Quantitative information by loan class for loans modified as T D R (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 loans	Sep. 30, 2011 loans	Sep. 30, 2012 loans	Sep. 30, 2011 loans
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	1,653	2,234	5,378	6,225
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	$ 141,455	$ 172,036	$ 370,177	$ 424,739
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	149,559	176,518	381,988	435,902
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	187	12,298	13,512	16,132
Commercial Multi Family [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	0	0	1
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	143
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	143
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	0	(4)
Commercial Real Estate Non Owner Occupied [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	4	2	12	8
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	8,781	3,223	18,519	9,983
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	8,734	3,212	17,267	9,972
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	368	(43)	(422)	(216)
Commercial Real Estate Owner Occupied [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	7	19	28	54
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	3,872	30,256	11,565	47,097
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	3,369	30,256	10,651	43,830
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	(112)	(1,052)	(148)	(1,410)
Commercial And Industrial Loans [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	9	32	87	101
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	13,692	28,622	38,549	50,889
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	3,873	28,622	28,306	48,753
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	(6,596)	2,518	(6,352)	1,272
Commercial Real Estate Construction Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	7	2	10	6
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	5,025	7,056	7,695	15,397
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	4,230	7,081	6,900	9,819
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	(263)	(2)	(211)	(24)
Mortgages
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	778	696	1,977	1,906
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	100,320	86,239	258,931	251,513
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	118,677	89,885	281,293	271,343
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	6,073	10,829	18,283	16,497
Legacy [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	0	3	4
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	1,272	3,016
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	1,267	3,097
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	(3)	(125)
Finance Leases Portfolio Segment Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	16	46	78	152
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	256	1,092	1,265	3,451
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	241	1,059	1,208	3,301
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	29	0	132	(1)
Consumer Credit Card Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	579	778	2,210	2,108
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	5,100	6,820	18,621	19,438
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	6,000	7,622	21,347	21,792
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	20	47	64	143
Home Equity Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	2	0	3	0
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	281	0	431	0
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	275	0	409	0
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	3	0	3	0
Personal [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	235	635	926	1,827
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	4,054	7,525	13,132	22,459
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	4,083	7,522	13,162	22,443
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	663	0	2,165	(1)
Consumer Loans Auto Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	2	2	5	7
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	20	18	68	64
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	23	19	50	67
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	2	0	1	0
Consumer Other Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	14	22	39	51
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	54	1,185	129	1,289
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	54	1,240	128	1,342
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	1	0	1
PUERTO RICO
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	1,630	2,029	5,297	5,936
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	133,195	142,809	347,722	355,474
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	141,790	146,005	360,284	376,051
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	(8)	4,779	12,301	6,881
PUERTO RICO | Commercial Multi Family [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	0	0	1
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	143
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	143
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	0	(4)
PUERTO RICO | Commercial Real Estate Non Owner Occupied [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	2	1	8	7
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	4,813	1,180	8,754	7,940
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	4,813	1,180	7,810	7,940
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	368	(43)	(606)	(216)
PUERTO RICO | Commercial Real Estate Owner Occupied [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	6	19	27	52
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	1,626	30,256	9,319	36,507
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	1,619	30,256	8,901	36,507
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	(6)	(1,052)	(42)	(990)
PUERTO RICO | Commercial And Industrial Loans [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	9	32	87	99
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	13,692	28,622	38,549	39,011
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	3,873	28,622	28,306	39,011
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	(6,596)	2,518	(6,352)	1,693
PUERTO RICO | Commercial Real Estate Construction Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	7	1	9	2
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	5,025	1,341	6,122	2,224
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	4,230	1,341	5,327	2,224
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	(263)	187	(211)	165
PUERTO RICO | Mortgages
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	760	494	1,908	1,631
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	98,555	65,849	251,763	224,027
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	116,854	68,279	274,045	242,416
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	5,775	3,122	17,150	6,092
PUERTO RICO | Finance Leases Portfolio Segment Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	16	46	78	152
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	256	1,092	1,265	3,451
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	241	1,059	1,208	3,301
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	29	0	132	(1)
PUERTO RICO | Consumer Credit Card Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	579	778	2,210	2,108
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	5,100	6,820	18,621	19,438
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	6,000	7,622	21,347	21,792
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	20	47	64	143
PUERTO RICO | Home Equity Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	0	0
PUERTO RICO | Personal [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	235	635	926	1,827
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	4,054	7,525	13,132	22,459
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	4,083	7,522	13,162	22,443
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	663	0	2,165	(1)
PUERTO RICO | Consumer Loans Auto Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	2	2	5	7
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	20	18	68	64
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	23	19	50	67
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	2	0	1	0
PUERTO RICO | Consumer Other Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	14	21	39	50
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	54	106	129	210
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	54	105	128	207
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	0	0
UNITED STATES
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	23	205	81	289
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	8,260	29,227	22,455	69,265
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	7,769	30,513	21,704	59,851
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	195	7,519	1,211	9,251
UNITED STATES | Commercial Multi Family [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	0	0
UNITED STATES | Commercial Real Estate Non Owner Occupied [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	2	1	4	1
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	3,968	2,043	9,765	2,043
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	3,921	2,032	9,457	2,032
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	184	0
UNITED STATES | Commercial Real Estate Owner Occupied [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	1	0	1	2
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	2,246	0	2,246	10,590
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	1,750	0	1,750	7,323
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	(106)	0	(106)	(420)
UNITED STATES | Commercial And Industrial Loans [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	0	0	2
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	11,878
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	9,742
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	0	(421)
UNITED STATES | Commercial Real Estate Construction Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	1	1	4
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	5,715	1,573	13,173
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	5,740	1,573	7,595
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	(189)	0	(189)
UNITED STATES | Mortgages
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	18	202	69	275
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	1,765	20,390	7,168	27,486
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	1,823	21,606	7,248	28,927
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	298	7,707	1,133	10,405
UNITED STATES | Legacy [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	0	3	4
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	1,272	3,016
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	1,267	3,097
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	(3)	(125)
UNITED STATES | Consumer Credit Card Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	0	0
UNITED STATES | Home Equity Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	2	0	3	0
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	281	0	431	0
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	275	0	409	0
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	3	0	3	0
UNITED STATES | Personal [Member]
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	0	0
UNITED STATES | Consumer Loans Auto Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	0	0	0
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	0	0	0	0
UNITED STATES | Consumer Other Financing Receivable Member
Troubled Debt Restructuring, Debtor, Current Period [Line Items]
Modifications Number Of Contracts	0	1	0	1
Financing Receivable Modifications Pre Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	1,079	0	1,079
Financing Receivable Post Modification Recorded Investment 1	0	1,135	0	1,135
Financing Receivables, Impaired, Troubled Debt Restructuring, Write-down	$ 0	$ 1	$ 0	$ 1