Portfolio Assets (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended																										12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Feb. 28, 2011 European securitization entity	Feb. 28, 2011 Foreign equity-method investee	Dec. 31, 2012 Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2011 Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan Portfolios	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Purchased performing loans	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Purchased performing loans	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios UBN	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan Portfolios UBN	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Other	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Other	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Commercial real estate	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Commercial real estate	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Business assets	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Business assets	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Other commercial	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Other commercial	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Other commercial Other	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Other commercial Other	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan Portfolios Other commercial Other	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Domestic Commercial real estate Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Domestic Commercial real estate Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan Portfolios Domestic Commercial real estate Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Domestic Business assets Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Domestic Business assets Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan Portfolios Domestic Business assets Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Domestic Other commercial Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Domestic Other commercial Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan Portfolios Domestic Other commercial Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Latin America Commercial real estate Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Latin America Commercial real estate Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan Portfolios Latin America Commercial real estate Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan Portfolios Europe Commercial real estate Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan Portfolios Europe Commercial real estate Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan Portfolios Europe Commercial real estate Purchased Credit-Impaired Loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Real Estate Portfolios	Dec. 31, 2011 Real Estate Portfolios	Mar. 31, 2012 Real Estate Portfolios Special Situations Platform
Loan and real estate portfolios
Carrying Value							$ 45,298,000	$ 97,871,000																$ 5,194,000	$ 5,904,000		$ 28,487,000	$ 73,154,000		$ 4,047,000	$ 10,742,000		$ 3,087,000	$ 3,754,000		$ 1,034,000	$ 50,000		$ 3,449,000	$ 4,267,000
Allowance for Loan Losses	394,000	781,000					394,000	781,000	45,162,000						43,291,000									41,000	5,000	49,000		553,000	354,000	26,000	185,000	252,000		38,000	90,000	327,000		260,000			866,000
Carrying Value, net	44,904,000	97,090,000					44,904,000	97,090,000										32,643,000	76,918,000	4,021,000	10,557,000	8,240,000	9,615,000	5,153,000	5,899,000		28,487,000	72,601,000		4,021,000	10,557,000		3,087,000	3,716,000		707,000	50,000		3,449,000	4,267,000
Real estate held for sale, net	10,171,000	26,856,000
Total Portfolio Assets	55,075,000	123,946,000
Carrying value of real estate property																																												6,900,000
Income from Portfolio Assets	26,707,000	40,622,000								23,363,000	37,481,000	312,000	445,000	1,760,000		169,000	192,000																									2,863,000	744,000
Changes in accretable yield
Beginning Balance					4,732,000	1,380,000
Accretion					(600,000)	(4,321,000)
Reclassification from (to) nonaccretable difference					(2,040,000)	4,253,000
Disposals					(2,092,000)	(5,488,000)
Transfer from non-accrual						8,912,000
Translation adjustments						(4,000)
Ending Balance						4,732,000
Summary of acquisitions
Face value at acquisition					11,270,000	31,859,000
Cash flows expected to be collected at acquisition, net of adjustments					6,544,000	19,803,000
Basis in acquired loans at acquisition					4,120,000	14,329,000
Other disclosures
Aggregate carrying value of portfolio asset sold	28,700,000	50,300,000
Portfolio assets sold			21,900,000	3,000,000
Provisions for loan and impairment losses, net of recoveries, through a charge to income	3,100,000	3,800,000
Provision for loan losses, net of recoveries							2,500,000	1,700,000
Impairment charges																																										$ 600,000	$ 2,100,000