Business combination, liability for installment payments and contingent consideration.

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Period of contingent consideration.

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount of assets acquired at the acquisition date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=73530397&loc=d3e4845-128472

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- Definition

The amount of identifiable intangible assets recognized as of the acquisition date.

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- Definition

Amount of liabilities assumed at the acquisition date.

+ References

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- Definition

The amount of payment into the fund established for purposes of making future disbursements to the individual in accordance with the terms and understanding of the deferred compensation arrangement.

+ References

No definition available.

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Minimum period the individual is required to perform services to be fully vested under the deferred compensation arrangement, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

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- Definition

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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-Publisher FASB
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Carrying amount of finite-lived intangible assets, indefinite-lived intangible assets and goodwill. Goodwill is an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized. Intangible assets are assets, not including financial assets, lacking physical substance.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

An excess of the fair value of the modified award over the fair value of the award immediately before the modification.

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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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- Definition

Gross value of stock (or other type of equity) issued during the period as a result of any equity-based compensation plan other than an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Stock issued could result from the issuance of restricted stock, the exercise of stock options, stock issued under employee stock purchase plans, and/or other employee benefit plans.

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Acquisitions (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands						12 Months Ended
Acquisitions (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	May 03, 2016	Jan. 04, 2016	Jun. 05, 2015	Nov. 07, 2014	Jul. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 04, 2015
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill						$ 962,282	$ 915,602
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Restricted stock units, charges at the date of modification						58,600
ISM Capital LLP [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill	$ 6,900
Identifiable intangible assets	$ 2,300
Period of contingent consideration	3 years
Liability for earn-out payments						3,700
Eaton Partners [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill		$ 72,000
Identifiable intangible assets		$ 32,300
Period of contingent consideration		4 years
Liability for earn-out payments						$ 27,300
Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, Americas [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill								$ 24,800
Deferred consideration, recognized as a liability								15,200
Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, Americas [Member] \| Customer Relationships [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Identifiable intangible assets								7,300
Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, Americas [Member] \| Stifel Bank [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Loans acquired in acquisition								$ 600,000
Sterne Agee Group, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill and intangible assets			$ 60,800
Fair value of awards issued as retention			23,800
Employee retention compensation paid in notes			$ 33,800
Sterne Agee Group, Inc. [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Individual compensation and benefits useful period			5 years
Sterne Agee Group, Inc. [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Individual compensation and benefits useful period			10 years
Sterne Agee Group, Inc. [Member] \| Customer Relationships [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Identifiable intangible assets			$ 29,300
1919 Investment Counsel And Trust Company NA [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of awards issued as retention				$ 11,200
Employee retention compensation paid in notes				$ 10,800
1919 Investment Counsel And Trust Company NA [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Individual compensation and benefits useful period				5 years
1919 Investment Counsel And Trust Company NA [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Individual compensation and benefits useful period				10 years
Oriel Securities [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of awards issued as retention					$ 6,800