Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

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 in the consolidated financial statements and in the 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.

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 Repurchase Transactions

In June 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued guidance that requires repurchase-to-maturity transactions to be accounted for as secured borrowings rather than sales. New disclosures are also 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. Our adoption of the accounting guidance in the first quarter of 2015 did not have a significant impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity as the guidance is consistent with our current practice. As required by the new guidance, the new disclosures were effective and have been provided beginning in the second quarter of 2015. 

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 should 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. Our early adoption of this guidance in the first quarter of 2015 did not have a significant impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity as the guidance is consistent with our current practice.

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

In April 2014, the FASB issued guidance raising the threshold for a disposal to qualify as a discontinued operation. Under the new guidance, a component of an entity or group of components that has been disposed by sale, disposed of other than by sale or is classified as held for sale and that represents a strategic shift that has, or will have, a major effect on an entity’s operations and financial results should be reported as discontinued operations. Our prospective adoption of this guidance in the first quarter of 2015 did not have any effect on our consolidated financial statements due to the prospective transition provisions.

Reclassification of Residential Real Estate Collateralized Consumer 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. Our adoption of this guidance in the first quarter of 2015 did not have a significant impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity as the guidance is materially consistent with our current practice.

Recently Issued but Not Yet Adopted Accounting Standards

Business Combinations: Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments

In September 2015, the FASB issued guidance on the recognition and presentation of changes to the provisional amounts recognized in a business combination. An acquirer should recognize adjustments to provisional amounts with a corresponding adjustment of goodwill, as well as the effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization or other income effects, in the reporting period in which the adjustments are identified as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. Disclosure is required, by line item, of the amount recorded in current period earnings that would have been recorded in previous reporting periods. We plan to early adopt the guidance in the fourth quarter of 2015 on a prospective basis with no impact to our consolidated financial statements in the period of adoption. The accounting for future business combinations will be subject to this new guidance if the initial accounting is incomplete by the end of the reporting period in which the combination occurs.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Deferral of the Effective Date

In August 2015, the FASB deferred by one year the effective date for revenue recognition guidance to January 1, 2018, with early adoption permitted effective January 1, 2017. 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. 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 do not plan to early adopt the guidance. We are currently assessing the potential impact of this new guidance on our consolidated financial statements and which transition method we plan to elect.

Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs

In April 2015, the FASB issued guidance simplifying the presentation of debt issuance costs. Under the new guidance, the debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability will be presented on the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. The guidance is effective on a retrospective basis beginning on January 1, 2016, with early adoption permitted. We plan to early adopt this guidance in the fourth quarter of 2015 and do not expect our adoption to have a material impact on our consolidated balance sheets.

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. As of January 1, 2015, the Company changed its accounting principle to begin offsetting derivative assets and liabilities for purposes of balance sheet presentation where a right of setoff exists. As of September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, derivative contracts that are executed bilaterally with a counterparty in the OTC market and then novated to and cleared through a central clearing house are not subject to offsetting due to current uncertainty about the legal enforceability of our right of setoff with the clearinghouses. 

The following table presents as of September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014 the gross and net fair values of our derivative assets and liabilities and repurchase agreements, as well as the related offsetting amounts permitted under U.S. GAAP. The table also includes cash and non-cash collateral received or pledged associated with such arrangements. The collateral amounts shown are limited to the extent of the related net derivative fair values or outstanding balances, thus instances of over-collateralization are not shown