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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2015
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Note 1:  Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company. We provide banking, insurance, trust and investments, mortgage banking, investment banking, retail banking, brokerage, and consumer and commercial finance through banking stores, the internet and other distribution channels to consumers, businesses and institutions in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in foreign countries. When we refer to “Wells Fargo,” “the Company,” “we,” “our” or “us,” we mean Wells Fargo & Company and Subsidiaries (consolidated). Wells Fargo & Company (the Parent) is a financial holding company and a bank holding company. We also hold a majority interest in a real estate investment trust, which has publicly traded preferred stock outstanding.
Our accounting and reporting policies conform with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and practices in the financial services industry. For discussion of our significant accounting policies, see Note 1 (Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 (2014 Form 10-K). There were no material changes to these policies in the first half of 2015. To prepare the financial statements in conformity with GAAP, management must make estimates based on assumptions about future economic and market conditions (for example, unemployment, market liquidity, real estate prices, etc.) that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and income and expenses during the reporting period and the related disclosures. Although our estimates contemplate current conditions and how we expect them to change in the future, it is reasonably possible that actual conditions could be worse than anticipated in those estimates, which could materially affect our results of operations and financial condition. Management has made significant estimates in several areas, including allowance for credit losses and purchased credit-impaired (PCI) loans (Note 5 (Loans and Allowance for Credit Losses)), valuations of residential mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) (Note 7 (Securitizations and Variable Interest Entities) and Note 8 (Mortgage Banking Activities)) and financial instruments (Note 13 (Fair Values of Assets and Liabilities)), and income taxes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
These unaudited interim financial statements reflect all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of the results for the periods presented. These adjustments are of a normal recurring nature, unless otherwise disclosed in this Form 10-Q. The results of operations in the interim financial statements do not necessarily indicate the results that may be expected for the full year. The interim financial information should be read in conjunction with our 2014 Form 10-K.
 
Accounting Standards Adopted in 2015
In first quarter 2015, we adopted the following new accounting guidance:
Accounting Standards Update (ASU or Update) 2014-11, Transfers and Servicing (Topic 860): Repurchase-to-Maturity Transactions, Repurchase Financings, and Disclosures;
ASU 2014-08, Presentation of Financial Statements (Topic 205) and Property, Plant, and Equipment (Topic 360): Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity; and
ASU 2014-01, Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323): Accounting for Investments in Qualified Affordable Housing Projects.

ASU 2014-11 requires repurchase-to-maturity transactions to be accounted for as secured borrowings versus sales. The guidance also requires separate accounting for transfers of financial assets that are executed contemporaneously with repurchase agreements. The Update also includes new disclosures for transfers accounted for as sales and for repurchase agreements and similar arrangements, such as classes of collateral pledged for gross obligations and the remaining contractual maturity of repurchase agreements. We adopted the accounting changes in first quarter 2015 with no impact to our consolidated financial statements or disclosures. We adopted the collateral and remaining contractual maturity disclosures for repurchase and similar agreements in second quarter 2015. For additional information, see Note 10 (Guarantees, Pledged Assets and Collateral).

ASU 2014-08 changes the definition and reporting requirements for discontinued operations. Under the new guidance, an entity’s disposal of a component or group of components must be reported in discontinued operations if the disposal is a strategic shift that has or will have a significant effect on the entity’s operations and financial results. We adopted these changes in first quarter 2015 with prospective application. This Update did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

ASU 2014-01 amends the accounting guidance for investments in affordable housing projects that qualify for the low-income housing tax credits. The Update requires incremental disclosures for all entities that invest in qualified affordable housing projects. Additionally companies may make an accounting election to amortize the cost of their investments in proportion to the tax benefits received if certain criteria are met and present the amortization as a component of income tax expense. We adopted the new disclosure requirements in first quarter 2015 (see Note 6 (Other Assets)) and will continue our previous accounting for these investments rather than make the alternative election to amortize the initial cost of the investments in proportion to the tax benefits received.

Private Share Repurchases
From time to time we enter into private forward repurchase transactions with unrelated third parties to complement our open-market common stock repurchase strategies, to allow us to manage our share repurchases in a manner consistent with our capital plans, currently submitted under the 2015 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR), and to provide an economic benefit to the Company.
Our payments to the counterparties for these contracts are recorded in permanent equity in the quarter paid and are not subject to re-measurement. The classification of the up-front payments as permanent equity assures that we have appropriate repurchase timing consistent with our 2015 Capital Plan, which contemplated a fixed dollar amount available per quarter for share repurchases pursuant to Federal Reserve Board (FRB) supervisory guidance. In return, the counterparty agrees to deliver a variable number of shares based on a per share discount to the volume-weighted average stock price over the contract period. There are no scenarios where the contracts would not either physically settle in shares or allow us to choose the settlement method. Our total number of outstanding shares of common stock is not reduced until settlement of the private share repurchase contract.
In April 2015, we entered into a $750 million private forward repurchase contract with an unrelated third party. This contract settled in July 2015 for 13.6 million shares of common stock. At June 30, 2014, we had a $1.0 billion private repurchase contract outstanding that settled in third quarter 2014 for 19.5 million shares of common stock.
 

SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION  Significant noncash activities are presented below.
 
Six months ended June 30,
 
(in millions)
2015

 
2014

Trading assets retained from securitization of MHFS
$
20,816

 
12,373

Transfers from loans to MHFS
4,757

 
6,662

Transfers from loans to LHFS
52

 
9,828

Transfers from loans to foreclosed and other assets
1,688

 
2,268

Transfers from available-for-sale to held-to-maturity securities
4,972

 


SUBSEQUENT EVENTS  We have evaluated the effects of events that have occurred subsequent to June 30, 2015, and there have been no material events that would require recognition in our second quarter 2015 consolidated financial statements or disclosure in the Notes to the consolidated financial statements.