| COMMITMENTS, GUARANTEES, PRODUCT WARRANTIES AND OTHER LOSS CONTINGENCIES | NOTE 21. COMMITMENTS, GUARANTEES, PRODUCT WARRANTIES AND OTHER LOSS CONTINGENCIES COMMITMENTS. We had total investment commitments of $4,131 million at September 30, 2022. The commitments primarily comprise investments by our run-off insurance operations in investment securities and other assets of $3,915 million and included within these commitments are obligations to make investments in unconsolidated VIEs of $3,843 million. See Note 20 for further information. As of September 30, 2022, in our Aerospace segment, we have committed to provide financing assistance of $2,390 million of future customer acquisitions of aircraft equipped with our engines. GUARANTEES. For further information on credit support and indemnification agreements, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. PRODUCT WARRANTIES. We provide for estimated product warranty expenses when we sell the related products. Because warranty estimates are forecasts that are based on the best available information, mostly historical claims experience, claims costs may differ from amounts provided. An analysis of changes in the liability for product warranties follows. 2022 2021 Balance at January 1 $ 1,891 $ 2,054 Current-year provisions(a) 1,017 628 Expenditures (712) (696) Other changes (145) (72) Balance as of September 30 $ 2,051 $ 1,914 (a) The increase in current-year provisions is primarily related to Renewable Energy, which was substantially all due to changes in estimates on pre-existing warranties and related to the deployment of repairs and other corrective measures. LEGAL MATTERS. The following information supplements and amends the discussion of Legal Matters in Note 22 to the consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and Note 21 to the consolidated financial statements in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022; refer to those discussions for information about previously reported legal matters that are not updated below. In the normal course of our business, we are involved from time to time in various arbitrations, class actions, commercial litigation, investigations and other legal, regulatory or governmental actions, including the significant matters described below that could have a material impact on our results of operations. In many proceedings, including the specific matters described below, it is inherently difficult to determine whether any loss is probable or even reasonably possible or to estimate the size or range of the possible loss, and accruals for legal matters are not recorded until a loss for a particular matter is considered probable and reasonably estimable. Given the nature of legal matters and the complexities involved, it is often difficult to predict and determine a meaningful estimate of loss or range of loss until we know, among other factors, the particular claims involved, the likelihood of success of our defenses to those claims, the damages or other relief sought, how discovery or other procedural considerations will affect the outcome, the settlement posture of other parties and other factors that may have a material effect on the outcome. For these matters, unless otherwise specified, we do not believe it is possible to provide a meaningful estimate of loss at this time. Moreover, it is not uncommon for legal matters to be resolved over many years, during which time relevant developments and new information must be continuously evaluated. Alstom legacy legal matters. In 2015, we acquired the Steam Power, Renewables and Grid businesses from Alstom, which prior to our acquisition were the subject of significant cases involving anti-competitive activities and improper payments. We had reserves of $492 million and $567 million at September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively, for legal and compliance matters related to the legacy business practices that were the subject of cases in various jurisdictions. Allegations in these cases relate to claimed anti-competitive conduct or improper payments in the pre-acquisition period as the source of legal violations or damages. Given the significant litigation and compliance activity related to these matters and our ongoing efforts to resolve them, it is difficult to assess whether the disbursements will ultimately be consistent with the reserve established. The estimation of this reserve may not reflect the full range of uncertainties and unpredictable outcomes inherent in litigation and investigations of this nature, and at this time we are unable to develop a meaningful estimate of the range of reasonably possible additional losses beyond the amount of this reserve. Factors that can affect the ultimate amount of losses associated with these and related matters include the way cooperation is assessed and valued, prosecutorial discretion in the determination of damages, formulas for determining disgorgement, fines or penalties, the duration and amount of legal and investigative resources applied, political and social influences within each jurisdiction, and tax consequences of any settlements or previous deductions, among other considerations. Actual losses arising from claims in these and related matters could exceed the amount provided. Shareholder and related lawsuits. Since November 2017, several putative shareholder class actions under the federal securities laws have been filed against GE and certain affiliated individuals and consolidated into a single action currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (the Hachem case). In October 2019, the lead plaintiff filed a fifth amended consolidated class action complaint naming as defendants GE and current and former GE executive officers. It alleges violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 related to insurance reserves and accounting for long-term service agreements and seeks damages on behalf of shareholders who acquired GE stock between February 27, 2013 and January 23, 2018. GE filed a motion to dismiss in December 2019. In January 2021, the court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss as to the majority of the claims. Specifically, the court dismissed all claims related to insurance reserves, as well as all claims related to accounting for long-term service agreements, with the exception of certain claims about historic disclosures related to factoring in the Power business that survive as to GE and its former CFO Jeffrey S. Bornstein. All other individual defendants have been dismissed from the case. In April 2022, the court granted the plaintiffs' motion for class certification for shareholders who acquired stock between February 26, 2016 and January 23, 2018, and granted the plaintiffs’ request to amend their complaint. In September 2022, GE filed a motion for summary judgment on the plaintiffs' remaining claims. In February 2019, a securities action (the Touchstone case) was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York naming as defendants GE and current and former GE executive officers. It alleges violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 1707.43 of the Ohio Securities Act and common law fraud based on alleged misstatements regarding insurance reserves, GE Power’s revenue recognition practices related to long term service agreements, GE’s acquisition of Alstom, and the goodwill recognized in connection with that transaction. The lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of six institutional investors who purchased GE common stock between August 1, 2014 and October 30, 2018 and rescission of those purchases. In May 2021, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, and GE in June 2021 filed a motion to dismiss that complaint. In September 2022, the court granted GE’s motion to the dismiss the plaintiffs’ case with no opportunity to replead their case. GE Retirement Savings Plan class actions. Four putative class action lawsuits have been filed regarding the oversight of the GE RSP, and those class actions have been consolidated into a single action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The consolidated complaint names as defendants GE, GE Asset Management, current and former GE and GE Asset Management executive officers and employees who served on fiduciary bodies responsible for aspects of the GE RSP during the class period. Like similar lawsuits that have been brought against other companies in recent years, this action alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in their oversight of the GE RSP, principally by retaining five proprietary funds that plaintiffs allege were underperforming as investment options for plan participants and by charging higher management fees than some alternative funds. The plaintiffs seek unspecified damages on behalf of a class of GE RSP participants and beneficiaries from September 26, 2011 through the date of any judgment. In August and December 2018, the court issued orders dismissing one count of the complaint and denying GE's motion to dismiss the remaining counts. In September 2022, both GE and the plaintiffs filed motions for summary judgment on the remaining claims. Bank BPH. As previously reported, Bank BPH, along with other Polish banks, has been subject to ongoing litigation in Poland related to its portfolio of floating rate residential mortgage loans, with cases brought by individual borrowers seeking relief related to their foreign currency denominated mortgage loans in various courts throughout Poland. At September 30, 2022, approximately 88% of the Bank BPH portfolio is indexed to or denominated in foreign currencies (primarily Swiss francs), and the total portfolio had a carrying value, net of reserves, of $1,276 million. We continue to observe an increase in the number of lawsuits being brought against Bank BPH and other banks in Poland, and we expect this to continue in future reporting periods. We estimate potential losses for Bank BPH in connection with borrower litigation cases that are pending by recording legal reserves, as well as in connection with potential future cases or other adverse developments as part of our ongoing valuation of the Bank BPH portfolio, which we record at the lower of cost or fair value, less cost to sell. At September 30, 2022, the total amount of such estimated losses was $1,117 million. We update our assumptions underlying the amount of estimated losses based primarily on the number of lawsuits filed and estimated to be filed in the future, whether liability will be established in lawsuits and the nature of the remedy ordered by courts if liability is established. The increase in the amount of estimated losses during the third quarter of 2022 was driven primarily by increases in the number of lawsuits filed and estimated to be filed in the future and increased findings of liability. We expect the trends we have previously reported of an increasing number of lawsuits being filed, more findings of liability and more severe remedies being ordered against Polish banks (including Bank BPH) to continue in future reporting periods, although Bank BPH is unable at this time to develop a meaningful estimate of reasonably possible losses associated with active and inactive Bank BPH mortgage loans beyond the amounts currently recorded. Additional factors may also affect our estimated losses over time, including: potentially significant judicial decisions or binding resolutions by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) or the Polish Supreme Court; the impact of any of these or other future or recent decisions or resolutions (including an expected ECJ ruling that could adversely impact the remedy cost to Polish banks upon a finding of liability, and the Polish Supreme Court binding resolution delivered verbally in May 2021 with written reasoning issued in July 2021) on how Polish courts will interpret and apply the law in particular cases and how borrower behavior may change in response, neither of which are known immediately upon the issuance of a decision or resolution; and uncertainty related to a proposal by the Chairman of the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority in December 2020 that banks voluntarily offer borrowers an opportunity to convert their foreign currency denominated mortgage loans to Polish zlotys using an exchange rate applicable at the date of loan origination, and about the various settlement strategies or other approaches that Polish banks have adopted or will adopt, or that Bank BPH may adopt in the future, in response to this proposal or other factors, the approaches that regulators and other government authorities will adopt in response, and the receptivity of borrowers to settlement offers. In addition, there is uncertainty arising from investigations of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), including existing or anticipated UOKiK decisions resulting from those investigations, particularly UOKiK's investigation into the adequacy of disclosure of foreign exchange risk by banks (including BPH) and the legality under Polish law of unlimited foreign exchange risk on customers. Future adverse developments related to any of the foregoing, or other adverse developments such as actions by regulators or other governmental authorities (including UOKiK), likely would have a material adverse effect on Bank BPH and the carrying value of its mortgage loan portfolio as well as result in additional required capital contributions to Bank BPH or significant losses beyond the amounts that we currently estimate. ENVIRONMENTAL, HEALTH AND SAFETY MATTERS . For information about environmental, health and safety matters, see the Legal Proceedings section of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022. |
