New Accounting Pronouncements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Abstract]

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles

Note 2. New Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued authoritative guidance regarding Fair Value Measurement: Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs, which resulted in common requirements for measuring fair value and for disclosing information about fair value measurement under both U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), including a consistent definition of the term "fair value." The amendments were effective beginning in the first quarter of 2012, and did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.

In December 2011, the FASB issued authoritative guidance regarding Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities, which requires common disclosure requirements to allow investors to better compare and assess the effect of offsetting arrangements on financial statements prepared under U.S. GAAP with financial statements prepared under IFRS. The standard will be effective beginning in the first quarter of 2013, requires retrospective application, and will only affect disclosures in the footnotes to the financial statements. In October 2012, the FASB tentatively decided to limit the scope of this authoritative literature to derivatives, repurchase agreements, and securities lending and securities borrowing arrangements. The FASB directed the staff to draft a proposed Accounting Standards Update for vote at a later meeting. We are currently evaluating the impact, if any, on our consolidated financial statement disclosures and, based on the proposed scope revision, do not expect this authoritative literature to impact our existing disclosures.

In July 2012, the FASB issued authoritative guidance regarding Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment, which is intended to reduce the cost and complexity of the annual impairment test for indefinite-lived intangible assets by providing entities with the option of performing an elective qualitative assessment to determine whether further impairment testing is necessary. The standard will be effective for annual and interim indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment tests performed beginning the first quarter of 2013, with early adoption permitted under certain circumstances. We expect to early adopt the provisions of this standard as part of our 2012 annual assessment of indefinite-lived intangible assets.