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Nature of Operations, Basis of Presentation, and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2020
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Nature Of Operations | Nature of Operations Stifel Financial Corp. (the “Company”), through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is principally engaged in retail brokerage; securities trading; investment banking; investment advisory; retail, consumer, and commercial banking; and related financial services. Our major geographic area of concentration is throughout the United States, with a growing presence in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada. Our company’s principal customers are individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions.
Basis Of Presentation | Basis of Presentation The consolidated financial statements include Stifel Financial Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiaries, principally Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel”), Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., Stifel Bancorp, Inc. (“Stifel Bancorp”), Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. (“SNC”), and Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (“SNEL”). Unless otherwise indicated, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” or “our company” in this report refer to Stifel Financial Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. We have prepared the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Pursuant to these rules and regulations, we have omitted certain information and footnote disclosures we normally include in our annual consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. In management’s opinion, we have made all adjustments (consisting only of normal, recurring adjustments, except as otherwise noted) necessary to fairly present our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Our interim period operating results do not necessarily indicate the results that may be expected for any other interim period or for the full fiscal year. These financial statements and accompanying notes should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 on file with the SEC. On March 27, 2020, the Company completed the sale of Ziegler Capital Management, LLC (“ZCM”), a wholly owned asset management subsidiary. The assets and liabilities of ZCM were classified as held for sale and are included in other assets and accounts payable and accrued expenses, respectively, at December 31, 2019. See Note 8 for further information. Certain amounts from prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation. The effect of these reclassifications on our company’s previously reported consolidated financial statements was not material.
Consolidation Policies | Consolidation Policies The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Stifel Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. For consolidated subsidiaries that are less than wholly owned, the third-party holdings of equity interests are referred to as non-controlling interests. The portion of shareholders’ equity that is attributable to non-controlling interests for such subsidiaries is presented as non-controlling interests, a component of total equity, in the consolidated statements of financial condition. Our non-controlling interest at December 31, 2019 represented a 27.5% third-party ownership of North Shore Aviation Holdings LLC (“North Shore”), which was a consolidated subsidiary of the Company that, through its subsidiary, owns airplane engines. On February 7, 2020, North Shore entered into a Credit Agreement with North Shore Aviation Trust Series 2020-1 (the “Trust”) whereby the Trust provided North Shore with a $120.0 million credit facility. North Shore was recapitalized with funding from the issuance of the senior notes and E-Certificates by the Trust. Upon the recapitalization, Stifel Bancorp’s equity in North Shore was redeemed. We deconsolidated the related assets, liabilities, and non-controlling interests of North Shore. We have investments or interests in other entities for which we must evaluate whether to consolidate by determining whether we have a controlling financial interest or are considered to be the primary beneficiary. Under our current consolidation policy, which complies with the provisions of ASC 810 as amended by ASU 2015-02, we consolidate those entities where we have the power to direct the activities of the entity that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or the rights to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the entity. We determine whether we are the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity (“VIE”) by performing an analysis of the VIE’s control structure, expected benefits and losses, and expected residual returns. This analysis includes a review of, among other factors, the VIE’s capital structure, contractual terms, which interests create or absorb benefits or losses, variability, related party relationships, and the design of the VIE. We reassess our evaluation of whether an entity is a VIE when certain reconsideration events occur. We reassess our determination of whether we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE on an ongoing basis based on current facts and circumstances. See Note 24 for additional information on VIEs.
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | Summary of Significant Accounting Policies For a detailed discussion about the Company’s significant accounting policies, see Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, in our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, other than the following, there were no significant changes made to the Company’s significant accounting policies. The accounting policy changes are attributable to the adoption of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-13, “Financial Instruments − Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“ASU 2016-13”)” on January 1, 2020. This accounting update impacts the impairment model for certain financial assets measured at amortized cost by requiring a current expected credit loss (CECL) methodology to estimate expected credit losses over the entire life of the financial asset, recorded at inception or purchase. CECL replaces the loss model currently applicable to bank loans, held-to-maturity securities, and other receivables carried at amortized cost. These credit loss policy updates are applied prospectively in our consolidated financial statements from January 1, 2020. Reported financial information for the historical comparable period was not revised and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect during the historical periods.
Allowance for Credit Losses | Allowance for Credit Losses The allowance for credit losses includes both the allowance for loan losses and the reserve for unfunded lending commitments and represents management’s estimate of the expected credit losses in our company’s loan portfolio. The expected credit losses on our loan portfolio are referred to as the allowance for loan losses and are reported separately as a contra-asset to loans on the consolidated statement of financial condition. The expected credit losses for unfunded lending commitments, including standby letters of credit and binding unfunded loan commitments, are reported on the consolidated statement of financial condition in accounts payable and accrued expenses. The provision for loan losses related to the loan portfolio in the consolidated statement of operations and the provision for unfunded lending commitments are reported in the consolidated statement of operations in provision for credit losses. For loans, the expected credit loss is typically estimated using quantitative methods that consider a variety of factors such as historical loss experience derived from proxy data, the current credit quality of the portfolio as well as an economic outlook over the life of the loan. The life of the loan for closed-ended products is based on the contractual maturity of the loan adjusted for any expected prepayments. The contractual maturity includes any extension options that are at the sole discretion of the borrower. For open-ended products, the expected credit loss is determined based on the maximum repayment term associated with future draws from credit lines. In our loss forecasting framework, we incorporate forward-looking information through the use of macroeconomic scenarios applied over the forecasted life of the assets. These macroeconomic scenarios include variables that have historically been key drivers of increases and decreases in credit losses. These variables include, but are not limited to, unemployment rates, real estate prices, gross domestic product levels, corporate bond spreads and long-term interest rate forecasts. As any one economic outlook is inherently uncertain, we leverage multiple scenarios. The scenarios that are chosen each quarter and the amount of weighting given to each scenario depend on a variety of factors including recent economic events, leading economic indicators, views of internal as well as third-party economists and industry trends. The reserve for unfunded lending commitments is estimated using the same scenarios, models, and economic data as the loan portfolio. Also included in the allowance for loan losses are qualitative reserves to cover losses that are expected but, in our company’s assessment, may not be adequately represented in the quantitative methods or the economic assumptions described above. For example, factors that we consider include changes in lending policies and procedures, business conditions, the nature and size of the portfolio, portfolio concentrations, the volume and severity of past due loans and nonaccrual loans, the effect of external factors such as competition, and legal and regulatory requirements, among others. Further, we consider the inherent uncertainty in quantitative models that are built on historical data. As a result of the uncertainty inherent in the quantitative models, other quantitative and qualitative factors are considered in adjusting allowance amounts including, but not limited to the following: model imprecision, imprecision in macroeconomic scenario forecasts or changes in the economic environment affecting specific portfolio segments that deviate from the macroeconomic forecasts. Once a loan is determined to be impaired, when principal or interest becomes 90 days past due or when collection becomes uncertain, the accrual of interest and amortization of deferred loan origination fees is discontinued (“non-accrual status”), and any accrued and unpaid interest income is reversed. Loans placed on non-accrual status are returned to accrual status when all delinquent principal and interest payments are collected and the collectability of future principal and interest payments is reasonably assured. Loan losses are charged against the allowance when we believe the uncollectibility of a loan balance is certain. Subsequent recoveries, if any, are credited to the allowance for loan loss. We do not include reserves for interest receivable in the measurement of the allowance for credit losses as we generally classify loans as nonperforming at 90 days past due and reverse interest income for these loans at that time. Large groups of smaller balance homogenous loans are collectively evaluated for impairment. Accordingly, we do not separately identify individual consumer and residential loans for impairment measurements. Impairment is measured on a loan-by-loan basis for non-homogeneous loans, and a specific allowance is established for individual loans determined to be impaired. Impairment is measured by comparing the carrying value of the impaired loan to the present value of its expected cash flow discounted at the loan’s effective interest rate, the loan’s observable market price, or the fair value of the collateral if the loan is collateral dependent. See Note 7 for more information.
Available-for-Sale and Held-to-Maturity Securities | Available-for-Sale and Held-to-Maturity Securities We evaluate each available-for-sale security where the value has declined below amortized cost. If our company intends to sell or believes it is more likely than not that it will be required to sell the debt security, it is written down to fair value through earnings. For available-for-sale debt securities our company intends to hold, we evaluate the debt securities for expected credit losses except for debt securities that are guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury or U.S. government agencies where we apply a zero credit loss assumption. For the remaining available-for-sale debt securities, we consider qualitative parameters such as internal and external credit ratings and the value of underlying collateral. If an available-for-sale debt security fails any of the qualitative parameters, a discounted cash flow analysis is used by our company to determine if a portion of the unrealized loss is a result of a credit loss. Any credit losses determined are recognized as an increase to the allowance for credit losses through provision expense recorded in the consolidated statement of operations in provision for credit losses. Cash flows expected to be collected are estimated using all relevant information available such as, remaining payment terms, prepayment speeds, the financial condition of the issuer, expected defaults and the value of the underlying collateral. If any of the decline in fair value is related to market factors, that amount is recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income. In certain instances, the credit loss may exceed the total decline in fair value, in which case, the allowance recorded is limited to the difference between the amortized cost and the fair value of the asset. We separately evaluate our held-to-maturity debt securities for any credit losses. We perform a discounted cash flow analysis to estimate any credit losses which are then recognized as part of the allowance for credit losses. For available-for-sale and held-to-maturity debt securities, we have established a nonaccrual policy that results in timely write-off of accrued interest. See Note 6 for more information.

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