Major Components of Investment Securities Portfolio (Parenthetical) (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	May 03, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011
Fair value accounting | Other venture capital investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		$ 127,091,000	[1]	$ 124,121,000	[1]
Fair value accounting | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		0		987,000
Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		665,921,000	[2]	611,824,000	[2]
Equity method accounting | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		139,330,000	[3]	68,252,000	[3]
Cost method accounting | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		19,721,000		19,355,000
Cost method accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Number of investments		324		329
Non-marketable securities		161,884,000	[4]	145,007,000	[4]
SVB Capital-NT Growth Partners, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		60,120,000		43,958,000
Percentage of ownership		33.00%	[5]	33.00%
SVB Capital Partners II, LP | Fair value accounting | Other venture capital investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		79,761,000	[6]	61,099,000	[6]
Percentage of ownership		5.10%	[5]	5.10%	[6]
SVB Capital Partners II, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		1,303,000	[7]	2,390,000	[7]
Percentage of ownership		5.10%	[7]	5.10%	[7]
SVB Capital Partners II, LP | Fair value accounting | Direct ownership interest | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		1.30%
SVB Capital Partners II, LP | Fair value accounting | Indirect ownership interest | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		3.80%
Other private equity fund | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		6,462,000	[8]	11,367,000	[8]
Percentage of ownership		58.20%	[8]	58.20%	[8]
Other private equity fund | Fair value accounting | Direct ownership interest | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		41.50%
Other private equity fund | Fair value accounting | Indirect ownership interest | SVB Capital-NT Growth Partners, LP | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		12.60%
Other private equity fund | Fair value accounting | Indirect ownership interest | SVB Capital Preferred Return Fund, LP | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		4.10%
Gold Hill Venture Lending 03, LP | Equity method accounting | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		9.30%	[9]	9.30%	[9]
Non-marketable securities		9,413,000	[9]	16,072,000	[9]
Gold Hill Venture Lending 03, LP | Equity method accounting | Direct ownership interest | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		4.80%
Gold Hill Venture Lending 03, LP | Equity method accounting | Indirect ownership interest | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		4.50%
Gold Hill Capital 2008, LP | Direct ownership interest | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		11.50%
Gold Hill Capital 2008, LP | Indirect ownership interest | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		4.00%
Gold Hill Capital 2008, LP | Equity method accounting | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		15.50%	[10]	15.50%	[10]
Non-marketable securities		20,893,000	[10]	19,328,000	[10]
SVB Strategic Investors Fund, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		32,850,000		39,567,000
Percentage of ownership		12.60%	[5]	12.60%
SVB Strategic Investors Fund II, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		91,294,000		122,619,000
Percentage of ownership		8.60%	[5]	8.60%
SVB Strategic Investors Fund III, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		209,696,000		218,429,000
Percentage of ownership		5.90%	[5]	5.90%
SVB Strategic Investors Fund IV, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		169,931,000		122,076,000
Percentage of ownership		5.00%	[5]	5.00%
Strategic Investors Fund V, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		40,622,000		8,838,000
Percentage of ownership				0.30%
SVB Capital Preferred Return Fund, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		53,643,000		42,580,000
Percentage of ownership		20.00%	[5]	20.00%
Silicon Valley BancVentures, LP | Fair value accounting | Other venture capital investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		43,493,000		17,878,000
Percentage of ownership		10.70%	[5]	10.70%
SVB India Capital Partners I, LP | Fair value accounting | Other venture capital investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		0		42,832,000
Percentage of ownership		0.00%	[5]	14.40%
SVB Capital Shanghai Yangpu Venture Capital Fund | Fair value accounting | Other venture capital investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		3,837,000		2,312,000
Percentage of ownership		6.80%	[5]	6.80%
China Joint Venture Investment | Equity method accounting | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		50.00%	[11]	0.00%	[11]
Non-marketable securities		78,545,000	[11]	0	[11]
Contribution in joint venture	80,000,000
Other investment | Equity method accounting | Other investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		30,479,000		32,852,000
Upper Limit | Cost method accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership		5.00%		5.00%
Other Than Temporarily Impaired Securities | Cost method accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Recognized other-than-temporary impairment (OTTI) losses		1,000,000
Number of impaired investments		46
Estimated Fair Value | Cost method accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-marketable securities		$ 193,000,000

[1] The following table shows the amounts of other venture capital investments held by the following consolidated funds and our ownership percentage of each fund at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 (fair value accounting): December 31, 2012 December 31, 2011(Dollars in thousands) Amount Ownership % Amount Ownership %Silicon Valley BancVentures, LP $43,493 10.7% $17,878 10.7%SVB Capital Partners II, LP (i) 79,761 5.1 61,099 5.1SVB India Capital Partners I, LP (ii) — — 42,832 14.4SVB Capital Shanghai Yangpu Venture Capital Fund 3,837 6.8 2,312 6.8Total other venture capital investments $127,091 $124,121

[2] The following table shows the amounts of venture capital and private equity fund investments held by the following consolidated funds and our ownership percentage of each fund at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 (fair value accounting):

[3] The following table shows the carrying value and our ownership percentage of each investment at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 (equity method accounting): December 31, 2012 December 31, 2011(Dollars in thousands) Amount Ownership % Amount Ownership %Gold Hill Venture Lending 03, LP (i) $9,413 9.3% $16,072 9.3%Gold Hill Capital 2008, LP (ii) 20,893 15.5 19,328 15.5China Joint Venture investment (iii) 78,545 50.0 — —Other investments 30,479 Various 32,852 VariousTotal other investments (equity method accounting) $139,330 $68,252

[4] Represents investments in 324 and 329 funds (primarily venture capital funds) at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively, where our ownership interest is less than 5% of the voting interests of each such fund and in which we do not have the ability to exercise significant influence over the partnerships operating activities and financial policies. For the year ended December 31, 2012, we recognized OTTI losses of $1.0 million resulting from other-than-temporary declines in value for 46 of the 324 investments. The OTTI losses are included in net gains on investment securities, a component of noninterest income. We concluded that any declines in value for the remaining investments were temporary and as such, no OTTI was required to be recognized. At December 31, 2012, the carrying value of these venture capital and private equity fund investments (cost method accounting) was $162 million, and the estimated fair value was $193 million.

[5] The general partners of these funds are owned and controlled by SVB Financial. The limited partners of these funds do not have substantive participating or kick-out rights. Therefore, these funds are consolidated and any gains or losses resulting from changes in the estimated fair value of the investments are recorded as investment gains or losses in our consolidated net income.

[6] At December 31, 2012, we had a direct ownership interest of 1.3 percent and an indirect ownership interest of 3.8 percent in the fund through our ownership of SVB Strategic Investors Fund II, LP.

[7] At December 31, 2012, we had a direct ownership interest of 1.3 percent and an indirect ownership interest of 3.8 percent in the fund through our ownership interest of SVB Strategic Investors Fund II, LP.

[8] At December 31, 2012, we had a direct ownership interest of 41.5 percent and indirect ownership interests of 12.6 percent and 4.1 percent in the fund through our ownership interest of SVB Capital—NT Growth Partners, LP and SVB Capital Preferred Return Fund, LP, respectively

[9] At December 31, 2012, we had a direct ownership interest of 4.8 percent in the fund and an indirect interest in the fund through our investment in Gold Hill Venture Lending Partners 3, LLC (“GHLLC”) of 4.5 percent.

[10] At December 31, 2012, we had a direct ownership interest of 11.5 percent in the fund and an indirect interest in the fund through our investment in Gold Hill Capital 2008, LLC of 4.0 percent.

[11] In 2012, we contributed $80 million to SPD Silicon Valley Bank Co., Ltd. ("SPD-SVB"), our joint venture bank in China.