Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP” ).

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported on the consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. These estimates are based on information available as of the date of the consolidated financial statements. While management makes its best judgment, actual amounts or results could differ from these estimates.

Reclassifications

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Principles of Consolidation

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Capital One Financial Corporation and all other entities in which we have a controlling financial interest. We determine whether we have a controlling financial interest in an entity by first evaluating whether the entity is a voting interest entity or a Variable Interest Entity (“VIE” ). All significant intercompany account balances and transactions have been eliminated.

New Accounting Standards

New Accounting Standards Adopted

Accounting for Investments in Qualified Affordable Housing Projects

In January 2014, the Financial Accounting Standard Board (“FASB”) issued guidance permitting an entity to account for Investments in Qualified Affordable Housing Projects using the proportional amortization method if certain criteria are met. The proportional amortization method amortizes the cost of the investment over the period in which the investor expects to receive tax credits and other tax benefits, and the resulting amortization is recognized as a component of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations. Historically, these investments were under the equity method of accounting and the passive losses related to the investments were recognized within non-interest expense. We adopted this guidance in the first quarter of 2014 with retrospective application. As a result, total assets, total liabilities, and retained earnings were reduced by $115 million, $3 million and $112 million from $297.0 billion, $255.3 billion and $20.4 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2013. In addition, net income was reduced by $12 million from $1.1 billion for the three months ended September 30, 2013, and by $31 million from $3.3 billion for the first nine months ended September 30, 2013.

During the third quarter and first nine months of 2014, we recognized amortization of $87 million and $231 million, respectively, and tax credits of $90 million and $268 million, respectively, associated with these investments within income taxes. The carrying value of our investments in these qualified affordable housing projects was $3.0 billion and $2.8 billion as of September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively. We are periodically required to provide additional financial or other support during the period of the investments. We recorded a liability of $1.2 billion for the unfunded commitments as of September 30, 2014, which is expected to be paid from 2014 to 2017.

Obligations Resulting from Joint and Several Liability Arrangements

In February 2013, the FASB issued guidance for the recognition, measurement, and disclosure of obligations resulting from joint and several liability arrangements for which the total amount of the obligation, within the scope of this guidance, is fixed at the reporting date, except for obligations addressed within existing guidance in U.S. GAAP. The guidance clarifies that an entity shall measure the obligations as the sum of the amount the reporting entity agreed to pay on the basis of its arrangement among its co-obligors and any additional amount the reporting entity expects to pay on behalf of its co-obligors. The guidance also requires an entity to disclose the nature and amounts of the obligations as well as other information about those obligations. The guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2013. The adoption of this guidance in the first quarter of 2014 did not have a significant impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity as the guidance is consistent with our current practice.

Recently Issued but Not Yet Adopted Accounting Standards

Accounting for Share-Based Payments When the Terms of an Award Provide That a Performance Target Could Be Achieved after the Requisite Service Period

In June 2014, the FASB issued guidance clarifying that a performance target contained within a share-based payment award that affects vesting and can be achieved after the requisite service period has been completed is to be accounted for as a performance condition. Accordingly, the grantor of such awards would recognize compensation cost in the period in which it becomes probable that the performance target will be achieved. The amount of the compensation cost recognized should represent the cost attributable to the requisite service period fulfilled. The guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. Entities may elect to adopt the guidance on either a prospective or modified retrospective basis. We do not expect our adoption of this guidance in the first quarter of 2015 to have a significant impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity as the guidance is consistent with our current practice.

Accounting for Repurchase Transactions

In June 2014, the FASB issued guidance that requires repurchase-to-maturity transactions to be accounted for as secured borrowings rather than sales. New disclosures will also be required for certain transactions accounted for as secured borrowings and transfers accounted for as sales when the transferor retains substantially all of the exposure to the economic return on the transferred financial assets. We do not expect our adoption of the accounting guidance in the first quarter of 2015 to have a significant impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity as the guidance is consistent with our current practice. The new disclosures will be provided beginning in the second quarter of 2015. 

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

In May 2014, the FASB issued revised guidance for the recognition, measurement, and disclosure of revenue from contracts with customers. The guidance is applicable to all entities and, once effective, will replace significant portions of existing industry and transaction-specific revenue recognition rules with a more principles-based recognition model. Most revenue associated with financial instruments, including interest and loan origination fees, is outside the scope of the guidance. Gains and losses on investment securities, derivatives and sales of financial instruments are similarly excluded from the scope. The guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption prohibited. Entities can elect to adopt the guidance either on a full or modified retrospective basis. Full retrospective adoption will require a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented. Modified retrospective adoption will require a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the reporting period in which the entity first applies the new guidance. We are currently evaluating the guidance to identify which of our revenue streams are within its scope and determine which transition method we plan to elect. Accordingly, we cannot yet quantify the impact our adoption of this guidance will have in the first quarter of 2017.   

Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity

In April 2014, the FASB issued guidance changing the criteria for reporting discontinued operations. As a result of the change, only those disposals of components of an entity that represent a strategic shift that have, or will have, a major effect on an entity’s operations and financial results will be reported as discontinued operations. Expanded disclosures will be required of discontinued operations and disposals of individually significant components of an entity that do not currently qualify for discontinued operations reporting. The guidance is effective for disposals or classifications as held for sale of components of an entity that occur within annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2014, with early adoption permitted in certain circumstances. Our adoption of this guidance in the first quarter of 2015 will not impact what we currently report as discontinued operations due to the prospective transition provisions.

Reclassification of Collateralized Mortgage Loans Upon Foreclosure

In January 2014, the FASB issued guidance clarifying when an entity should reclassify a consumer mortgage loan collateralized by residential real estate to foreclosed property. Reclassification should occur when the creditor obtains legal title to the residential real estate property or when the borrower conveys all interest in the residential real estate property to the creditor to satisfy that loan through completion of a deed in lieu of foreclosure or through a similar legal agreement. An entity should not wait until a redemption period, if any, has expired to reclassify a consumer mortgage loan to foreclosed property. The guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2014, with early adoption permitted. We do not expect our adoption of this guidance in the first quarter of 2015 to have a significant impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity as the guidance is materially consistent with our current practice.

Use of Derivatives and Accounting for Derivatives

Use of Derivatives

We manage our asset and liability position and market risk exposure in accordance with prescribed risk management policies and limits established by our Market and Liquidity Risk Policy which is approved by our Board of Directors. Our primary market risk stems from the impact on our earnings and economic value of equity from changes in interest rates and, to a lesser extent, changes in foreign exchange rates. We employ several techniques to manage our interest rate sensitivity, which include changing the duration and re-pricing characteristics of various assets and liabilities by using interest rate derivatives. Our current asset and liability management policy also includes the use of derivatives to hedge foreign currency denominated transactions to limit our earnings and capital ratio exposure to foreign exchange risk. We execute our derivative contracts in both the over-the-counter (“OTC”) and exchange-traded derivative markets. The majority of our derivatives are interest rate swaps. In addition, we may use a variety of other derivative instruments, including caps, floors, options, futures and forward contracts, to manage our interest rate and foreign exchange risk. We also offer various derivatives to our customers as part of our Commercial Banking business but usually offset our exposure through derivative transactions with other counterparties.

Accounting for Derivatives

Our derivatives are designated as either qualifying accounting hedges or free-standing derivatives. Free-standing derivatives consist of customer-accommodation derivatives and economic hedges that do not qualify for hedge accounting. Qualifying accounting hedges are designated as fair value hedges, cash flow hedges or net investment hedges.

• Fair Value Hedges: We designate derivatives as fair value hedges to manage our exposure to changes in the fair value of certain financial assets and liabilities, which fluctuate in value as a result of movements in interest rates. Changes in the fair value of derivatives designated as fair value hedges are recorded in earnings together with offsetting changes in the fair value of the hedged item and any resulting ineffectiveness. Our fair value hedges consist of interest rate swaps that are intended to modify our exposure to interest rate risk on various fixed-rate assets and liabilities.

• Cash Flow Hedges: We designate derivatives as cash flow hedges to manage our exposure to variability in cash flows related to forecasted transactions. Changes in the fair value of derivatives designated as cash flow hedges are recorded as a component of AOCI, to the extent that the hedge relationships are effective, and amounts are reclassified from AOCI to earnings as the forecasted transactions occur. To the extent that any ineffectiveness exists in the hedge relationships, the amounts are recorded in current period earnings. Our cash flow hedges consist of interest rate swaps that are intended to hedge the variability in interest payments on some of our variable-rate assets through 2019. These hedges have the effect of converting some of our variable-rate assets to a fixed rate. We also have entered into forward foreign currency derivative contracts to hedge our exposure to variability in cash flows related to foreign currency denominated intercompany borrowings.

• Net Investment Hedges: We use net investment hedges to manage the foreign currency exposure related to our non-dollar net investments in foreign operations that have functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Changes in the fair value of net investment hedges are recorded in the translation adjustment component of AOCI, effectively offsetting the translation gain or loss from consolidating the foreign subsidiaries onto the parent’s balance sheet. During the third quarter of 2014, we executed net investment hedges using foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge the translation exposure of the non-dollar equity invested in our foreign operations.

• Free-Standing Derivatives: We use free-standing derivatives to hedge the risk of changes in the fair value of residential MSRs, mortgage loan origination and purchase commitments and other interests held. We also categorize our customer accommodation derivatives and the related offsetting contracts as free-standing derivatives. Changes in the fair value of free-standing derivatives are recorded in earnings as a component of other non-interest income.

Offsetting of Financial Assets and Liabilities

Offsetting of Financial Assets and Liabilities

We execute the majority of our derivative transactions and repurchase agreements under master netting arrangements. Under our existing enforceable master netting arrangements, we generally have the right to offset exposure with the same counterparty. In addition, either counterparty can generally request the net settlement of all contracts through a single payment upon default on, or termination of, any one contract.

We present all of our derivative assets and liabilities and repurchase agreements on a gross basis on our consolidated balance sheets. The following table presents as of September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the gross and net fair values of our derivative assets and liabilities and repurchase agreements, as well as the related offsetting amount permitted under the accounting standards for offsetting assets and liabilities. Under the accounting standard, gross positive fair values could be offset against gross negative fair values by counterparty pursuant to legally enforceable master netting agreements, if the netting presentation method is elected. The table also includes cash and non-cash collateral received or pledged associated with such arrangements. The collateral amounts related to derivative assets, derivative liabilities and repurchase agreements are limited to the extent of the related net derivative fair values or outstanding balances, thus instances of overcollateralization are not shown.

Fair Value Measurement

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date (also referred to as an exit price). The fair value accounting guidance provides a three-level fair value hierarchy for classifying financial instruments. This hierarchy is based on whether the inputs to the valuation techniques used to measure fair value are observable or unobservable. The fair value measurement of a financial asset or liability is assigned to a level based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:

Level 1:	Valuation is based on quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2:	Valuation is based on observable market-based inputs, other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active, or models using inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data of substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.
Level 3:	Valuation is generated from techniques that use significant assumptions not observable in the market. Valuation techniques include pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies or similar techniques.

The accounting guidance for fair value measurements requires that we maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs in determining fair value. The accounting guidance provides for the irrevocable option to elect, on a contract-by-contract basis, to measure certain financial assets and liabilities at fair value at inception of the contract and record any subsequent changes in fair value in earnings. We have not made any material fair value option elections as of or for the periods disclosed herein.