NOTE 1—SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The Company

Capital One Financial Corporation, a Delaware Corporation established in 1995 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, 2013, our principal subsidiaries included:

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

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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 and its subsidiaries are hereafter collectively referred to as “we”, “us” or “our.” CONA and COBNA are collectively referred to as the “Banks.”

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

On February 17, 2012, we completed the acquisition (the “ING Direct acquisition”) of substantially all of the ING Direct business in the United States (“ING Direct”) from ING Groep N.V., ING Bank N.V., ING Direct N.V. and ING Direct Bancorp. The ING Direct acquisition resulted in the addition of loans of $40.4 billion, other assets of $53.9 billion and deposits of $84.4 billion as of the acquisition date.

On May 1, 2012, pursuant to the agreement with HSBC Finance Corporation, HSBC USA Inc. and HSBC Technology and Services (USA) Inc. (collectively, “HSBC”), we closed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets and assumed liabilities of HSBC’s credit card and private-label credit card business in the United States (other than the HSBC Bank USA, National Association consumer credit card program and certain other retained assets and liabilities) (the “2012 U.S. card acquisition,” which we sometimes refer to as the “HSBC U.S. card acquisition”). The 2012 U.S. card acquisition included (i) the acquisition of HSBC’s U.S. credit card portfolio, (ii) its on-going private label and co-branded partnerships, and (iii) other assets, including infrastructure and capabilities. At closing, we acquired approximately 27 million new active accounts, $27.8 billion in outstanding credit card receivables designated as held for investment and $327 million in other net assets.

Operations and Business Segments

Our principal operations are currently organized for management reporting purposes into three primary 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. The operations of acquired businesses have been integrated into our existing business segments. See “Note 13—Business Segments” for additional information.

Basis of Presentation and Use of Estimates

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 (the “2012 Form 10-K”). Certain financial information that is normally included in the annual financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, but is not required for interim reporting purposes, has been condensed or omitted. In the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of our interim unaudited financial statements are reflected.

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 unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. These estimates are based on information available as of the date of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. While management makes its best judgment, actual amounts or results could differ from these estimates. Interim period results may not be indicative of results for the full year.

Principles of Consolidation

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Capital One Financial Corporation and all other entities in which we have a controlling financial interest. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Significant Accounting Policies

We provide a summary of our significant accounting policies in our 2012 Form 10-K under “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—Note 1—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.” There have been no significant changes to these policies during 2013 other than as disclosed in “Note 5—Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses,” which provides details on our change in our process for estimating the allowance for loan losses and reserve for unfunded lending commitments for our commercial loan portfolio. Below we describe accounting standards that we adopted in 2013 and recently issued accounting standards that we have not yet adopted.

Accounting Standards Adopted in 2013

Comprehensive Income: Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

In February 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued new guidance requiring an entity to report the effect of significant reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income on the respective line items in net income if the amount being reclassified is required under U.S. GAAP to be reclassified in its entirety to net income. For other amounts that are not required under U.S. GAAP to be reclassified in their entirety to net income in the same reporting period, an entity is required to cross-reference other disclosures required under U.S. GAAP that provide additional detail about those amounts. The new guidance does not change the items which must be reported in other comprehensive income, how such items are measured or when they must be reclassified from other comprehensive income to net income. The information must be presented either on the face of the consolidated statement of comprehensive income or in the notes. The guidance was effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2012. Our adoption of the guidance on January 1, 2013 had no impact on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity as it only affects our disclosures. See “Note 10—Stockholders’ Equity” for further details.

Offsetting Financial Assets and Liabilities

In December 2011, the FASB issued guidance intended to enhance current disclosure requirements on offsetting financial assets and liabilities. The new disclosures will enable financial statement users to compare balance sheets prepared under U.S. GAAP and IFRS, which are subject to different offsetting models. Upon adoption, entities will be required to disclose both gross and net information about instruments and transactions eligible for offset in the balance sheet as well as instruments and transactions subject to an agreement similar to a master netting arrangement. The disclosures will be required irrespective of whether such instruments are presented gross or net on the balance sheet. The guidance was effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013, with comparative retrospective disclosures required for all periods presented. Our adoption of the guidance had no effect on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity as it only affects our disclosures. See “Note 9—Derivatives Instruments and Hedging Activities” for further details.

Recently Issued but Not Yet Adopted Accounting Standards

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 requires an entity to measure 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 amount of the obligation as well as other information about those obligations. The guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2013, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of the guidance.