probability of default or total loss. Pass rated refers to all loans not considered reservable criticized. The table below presents credit quality indicators on Merrill Lynch’s commercial loan portfolio, excluding loans accounted for under the fair value option, at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010.
 
                         
(dollars in millions)
    June 30, 2011
    Commercial —
  Commercial
  Commercial —
    U.S.   Real Estate   non-U.S.
 
 
Risk Ratings
                       
Pass rated
  $ 4,565     $ 1,341     $ 2,812  
Reservable criticized
    322       143       277  
                         
Total Commercial Credit
  $ 4,887     $ 1,484     $ 3,089  
                         
 
 
 
                         
(dollars in millions)
    December 31, 2010
    Commercial —
  Commercial
  Commercial —
    U.S.   Real Estate   non-U.S.
 
 
Risk Ratings
                       
Pass rated
  $ 5,192     $ 1,582     $ 2,581  
Reservable criticized
    630       262       404  
                         
Total Commercial Credit
  $ 5,822     $ 1,844     $ 2,985  
                         
 
 
 
Activity in the allowance for loan losses, which is primarily associated with commercial loans, is presented below:
 
                 
(dollars in millions)
    Six Months Ended
  Six Months Ended
    June 30, 2011   June 30, 2010
 
 
Allowance for loan losses, at beginning of period
  $ 170     $ 33  
Provision for loan losses
    (28 )     81  
Charge-offs
    (80 )     (62 )
Recoveries
    1       -  
                 
Net charge-offs
    (79 )     (62 )
Other
    1       2  
                 
Allowance for loan losses, at end of period
  $ 64     $ 54  
                 
 
 
 
Consumer loans, substantially all of which are collateralized, consisted of approximately 25,000 individual loans at June 30, 2011. Commercial loans consisted of approximately 6,000 separate loans.
 
Merrill Lynch’s outstanding loans include $3.6 billion and $5.2 billion of loans held for sale at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively. Loans held for sale are loans that Merrill Lynch expects to sell prior to maturity. At June 30, 2011, such loans consisted of $0.9 billion of consumer loans, primarily residential mortgages, and $2.7 billion of commercial loans. At December 31, 2010, such loans consisted of $1.7 billion of consumer loans, primarily residential mortgages, and $3.5 billion of commercial loans.
 
Merrill Lynch generally maintains collateral on secured loans in the form of securities, liens on real estate, perfected security interests in other assets of the borrower, and guarantees. Consumer loans are typically collateralized by liens on real estate and other property. Commercial secured loans primarily include asset-based loans secured by financial assets such as loan receivables and trade receivables where the amount of the loan is based on the level of available collateral (i.e., the borrowing base) and commercial mortgages secured by real property. In addition, for secured commercial loans related to the corporate and institutional lending business, Merrill Lynch typically receives collateral in the form of either a first or second lien on the assets of the borrower or the stock of a subsidiary, which gives Merrill Lynch a priority claim in the case of a bankruptcy filing by the borrower. In many cases, where a security interest in the assets of the borrower is granted, no restrictions are placed on the use of assets by the borrower and asset levels are not typically subject to periodic review; however, the borrowers are typically subject to stringent debt covenants. Where the borrower grants a security interest in the stock of its subsidiary, the subsidiary’s ability to issue additional debt is typically restricted.
 
In some cases, Merrill Lynch enters into single name and index credit default swaps to mitigate credit exposure related to funded and unfunded commercial loans. The notional value of these swaps totaled $2.7 billion and $2.9 billion at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively.
 
The following tables provide information regarding Merrill Lynch’s net credit default protection associated with its funded and unfunded commercial loans as of June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010:
 
                 
Net Credit Default Protection by Maturity Profile
    June 30,
  December 31,
    2011   2010
 
 
Less than or equal to one year
    23 %     23 %
Greater than one year and less than or equal to five years
    76       67  
Greater than five years
    1       10  
                 
Total net credit default protection
    100 %     100 %
                 
 
 
 
                                 
Net Credit Default Protection by Credit Exposure Debt Rating
(dollars in millions)
    June 30, 2011   December 31, 2010
    Net
      Net
   
Ratings(1)   Notional   Percent   Notional   Percent
 
 
AA
  $ (285 )     10.6 %   $ (450 )     15.5 %
A
    (1,071 )     39.9       (1,029 )     35.3  
BBB
    (688 )     25.6       (655 )     22.5  
BB
    (262 )     9.8       (359 )     12.3  
B
    (194 )     7.2       (224 )     7.7  
CCC and below
    (187 )     6.9       (194 )     6.7  
                                 
Total net credit default protection
  $ (2,687 )     100.0 %   $ (2,911 )     100.0 %
                                 
 
 
(1) Merrill Lynch considers ratings of BBB- or higher to meet the definition of investment grade.
 
Accounting for Acquired Impaired Loans
 
Upon completion of the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, Merrill Lynch adjusted the carrying value of its loans to fair value. Certain of these loans were subject to the requirements of Acquired Impaired Loan Accounting, which addresses accounting for differences between contractual cash flows and cash flows expected to be collected from an investor’s initial investment in loans if those differences are attributable, at least in part, to credit quality. Acquired Impaired Loan Accounting requires impaired loans to be recorded at estimated fair value and prohibits “carrying over” or the creation of valuation allowances in the initial accounting for loans acquired in a transfer that are within the scope of Acquired Impaired Loan Accounting.
 
The estimated fair values for loans within the scope of Acquired Impaired Loan Accounting are determined by discounting cash flows expected to be collected using a discount rate for similar instruments with adjustments that management believes a market participant would consider in determining fair value. Cash flows expected to be collected at acquisition are estimated using internal prepayment, interest rate and credit risk models that incorporate management’s best estimate of certain key assumptions, such as default rates, loss severity and prepayment speeds. All other loans were remeasured at the present value of contractual payments discounted to the prevailing interest rates on the date of acquisition.
 
Under Acquired Impaired Loan Accounting, the excess of cash flows expected at acquisition over the estimated fair value is referred to as the accretable yield and is recognized in interest income over the remaining life of the loans. The difference between contractually required payments at acquisition and the cash flows expected to be collected at acquisition is referred to as the nonaccretable difference. Changes in the expected cash flows from the date of acquisition will either impact the accretable yield or result in a charge to the provision for credit losses. Subsequent decreases to expected principal cash flows will result in a charge to provision for credit losses and a corresponding increase to allowance for loan losses. Subsequent increases in expected principal cash flows will result in recovery of any previously recorded allowance for loan losses, to the extent applicable, and an increase from expected cash flows to accretable yield for any remaining increase. All changes in expected interest cash flows will result in an increase or decrease of accretable yield.
 
In connection with Merrill Lynch’s acquisition by Bank of America, loans within the scope of Acquired Impaired Loan Accounting had an unpaid principal balance of $5.6 billion ($2.7 billion consumer and $2.9 billion commercial) and a carrying value of $4.2 billion ($2.3 billion consumer and $1.9 billion commercial) as of January 1, 2009. The loans within the scope of Acquired Impaired Loan Accounting, which are primarily commercial real estate loans, had an unpaid principal balance of $0.6 billion and $0.7 billion as of June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively, and a carrying value of $0.2 billion as of June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010.