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2.0.0.10 false Summary of Significant Accounting Principles 108 - Disclosure - Summary of Significant Accounting Principles true false false false 1 usd $ false false iso4217_USD Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 0 iso4217_USD_per_shares Divide http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares 0 shares Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares 0 5 Summary of Significant Accounting Principles 3 bac_BasisOfPresentationAndSignificantAccountingPoliciesTextBlock bac false na duration string This note provides a description of the entity's business, basis for presentation and significant accounting policies.... false false false false false false false false false false false false 1 false false false false 0 0 <div> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" align="center"> <tr> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" bgcolor="#E5E5E5" valign="top">NOTE 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Principles</td> </tr> </table> Bank of America Corporation and its subsidiaries (the Corporation), a financial holding company, provides a diverse range of financial services and products throughout the U.S. and in certain international markets. When used in this report, the meaning of the words “the Corporation” may refer to the Corporation individually, the Corporation and its subsidiaries, or certain of the Corporation’s subsidiaries or affiliates. The Corporation conducts these activities through its banking and nonbanking subsidiaries. At March 31, 2010, the Corporation operated its banking activities primarily under two charters: Bank of America, National Association (Bank of America, N.A.) and FIA Card Services, N.A. In connection with certain acquisitions including Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (Merrill Lynch) and Countrywide Financial Corporation (Countrywide), the Corporation acquired banking subsidiaries that have been merged into Bank of America, N.A. with no impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation. On January 1, 2009, the Corporation acquired Merrill Lynch through its merger with a subsidiary of the Corporation in exchange for common and preferred stock with a value of $29.1 billion.     Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation   The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Corporation and its majority-owned subsidiaries, and those variable interest entities (VIEs) where the Corporation is the primary beneficiary. Intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Results of operations, assets and liabilities of acquired companies are included from the dates of acquisition. Results of operations, assets and liabilities of VIEs are included from the date that the Corporation became the primary beneficiary. Assets held in an agency or fiduciary capacity are not included in the Consolidated Financial Statements. The Corporation accounts for investments in companies for which it owns a voting interest of 20 percent to 50 percent and for which it has the ability to exercise significant influence over operating and financing decisions using the equity method of accounting. These investments are included in other assets and are subject to impairment testing. The Corporation’s proportionate share of income or loss is included in equity investment income. The preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts and disclosures. Realized results could differ from those estimates and assumptions. These unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Corporation’s 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The nature of the Corporation’s business is such that the results of any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year. In the opinion of management, normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the interim period results have been made. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation.     New Accounting Pronouncements   On January 1, 2010, the Corporation adopted new Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) accounting guidance on transfers of financial assets and consolidation of VIEs. This new accounting guidance revises sale accounting criteria for transfers of financial assets, including elimination of the concept of and accounting for qualifying special purpose entities (QSPEs), and significantly changes the criteria for consolidation of a VIE. The adoption of this new accounting guidance resulted in the consolidation of certain VIEs that previously were QSPEs and VIEs that were not recorded on the Corporation’s Consolidated Balance Sheet prior to January 1, 2010. The adoption of this new accounting guidance resulted in a net incremental increase in assets of $100.4 billion and a net increase in liabilities of $106.7 billion. These amounts are net of retained interests in securitizations held on the Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2009 and a $10.8 billion increase in the allowance for loan and lease losses. The Corporation recorded a $6.2 billion charge, net of tax, to retained earnings on January 1, 2010 for the cumulative effect of the adoption of this new accounting guidance, which resulted principally from the increase in the allowance for loan and lease losses, and a $116 million charge to accumulated other comprehensive income (OCI). Initial recording of these assets, related allowance and liabilities on the Corporation’s Consolidated Balance Sheet had no impact at the date of adoption on consolidated results of operations.   Application of the new consolidation guidance has been deferred indefinitely for certain investment funds managed on behalf of third parties if the Corporation does not have an obligation to fund losses that could potentially be significant to these funds. Application of the new consolidation guidance has also been deferred if the funds must comply with guidelines similar to those included in Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 for registered money market funds. These funds, which include the cash funds managed within Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), will continue to be evaluated for consolidation in accordance with the prior guidance. On January 1, 2010, the Corporation elected to early adopt, on a prospective basis new FASB accounting guidance stating that troubled debt restructuring (TDR) accounting cannot be applied to individual loans within purchased credit-impaired loan pools. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Corporation’s financial condition or results of operations. On January 1, 2010, the Corporation adopted new FASB accounting guidance that requires disclosure of gross transfers into and out of Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy and adds a requirement to disclose significant transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy. The new accounting guidance also clarifies existing disclosure requirements regarding the level of disaggregation of fair value measurements and inputs, and valuation techniques. The enhanced disclosures required under this new guidance are included in Note 14 – Fair Value Measurements. In March 2010, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on embedded credit derivatives. This new accounting guidance clarifies the scope exception for embedded credit derivatives and defines which embedded credit derivatives should be evaluated for bifurcation and separate accounting. The adoption of this new accounting guidance in the third quarter of 2010 is not expected to have a material impact on the Corporation’s financial position or results of operations.     Significant Accounting Policies   Securities Financing Agreements Securities borrowed or purchased under agreements to resell and securities loaned or sold under agreements to repurchase (securities financing agreements) are treated as collateralized financing transactions. These agreements are recorded at the amounts at which the securities were acquired or sold plus accrued interest, except for certain securities financing agreements that the Corporation accounts for under the fair value option. Changes in the value of securities financing agreements that are accounted for under the fair value option are recorded in other income. For more information on securities financing agreements that the Corporation accounts for under the fair value option, see Note 14 – Fair Value Measurements. The Corporation’s policy is to obtain possession of collateral with a market value equal to or in excess of the principal amount loaned under resale agreements. To ensure that the market value of the underlying collateral remains sufficient, collateral is generally valued daily and the Corporation may require counterparties to deposit additional collateral or may return collateral pledged when appropriate. Substantially all securities financing agreements are transacted under master repurchase agreements which give the Corporation, in the event of default, the right to liquidate securities held and to offset receivables and payables with the same counterparty. The Corporation offsets securities financing agreements with the same counterparty on the Consolidated Balance Sheet where it has such a master agreement. In transactions where the Corporation acts as the lender in a securities lending agreement and receives securities that can be pledged or sold as collateral, it recognizes an asset on the Consolidated Balance Sheet at fair value, representing the securities received, and a liability for the same amount, representing the obligation to return those securities.   At the end of certain quarterly periods during the three years ended December 31, 2009, the Corporation had recorded certain sales of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) which, based on a more recent internal review and interpretation, should have been recorded as secured borrowings. These periods and amounts were as follows: March 31, 2009 – $573 million; September 30, 2008 – $10.7 billion; December 31, 2007 – $1.8 billion; and March 31, 2007 – $4.5 billion. As the transferred securities were recorded at fair value in trading account assets, the change would have had no impact on consolidated results of operations. Had the sales been recorded as secured borrowings, trading account assets and federal funds purchased and securities loaned or sold under agreements to repurchase would have increased by the amount of the transactions, however, the increase in all cases was less than 0.7 percent of total assets or total liabilities. Accordingly, the Corporation believes that these transactions did not have a material impact on the Corporation’s Consolidated Balance Sheet. In repurchase transactions, typically, the termination date for a repurchase agreement is before the maturity date of the underlying security. However, in certain situations, the Corporation may enter into repurchase agreements where the termination date of the repurchase transaction is the same as the maturity date of the underlying security and these transactions are referred to as “repo-to-maturity” (RTM) transactions. The Corporation enters into RTM transactions only for high quality, very liquid securities such as U.S. Treasury securities or securities issued by government-sponsored entities. The Corporation accounts for RTM transactions as sales in accordance with GAAP, and accordingly, de-recognizes the securities from the balance sheet and recognizes a gain or loss in the Consolidated Statement of Income. At March 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, the Corporation had outstanding RTM transactions of $3.0 billion and $6.5 billion that had been accounted for as sales. Variable Interest Entities The entity that has a controlling financial interest in a VIE is referred to as the primary beneficiary and consolidates the VIE. Prior to 2010, the primary beneficiary was the entity that would absorb a majority of the economic risks and rewards of the VIE based on an analysis of projected probability-weighted cash flows. In accordance with the new accounting guidance on consolidation of VIEs and transfers of financial assets (new consolidation guidance) effective January 1, 2010, the Corporation is deemed to have a controlling financial interest and is the primary beneficiary of a VIE if it has both the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance and an obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the VIE. On a quarterly basis, the Corporation reassesses whether it has a controlling financial interest in and is the primary beneficiary of a VIE. The quarterly reassessment process considers whether the Corporation has acquired or divested the power to direct the activities of the VIE through changes in governing documents or other circumstances. The reassessment also considers whether the Corporation has acquired or disposed of a financial interest that could be significant to the VIE, or whether an interest in the VIE has become significant or is no longer significant. The consolidation status of the VIEs with which the Corporation is involved may change as a result of such reassessments. Retained interests in securitized assets are initially recorded at fair value. Prior to 2010, retained interests were initially recorded at an allocated cost basis in proportion to the relative fair values of the assets sold and interests retained. In addition, the Corporation may invest in debt securities issued by unconsolidated VIEs. Quoted market prices are primarily used to obtain fair values of these debt securities, which are recorded in available-for-sale (AFS) debt securities or trading account assets. Generally, quoted market prices for retained residual interests are not available, therefore, the Corporation estimates fair values based on the present value of the associated expected future cash flows. This may require management to estimate credit losses, prepayment speeds, forward interest yield curves, discount rates and other factors that impact the value of retained interests. Retained residual interests in unconsolidated securitization trusts are recorded in trading account assets or other assets with changes in fair value recorded in income. The Corporation may also purchase credit protection from unconsolidated VIEs in the form of credit default swaps or other derivatives, which are carried at fair value with changes in fair value recorded in income. </div> NOTE 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Principles Bank of America Corporation and its subsidiaries (the Corporation), a financial holding company, false false false This note provides a description of the entity's business, basis for presentation and significant accounting policies. Additionally, this note describes new accounting pronouncements and their impact on the entity. No authoritative reference available. false false 1 1 false UnKnown UnKnown UnKnown false true