HANCOCK WHITNEY CORP Commitments Disclosure
Note 20. Commitments and Contingencies
Credit Related
In the normal course of business, the Bank enters into financial instruments, such as commitments to extend credit and letters of credit, to meet the financing needs of its customers. Such instruments are not reflected in the accompanying consolidated financial statements until they are funded, although they expose the Bank to varying degrees of credit risk and interest rate risk in much the same way as funded loans. Under regulatory capital guidelines, the Company and Bank must include unfunded commitments meeting certain criteria in risk-weighted capital calculations.
Commitments to extend credit include revolving commercial credit lines, nonrevolving loan commitments issued mainly to finance the acquisition and development or construction of real property or equipment, and credit card and personal credit lines. The availability of funds under commercial credit lines and loan commitments generally depends on whether the borrower continues to meet credit standards established in the underlying contract and other contractual conditions. Loan commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee by the borrower. Credit card and personal credit lines are generally subject to cancellation if the borrower’s credit quality deteriorates. A number of commercial and personal credit lines are used only partially or, in some cases, not at all before they expire, and the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements of the Company.
A substantial majority of the letters of credit are standby agreements that obligate the Bank to fulfill a customer’s financial commitments to a third party if the customer is unable to perform. The Bank issues standby letters of credit primarily to provide credit enhancement to its customers’ other commercial or public financing arrangements and to help them demonstrate financial capacity to vendors of essential goods and services.
The contractual amounts of these instruments reflect the Company’s exposure to credit risk. The Company undertakes the same credit evaluation in making loan commitments and assuming conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments and may require collateral or other credit support. At December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company had a reserve for unfunded lending commitments totaling $33.9 million and $24.1 million, respectively.
The following table presents a summary of the Company’s off-balance sheet financial instruments as of December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024:
|
December 31, |
|
||||
($ in thousands) |
2025 |
|
2024 |
|
||
Commitments to extend credit |
$ |
9,650,197 |
|
$ |
9,249,468 |
|
Letters of credit |
|
409,010 |
|
|
420,614 |
|
Legal Proceedings
The Company is party to various legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. Management does not believe that loss contingencies, if any, arising from pending litigation and regulatory matters will have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position or liquidity of the Company.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Special Assessment
In November 2023, the FDIC approved a final rule to implement a special deposit insurance assessment to recover losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) arising from the full protection of uninsured depositors under the systemic risk exception following the receiverships of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the spring of 2023. To-date, the Company has expensed $27.6 million related to this special assessment based on loss estimate information provided by the FDIC.
The loss estimates resulting from the failures of these institutions may be subject to further change pending the projected and actual outcome of loss share agreements, joint ventures, and outstanding litigation. The exact amount of losses incurred will not be
determined until the FDIC terminates the receiverships of these banks; therefore, the Company’s exact exposure for FDIC special assessment remains unknown.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 27, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 27, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 28, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 27, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 25, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Mar 1, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Feb 25, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Mar 1, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Feb 27, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Feb 24, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 26, 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.