CULLEN/FROST BANKERS, INC.CFR
CULLEN/FROST BANKERS, INC. Commitments Disclosure
Off-Balance-Sheet Arrangements, Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies
Financial Instruments with Off-Balance-Sheet Risk. In the normal course of business, we enter into various transactions, which, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, are not included in our consolidated balance sheets. We enter into these transactions to meet the financing needs of our customers. These transactions include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit, which involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk and interest rate risk in excess of the amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets. We minimize our exposure to loss under these commitments by subjecting them to credit approval and monitoring procedures.
We enter into contractual commitments to extend credit, normally with fixed expiration dates or termination clauses, at specified rates and for specific purposes. Substantially all of our commitments to extend credit are contingent upon customers maintaining specific credit standards at the time of loan funding. Standby letters of credit are written conditional commitments issued by us to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. In the event the customer does not perform in accordance with the terms of the agreement with the third party, we would be required to fund the commitment. The maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make is represented by the contractual amount of the commitment. If the commitment were funded, we would be entitled to seek recovery from the customer. Our policies generally require that standby letter of credit arrangements contain security and debt covenants similar to those contained in loan agreements.
We consider the fees collected in connection with the issuance of standby letters of credit to be representative of the fair value of our obligation undertaken in issuing the guarantee. In accordance with applicable accounting standards related to guarantees, we defer fees collected in connection with the issuance of standby letters of credit. The fees are then recognized in income proportionately over the life of the standby letter of credit agreement. The deferred standby letter of credit fees represent the fair value of our potential obligations under the standby letter of credit guarantees.
Year-end financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk are presented in the following table. Commitments and standby letters of credit are presented at contractual amounts; however, since many of these commitments are expected to expire unused or only partially used, the total amounts of these commitments do not necessarily reflect future cash requirements.
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Commitments to extend credit | $ | 12,046,520 | $ | 12,195,073 | |||||||
| Standby letters of credit | 449,176 | 438,635 | |||||||||
| Deferred standby letter of credit fees | 3,071 | 2,912 | |||||||||
Allowance For Credit Losses - Off-Balance-Sheet Credit Exposures. The allowance for credit losses on off-balance-sheet credit exposures is a liability account, calculated in accordance with ASC 326, representing expected credit losses over the contractual period for which we are exposed to credit risk resulting from a contractual obligation to extend credit. No allowance is recognized if we have the unconditional right to cancel the obligation. Off-balance-sheet credit exposures primarily consist of amounts available under outstanding lines of credit and letters of credit detailed in the table above. For the period of exposure, the estimate of expected credit losses considers both the likelihood that funding will occur and the amount expected to be funded over the estimated remaining life of the commitment or other off-balance-sheet exposure. The likelihood and expected amount of funding are based on historical utilization rates. The amount of the allowance represents management's best estimate of expected credit losses on commitments expected to be funded over the contractual life of the commitment.
Estimating credit losses on amounts expected to be funded uses the same methodology as described for loans in Note 3 - Loans as if such commitments were funded. This methodology was also impacted by the model updates during 2024 and 2023, as described in Note 3 - Loans. For 2024, the overall approximate impact of the model updates was a $1.8 million increase in modeled expected credit losses for off-balance-sheet credit exposures ($1.6 million related to consumer and other loan commitments and $211 thousand related to non-owner-occupied commercial real estate loan commitments). For 2023, the overall approximate impact of the model updates was a $19.0 million decrease in modeled expected credit losses for off-balance-sheet credit exposures, though the impact of this decrease was largely offset with discretionary qualitative adjustments.
The following table details activity in the allowance for credit losses on off-balance-sheet credit exposures.
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||
Beginning balance | $ | 51,751 | $ | 58,593 | $ | 50,314 | |||||||||||
| Credit loss expense (benefit) | 153 | (6,842) | 8,279 | ||||||||||||||
| Ending balance | $ | 51,904 | $ | 51,751 | $ | 58,593 | |||||||||||
Credit Card Guarantees. We guarantee the credit card debt of certain customers to the merchant bank that issues the cards. At December 31, 2024 and 2023, the guarantees totaled approximately $4.9 million and $5.5 million, of which amounts, $673 thousand and $762 thousand were fully collateralized.
Trust Accounts. We hold certain assets which are not included in our consolidated balance sheets including assets held in fiduciary or custodial capacity on behalf of our trust customers. The estimated fair value of trust assets was approximately $51.4 billion and $47.2 billion at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. These assets are primarily composed of equity securities, fixed income securities, alternative investments and cash equivalents, among other things.
Executive Change-In-Control Severance Plan. We maintain a change-in-control severance plan for the benefit of certain executive officers. Under this plan, each covered person could receive, upon the effectiveness of a change-in-control, two to three times (depending on the person) their base compensation plus the target bonus established for the year, and any unpaid base salary and pro rata target bonus for the year in which the termination occurs, including vacation pay. Additionally, the executive’s insurance benefits will continue for two to three full years after the termination and all long-term incentive awards will immediately vest.
Litigation. We are subject to various claims and legal actions that have arisen in the course of conducting business. Management does not expect the ultimate disposition of these matters to have a material adverse impact on our financial statements.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Feb 6, 2025 | Showing above |
| 2023 | Feb 6, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 3, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 4, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 5, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Feb 4, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Feb 6, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Feb 7, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Feb 3, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 4, 2016 | |
About Commitments Disclosures
Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.
Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.