Basis of Presentation	6 Months Ended
Basis of Presentation	Jun. 30, 2019
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation SVB Financial Group is a diversified financial services company, as well as a bank holding company and a financial holding company. SVB Financial was incorporated in the state of Delaware in March 1999. Through our various subsidiaries and divisions, we offer a diverse set of banking and financial products and services to support our clients of all sizes and stages throughout their life cycles. In these notes to our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements, when we refer to “SVB Financial Group,” “SVBFG," the “Company,” “we,” “our,” “us” or use similar words, we mean SVB Financial Group and all of its subsidiaries collectively, including Silicon Valley Bank (the “Bank”), unless the context requires otherwise. When we refer to “SVB Financial” or the “Parent” we are referring only to the parent company, SVB Financial Group (not including subsidiaries). The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments of a normal and recurring nature that are, in the opinion of management, necessary to fairly present our financial position, results of operations and cash flows in accordance with GAAP. Such unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. The results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for any future periods. These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 (“2018 Form 10-K”). The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a consistent basis with the accounting policies described in Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Note 2—“Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” under Part II, Item 8 of our 2018 Form 10-K. The preparation of unaudited interim consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Estimates may change as new information is obtained. Significant items that are subject to such estimates include measurements of fair value, the valuation of non-marketable and other equity securities, the valuation of equity warrant assets, the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses and allowance for unfunded credit commitments, and the recognition and measurement of income tax assets and liabilities. Principles of Consolidation and Presentation Our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements include the accounts of SVB Financial Group and consolidated entities. We consolidate voting entities in which we have control through voting interests or entities through which we have a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity (“VIE”). We determine whether we have a controlling financial interest in a VIE by determining if we have: (a) the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance, (b) the obligation to absorb the expected losses, or (c) the right to receive the expected returns of the entity. Generally, we have significant variable interests if our commitments to a limited partnership investment represent a significant amount of the total commitments to the entity. We also evaluate the impact of related parties on our determination of variable interests in our consolidation conclusions. We consolidate VIEs in which we are the primary beneficiary based on a controlling financial interest. If we are not the primary beneficiary of a VIE, we record our pro-rata interests based on our ownership percentage. VIEs are entities where investors lack sufficient equity at risk for the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support or equity investors, as a group, lack one of the following characteristics: (a) the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance, (b) the obligation to absorb the expected losses of the entity, or (c) the right to receive the expected returns of the entity. We assess VIEs to determine if we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE. A primary beneficiary is defined as a variable interest holder that has a controlling financial interest. A controlling financial interest requires both: (a) the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance, and (b) obligation to absorb losses or receive benefits of a VIE that could potentially be significant to a VIE. Under this analysis, we also evaluate kick-out rights and other participating rights, which could provide us a controlling financial interest. The primary beneficiary of a VIE is required to consolidate the VIE. We also evaluate fees paid to managers of our limited partnership investments. We exclude those fee arrangements that are not deemed to be variable interests from the analysis of our interests in our investments in VIEs and the determination of a primary beneficiary, if any. Fee arrangements based on terms that are customary and commensurate with the services provided are deemed not to be variable interests and are, therefore, excluded. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions with consolidated entities have been eliminated. We have not provided financial or other support during the periods presented to any VIE that we were not previously contractually required to provide. Adoption of New Accounting Standards In February 2016, the FASB issued a new accounting standard update (ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842)), which requires for all operating leases the recognition of a right-of-use ("ROU") asset and a corresponding lease liability, in the statement of financial position. For short term leases (term of 12 months or less), a lessee is permitted to make an accounting election not to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities. The lease cost will be allocated over the lease term on a straight-line basis. There were further amendments, including practical expedients, with the issuance of ASU 2018-01, “Leases (Topic 842): Land Easement Practical Expedient for Transition to Topic 842” in January 2018. In July 2018 the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-11, "Leases (Topic 842): Targeted Improvements", which provides us with the option to apply the new leasing standard to all open leases as of the adoption date, on a prospective basis. On January 1, 2019, we adopted the new accounting standard ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) and all the related amendments ("new lease standard", "ASC 842" or "ASU 2016-02") utilizing the practical expedient to apply the new lease standard as of January 1, 2019 on a prospective basis. We also elected the "package of expedients" and elected as an accounting policy to exclude recording ROU assets and lease liabilities for leases that meet the definition of short-term leases. In addition to excluding short-term leases, we have implemented an accounting policy in which non-lease components are not separated from lease components in the measurement of ROU assets and lease liabilities for all lease contracts. The "package of expedients" allowed us to continue to account for existing leases for which the commencement date is before January 1, 2019, in accordance with the previous guidance, Leases (Topic 840), throughout the lease term, including periods after adoption of the new guidance. We recognized $146 million in ROU assets and $178 million in lease liabilities as a result of applying the new lease standard as an adjustment to our opening consolidated balance sheet on January 1, 2019. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods. See Note 9—"Leases" of the “Notes to Interim Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)” under Part I, Item 1 of this report for additional disclosures related to our leases. In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-08, Receivables—Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs (Subtopic 310-20): Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities, which amends the amortization period for certain purchased callable debt securities held at a premium. The ASU requires entities to amortize premiums on debt securities by the first call date when the securities have fixed and determinable call dates and prices. The scope of the ASU includes all accounting premiums, such as purchase premiums and cumulative fair value hedge adjustments. The ASU does not change the accounting for discounts, which continue to be recognized over the contractual life of a security. Adoption of the ASU is on a modified retrospective basis through a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the year of adoption. Adoption of the ASU primarily affected our HTM portfolio of callable state and municipal debt securities. On January 1, 2019, we adopted the ASU and recognized a net reduction to retained earnings of $583 thousand. Recent Accounting Pronouncements In June 2016, the FASB issued a new accounting standard update (ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments- Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments) ("ASU 2016-13" or "CECL"), which amends the incurred loss impairment methodology in current GAAP with a methodology that reflects a current expected credit loss measurement to estimate the allowance for credit losses ("ACL") over the contractual life of the loan and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. This guidance will be effective January 1, 2020, on a modified retrospective approach, with early adoption permitted, but not before January 1, 2019. We expect to adopt the guidance in the first quarter of 2020. Our implementation process includes loss forecasting model development, evaluation of technical accounting topics, updates to our allowance documentation, reporting processes and related internal controls, and overall operational readiness for our adoption of CECL, which will continue throughout 2019, including parallel runs for CECL alongside our current allowance process. The ultimate effect of CECL on our ACL will depend on the size and composition of our portfolio, the portfolio’s credit quality and economic conditions at the time of adoption, as well as any refinements to our models, methodology and other key assumptions. At adoption, we will have a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings for our change in the ACL. In August 2018, the FASB issued a new accounting standard update (ASU No. 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement). The ASU primarily modifies certain disclosures with respect to Level 3 fair value measurements. This guidance will be effective January 1, 2020, with early adoption permitted. This guidance will not have an impact on our consolidated financial position or results of operations, and we do not expect the adoption of this standard to have a material impact on the disclosures in our Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. Reclassifications Certain prior period amounts, primarily related to presentation changes to our financial statement line items and immaterial changes to our reportable segments, have been reclassified to conform to current period presentations.