Regulatory Matters

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

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. Effective January 1, 2015, SVB Financial Group and the Bank became subject to a new regulatory capital measure called "Common Equity Tier 1" and a related regulatory capital ratio of CET 1 to risk-weighted assets implemented under "Basel III" regulatory capital reforms and changes required by the Dodd-Frank Act.

There are three categories of capital under the new Basel III standards; 1) CET 1, 2) additional tier 1 and 3) tier 2. CET 1 includes common stock plus related surplus and retained earnings, less certain deductions. Additional tier 1 capital includes qualifying preferred stock and trust preferred securities, less certain deductions. Additional tier 1, together with CET 1, equal total tier 1 capital. Tier 2 capital includes primarily certain qualifying unsecured subordinated debt and qualifying allowances for loan and lease losses. Tier 1 capital, together with Tier 2 capital, equal total capital.

As of December 31, 2015, 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, 2015 and 2014:

	Capital Ratios						Capital Amounts
(Dollars in thousands)	Actual		Well Capitalized Minimum		Adequately Capitalized Minimum		Actual		Well Capitalized Minimum		Adequately Capitalized Minimum
December 31, 2015: (1)
CET 1 risk-based capital (2):
SVB Financial	12.28	%	6.5	%	4.5	%	$	3,183,206	$	1,684,774	$	1,166,382
Bank	12.52		6.5		4.5		3,043,435		1,579,568		1,093,547
Tier 1 risk-based capital:
SVB Financial	12.83		8.0		6.0		3,325,245		2,073,567		1,555,176
Bank	12.52		8.0		6.0		3,043,435		1,944,083		1,458,063
Total risk-based capital:
SVB Financial	13.84		10.0		8.0		3,586,466		2,591,959		2,073,567
Bank	13.60		10.0		8.0		3,304,537		2,430,104		1,944,083
Tier 1 leverage:
SVB Financial	7.63		N/A		4.0		3,325,245		N/A		1,743,555
Bank	7.09		5.0		4.0		3,043,435		2,147,532		1,718,026
December 31, 2014:
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
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 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

(1) Ratios as of December 31, 2015 reflect the adoption of the Basel III Capital Rules in effect beginning January 1, 2015. Ratios for prior periods represent the previous capital rules under Basel I.

(2) Effective January 1, 2015, CET 1 is a new ratio requirement under the Basel III Capital Rules and represents, common stock, plus related surplus and retained earnings, plus limited amounts of minority interest in the form of common stock, less certain regulatory deductions, divided by total risk-weighted assets.