Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Cash Flows (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income	$ 1,790	$ 1,756
Adjustments to reconcile net income to cash flows from operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	219	222
Amortization of deferred sales commissions	43	63
Stock-based compensation	344	375
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)	(42)	(108)
Net (gains) losses on non-trading investments	(32)	(17)
Purchases of investments within consolidated funds	(83)	(8)
Proceeds from sales and maturities of investments within consolidated funds	48	41
Assets and liabilities of consolidated VIEs:
Change in cash and cash equivalents	(32)	38
Net (gains) losses within consolidated VIEs	(1)	36
Net (purchases) proceeds within consolidated VIEs	233	44
(Earnings) losses from equity method investees	(124)	(13)
Distributions of earnings from equity method investees	29	26
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	(493)	6
Due from related parties	21	(9)
Deferred sales commissions	(31)	(42)
Investments, trading	(197)	(31)
Other assets	(194)	(156)
Accrued compensation and benefits	(199)	(420)
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	489	90
Due to related parties	(7)	(34)
Other liabilities	105	94
Cash flows from operating activities	1,886	1,953
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchases of investments	(397)	(142)
Proceeds from sales and maturities of investments	391	142
Distributions of capital from equity method investees	51	32
Net consolidations (deconsolidations) of sponsored investment funds	(208)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(267)
Purchases of property and equipment	(121)	(218)
Cash flows from investing activities	(551)	(186)
Cash flows from financing activities
Repayments of short-term borrowings		(600)
Proceeds from short-term borrowings		600
Repayments of convertible debt		(67)
Proceeds from long-term borrowings	1,495	1,496
Cash dividends paid	(804)	(769)
Proceeds from stock options exercised	47	13
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	6	3
Repurchases of common stock	(1,475)	(2,783)
Merrill Lynch cash capital contribution	7	8
Repayments of borrowings by consolidated VIEs	(203)	(72)
Net (redemptions/distributions paid) subscriptions received from non-controlling interests holders	193	(27)
Excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation	73	23
Cash flows from financing activities	(661)	(2,175)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	43	24
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	717	(384)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	3,506	3,367
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	4,223	2,983
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Interest	116	98
Interest on borrowings of consolidated VIEs	52	43
Income taxes	837	819
Supplemental schedule of non-cash investing and financing transactions:
Issuance of common stock	366	207
Increase (decrease) in non-controlling interests due to net consolidation (deconsolidation) of sponsored investment funds	(280)	(12)
Increase (decrease) in borrowings due to consolidation of VIEs	406	390
PNC preferred stock capital contribution		$ 200