Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments

The Corporation is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers.

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee by the customer or obligor. Since some of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitments to extend credit do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The Corporation evaluates each customer's creditworthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral, if any, obtained upon extension of credit is based on management's credit evaluation of the customer. Collateral held varies but may include accounts receivable, inventory, property, equipment and income-producing commercial properties.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to guarantee the financial or performance obligation of a customer to a third party. Commercial letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to facilitate foreign and domestic trade transactions for customers. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is similar to that involved in extending loan facilities. These obligations are underwritten consistent with commercial lending standards. The maximum exposure to loss for standby and commercial letters of credit is equal to the contractual (or notional) amount of the instruments.

The Corporation records a reserve for unfunded lending commitments, included in ACL - OBS credit exposures, which represents management’s estimate of credit losses associated with unused commitments to extend credit and letters of credit. As of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the ACL - OBS credit exposures for unfunded lending commitments was $11.0 million and $9.1 million, respectively. See "Note 5 - Loans and Allowance for Credit Losses," for additional details.

The following table presents the Corporation's commitments to extend credit and letters of credit:


	September 30, 2022		December 31, 2021
	(in thousands)
Commitments to extend credit	$	8,552,736	$	8,731,168
Standby letters of credit	267,247		298,275
Commercial letters of credit	51,852		54,196

Residential Lending

The Corporation originates and sells residential mortgages to secondary market investors. The Corporation provides customary representations and warranties to secondary market investors that specify, among other things, that the loans have been underwritten to the standards of the secondary market investor. The Corporation may be required to repurchase specific loans, or reimburse the investor for a credit loss incurred on a sold loan if it is determined that the representations and warranties have not been met. Under some agreements with secondary market investors, the Corporation may have additional credit exposure beyond customary representations and warranties, based on the specific terms of those agreements.

The Corporation maintains a reserve for estimated losses related to loans sold to investors. As of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the total reserve for losses on residential mortgage loans sold was $1.3 million and $1.1 million, respectively, including reserves for both representation and warranty and credit loss exposures. In addition, a component of ACL - OBS credit exposures of $6.3 million and $3.8 million, as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively, related to additional credit exposures for potential loan repurchases.

Legal Proceedings

The Corporation is involved in various pending and threatened claims and other legal proceedings in the ordinary course of its business activities. The Corporation evaluates the possible impact of these matters, taking into consideration the most recent information available. A loss reserve is established for those matters for which the Corporation believes a loss is both probable and reasonably estimable. Once established, the reserve is adjusted as appropriate to reflect any subsequent developments. Actual losses with respect to any such matter may be more or less than the amount estimated by the Corporation. For matters where a loss is not probable, or the amount of the loss cannot be reasonably estimated by the Corporation, no loss reserve is established.

In addition, from time to time, the Corporation is involved in investigations or other forms of regulatory or governmental inquiry covering a range of possible issues and, in some cases, these may be part of similar reviews of the specified activities of other companies. These inquiries or investigations could lead to administrative, civil or criminal proceedings involving the Corporation, and could result in fines, penalties, restitution, other types of sanctions, or the need for the Corporation to undertake remedial actions, or to alter its business, financial or accounting practices. The Corporation's practice is to cooperate fully with regulatory and governmental inquiries and investigations.

As of the date of this report, the Corporation believes that any liabilities, individually or in the aggregate, that may result from the final outcomes of pending legal proceedings, or regulatory or governmental inquiries or investigations, will not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition of the Corporation. However, legal proceedings, inquiries and investigations are often unpredictable, and it is possible that the ultimate resolution of any such matters, if unfavorable, may be material to the Corporation's results of operations in any future period, depending, in part, upon the size of the loss or liability imposed and the

operating results for the period, and could have a material adverse effect on the Corporation's business. In addition, regardless of the ultimate outcome of any such legal proceeding, inquiry or investigation, any such matter could cause the Corporation to incur additional expenses, which could be significant, and possibly material, to the Corporation's results of operations in any future period.

Kress v. Fulton Bank, N.A.

On October 15, 2019, a former Fulton Bank teller supervisor, D. Kress, filed a putative collective and class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and other teller supervisors, tellers, and other similar non-exempt employees in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, D. Kress v. Fulton Bank, N.A., Case No. 1:19-cv-18985. Fulton Bank accepted summons without a formal service of process on January 20, 2020. The lawsuit alleges that Fulton Bank did not record or otherwise account for the amount of time D. Kress and putative collective and class members spent conducting branch opening security procedures. The allegation is that, as a result, Fulton Bank did not properly compensate those employees for their regular and overtime wages. The lawsuit alleges that by doing so, Fulton violated: (i) the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and seeks back overtime wages for a period of three years, liquidated damages and attorney fees and costs; (ii) the New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law and seeks back overtime wages for a period of six years, treble damages and attorney fees and costs; and (iii) the New Jersey Wage Payment Law and seeks back wages for a period of six years, treble damages and attorney fees and costs. The lawsuit also asserts New Jersey common law claims seeking compensatory damages and interest. The Corporation and counsel representing plaintiffs ("Plaintiffs' Counsel") reached and executed a formal Settlement Agreement to resolve this lawsuit. Plaintiffs' Counsel filed a Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class and Collective Settlement and Provisional Certification of Settlement Class and Collective ("the Motion") with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ("the Court"). On June 30, 2022, the Court granted the Motion and scheduled a hearing for final approval of the Settlement Agreement and matters related thereto for November 2, 2022. On November 2, 2022, the Court granted final approval of the Settlement Agreement and matters related thereto and dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice. The financial terms of the Settlement Agreement are not material to the Corporation. The Corporation established an accrued liability during the third quarter of 2020 for the costs expected to be incurred in connection with the Settlement Agreement. The accrued liability is included in "other liabilities" on the consolidated balance sheets.