Summary of Significant Accounting Principles |
9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2019 | |
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
| Summary of Significant Accounting Principles |
Summary of Significant Accounting Principles Bank of America Corporation, a bank holding company and a financial holding company, provides a diverse range of financial services and products throughout the U.S. and in certain international markets. The term “the Corporation” as used herein may refer to Bank of America Corporation, individually, Bank of America Corporation and its subsidiaries, or certain of Bank of America Corporation’s subsidiaries or affiliates.
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 of acquired companies are included from the dates of acquisition, and for VIEs, from the dates 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 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. Equity method investments are subject to impairment testing, and the Corporation’s proportionate share of income or loss is included in other income.
The preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates and assumptions.
These unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation’s 2018 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, all adjustments, which consist of normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the interim period results, have been made. The Corporation evaluates subsequent events through the date of filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Certain prior-period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation.
Accounting Standards Issued and Not Yet Adopted
Accounting for Financial Instruments -- Credit Losses
The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a new accounting standard that will be effective for the Corporation on January 1, 2020. This standard replaces the existing measurement of the allowance for credit losses that is based on management’s best estimate of probable incurred credit losses inherent in the Corporation’s lending activities with management’s best estimate of lifetime expected credit losses inherent in the Corporation’s relevant financial assets. The lifetime expected credit losses will be determined using macroeconomic forecast assumptions and management judgments applicable to and through the expected life of the portfolios and is required to be
determined net of expected recoveries on loans that were previously charged off. The standard will also expand credit quality disclosures. While the standard changes the measurement of the allowance for credit losses, it does not change the Corporation’s credit risk of its lending portfolios or the ultimate losses in those portfolios.
Significant progress has been made in the implementation efforts, which include model development and validation, data acquisition for model estimation and new disclosures, and the establishment of formal policies supporting all aspects of the standard. The Corporation is running parallel processes encompassing the functionality of the models, internal controls over the estimation process and all other governance activities as well as continuing to review and refine its models and methodologies.
Upon adoption of the standard on January 1, 2020, the Corporation expects that, based on current expectations of future economic conditions, its allowance for credit losses on loans and leases may increase up to approximately 30 percent from its allowance for credit losses as of September 30, 2019, as disclosed herein, with a large portion of that increase driven by the U.S. credit card portfolio. The increase from the previously disclosed expectation of up to 20 percent was driven by refinements to certain models and methodologies along with the third-quarter 2019 loan sales, which reduced the expected recoveries on previously charged-off loans as the recoveries were realized upon sale. The ultimate impact upon adoption will depend on the characteristics of the Corporation’s portfolios, macroeconomic conditions and forecasts, and the finalized validation of models and methodologies, as well as other management judgments.
New Accounting Standards
Lease Accounting
On January 1, 2019, the Corporation adopted the new accounting standards that require lessees to recognize operating leases on the balance sheet as right-of-use assets and lease liabilities based on the value of the discounted future lease payments. Lessor accounting is largely unchanged. Expanded disclosures about the nature and terms of lease agreements are required prospectively and are included in Note 9 – Leases. The Corporation elected to retain prior determinations of whether an existing contract contains a lease and how the lease should be classified. The Corporation elected to recognize leases existing on January 1, 2019 through a cumulative-effect adjustment which increased retained earnings by $165 million, with no adjustment to prior periods presented. Upon adoption, the Corporation also recognized right-of-use assets and lease liabilities of $9.7 billion. Adoption of the standards did not have a significant effect on the Corporation’s regulatory capital measures.
Lease Accounting Principles
Lessor Arrangements
The Corporation provides equipment financing to its customers through a variety of lessor arrangements. Direct financing leases and sales-type leases are carried at the aggregate of lease payments receivable plus the estimated residual value of the leased property less unearned income, which is accreted to interest income over the lease terms using methods that approximate the interest method. Operating lease income is recognized on a straight-line basis. Leases generally do not contain non-lease components.
Lessee Arrangements
Substantially all of the Corporation’s lessee arrangements are operating leases. Under these arrangements, the Corporation records right-of-use assets and lease liabilities at lease commencement. Right-of-use assets are reported in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheet, and the related lease liabilities are reported in accrued expenses and other liabilities. All leases are recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheet except leases with an initial term less than 12 months for which the Corporation made the short-term lease election. Lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term and is recorded in occupancy and equipment expense in the Consolidated Statement of Income.
The Corporation made an accounting policy election not to separate lease and non-lease components of a contract that is or contains a lease for its real estate and equipment leases. As such, lease payments represent payments on both lease and non-lease components. At lease commencement, lease liabilities are
recognized based on the present value of the remaining lease payments and discounted using the Corporation’s incremental borrowing rate. Right-of-use assets initially equal the lease liability, adjusted for any lease payments made prior to lease commencement and for any lease incentives.
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