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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
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.
We have two lines of business:
Investment Servicing, through State Street Institutional Services, State Street Global Markets, State Street Digital and CRD, provides services for institutional clients, including mutual funds, collective investment funds and other investment pools, corporate and public retirement plans, insurance companies, investment managers, foundations and endowments worldwide. Products include: custody; product accounting; daily pricing and administration; master trust and master custody; depotbank services (a fund oversight role created by non-U.S. regulation); record-keeping; cash management; foreign exchange, brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loans and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors.
Included within our Investment Servicing line of business is CRD, which we acquired in 2018. The Charles River Investment Management System is a technology offering which is designed to automate and simplify the institutional investment process across asset classes, from portfolio management and risk analytics through trading and post-trade settlement, with integrated compliance and managed data throughout. With the acquisition of CRD, we took the first step in building our front-to-back platform, State Street Alpha. Today our State Street Alpha platform combines portfolio management, trading and execution, analytics and compliance tools, and advanced data aggregation and integration with other industry platforms and providers. In 2021, we further expanded our technology offering with the acquisition of Mercatus, Inc., enabling the launch of Alpha for Private Markets.
Investment Management, through State Street Global Advisors, provides a broad range of investment management strategies and products for our clients. Our investment management strategies
and products span the risk/reward spectrum for equity, fixed income and cash assets, including core and enhanced indexing, multi-asset strategies, active quantitative and fundamental active capabilities and alternative investment strategies. Our AUM is currently primarily weighted to indexed strategies. In addition, we provide a breadth of services and solutions, including ESG investing, defined benefit and defined contribution and Global Fiduciary Solutions (formerly Outsourced Chief Investment Officer). State Street Global Advisors is also a provider of ETFs, including the SPDR® ETF brand.
Consolidation
Our consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Parent Company and its majority- and wholly-owned and otherwise controlled subsidiaries, including State Street Bank. All material inter-company transactions and balances have been eliminated. Certain previously reported amounts have been reclassified to conform to current-year presentation.
We consolidate subsidiaries in which we exercise control. Investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries, recorded in other assets, generally are accounted for under the equity method of accounting if we have the ability to exercise significant influence over the operations of the investee. For investments accounted for under the equity method, our share of income or loss is recorded in software and processing fees in our consolidated statement of income. Investments not meeting the criteria for equity-method treatment are measured at fair value through earnings, except for investments where a fair market value is not readily available, which are accounted for under the cost method of accounting.
Use of Estimates
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.
Foreign Currency Translation
The assets and liabilities of our operations with functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated at month-end exchange rates, and revenue and expenses are translated at rates that approximate average monthly exchange rates. Gains or losses from the translation of the net assets of subsidiaries with functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar, net of related taxes, are recorded in AOCI, a component of shareholders’ equity.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
For purposes of the consolidated statement of cash flows, cash and cash equivalents are defined as cash and due from banks.
Interest-Bearing Deposits with Banks
Interest-bearing deposits with banks generally consist of highly liquid, short-term investments maintained at the Federal Reserve Bank and other non-U.S. central banks with original maturities at the time of purchase of one month or less.
Securities Purchased Under Resale Agreements and Securities Sold Under Repurchase Agreements
Securities purchased under resale agreements and sold under repurchase agreements are treated as collateralized financing transactions, and are recorded in our consolidated statement of condition at the amounts at which the securities will be subsequently resold or repurchased, plus accrued interest. Our policy is to take possession or control of securities underlying resale agreements either directly or through agent banks, allowing borrowers the right of collateral substitution and/or short-notice termination. We revalue these securities daily to determine if additional collateral is necessary from the borrower to protect us against credit exposure. We can use these securities as collateral for repurchase agreements.
For securities sold under repurchase agreements collateralized by our investment securities portfolio, the dollar value of the securities remains in investment securities in our consolidated statement of condition. Where a master netting agreement exists or both parties are members of a common clearing organization, resale and repurchase agreements are recorded on a net basis when specific netting criteria are met.
Fee and Net Interest Income
The majority of fees from investment servicing, investment management, securities finance, trading services and certain types of software and processing fees are recorded in our consolidated statement of income based on the consideration specified in contracts with our customers, and excludes taxes collected from customers subsequently remitted to governmental authorities. We recognize revenue as the services are performed or at a point in time depending on the nature of the services provided. Payments made to third party service providers are generally recognized on a gross basis when we control those services and are deemed to be the principal. Additional information about revenue from contracts with customers is provided in Note 25.
Interest income on interest-earning assets and interest expense on interest-bearing liabilities are
recorded in our consolidated statement of income as components of NII, and are generally based on the effective yield of the related financial asset or liability.
Other Significant Policies
The following table identifies our other significant accounting policies and the note and page where a detailed description of each policy can be found:
Fair ValueNote2Page
Investment SecuritiesNote3Page
Loans Note4Page
Goodwill and Other Intangible AssetsNote5Page
Derivative Financial InstrumentsNote10Page
Offsetting ArrangementsNote11Page
ContingenciesNote13Page
Variable Interest EntitiesNote14Page
Equity-Based CompensationNote18Page
Income TaxesNote22Page
Earnings Per Common ShareNote23Page
Revenue from Contracts with CustomersNote25Page

Recent Accounting Developments
The FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting, which was effective as of March 12, 2020. The guidance (1) provides temporary optional expedients and exceptions to the existing guidance on contract modifications and hedge accounting in relation to the transition from LIBOR and other rates impacted by reference rate reform to alternative reference rates; and (2) allows a one-time election to transfer to AFS or trading HTM debt securities that reference an interest rate affected by reference rate reform. In January 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Reference Rate Reform - Scope, which clarifies that the scope of the initial accounting relief includes derivative instruments that do not reference a rate that is expected to be discontinued but that use an interest rate for margining, discounting or contract price alignment that is modified as a result of reference rate reform.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, we made the one-time election to reclassify to AFS certain HTM securities that reference an interest rate affected by reference rate reform. Securities with a book value of $438 million referencing LIBOR and other eligible reference rates were reclassified from HTM to AFS. We recognized a $72 million unrealized gain in AOCI on the reclassification of such securities and a $58 million realized gain on securities reclassified and subsequently sold.
We also elected to apply certain optional expedients related to hedge accounting and contract modification with no significant impact on the 2021 results.
Additionally, we continue to evaluate accounting standards that were recently issued but not yet adopted as of December 31, 2021; none are expected to have a material impact to our financial statements.