Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Note 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Organization

City National Corporation (the “Corporation”) is the holding company for City National Bank (the “Bank”). The Bank delivers banking, trust and investment services through 79 offices in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, Nevada, New York City and Nashville, Tennessee. As of June 30, 2011, the Corporation had five consolidated investment advisory affiliates and a noncontrolling interest in two other firms. The Corporation also had one unconsolidated subsidiary, Business Bancorp Capital Trust I. Because the Bank comprises substantially all of the business of the Corporation, references to the “Company” mean the Corporation and the Bank together. The Corporation is approved as a financial holding company pursuant to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999.

Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements of the Company include the accounts of the Corporation, its non-bank subsidiaries, the Bank and the Bank’s wholly owned subsidiaries, after the elimination of all material intercompany transactions.  The Company has both redeemable and non-redeemable noncontrolling interest. A noncontrolling interest is the portion of equity in a subsidiary not attributable to a parent.  Preferred stock of consolidated bank affiliates that is owned by third parties is reflected as Noncontrolling interest in the equity section of the consolidated balance sheets. Redeemable noncontrolling interest includes noncontrolling ownership interests that are redeemable at the option of the holder or outside the control of the issuer.  The redeemable equity ownership interests of third parties in the Corporation’s investment advisory affiliates are not considered to be permanent equity and are reflected as Redeemable noncontrolling interest in the mezzanine section between liabilities and equity in the consolidated balance sheets. Noncontrolling interests’ share of subsidiary earnings is reflected as Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest in the consolidated statements of income.

The Company’s investment management and wealth advisory affiliates are organized as limited liability companies.  The Corporation generally owns a majority position in each affiliate and certain management members of each affiliate own the remaining shares. The Corporation has contractual arrangements with its affiliates whereby a percentage of revenue is allocable to fund affiliate operating expenses (“operating share”) while the remaining portion of revenue (“distributable revenue”) is allocable to the Corporation and the noncontrolling owners. All majority-owned affiliates that meet the prescribed criteria for consolidation are consolidated.  The Corporation’s interests in two investment management affiliates in which it holds a noncontrolling share are accounted for using the equity method. Additionally, the Company has various interests in variable interest entities (“VIEs”) that are not required to be consolidated. See Note 16 for a more detailed discussion on VIEs.

Use of Estimates

The Company’s accounting and reporting policies conform to generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and practices in the financial services industry. To prepare the financial statements in conformity with GAAP, management must make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses during the reporting period. Circumstances and events that differ significantly from those underlying the Company’s estimates and assumptions could cause actual financial results to differ from those estimates. The material estimates included in the financial statements relate to the allowance for loan and lease losses, the reserve for off-balance sheet credit commitments, valuation of stock options and restricted stock, income taxes, goodwill and intangible asset impairment, securities available-for-sale impairment, private equity and alternative investment impairment, valuation of assets and liabilities acquired in business combinations, subsequent valuations of acquired impaired loans, FDIC indemnification assets, valuation of noncontrolling interest and the valuation of financial assets and liabilities reported at fair value.

The Company has applied its critical accounting policies and estimation methods consistently in all periods presented in these financial statements.

Basis of Presentation

The Company is on the accrual basis of accounting for income and expenses. The results of operations reflect any adjustments, all of which are of a normal recurring nature, unless otherwise disclosed in this Form 10-Q, and which, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the periods presented. In accordance with the usual practice of banks, assets and liabilities of individual trust, agency and fiduciary funds have not been included in the financial statements. These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.

The results for the 2011 interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year. The Company has not made any significant changes in its critical accounting policies or in its estimates and assumptions from those disclosed in its 2010 Annual Report other than the adoption of new accounting pronouncements and other authoritative guidance that became effective for the Company on or after January 1, 2011. Refer to Accounting Pronouncements for discussion of accounting pronouncements adopted in 2011.

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Accounting Pronouncements

During the six months ended June 30, 2011, the following accounting pronouncements applicable to the Company were issued or became effective:

· In January 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2010-06, Fair Value Measurements (Topic 820), Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements (“ASU 2010-06”). ASU 2010-06 enhances disclosure requirements under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (“ASC 820”), to include disclosure of transfers in and out of Level 1 and 2, and detail of activity in Level 3 fair value measurements. The ASU also provides clarification of existing disclosure requirements pertaining to the level of disaggregation used in fair value measurements, and disclosures about inputs and valuation techniques used for both recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements. The new guidance, except for the requirement to provide the Level 3 activity on a gross basis, was adopted by the Company on January 1, 2010. The expanded disclosure requirements pertaining to Level 3 activity became effective for the Company on January 1, 2011. Adoption of the new guidance did not have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

· In April 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-02, Receivables (Topic 310): A Creditor’s Determination of Whether a Restructuring is a Troubled Debt Restructurings (“ASU 2011-02”).  In evaluating whether a restructuring constitutes a troubled debt restructuring (“TDR”), a creditor (“lender”) must separately conclude that both of the following exist: (1) the restructuring constitutes a concession and (2) the debtor (“borrower”) is experiencing financial difficulties. Determining whether a modification is a TDR requires significant judgment. ASU 2011-02 clarifies the guidance on whether a lender has granted a concession, and on the lender’s evaluation of whether a borrower is experiencing financial difficulties. ASU 2011-02 is effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after June 15, 2011, and applies retrospectively to restructurings occurring on or after the beginning of the annual period of adoption. Thus, an entity will be required to apply the guidance to determine whether modifications that were not previously considered TDRs and that have occurred since the beginning of the year would now be considered TDRs. Adoption of the new guidance is not expected to have a significant effect on the Company’s financial statements.

· In April 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-03, Transfers and Servicing (Topic 860): Reconsideration of Effective Control for Repurchase Agreements (“ASU 2011-03”).  ASC 860, Transfers and Servicing, provides the criteria for determining whether a transfer of financial assets is accounted for as a secured borrowing or as a sale. Under the guidance, an entity that maintains effective control over transferred assets must account for the transfer as a secured borrowing. ASU 2011-03 eliminates the requirement for entities to consider whether a transferor has the ability to repurchase the financial assets in a repurchase agreement for purposes of determining whether the transferor has maintained effective control. The ASU does not change the other criteria applicable to the assessment of effective control. ASU 2011-03 is effective for transactions, or modification of existing transactions, that occur on or after the first interim or annual period beginning on or after December 15, 2011. The new guidance is not expected to have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

· In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-04, Fair Value Measurements (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs (“ASU 2011-04”). ASU 2011-04 represents the converged guidance of the FASB and International Accounting Standards Board on fair value. The new guidance establishes a common framework for measuring fair value and for disclosing information about fair value measurements. While ASU 2011-04 is largely consistent with existing fair value measurement principles, it does expand disclosure requirements and amends certain guidance. ASU 2011-04 clarifies existing guidance pertaining to the applicability of the concepts of highest and best use and valuation premise in a fair value measurement, and on measuring the fair value of an instrument classified in shareholders’ equity. The ASU provides a framework for considering whether a premium or discount can be applied in a fair value measurement, and provides additional guidance on the application of fair value measurements to financial assets and liabilities with offsetting positions in market risk or counterparty credit risks. The expanded disclosure requirements include more detailed disclosures about the valuation processes used in fair value measurements within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy, and categorization by level of the fair value hierarchy for items that are not measured at fair value in the statement of financial position but for which fair value is required to be disclosed in accordance with ASC Topic 825, Financial Instruments.  The ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011.  Adoption of ASU 2011-04, when effective, will result in expanded fair value disclosures in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

· In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-05, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220), Presentation of Comprehensive Income (“ASU 2011-05”). ASU 2011-05 revises the manner in which entities present comprehensive income in their financial statements. The new guidance requires entities to report components of comprehensive income in either (1) a continuous statement of comprehensive income or (2) two separate but consecutive statements. Under the two-statement approach, the first statement would include components of net income, which is consistent with the income statement format used today, and the second statement would include components of other comprehensive income (“OCI”). Under either method, entities must display adjustments for items that are reclassified from OCI to net income in both net income and OCI. The ASU does not change the items that must be reported in OCI. ASU 2011-05 is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011. After adoption, the guidance must be applied retrospectively for all periods presented in the financial statements. The new guidance is not expected to have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.