Regulatory Matters

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Banking and Thrift [Abstract]

Regulatory Matters

Regulatory Matters

The Company and the Bank are subject to various regulatory capital adequacy requirements administered by the Federal Reserve Board and the California Department of Business Oversight - Division of Financial Institutions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (“FDICIA”) required that the federal regulatory agencies adopt regulations defining five capital categories for banks: well capitalized, adequately capitalized, undercapitalized, significantly undercapitalized and critically undercapitalized. Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on our consolidated financial statements.

Quantitative measures, established by the regulators to ensure capital adequacy, require that SVB Financial Group and the Bank maintain minimum ratios (set forth in the table below) of capital to risk-weighted assets. There are three categories of capital under the guidelines. Tier 1 capital includes common stockholders' equity (excluding any net unrealized gains or losses, after applicable taxes, on available-for-sale securities), qualifying preferred stock and trust preferred securities, less goodwill and certain other deductions (including the net unrealized losses, after applicable taxes, on available-for-sale equity securities carried at fair value). At least 50 percent of the qualifying total capital should consist of Tier 1 capital. Components of Tier 2 capital include preferred stock not qualifying as Tier 1 capital, qualifying subordinated debt, the allowance for credit losses, up to a maximum of 1.25 percent of risk-weighted assets and unrealized gains on available-for-sale equity securities, subject to limitations set by the guidelines. Tier 3 capital includes certain qualifying unsecured subordinated debt. We did not have any Tier 3 capital as of December 31, 2014 and 2013.

As of December 31, 2014, both SVB Financial and the Bank were considered “well-capitalized” for regulatory purposes under existing capital guidelines.  There are no conditions or events since that date that management believes would have a material impact on that capital category.

The following table presents the capital ratios for the Company and the Bank under federal regulatory guidelines, compared to the minimum regulatory capital requirements for an adequately capitalized and a well-capitalized depository institution, as of December 31, 2014 and 2013:

	Capital Ratios						Capital Amounts
(Dollars in thousands)	Actual		Well Capitalized Minimum		Adequately Capitalized Minimum		Actual		Well Capitalized Minimum		Adequately Capitalized Minimum
December 31, 2014:
Total risk-based capital:
SVB Financial	13.92	%	10.0	%	8.0	%	$	3,030,150	$	2,176,210	$	1,740,968
Bank	12.12		10.0		8.0		2,600,011		2,145,788		1,716,630
Tier 1 risk-based capital:
SVB Financial	12.91		6.0		4.0		2,808,948		1,305,726		870,484
Bank	11.09		6.0		4.0		2,379,991		1,287,473		858,315
Tier 1 leverage:
SVB Financial	7.74		N/A		4.0		2,808,948		N/A		1,450,927
Bank	6.64		5.0		4.0		2,379,991		1,793,264		1,434,611
December 31, 2013:
Total risk-based capital:
SVB Financial	13.13	%	10.0	%	8.0	%	$	2,218,996	$	1,690,150	$	1,352,120
Bank	11.32		10.0		8.0		1,880,254		1,661,287		1,329,030
Tier 1 risk-based capital:
SVB Financial	11.94		6.0		4.0		2,018,455		1,014,090		676,060
Bank	10.11		6.0		4.0		1,680,212		996,772		664,515
Tier 1 leverage:
SVB Financial	8.31		N/A		4.0		2,018,455		N/A		972,130
Bank	7.04		5.0		4.0		1,680,212		1,194,012		955,210