Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

2.  BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements (‘Interim Financial Statements’) have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (‘US GAAP’).

The Interim Financial Statements are unaudited but include all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) which the Company’s management considers necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position as of such dates and the operating results and cash flows for those periods. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with US GAAP have been condensed or omitted. However, the Company believes that the disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. The results of operations for the six month period ended June 30, 2011 may not necessarily be indicative of the operating results for the entire fiscal year.

These Interim Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2010 and 2009, and the related consolidated statements of operations, cash flows and changes in equity for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2010 included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 25, 2011 (‘2010 10-K’) and Current Report on Form 8-K subsequently filed on March 14, 2011.

Balance Sheet Presentation

As disclosed in the Company’s 2010 10-K, the Company now provides additional disclosure within the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet of:

•   the Group’s non-fiduciary balances; and

•   the further distinction between those assets and liabilities that are expected to be realized within or later than twelve months of the balance sheet date.

The Company believes this amended presentation better reflects the Company’s liquidity position and exposures to credit risk. Accordingly, the unaudited condensed consolidated statement of cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2010 has been recast to conform with the new balance sheet presentation.

Devaluation of Venezuelan Currency

With effect from January 1, 2010, the Venezuelan economy was designated as hyper-inflationary. The Venezuelan government also devalued the Bolivar Fuerte in January 2010. As a result of these actions, the Company recorded a $12 million charge in other operating expenses in the three month period ended March 31, 2010 to reflect the re-measurement of its net monetary assets denominated in Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte at January 1, 2010.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (‘FASB’) issued Accounting Standards Update (‘ASU’) No. 2011-04, Fair Value Measurement: Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs. The new guidance was issued to provide a consistent definition of fair value and ensure that fair value measurements and disclosure requirements are similar between US GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (‘IFRS’). The guidance changes certain fair value measurement principles and enhances the disclosure requirements for fair value measurements.

This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011 and is applied prospectively.

The Company is currently evaluating the impact that adoption of this guidance will have on the consolidated financial statements.

Other Comprehensive Income

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-05, Presentation of Comprehensive Income to revise the manner in which entities present comprehensive income in their financial statements. These changes require that components of comprehensive income be presented in either a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. The amendments do not change the items that must be reported in other comprehensive income or when an item of other comprehensive income must be reclassified to net income.

This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011 and is applied retrospectively, although early adoption is permitted.

The Company is currently evaluating the impact that adoption of this guidance will have on the consolidated financial statements.