Acquisitions- Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013	Oct. 02, 2012 WestLB Mellon Asset Management
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent payments	$ 4
Potential obligation to pay additional consideration, lower limit	11
Potential obligation to pay additional consideration, upper limit	24	13
Potential obligation to pay additional consideration, period of measurement (in years)	2 years
Business acquisition, voting percentage acquired (percent)		50.00%
Business acquisition		22
Goodwill related to acquisition, non-tax deductible		70
Intangible assets, useful life (in years)		8 years
Intangible assets - customer relationships		$ 23

Amount of non-tax deductible goodwill arising from a business combination.

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	bk_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Intangible Assets, Primarily Customer Relationship

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	bk_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Contingent consideration measurement period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The total cost of the acquired entity including the cash paid to shareholders of acquired entities, fair value of debt and equity securities issued to shareholders of acquired entities, the fair value of the liabilities assumed, and direct costs of the acquisition.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 51

-Subparagraph d

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of voting equity interests acquired in the business combination.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 805

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (c)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=7659399&loc=d3e1392-128463

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141R

-Paragraph 68

-Subparagraph c

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This element represents the amount of any change, including any differences arising upon settlement, recognized during the reporting period in the value of a liability, arising from an item of contingent consideration, assumed in a business combination.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 805

-SubTopic 30

-Section 50

-Paragraph 4

-Subparagraph (a)(1)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=7488404&loc=d3e7008-128479

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141R

-Paragraph 72

-Subparagraph b

-Clause 1

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

For contingent consideration arrangements recognized in connection with a business combination, this element represents an estimate of the high-end of the potential range (undiscounted) of the consideration which may be paid.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 805

-SubTopic 30

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (c)(3)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=7488404&loc=d3e6927-128479

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141R

-Paragraph 68

-Subparagraph g

-Clause 3

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

For contingent consideration arrangements and indemnification assets recognized in connection with a business combination, this element represents an estimate of the low-end of the potential range (undiscounted) of the consideration which may be paid.

+ References

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Useful life of finite-lived intangible assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration