Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

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Commitments and Contingencies
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
In the normal course of business, the Corporation enters into a number of off-balance sheet commitments. These commitments expose the Corporation to varying degrees of credit and market risk and are subject to the same credit and market risk
limitation reviews as those instruments recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. For more information on commitments and contingencies, see Note 12 – Commitments and Contingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Credit Extension Commitments
The Corporation enters into commitments to extend credit such as loan commitments, standby letters of credit (SBLCs) and commercial letters of credit to meet the financing needs of its customers. The following table includes the notional amount of unfunded legally binding lending commitments net of amounts distributed (i.e., syndicated or participated) to other financial institutions. The distributed amounts were $9.9 billion and $10.3 billion at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023. The carrying value of the Corporation’s credit extension commitments at both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, excluding commitments accounted for under the fair value option, was $1.2 billion, which predominantly related to the reserve for unfunded lending commitments. The carrying value of these commitments is classified in accrued expenses and other liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet.
Legally binding commitments to extend credit generally have specified rates and maturities. Certain of these commitments have adverse change clauses that help to protect the Corporation against deterioration in the borrower’s ability to pay.
The table below includes the notional amount of commitments of $3.1 billion and $2.6 billion at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 that are accounted for under the fair value option. However, the table excludes the cumulative net fair value for these commitments of $78 million and $67 million
at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, which is classified in accrued expenses and other liabilities. For more information regarding the Corporation’s loan commitments accounted for under the fair value option, see Note 15 – Fair Value Option.
Credit Extension Commitments
Expire in One
Year or Less		 Expire After One
Year Through
Three Years		 Expire After Three Years Through
Five Years		 Expire After
Five Years		 Total
(Dollars in millions) March 31, 2024
Notional amount of credit extension commitments          
Loan commitments (1)
$ 126,573  $ 204,468  $ 186,416  $ 18,739  $ 536,196 
Home equity lines of credit 3,197  9,591  10,738  22,019  45,545 
Standby letters of credit and financial guarantees (2)
21,663  8,933  2,935  521  34,052 
Letters of credit 958  202  79  52  1,291 
Other commitments (3)
17  36  112  1,051  1,216 
Legally binding commitments 152,408  223,230  200,280  42,382  618,300 
Credit card lines (4)
451,123  —  —  —  451,123 
Total credit extension commitments $ 603,531  $ 223,230  $ 200,280  $ 42,382  $ 1,069,423 
  December 31, 2023
Notional amount of credit extension commitments          
Loan commitments (1)
$ 124,298  $ 198,818  $ 193,878  $ 15,386  $ 532,380 
Home equity lines of credit 2,775  9,182  11,195  21,975  45,127 
Standby letters of credit and financial guarantees (2)
21,067  9,633  2,693  652  34,045 
Letters of credit 873  207  66  29  1,175 
Other commitments (3)
17  50  108  1,035  1,210 
Legally binding commitments 149,030  217,890  207,940  39,077  613,937 
Credit card lines (4)
440,328  —  —  —  440,328 
Total credit extension commitments $ 589,358  $ 217,890  $ 207,940  $ 39,077  $ 1,054,265 
(1)     At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, $4.3 billion and $3.1 billion of these loan commitments were held in the form of a security.
(2) The notional amounts of SBLCs and financial guarantees classified as investment grade and non-investment grade based on the credit quality of the underlying reference name within the instrument were $24.0 billion and $9.3 billion at March 31, 2024, and $23.6 billion and $9.7 billion at December 31, 2023. Amounts in the table include consumer SBLCs of $795 million and $744 million at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.
(3)     Primarily includes second-loss positions on lease-end residual value guarantees.
(4)     Includes business card unused lines of credit.
Other Commitments
At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Corporation had commitments to purchase loans (e.g., residential mortgage and commercial real estate) of $432 million and $822 million, which upon settlement will be included in trading account assets, loans or LHFS, and commitments to purchase commercial loans of $1.2 billion and $420 million, which upon settlement will be included in trading account assets.
At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Corporation had commitments to enter into resale and forward-dated resale and securities borrowing agreements of $142.9 billion and $117.0 billion, and commitments to enter into forward-dated repurchase and securities lending agreements of $121.9 billion and $63.0 billion. A significant portion of these commitments will expire within the next 12 months.
At both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Corporation had a commitment to originate or purchase up to $4.0 billion on a rolling 12-month basis, of auto loans and leases from a strategic partner. This commitment extends through November 2026 and can be terminated with 12 months prior notice.
At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Corporation had unfunded equity investment commitments of $473 million and $477 million.
As a Federal Reserve member bank, the Corporation is required to subscribe to a certain amount of shares issued by its Federal Reserve district bank, which pays cumulative dividends at a prescribed rate. At both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Corporation had paid $5.4 billion for half of its subscribed shares, with the remaining half subject to
call by the Federal Reserve district bank board, which the Corporation believes is remote.
Other Guarantees
Bank-owned Life Insurance Book Value Protection
The Corporation sells products that offer book value protection to insurance carriers who offer group life insurance policies to corporations, primarily banks. At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the notional amount of these guarantees totaled $3.5 billion and $3.8 billion. At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Corporation’s maximum exposure related to these guarantees totaled $527 million and $577 million, with estimated maturity dates between 2033 and 2037.
Merchant Services
The Corporation in its role as merchant acquirer or as a sponsor of other merchant acquirers may be held liable for any reversed charges that cannot be collected from the merchants due to, among other things, merchant fraud or insolvency. If charges are properly reversed after a purchase and cannot be collected from either the merchants or merchant acquirers, the Corporation may be held liable for these reversed charges. The ability to reverse a charge is primarily governed by the applicable payment network rules and regulations, which include, but are not limited to, the type of charge, type of payment used and time limits. The total amount of transactions subject to reversal under payment network rules and regulations processed for the preceding six-month period, which was approximately $324 billion, is an estimate of the Corporation’s maximum potential exposure as of March 31, 2024. The Corporation’s risk in this
area primarily relates to circumstances where a cardholder has purchased goods or services for future delivery. The Corporation mitigates this risk by requiring cash deposits, guarantees, letters of credit or other types of collateral from certain merchants. The Corporation’s reserves for contingent losses, and the losses incurred related to the merchant processing activity were not significant.
Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees
For more information on representations and warranties obligations and corporate guarantees, see Note 12 – Commitments and Contingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The reserve for representations and warranties obligations and corporate guarantees was $305 million and $604 million at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 and is included in accrued expenses and other liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet, and the related provision is included in other income in the Consolidated Statement of Income. The representations and warranties reserve represents the Corporation’s best estimate of incurred losses, is based on its experience in previous negotiations, and is subject to judgment, a variety of assumptions and known or unknown uncertainties. Future representations and warranties losses may occur in excess of the amounts recorded for these exposures; however, the Corporation does not expect such amounts to be material to the Corporation's financial condition and liquidity. See Litigation and Regulatory Matters below for the Corporation's combined range of possible loss in excess of the reserve for representations and warranties and the accrued liability for litigation.
Fixed Income Clearing Corporation Sponsored Member Repo Program
The Corporation acts as a sponsoring member in a repo program whereby the Corporation clears certain eligible resale and repurchase agreements through the Government Securities Division of the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation on behalf of clients that are sponsored members in accordance with the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation’s rules. As part of this program, the Corporation guarantees the payment and performance of its sponsored members to the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation. The Corporation’s guarantee obligation is secured by a security interest in cash or high-quality securities collateral placed by clients with the clearinghouse and therefore, the potential for the Corporation to incur significant losses under this arrangement is remote. The Corporation’s maximum potential exposure, without taking into consideration the related collateral, was $104.2 billion and $132.5 billion at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.
Other Guarantees
In the normal course of business, the Corporation periodically guarantees the obligations of its affiliates in a variety of transactions including ISDA-related transactions and non-ISDA related transactions such as commodities trading, repurchase agreements, prime brokerage agreements and other transactions.
Guarantees of Certain Long-term Debt
The Corporation, as the parent company, fully and unconditionally guarantees the securities issued by BofA Finance LLC, a consolidated finance subsidiary of the Corporation, and effectively provides for the full and
unconditional guarantee of trust securities and capital securities issued by certain statutory trust companies that are 100 percent owned finance subsidiaries of the Corporation.
Other Contingencies
During the first quarter of 2024, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) increased its estimate of the loss to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) arising from the closures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The estimated loss to the DIF will be recovered through the collection of a special assessment from certain insured depository institutions. Accordingly, the Corporation recorded a pretax charge of $700 million in other general operating expenses to increase its accrual to $2.8 billion for the Corporation’s estimated share of the FDIC special assessment. The Corporation’s share of the special assessment will remain subject to change as new information or updates to the estimated loss to the DIF become available.
Litigation and Regulatory Matters
The following disclosures supplement the disclosure in Note 12 – Commitments and Contingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K (the prior commitments and contingencies disclosure).
In the ordinary course of business, the Corporation and its subsidiaries are routinely defendants in or parties to many pending and threatened legal, regulatory and governmental actions and proceedings. In view of the inherent difficulty of predicting the outcome of such matters, particularly where the claimants seek very large or indeterminate damages or where the matters present novel legal theories or involve a large number of parties, the Corporation generally cannot predict the eventual outcome of the pending matters, timing of the ultimate resolution of these matters, or eventual loss, fines or penalties related to each pending matter.
As a matter develops, the Corporation, in conjunction with any outside counsel handling the matter, evaluates whether such matter presents a loss contingency that is probable and estimable, and, for the matters disclosed in the prior commitments and contingencies disclosure, whether a loss in excess of any accrued liability is reasonably possible in future periods. Once the loss contingency is deemed to be both probable and estimable, the Corporation will establish an accrued liability and record a corresponding amount of litigation-related expense. The Corporation continues to monitor the matter for further developments that could affect the amount of the accrued liability that has been previously established. Excluding expenses of internal and external legal service providers, litigation and regulatory investigation-related expense of $97 million and $89 million was recognized for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.
For any matter disclosed in the prior commitments and contingencies disclosure for which a loss in future periods is reasonably possible and estimable (whether in excess of an accrued liability or where there is no accrued liability) and for representations and warranties exposures, the Corporation’s estimated range of possible loss is $0 to $0.8 billion in excess of the accrued liability, if any, as of March 31, 2024.
The accrued liability and estimated range of possible loss are based upon currently available information and subject to significant judgment, a variety of assumptions and known and unknown uncertainties. The matters underlying the accrued liability and estimated range of possible loss are unpredictable and may change from time to time, and actual losses may vary significantly from the current estimate and accrual. The
estimated range of possible loss does not represent the Corporation’s maximum loss exposure.
Information is provided in the prior commitments and contingencies disclosure regarding the nature of the litigation and, where specified, associated claimed damages. Based on current knowledge, and taking into account accrued liabilities, management does not believe that loss contingencies arising from pending matters, including the matters described in the prior commitments and contingencies disclosure, will have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial condition or liquidity of the Corporation. However, in light of the significant judgment, variety of assumptions and uncertainties involved in those matters, some of which are beyond the Corporation’s control, and the very large or indeterminate damages sought in some of those matters, an adverse outcome in one or more of those matters could be material to the Corporation’s business or results of operations for any particular reporting period, or cause significant reputational harm.