Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accounting and financial reporting policies of State Street Corporation conform to U.S. GAAP. State Street Corporation, the Parent Company, is a financial holding company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Unless otherwise indicated or unless the context requires otherwise, all references in these notes to consolidated financial statements to “State Street,” “we,” “us,” “our” or similar references mean State Street Corporation and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis, including our principal banking subsidiary, State Street Bank.

We have two lines of business:

Investment Servicing provides a suite of related products and services including: custody; product accounting; daily pricing and administration; master trust and master custody; depotbank services (a fund oversight role created by non-U.S. regulation); record-keeping; cash management; foreign exchange, brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loans and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors.

Included within our Investment Servicing line of business is CRD, which we acquired in October 2018. The Charles River Investment Management solution is a technology offering which is designed to automate and simplify the institutional investment process across asset classes, from portfolio management and risk analytics through trading and post-trade settlement, with integrated compliance and managed data throughout. With the acquisition of CRD, we took the first step in building our front-to-back platform, State Street Alpha. Today our State Street Alpha platform combines portfolio management, trading and execution, advanced data aggregation, analytics and compliance tools, and integration with other industry platforms and providers.

Investment Management, through State Street Global Advisors, provides a broad range of investment management strategies and products for our clients. Our investment management strategies and products span the risk/reward spectrum for equity, fixed income and cash assets, including core and enhanced indexing, multi-asset strategies, active quantitative and fundamental active capabilities and alternative investment strategies. Our AUM is currently primarily weighted to indexed strategies. In addition, we provide a breadth of services and solutions, including environmental, social and

governance investing, defined benefit and defined contribution and Global Fiduciary Solutions (formerly Outsourced Chief Investment Officer). State Street Global Advisors is also a provider of ETFs, including the SPDR® ETF brand. While management fees are primarily determined by the values of AUM and the investment strategies employed, management fees reflect other factors as well, including the benchmarks specified in the respective management agreements related to performance fees.

Consolidation

Our consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Parent Company and its majority- and wholly-owned and otherwise controlled subsidiaries, including State Street Bank. All material inter-company transactions and balances have been eliminated. Certain previously reported amounts have been reclassified to conform to current-year presentation.

We consolidate subsidiaries in which we exercise control. Investments in unconsolidated subsidiaries, recorded in other assets, generally are accounted for under the equity method of accounting if we have the ability to exercise significant influence over the operations of the investee. For investments accounted for under the equity method, our share of income or loss is recorded in software and processing fees in our consolidated statement of income. Investments not meeting the criteria for equity-method treatment are measured at fair value through earnings, except for investments where a fair market value is not readily available, which are accounted for under the cost method of accounting.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions in the application of certain of our significant accounting policies that may materially affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and expenses. As a result of unanticipated events or circumstances, actual results could differ from those estimates.

Foreign Currency Translation

The assets and liabilities of our operations with functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated at month-end exchange rates, and revenue and expenses are translated at rates that approximate average monthly exchange rates. Gains or losses from the translation of the net assets of subsidiaries with functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar, net of related taxes, are recorded in AOCI, a component of shareholders’ equity.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For purposes of the consolidated statement of cash flows, cash and cash equivalents are defined as cash and due from banks.

Interest-Bearing Deposits with Banks

Interest-bearing deposits with banks generally consist of highly liquid, short-term investments maintained at the Federal Reserve Bank and other non-U.S. central banks with original maturities at the time of purchase of one month or less.

Securities Purchased Under Resale Agreements and Securities Sold Under Repurchase Agreements

Securities purchased under resale agreements and sold under repurchase agreements are treated as collateralized financing transactions, and are recorded in our consolidated statement of condition at the amounts at which the securities will be subsequently resold or repurchased, plus accrued interest. Our policy is to take possession or control of securities underlying resale agreements either directly or through agent banks, allowing borrowers the right of collateral substitution and/or short-notice termination. We revalue these securities daily to determine if additional collateral is necessary from the borrower to protect us against credit exposure. We can use these securities as collateral for repurchase agreements.

For securities sold under repurchase agreements collateralized by our investment securities portfolio, the dollar value of the securities remains in investment securities in our consolidated statement of condition. Where a master netting agreement exists or both parties are members of a common clearing organization, resale and repurchase agreements with the same counterparty or clearing house and maturity date are recorded on a net basis.

Fee and Net Interest Income

The majority of fees from investment servicing, investment management, securities finance, trading services and certain types of software and processing fees are recorded in our consolidated statement of income based on the consideration specified in contracts with our customers, and excludes taxes collected from customers subsequently remitted to governmental authorities. We recognize revenue as the services are performed or at a point in time depending on the nature of the services provided. Payments made to third party service providers are generally recognized on a gross basis when we control those services and are deemed to be the principal. Additional information about revenue from contracts with customers is provided in Note 25.

Interest income on interest-earning assets and interest expense on interest-bearing liabilities are

recorded in our consolidated statement of income as components of NII, and are generally based on the effective yield of the related financial asset or liability.

Other Significant Policies

The following table identifies our other significant accounting policies and the note and page where a detailed description of each policy can be found:

Fair Value	Note	2	Page	135
Investment Securities	Note	3	Page	143
Loans	Note	4	Page	149
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets	Note	5	Page	154
Derivative Financial Instruments	Note	10	Page	158
Offsetting Arrangements	Note	11	Page	163
Contingencies	Note	13	Page	167
Variable Interest Entities	Note	14	Page	169
Equity-Based Compensation	Note	18	Page	176
Income Taxes	Note	22	Page	180
Earnings Per Common Share	Note	23	Page	181
Revenue from Contracts with Customers	Note	25	Page	184

Recent Accounting Developments

Relevant standards that were adopted in 2020:

In January 2020, we adopted ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (ASC 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which replaces the incurred loss methodology with an expected loss methodology that is referred to as CECL methodology. This standard requires immediate recognition of expected credit losses for certain financial assets and off-balance sheet commitments, including trade and other receivables, loans and commitments, held-to-maturity debt securities, and other financial assets held at amortized cost at the reporting date, to be measured based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. Credit losses on available-for-sale securities are recorded as an allowance against the amortized cost basis of the security, limited to the amount by which the security’s amortized cost basis exceeds the fair value, and reversal of impairment losses are allowed when the credit of the issuer improves.

ASC 326 was adopted using a modified retrospective method of transition for all financial assets measured at amortized cost and off balance sheet commitments, which requires the impact of applying the standard on prior periods to be reflected in opening retained earnings upon adoption. Results for reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020 are presented under the CECL methodology in ASC 326, while prior period amounts are reported in accordance with previously applicable GAAP. The impact of transitioning to ASC 326 on the consolidated financial statements was an increase in the allowance for credit losses and a decrease in retained earnings of $3 million primarily arising from:

• An increase of $1 million in the allowance for credit losses related to loans and other financial assets held at amortized cost.

• An increase of $2 million in the allowance for credit losses related to off-balance sheet commitments.

In January 2020, we adopted the remaining provisions of ASU 2018-13 - Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework- Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value, specifically the provisions of the standard that add disclosures. We previously adopted the provisions of the standard that eliminated or amended disclosures as of December 31, 2018. There were no material impacts to the disclosures as a result of the adoption.

In January 2020, we adopted ASU 2017-04, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. There were no material impacts to our financial statements as a result of the adoption.

In January 2020, we adopted ASU 2018-15, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Internal Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer's Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement. There were no material impacts to our financial statements as a result of the adoption.

ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting is effective as of March 12, 2020. The guidance provides temporary optional expedients and exceptions to the existing guidance in U.S. GAAP on contract modifications and hedge accounting in relation to the transition from LIBOR and other interbank offered rates to alternative reference rates. The guidance also allows a one-time election to sell and/or reclassify to AFS or trading HTM debt securities that reference an interest rate affected by reference rate reform. We expect to elect certain of the optional expedients and are evaluating the one-time election to sell/transfer HTM securities impacted by reference rate reform.

We continue to evaluate accounting standards that were recently issued but not yet adopted as of December 31, 2020, but none are expected to have a material impact to our financial statements.