Total Capital Commitments, Unfunded Capital Commitments, and Our Ownership in Each Fund (Parenthetical) (Detail)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012
SVB Capital Partners II, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	5.10%	[1]	5.10%
SVB Capital Partners II, LP | Fair value accounting | Direct ownership interest | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	1.30%
SVB Capital Partners II, LP | Fair value accounting | Indirect ownership interest | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	3.80%
Other private equity fund | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	58.20%	[2]	58.20%
Other private equity fund | Fair value accounting | Direct ownership interest | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	41.50%
Gold Hill Venture Lending 03, LP | Equity method accounting | Other investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	9.30%	[3]	9.30%
Gold Hill Venture Lending 03, LP | Equity method accounting | Direct ownership interest | Other investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	4.80%
Gold Hill Venture Lending 03, LP | Equity method accounting | Indirect ownership interest | Other investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	4.50%
Other Fund Investments | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Number of other funds with investment commitments	293
Upper Limit | Other Fund Investments | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	5.00%
SVB Capital-NT Growth Partners, LP | Other private equity fund | Fair value accounting | Indirect ownership interest | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	12.60%
SVB Capital Preferred Return Fund, LP | Other private equity fund | Fair value accounting | Indirect ownership interest | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Company Direct and Indirect Ownership in Limited Partnership	4.10%

[1] At December 31, 2013, 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.

[2] At December 31, 2013, 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

[3] At December 31, 2013, 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 03, LLC (“GHLLC”) of 4.5 percent.