Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

The accounting and financial reporting policies of State Street Corporation conform to U.S. GAAP. State Street Corporation, the Parent Company, is a financial holding company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Unless otherwise indicated or unless the context requires otherwise, all references in these notes to consolidated financial statements to “State Street,” “we,” “us,” “our” or similar references mean State Street Corporation and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis, including our principal banking subsidiary, State Street Bank.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial and risk factor information included in our 2018 Form 10-K, which we previously filed with the SEC.

The consolidated financial statements accompanying these condensed notes are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, which are necessary for a fair statement of the consolidated results of operations in these financial statements, have been made. Certain previously reported amounts presented in this Form 10-Q have been reclassified to conform to current-period presentation. Events occurring subsequent to the date of our consolidated statement of condition were evaluated for potential recognition or disclosure in our consolidated financial statements through the date we filed this Form 10-Q with the SEC.

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions in the application of certain of our significant accounting policies that may materially affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and expenses. As a result of unanticipated events or circumstances, actual results could differ from those estimates. These accounting estimates reflect the best judgment of management, but actual results could differ.

Our consolidated statement of condition as of December 31, 2018 included in the accompanying consolidated financial statements was derived from the audited financial statements as of that date, but does not include all notes required by U.S. GAAP for a complete set of consolidated financial statements.

Recent Accounting Developments



Relevant standards that were recently issued but not yet adopted as of March 31, 2019:
Standard	Description	Date of Adoption	Effects on the financial statements or other significant matters
ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments	The standard replaces the existing incurred loss impairment guidance and requires immediate recognition of expected credit losses for financial assets carried at amortized cost, including trade and other receivables, loans and commitments, held-to-maturity debt securities and other financial assets, held at the reporting date to be measured based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable supportable forecasts. The standard also amends existing impairment guidance for available-for-sale securities, and credit losses will be recorded as an allowance versus a write-down of the amortized cost basis of the security and will allow for a reversal of impairment loss when the credit of the issuer improves. The guidance requires a cumulative effect of initial application to be recognized in retained earnings at the date of initial application.	January 1, 2020, early adoption permitted	We are continuing to assess the impact of the standard on our consolidated financial statements. We have established a steering committee to provide cross-functional governance over the project plan and key decisions, and continue to develop key accounting policies, assess new and existing credit loss models and processes and address data requirements and sources to ensure that the expected credit losses are calculated in accordance with the standard. We have developed credit loss models that are currently under review by our Model Validation Group. Based on our analysis to date, we expect the recognition of credit losses to accelerate under the new standard. We are continuing to assess the extent of the impact on the allowance for credit losses which will be impacted by our portfolio and the macroeconomic factors on the date of adoption. We plan to adopt the new guidance on January 1, 2020.
ASU 2017-04, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment	The standard simplifies the subsequent measurement of goodwill by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. The ASU requires an entity to compare the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount and recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the fair value of the reporting unit. Additionally, an entity should consider income tax effects from any tax deductible goodwill on the carrying amount of the reporting unit when measuring the goodwill impairment loss.	January 1, 2020, early adoption permitted	We are evaluating the impacts of early adoption, and will apply this standard prospectively upon adoption.
ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework-Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement	The standard eliminates, amends and adds disclosure requirements for fair value measurements.	January 1, 2020, early adoption permitted, including partial early adoption. Provisions that eliminate or amend disclosures can be early adopted without early adopting the new disclosure requirements.	We have elected to early adopt the provisions of the new standard that eliminate or amend disclosures as of December 31, 2018 and our disclosures were modified accordingly. The provisions of the new standard that add disclosures will be adopted upon the effective date of the standard.
ASU 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 (a consensus of the Financial Accounting Standards Board Emerging Issues Task Force)	This standard addresses accounting for fees paid by a customer for implementation, set-up and other upfront costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement that is hosted by the vendor, i.e., a service contract. The new guidance aligns treatment for capitalization of implementation costs with guidance on internal-use software.	January 1, 2020, early adoption permitted	We are currently evaluating the impact of the new standard and the early adoption provisions.

Relevant standards that were adopted in the first quarter of 2019:

We adopted ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) and relevant amendments, effective January 1, 2019. The standard represents a change to lease accounting and requires all leases, other than short-term leases, to be reported on the balance sheet through recognition of a right-of-use asset and a corresponding liability for future lease obligations. The standard also requires incremental disclosures for assets, expenses, and cash flows associated with leases, as well as a maturity analysis of lease liabilities. We adopted Topic 842 by applying the transition method whereby comparative periods have not been restated, and no adjustment to retained earnings was required. Upon adoption of the standard, we recognized right-of-use assets of approximately $0.9 billion and lease liabilities of approximately $1.1 billion. This increase largely relates to the present value of future minimum lease payments due under existing operating leases of office space. No material changes are expected to the recognition of lease expenses in the Consolidated Statement of Income as a result of the adoption of Topic 842. For adoption, we elected Topic 842’s package of three practical expedients, and (1) did not reassess whether any expired or existing contracts are or contain leases, (2) did not reassess the lease classification for any expired or existing leases, and (3) did not reassess initial direct costs for any existing leases. In addition, we made an accounting policy election not to apply the recognition requirements to short-term leases, and elected the practical expedient to not separate lease and nonlease components of leases.

We adopted ASU 2017-08, Receivables - Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs (Subtopic 310-20): Premium amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities, effective January 1, 2019. The standard shortens the amortization period for certain purchased callable debt securities to the earliest call date. The standard does not impact debt securities which are held at a discount. The guidance requires a cumulative effect of initial application to be recognized in retained earnings at the beginning of the period of adoption. The impact to beginning retained earnings was not material.

We adopted ASU 2018-02, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, effective January 1, 2019. This standard provides an election to reclassify the stranded tax effects resulting from the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings. Upon adoption of the standard we reclassified approximately $84 million of stranded tax effects.

Change In Accounting Policy

Change in Accounting Policy

In the first quarter of 2019, we voluntarily changed our accounting method under FASB ASC 323, Investments-Equity Method and Joint Ventures, for investments in LIHTC from the equity method of accounting to the proportional amortization method of accounting. While both methods of accounting are acceptable under U.S. GAAP, we believe the proportional method is preferable because it more fairly represents the economics of investments in LIHTC, which are made primarily for the purpose of receiving tax credits and other tax benefits. In addition, this method aligns to the method typically used by the companies within our industry which have similar investments. In addition to the change in the timing of the recognition of income on investments in LIHTC, amortization of the investments in LIHTC is now recorded fully within the income tax expense line instead of the processing fees and other line on the consolidated statements of operations.

This change in accounting method has been applied retrospectively to all prior periods presented herein being revised, resulting in a reduction in the opening balance of retained earnings as of January 1, 2018 of $47 million.

Fair Value Measurements

We carry trading account assets and liabilities, AFS debt securities, certain equity securities and various types of derivative financial instruments, at fair value in our consolidated statement of condition on a recurring basis. Changes in the fair values of these financial assets and liabilities are recorded either as components of our consolidated statement of income or as components of AOCI within shareholders' equity in our consolidated statement of condition.

We measure fair value for the above-described financial assets and liabilities in conformity with U.S. GAAP that governs the measurement of the fair value of financial instruments. Management believes that its valuation techniques and underlying assumptions used to measure fair value conform to the provisions of U.S. GAAP. We categorize the financial assets and liabilities that we carry at fair value based on a prescribed three-level valuation hierarchy. For information about our valuation techniques for financial assets and financial liabilities measured at fair value and the

fair value hierarchy, refer to pages 129 to 136 in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements included under Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, in our 2018 Form 10-K.

The following tables present information with respect to our financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value in our consolidated statement of condition on a recurring basis as of the dates indicated: