Notes payable (Parenthetical) (Detail) (USD $)	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Effective Percentage		16.00%
Debt Instrument Interest U S Treasury Note Rate	2.53%	3.03%
Fixed Rate 027 To 419 Percent Advances Due 2014 To 2021 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Federal Home Loan Bank Advances General Debt Obligations Disclosures Due Date Earliest	2014
Federal Home Loan Bank Advances General Debt Obligations Disclosures Due Date Last	2021
Federal Home Loan Bank Advances General Debt Obligations Disclosures Interest Rate Range From	0.27%
Federal Home Loan Bank Advances General Debt Obligations Disclosures Interest Rate Range To	4.19%
Fixed Rate 700 Percent Notes Due July 2019 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument Interest Rate Stated Percentage	7.00%
Notes Payable Maturity Date Range End	2019
Fixed Rate 747 Percent Term Notes Due 2014 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument Interest Rate Stated Percentage	7.47%
Notes Payable Maturity Date Range Start	2014
Floating Rate 300 Percent Term Notes Due in 2014 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Notes Payable, interest rate term	paying interest monthly at a floating rate of 3.00% over the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rate
Notes Payable Maturity Date Range Start	2014
Notes Payable Maturity Date Range End	2014
Fixed Rate 6125 To 8327 Percent Junior Subordinated Deferrable Interest Debentures Due 2027 To 2034 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Notes payable, interest rate range minimum	6.125%
Notes payable, interest rate range maximum	8.327%
Notes Payable Maturity Date Range Start	2027
Notes Payable Maturity Date Range End	2034
Fixed Rate 500 Percent Until December 2013 And 900 Percent Thereafter Junior Subordinated Deferrable Interest Debentures With No Stated Maturity [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Notes payable, gross	$ 936,000,000	$ 936,000,000
Notes payable, maturities	no stated maturity
Notes Payable, interest rate term	a fixed interest rate of 5.00% until, but excluding December 5, 2013 and 9.00% thereafter
Debt Instrument Unamortized Discount		404,460,000
Debt Instrument Unamortized Discount And Fee Amount	$ 414,100,000

Debt Instrument Interest US Treasury Note Rate

No definition available.

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- Definition

The amount of the fee that accompanies borrowing money under the debt instrument and the discount that was originally recognized at the issuance of the instrument that has yet to be amortized.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Latest date the outstanding debt instruments are required to be repaid.

+ References

No definition available.

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Earliest date the outstanding debt instruments are required to be repaid.

+ References

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- Definition

Amount of long-term debt before deduction of unamortized discount or premium. Includes, but is not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, commercial loans, mortgage loans, convertible debt, subordinated debt and other types of debt, with initial maturities beyond one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 02

-Paragraph 20

-Article 5

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-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 210

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22)

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-Publisher SEC

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-Section 03

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- Definition

Effective interest rate for the funds borrowed under the debt agreement considering interest compounding and original issue discount or premium.

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 835

-SubTopic 30

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Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

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-Number 210

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Maximum contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

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Minimum contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

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- Definition

Description of the interest rate as being fixed or variable, and, if variable, identification of the index or rate on which the interest rate is based and the number of points or percentage added to that index or rate to set the rate, and other pertinent information, such as frequency of rate resets.

+ References

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- Definition

Description of the maturity date of the debt instrument including whether the debt matures serially and, if so, a brief description of the serial maturities.

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The amount of debt discount that was originally recognized at the issuance of the instrument that has yet to be amortized.

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

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- Definition

The earliest year of maturity for the advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank as of the Balance Sheet date.

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 942

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-Paragraph 1

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The last year of maturity for the advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank as of the Balance Sheet date.

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States the lowest interest rate applicable to any of the advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank as of the Balance Sheet date.

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States the highest interest rate applicable to any of the advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank as of the Balance Sheet date.

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