Total Capital Commitments, Unfunded Capital Commitments, and Our Ownership in Each Fund (Parenthetical) (Detail)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010
SVB Capital Partners II, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	5.10%	[1]	5.10%	[1]
Other private equity fund | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	58.20%	[2],[3]	60.60%	[2]
SVB Capital-NT Growth Partners, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	33.00%	[3]	33.00%
SVB Capital Preferred Return Fund, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	20.00%	[3]	20.00%
Gold Hill Venture Lending 03, LP | Equity method accounting | Other investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	9.30%	[4]	9.30%	[4]
Other Fund Investments | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Number of other funds with investment commitments	334
Other Fund Investments | Upper Limit | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	5.00%
Direct ownership interest | SVB Capital Partners II, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	1.30%
Direct ownership interest | Other private equity fund | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	41.50%
Direct ownership interest | Gold Hill Venture Lending 03, LP | Equity method accounting | Other investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	4.80%
Indirect ownership interest | SVB Capital Partners II, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	3.80%
Indirect ownership interest | SVB Capital-NT Growth Partners, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	12.60%
Indirect ownership interest | SVB Capital Preferred Return Fund, LP | Fair value accounting | Venture capital and private equity fund investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	4.10%
Indirect ownership interest | Gold Hill Venture Lending 03, LP | Equity method accounting | Other investments
Venture Capital and Private Equity Fund Investments [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership	4.50%

[1] At December 31, 2011, we had a direct ownership interest of 1.3 percent and an indirect ownership interest of 3.8 percent in the fund through our ownership of SVB Strategic Investors Fund II, LP.

[2] At December 31, 2011, we had a direct ownership interest of 41.5 percent and an indirect ownership interest of 12.6 percent and 4.1 percent in the fund through our ownership interests of SVB Capital-NT Growth Partners, LP and SVB Capital Preferred Return Fund, LP, respectively.

[3] The general partners of these funds are owned and controlled by SVB Financial. The limited partners of these funds do not have substantive participating or kick-out rights. Therefore, these funds are consolidated and any gains or losses resulting from changes in the estimated fair value of the investments are recorded as investment gains or losses in our consolidated net income.

[4] At December 31, 2011, we had a direct ownership interest of 4.8 percent in the fund and an indirect interest in the fund through our investment in GHLLC of 4.5 percent. Our aggregate direct and indirect ownership in the fund is 9.3 percent.