Commitments and contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2025

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

14. Commitments and contingencies

In the normal course of business, various commitments and contingent liabilities are outstanding. The following table presents the Company's significant credit-related commitments. Certain of these commitments are not included in the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet.


(Dollars in millions)	September 30, 2025		December 31, 2024
Commitments to extend credit:
Commercial and industrial	$	35,781	$	31,521
Commercial real estate loans to be sold	1,074		479
Other commercial real estate	1,956		2,697
Residential real estate loans to be sold	329		190
Other residential real estate	757		517
Home equity lines of credit	7,906		7,933
Credit cards	6,486		6,087
Other	364		244
Standby letters of credit	2,271		2,260
Commercial letters of credit	75		58
Financial guarantees and indemnification contracts	4,552		4,335
Commitments to sell real estate loans	1,868		1,142

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to customers and generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses that may require payment of a fee. In addition to the amounts presented in the preceding table, the Company had discretionary funding commitments to commercial customers of $12.8 billion and $12.7 billion at September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively, that the Company had the unconditional right to cancel prior to funding. Standby and commercial letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Standby letters of credit generally are contingent upon the failure of the customer to perform according to the terms of the underlying contract with the third party, whereas commercial letters of credit are issued to facilitate commerce and typically result in the commitment being funded when the underlying transaction is consummated between the customer and a third party. The credit risk associated with commitments to extend credit and standby and commercial letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved with extending loans to customers and is subject to normal credit policies. Collateral may be obtained based on management's assessment of the customer's creditworthiness.

Financial guarantees and indemnification contracts are predominantly comprised of recourse obligations associated with sold loans and other guarantees and commitments. Included in financial guarantees and indemnification contracts are loan principal amounts sold with recourse in conjunction with the Company's involvement in the Fannie Mae DUS program. The Company's maximum credit risk for recourse associated with loans sold under this program totaled approximately $4.4 billion and $4.2 billion at September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively.

Since many loan commitments, standby letters of credit, and guarantees and indemnification contracts expire without being funded in whole or in part, the contract amounts are not necessarily indicative of future cash flows. As disclosed in note 4, the Company maintains a reserve for unfunded credit commitments, which is included in Accrued interest and other liabilities in its Consolidated Balance Sheet, for estimated credit losses related to such contracts.

The Company utilizes commitments to sell real estate loans to hedge exposure to changes in the fair value of real estate loans held for sale. Such commitments are accounted for as derivatives and along with commitments to originate real estate loans to be held for sale are recorded in the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet at estimated fair market value.

The Company is contractually obligated to repurchase previously sold residential real estate loans that do not ultimately meet investor sale criteria related to underwriting procedures or loan documentation. When required to do so, the Company may reimburse loan purchasers for losses incurred or may repurchase certain loans. The Company reduces residential mortgage banking revenues by an estimate for losses related to its obligations to loan purchasers. The amount of those charges is based on the volume of loans sold, the level of reimbursement requests received from loan purchasers and estimates of losses that may be associated with previously sold loans. At September 30, 2025, the Company's estimated obligation to loan purchasers was not material to the Company’s consolidated financial position.

At September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, the Company's remaining liability related to the FDIC special assessment was $75 million and $157 million, respectively. Such amounts are classified as Accrued interest and other liabilities in the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet. During the third quarter of 2025, the Company recorded a reduction of FDIC special assessment expense of $8 million related to the FDIC's updated loss estimates associated with certain failed banks. For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company recognized $34 million of FDIC special assessment expense. The FDIC has indicated that the amount of the special assessment may be adjusted in the future as its loss estimates change.

Legal proceedings and other matters

M&T and its subsidiaries are subject in the normal course of business to various pending and threatened legal proceedings and other matters in which claims for monetary damages are asserted. On an on-going basis management, after consultation with legal counsel, assesses the Company’s liabilities and contingencies in connection with such proceedings. For those matters where it is probable that the Company will incur losses and the amounts of the losses can be reasonably estimated, the Company records an expense and corresponding liability in its consolidated financial statements. Although not considered probable, the range of reasonably possible losses for pending or threatened litigation that can be estimated in the aggregate, beyond the existing recorded liability, was between $0 and $25 million at September 30, 2025.

For the following matter the Company does not believe an estimate of loss can be made at the date of this filing and, therefore, has not included any amount related thereto in its consolidated financial statements or in the estimated range of reasonably possible losses provided in the preceding paragraph.

Wilmington Trust, N.A.

On September 10, 2025, Tricolor Holdings, LLC, a subprime auto lender and used vehicle retailer which packaged loans into asset-backed securitizations, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy seeking to liquidate its business. Certain financial institutions have reported credit impairments in the third quarter of 2025 related to alleged fraudulent

activity with respect to Tricolor Holdings, LLC asset-backed financing arrangements. It has also been reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the conduct of Tricolor Holdings, LLC, including potential double pledging of collateral. Neither Wilmington Trust, N.A. nor M&T Bank have any loans or loan commitments outstanding to Tricolor Holdings, LLC.

Wilmington Trust, N.A. served in certain corporate custodian and trust capacities for multiple Tricolor Holdings, LLC warehouse facilities and asset-backed securitization transactions from 2018 through 2025. Such capacities varied from transaction to transaction and were generally service provider roles performed under the relevant transaction documents. In response to recent events, Wilmington Trust, N.A. is in the process of reviewing the transactions.

The facts and circumstances of the Tricolor Holdings, LLC bankruptcy and its alleged fraudulent activities are still being learned and the extent of damages, if any, to parties participating in the warehouse facilities and asset-backed securitization transactions are not known. The Company believes it is probable that litigation will arise as a result of these events, but at the current time it is not possible to estimate any potential legal or other liability of Wilmington Trust, N.A. as a result of its capacities in the warehouse facilities and asset-backed securitization transactions.