Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

NOTE 1—SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The Company

Capital One Financial Corporation, a Delaware Corporation established in 1994 and headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is a diversified financial services holding company with banking and non-banking subsidiaries. Capital One Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) offer a broad array of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through branches, the internet and other distribution channels. As of March 31, 2019, our principal subsidiaries included:


•	Capital One Bank (USA), National Association (“COBNA”), which offers credit and debit card products, other lending products and deposit products; and


•	Capital One, National Association (“CONA”), which offers a broad spectrum of banking products and financial services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients.

The Company is hereafter collectively referred to as “we,” “us” or “our.” COBNA and CONA are collectively referred to as the “Banks.”

We also offer products outside of the United States of America (“U.S.”) principally through Capital One (Europe) plc (“COEP”), an indirect subsidiary of COBNA organized and located in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”), and through a branch of COBNA in Canada. COEP has authority, among other things, to provide credit card loans. Our branch of COBNA in Canada also has the authority to provide credit card loans.

Our principal operations are organized for management reporting purposes into three major business segments, which are defined primarily based on the products and services provided or the type of customer served: Credit Card, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. We provide details on our business segments, the integration of recent acquisitions, if any, into our business segments and the allocation methodologies and accounting policies used to derive our business segment results in “Note 13—Business Segments and Revenue from Contracts with Customers.”

Basis of Presentation and Use of Estimates

The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”). The preparation of the consolidated 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 judgments, actual amounts or results could differ from these estimates. In the opinion of management, all normal, recurring adjustments have been included for a fair statement of this interim financial information. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements, and related notes thereto, included in Capital One Financial Corporation’s 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K (“2018 Form 10-K”).

Newly Adopted Accounting Standards



Standard	Guidance	Adoption Timing and Financial Statements Impacts
Premium Amortization on Callable Debt Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2017-08, Receivables—Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs (Subtopic 310-20): Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities Issued March 2017	Shortens the amortization period from the contractual life to the earliest call date for certain purchased callable debt securities held at a premium.	We adopted this guidance in the first quarter of 2019 using the modified retrospective method of adoption. Our adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Leases ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) Issued February 2016	Requires lessees to recognize right of use assets and lease liabilities on their consolidated balance sheets and disclose key information about all their leasing arrangements, with certain practical expedients.	We adopted this guidance in the first quarter of 2019, using the modified retrospective method of adoption without restating prior periods. We elected the practical expedients that permitted us to not reassess the lease classification of existing leases, whether existing contracts contain a lease or the treatment of initial direct costs on existing leases. Upon adoption, we recorded a lease liability of $1.9 billion and right of use asset of $1.6 billion, which is net of other lease-related balances.

Accounting Standards Issued but Not Adopted as of March 31, 2019



Standard	Guidance	Adoption Timing and Financial Statements Impacts
Cloud Computing ASU No. 2018-15, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract Issued August 2018	Aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license).	Effective January 1, 2020, with early adoption permitted, using either the retrospective or prospective method of adoption. We plan to adopt the standard on its effective date and are currently evaluating the expected impact of such adoption.

Goodwill Impairment Test Simplification ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment Issued January 2017	Eliminates the second step from the current goodwill impairment test. Under the current guidance, the first step compares a reporting unit’s carrying value to its fair value. If the carrying value exceeds fair value, an entity performs the second step, which assigns the reporting unit’s fair value to its assets and liabilities, including unrecognized assets and liabilities, in the same manner as required in purchase accounting. Under the new guidance, any impairment of a reporting unit’s goodwill is determined based on the amount by which the reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, limited to the amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit.	Effective January 1, 2020, with early adoption permitted, using the prospective method of adoption. We plan to adopt the standard on its effective date and do not expect such adoption to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.



Standard	Guidance	Adoption Timing and Financial Statements Impacts
Current Expected Credit Loss (“CECL”) ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments Issued June 2016	Requires the use of current expected credit loss model that is based on expected rather than incurred losses to determine our allowance for credit losses on financial assets measured at amortized cost, certain net investments in leases and certain off-balance sheet arrangements. Replaces current accounting for PCI and impaired loans. Amends the other-than-temporary impairment model for available for sale debt securities to require that credit losses (and subsequent recoveries) be recorded through an allowance approach, rather than through permanent write-downs for credit losses and subsequent accretion of positive changes through interest income over time.	Effective January 1, 2020, with early adoption permitted no earlier than January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective method of adoption. We plan to adopt the standard on its effective date. We have established a company-wide, cross-functional governance structure for our implementation of this standard. We continue to evaluate industry accounting interpretations, data requirements and necessary changes to our credit loss estimation methods, processes, systems and controls. We have commenced limited parallel testing and expect to perform multiple tests of our full end-to-end allowance process prior to adopting the standard. We continue to assess the potential impact on our consolidated financial statements, related disclosures and regulatory capital. We currently expect our adoption of this guidance will result in an increase to our reserves for credit losses on financial instruments due to the requirement to record expected losses over the remaining contractual lives of our financial instruments; however, the actual impact will depend on the characteristics of our financial instruments, economic conditions, and our economic and loss forecasts at the adoption date.