XML 21 R9.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.4.0.3
Significant Accounting Policies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Significant Accounting Policies
FirstMerit Corporation and subsidiaries is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Akron, Ohio with 368 banking offices in the Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Pennsylvania areas. The Corporation provides a complete range of banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses through its core operations.

On January 26, 2016, the Corporation and Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (“Huntington”)announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which the Corporation will merge into a subsidiary of Huntington in a stock and cash transaction. Based on the closing price of Huntington's common shares on January 25, 2016 of $8.80, the total transaction value is approximately $3.40 billion, including outstanding options and other equity-linked securities.

Under the terms of the definitive agreement, the Corporation will merge with a subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares, and FirstMerit Bank will merge with and into The Huntington National Bank. In conjunction with the closing of the transaction, four independent members of the Corporation’s Board of Directors will join the Huntington Board, which will be expanded accordingly.

Shareholders of the Corporation will receive 1.72 shares of Huntington common stock, and $5.00 in cash, for each share of the Corporation common stock. The per share consideration is valued at $20.14 per share based on the closing price of Huntington Common Stock on January 25, 2016. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and the approval of the shareholders of Huntington and the Corporation.
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Unless otherwise indicated, defined terms and abbreviations used herein have the meanings set forth in the accompanying Glossary of Acronyms and Abbreviations.

Basis of Presentation - FirstMerit Corporation is a BHC whose principal asset is the Common Stock of its wholly-owned subsidiary, FirstMerit Bank, N. A. The Parent Company’s other subsidiaries include Citizens Savings Corporation of Stark County, FirstMerit Capital Trust I, and FirstMerit Risk Management, Inc. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The accounting and reporting policies of the Corporation conform to GAAP and to general practices within the financial services industry.

The Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2015 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date. The accompanying unaudited interim financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normally recurring adjustments) that are, in the opinion of Management, necessary for a fair statement of the results for the interim periods presented. Certain reclassifications of prior year’s amounts have been made to conform to the current year presentation. Such reclassifications had no effect on net earnings or equity. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been omitted in accordance with the rules of the SEC. The unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Corporation as of March 31, 2016 and 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved for the full fiscal year or for any future period. These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes included in the Corporation’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 (the “2015 Form 10-K”). There have been no significant changes in the current quarter to the Corporation’s accounting policies as disclosed in the 2015 Form 10-K.

In preparing these accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements, subsequent events were evaluated through the time the consolidated financial statements were issued.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

FASB ASU 2015-16, Business Combinations (Topic 805), Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments. The amendments in ASU 2015-16 require an entity to present separately on the face of the income statement or disclose in the notes the portion of the amount recorded in current-period earnings by line item that would have been recorded in previous reporting periods if the adjustment to the provisional amounts had been recognized as of the acquisition date. For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments in this update will be applied prospectively to adjustments to provisional amounts that occur after the effective date of this update with earlier application permitted for financial statements that have not been issued. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Corporation's financial position or results of operations.

FASB ASU 2015-5, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement. The amendments in ASU 2015-05 provide guidance to customers about whether a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license. If a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license, then the customer should account for the software license element of the arrangement consistent with the acquisition of other software licenses. If a cloud computing arrangement does not include a software license, the customer should account for the arrangement as a service contract. The guidance will not change GAAP for a customer’s accounting for service contracts. In addition, the guidance in this update supersedes 350-40-25-16. Consequently, all software licenses within the scope of Subtopic 350-40 will be accounted for consistent with other licenses of intangible assets. The amendments are effective for public business entities for annual and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015. An entity can elect to adopt the amendments either (1) prospectively to all arrangements entered into or materially modified after the effective date or (2) retrospectively. For prospective transition, the only disclosure requirements at transition are the nature of and reason for the change in accounting principle, the transition method, and a qualitative description of the financial statement line items affected by the change. For retrospective transition, the disclosure requirements at transition include the requirements for prospective transition and quantitative information about the effects of the accounting change. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Corporation's financial position or results of operations.

FASB ASU 2015-2, Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis. The amendments in ASU 2015-02 affect reporting entities that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. All legal entities are subject to reevaluation under the revised consolidation model. These amendments modify the current accounting guidance to address limited partnerships and similar entities; certain investments funds, fees paid to a decision maker or service provider, and the impact of fee arrangements and related parties on the primary beneficiary determination. The amendments are effective for public business entities for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. If an entity early adopts the amendments in an interim period, any adjustments should be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. A reporting entity may apply the amendments using a modified retrospective approach by recording a cumulative-effect adjustment to equity as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. A reporting entity also may apply the amendments retrospectively. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Corporation's financial position or results of operations.

FASB ASU 2014–12, Accounting for Share-Based Payments When the Terms of an Award Provide That a Performance Target Could Be Achieved After the Requisite Service Period — a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force. The amendments in this update clarify that entities should treat performance targets that can be met after the requisite service period of a share-based payment award as performance conditions that affect vesting. Therefore, an entity would not record compensation expense (measured as of the grant date without taking into account the effect of the performance target) related to an award for which transfer to the employee is contingent on the entity’s satisfaction of a performance target until it becomes probable that the performance target will be met. The ASU does not contain any new disclosure requirements. The ASU is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. In addition, entities will have the option of applying the guidance either prospectively (i.e., only to awards granted or modified on or after the effective date) or retrospectively. Retrospective application would only apply to awards with performance targets outstanding at or after the beginning of the first annual period presented (i.e., the earliest presented comparative period). The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Corporation's financial position or results of operations.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards
    
ASU 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing. This update amends the new revenue recognition guidance on accounting for licenses of intellectual property and identifying performance obligations. The amendments clarify how an entity should evaluate the nature of its promise in granting a license of intellectual property, which will determine whether it recognizes revenue over time or a point in time. The amendments also clarify when a promised good or service is separately identifiable, that is distinct within the context of the contract, and allow entities to disregard items that are immaterial in the context of a contract. The effective date and transition requirements for this update are the same as those of the new standard. For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted, but not before December 15, 2016. The amendments can be adopted using either the full retrospective approach or a modified retrospective approach. The Corporation is in process of assessing the potential impact the adoption of this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

FASB ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. The amendments in ASU 2016-09 simplify several aspects of accounting for employee share-based payments including income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. Some areas of the simplification apply only to nonpublic entities. The new guidance will require all income tax effects of awards to be recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement when the awards vest or are settled and additional paid in capital pools will be eliminated. The guidance requires companies to present excess tax benefits as an operating activity on the statement of cash flows rather than as a financing activity. Companies will be required to account for forfeitures of share-based payments by recognizing forfeitures of awards as they occur or estimating the number of awards expected to be forfeited and adjusting the estimate when it is likely to change, as currently required, through an accounting policy election. The guidance will increase the amount an employer can withhold to cover income taxes on awards and still qualify for the exception to liability classification for shares used to satisfy the employer's income tax withholding obligation. The guidance requires an employer to classify the cash paid to a tax authority when shares are withheld to satisfy its statutory income tax withholding obligation as a financing activity on the statement of cash flows. For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption will be permitted in any interim or annual period for which financial statements have not yet been issued or have not been made available for issuance, however all of the guidance must be adopted in the same period. If early adoption is elected in an interim period, any adjustments should be reflected as of the beginning of the annual period that includes that interim period. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material effect on the Corporation’s financial position or results of operations.

FASB ASU 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net). The amendments in ASU 2016-08 are intended to improve the operability and understandability of the implementation guidance by clarifying the following: how an entity should identify the unit of accounting for the principal versus agent evaluation; how the control principle applies to transactions, such as service arrangements; reframes the indicators to focus on a principal rather than an agent, removes the credit risk and commission indicators and clarifies the relationship between the control principle and the indicators; and revises the existing illustrative examples and adds new illustrative examples. For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted, but not before December 15, 2016. The amendments can be adopted using either the full retrospective approach or a modified retrospective approach. The Corporation is in process of assessing the potential impact the adoption of this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

FASB ASU 2016-07, Investments—Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323), The amendments in this update eliminate the requirement that when an investment qualifies for use of the equity method due to an increase in level of ownership or influence, an investor must adjust the investment, results of operations, and retained earnings retroactively on a step-by step basis as if the equity method had been in effect during all previous periods that the investment had been held. For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The amendments should be applied prospectively upon their effective date to increases in the level of ownership interest or degree of influence that result in the adoption of the equity method. The Corporation is in process of assessing the potential impact the adoption of this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures

FASB ASU 2016-06, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815), Contingent Put and Call Options in Debt Instruments. The amendments in this update clarify the requirements for assessing whether contingent call (put) options that can accelerate the payment of principal on debt instruments are clearly and closely related to their debt hosts. An entity performing the assessment under the amendments in this update is required to assess the
embedded call (put) options solely in accordance with the four-step decision sequence. For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those fiscal years. An entity should apply the amendments in this update on a modified retrospective basis to existing debt instruments as of the beginning of the fiscal year for which the amendments are effective. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. If an entity early adopts the amendments in an interim period, any adjustments should be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. The Corporation is in process of assessing the potential impact the adoption of this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

FASB ASU 2016-05, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Effect of Derivative Contract Novations on
Existing Hedge Accounting Relationships.
The amendments in ASU 2016-05 clarify that a change in the counterparty to a derivative instrument that has been designated as the hedging instrument under Topic 815 does not, in and of itself, require dedesignation of that hedging relationship provided that all other hedge accounting criteria (including those in paragraphs 815-20-35-14 through 35-18) continue to be met. For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. The Corporation is in process of assessing the potential impact the adoption of this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

FASB ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), The amendments in ASU 2016-02 increase transparency and comparability by requiring a lessee to recognize assets and liabilities for operating and capital leases with lease terms of more than 12 months. Additional qualitative and quantitative requirements disclosures are required to provide additional information to better understand the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. Lessor accounting will remain largely unchanged from current GAAP. For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Corporation is in process of assessing the potential impact the adoption of this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

FASB ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments-Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. The amendments in this update supersede the guidance to classify equity securities with readily determinable fair values into different categories (that is, trading or available-for-sale) and require equity securities (including other ownership interests, such as partnerships, unincorporated joint ventures, and limited liability companies) to be measured at fair value with changes in the fair value recognized through net income. The amendments allow equity investments that do not have readily determinable fair values to be remeasured at fair value either upon the occurrence of an observable price change or upon identification of an impairment. The amendments also require enhanced disclosures about those investments. The amendments improve financial reporting by providing relevant information about an entity’s equity investments and reducing the number of items that are recognized in other comprehensive income. For public business entities, the amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments should be applied by means of a cumulative-effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material effect on the Corporation’s financial position or results of operations.

FASB ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. In May 2014, the FASB issued new accounting guidance that revises the criteria for determining when to recognize revenue from contracts with customers and expands disclosure requirements. The amendments in this update supersede virtually all existing GAAP revenue recognition guidance, including most industry-specific revenue recognition guidance. The core principle requires an entity to recognize revenue in a manner that depicts the transfer of goods or services to customers at an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 applies to contracts with customers to provide goods and services, with certain exclusions such as lease contracts, financing arrangements, and financial instruments. On July 9, 2015, the FASB decided to delay, by one year, the effective dates, permitting public entities to apply this guidance to annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted, but not before December 15, 2016. The amendments can be adopted using either the full retrospective approach or a modified retrospective approach. There are many aspects of this new accounting guidance that are still being interpreted, and the FASB has recently issued updates to certain aspects of the guidance as noted above. The Corporation is in process of assessing the potential impact the adoption of this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.