Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]

Basis of Presentation

The unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, which are necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations in these financial statements, have been made.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could vary from these estimates. Certain reclassifications have been made to prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation.

The Company evaluated subsequent events through the date its financial statements were issued.

These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. Except for accounting policies that have been recently adopted as described below, there have been no significant changes to the Company’s accounting policies as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Accounting Policies Recently Adopted and Pending Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Policies Recently Adopted and Pending Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-04, “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs.” The primary purpose of the ASU is to conform the language in the fair value measurements guidance in U.S. GAAP and IFRS. The ASU also clarifies how to apply existing fair value measurement and disclosure requirements. Further, the ASU requires additional disclosures about transfers between level 1 and 2 of the fair value hierarchy, quantitative information for level 3 inputs, and the level of the fair value measurement hierarchy for items that are not measured at fair value in the statement of financial position but for which the fair value is required to be disclosed. The ASU is effective for the interim reporting period ending March 31, 2012. The Company adopted the standard as of January 1, 2012, and the required disclosures are included in Note 12, “Fair Value Election and Measurement.” The adoption did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or EPS.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-05, “Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income.” The ASU requires presentation of the components of comprehensive income in either a continuous statement of comprehensive income or two separate but consecutive statements. The update does not change the items presented in OCI and does not affect the calculation or reporting of EPS. In December 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-12, “Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Deferral of the Effective Date for Amendments to the Presentation of Reclassification of Items out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in Accounting Standards update No. 2011-05,” which deferred the effective date for the amendments to the reclassification of items out of AOCI. The guidance, with the exception of reclassification adjustments, was effective on January 1, 2012 and must be applied retrospectively for all periods presented. The Company adopted the standard as of January 1, 2012, and the required disclosures are included in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income/(Loss). The adoption did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or EPS.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-08, “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Goodwill for Impairment.” The ASU amends interim and annual goodwill impairment testing requirements such that an entity is not required to calculate the fair value of a reporting unit unless the entity determines that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. The more likely than not threshold is defined as having a likelihood of more than 50 percent. The guidance is effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests beginning January 1, 2012. The Company adopted the standard as of January 1, 2012 and has applied the guidance to interim goodwill impairment testing. The adoption did not have an impact on the Company's financial position, results of operations, or EPS.

Share-based Compensation, Option and Incentive Plans Policy [Policy Text Block]

The Company sponsors various short-term incentive and LTI plans for eligible employees. The Company delivers LTIs through various incentive programs, including stock options, RSUs, restricted stock, and LTI cash. Awards under the LTI cash plan generally cliff vest over a period of three years from the date of the award and are paid in cash. AIP is the Company's short-term cash incentive plan for key employees that provides for potential annual cash awards based on the Company's performance and/or the achievement of business unit and individual performance objectives. Compensation expense for the AIP and LTI Cash plans was $36 million and $28 million for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Previously, TARP prohibited the payment of any bonus, incentive compensation or stock option award to our five NEOs and certain other highly compensated executives. As a result, the Company paid additional base salary amounts in the form of stock (salary shares) to the NEOs and some of the other employees who were among the next 20 most highly-compensated employees. The Company did this each pay period in the form of stock units under the SunTrust Banks, Inc. 2009 Stock Plan (the "2009 Stock Plan") until the Company repaid TARP. The Company settled the stock units in cash; for the 2010 salary shares, one half was settled on March 31, 2011 and one half was settled on March 31, 2012. The 2011 salary shares were settled on March 30, 2011, the date the Company repaid the U.S. government's TARP investment. The amount paid upon settlement of the stock units was equal to the value of a share of SunTrust common stock on the settlement date. The value of salary shares paid was $4 million and $7 million in 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company provides stock-based awards through the SunTrust Banks Inc. 2009 Stock Plan (as amended and restated effective January 1, 2011) under which the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors has the authority to grant stock options, restricted stock, and RSUs, of which some may have performance or other conditions such as vesting tied to the Company's total shareholder return relative to a peer group or vesting tied to the achievement of a ROA target, to key employees of the Company.