Application of Recent Accounting Pronouncements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Application of Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Application of Recent Accounting Pronouncements

2.  Application of Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recently adopted accounting pronouncements

In January 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2010-06 “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures: Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements” (“ASU No. 2010-06”).  ASU No. 2010-06 provides for disclosure of significant transfers in and out of the fair value hierarchy Levels 1 and 2, and the reasons for these transfers.  In addition, ASU No. 2010-06 provides for separate disclosure about purchases, sales, issuances and settlements in the Level 3 hierarchy roll forward activity.  ASU No. 2010-06 is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 31, 2009 except for the provisions relating to purchases, sales, issuances and settlements of Level 3 investments, which are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2010.  The Company adopted the disclosure provisions of ASU 2010-06 for its fiscal year beginning January 1, 2010 and adopted the Level 3 purchase, sales, issuances and settlement provisions for its fiscal year beginning January 1, 2011.  The adoption ASU No. 2010-06 did not have an impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position or the results of its operations.

In February 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-10 “Consolidation: Amendments for Certain Investment Funds” (“ASU No. 2010-10”).  ASU No. 2010-10 defers the effective date of the amendments to the consolidation requirements made by certain provisions of ASC topic 810 (formerly Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 167), specifically the evaluation of a company’s interests in mutual funds, private equity funds, hedge funds, real estate entities that measure their investments at fair value, real estate investment trusts and venture capital funds.  The deferral provisions of ASU No. 2010-10 will continue indefinitely.  ASU No. 2010-10 was effective for interim and annual periods in fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2009.  The Company adopted ASU No. 2010-10 for its fiscal year beginning January 1, 2010.  The adoption of ASU No. 2010-10 did not have an impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position or the results of its operations.

In April 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-15 “How Investments Held through Separate Accounts Affect an Insurer’s Consolidation Analysis of Those Investments” (“ASU No. 2010-15”).  ASU No. 2010-15 clarifies that an insurance company should not consider any separate account interests in an investment held for the benefit of policyholders to be its interests and that those interests should not be combined with interests of its general account in the same investment when assessing the investment for consolidation.  ASU No. 2010-15 also provides that an insurance company is required to consider a separate account as a subsidiary for purposes of evaluating whether the retention of specialized accounting for investments in consolidation is appropriate.  ASU No. 2010-15 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2010.  The Company adopted ASU No. 2010-15 for its fiscal year beginning on January 1, 2011.  The adoption of ASU No. 2010-15 did not have an impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position or the results of its operations.

In July 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-20 “Disclosures about the Credit Quality of Financing Receivables and the Allowance for Credit Losses” (“ASU No. 2010-20”).  ASU No. 2010-20 provides for entities to disclose credit quality indicators, aging of past due amounts, the nature and extent of troubled debt restructurings, modifications as a result of troubled debt restructurings and significant sales or purchases, by disaggregated class, for its financing receivables.  ASU No. 2010-20 is effective for fiscal periods ending after December 15, 2010.  The Company adopted ASU No. 2010-20 for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2010.  The provisions of ASU No. 2010-20 related to troubled debt restructurings have been clarified in ASU No. 2011-02, see below.  The provisions of ASU No. 2010-20 relate only to financial statement disclosures regarding financing receivables and, accordingly, its adoption did not have an impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position or the results of its operations.

In April 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-02 “Receivables (Topic 310): A Creditor’s Determination of Whether a Restructuring Is a Troubled Debt Restructuring” (“ASU No. 2011-02”).  ASU No. 2011-02 clarifies and defines the criteria to be met in a debt modification in order to be considered a troubled debt restructuring.  It also clarifies whether a modification of the terms of a receivable meets the criteria to be considered a troubled debt restructuring, both for purposes of recording an impairment loss and for disclosure of troubled debt restructures.  ASU No. 2011-02 is effective for the first interim or annual period beginning on or after June 15, 2011 with early adoption permitted and is to be applied retrospectively to the beginning of the annual period of adoption.  The Company adopted ASU No. 2011-02 for its fiscal period ended September 30, 2011.  The adoption of ASU No. 2011-02 did not have an impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position or the results of operations.

Future adoption of new accounting pronouncements

In October 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-26 “Financial Services - Insurance (Topic 944): Accounting for Costs Associated with Acquiring or Renewing Insurance Contracts - a Consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force” (“ASU No. 2010-26”).  ASU No. 2010-26 provides guidance and modifies the definition of the types and nature of costs incurred by insurance enterprises that can be capitalized in connection with the acquisition of new or renewal insurance contracts.  Further, ASU No. 2010-26 clarifies which costs may not be capitalized as deferred acquisition costs.  ASU No. 2010-26 is effective for interim and annual periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011 with early adoption permitted.  The Company will adopt ASU No. 2010-26 for its fiscal year beginning January 1, 2012.  The Company is evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU No. 2010-26.

In April 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-03 “Transfers and Servicing (Topic 860): Reconsideration of Effective Control for Repurchase Agreements” (“ASU No. 2011-03”).  ASU No. 2011-03 removes from the assessment of effective control the criterion requiring a transferor to have the ability to repurchase or redeem the financial assets transferred in a repurchase arrangement.  This requirement was one of the criterions under ASC topic 860 that entities used to determine whether a transferor maintained effective control.  Entities are still required to consider all the effective control criterion under ASC topic 860; however, the elimination of this requirement may lead to more conclusions that a repurchase agreement should be accounted for as a secured borrowing rather than a sale.  ASU No. 2011-03 is effective for the first interim or annual period beginning on or after December 15, 2011.  The Company will adopt ASU No. 2011-03 for its fiscal year beginning January 1, 2012.  The Company is evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU No. 2011-03.

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-04 “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurements and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs” (“ASU No. 2011-04”).  ASU No. 2011-04 does not extend the use of the existing concept or guidance regarding fair value.  It results in common fair value measurements and disclosures between accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and those of International Financial Reporting Standards.  ASU No. 2011-04 expands disclosure requirements for Level 3 inputs to include a quantitative description of the unobservable inputs used, a description of the valuation process used and a qualitative description about the sensitivity of the fair value measurements.  ASU No. 2011-04 is effective for interim or annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011.  The Company will adopt ASU No. 2011-04 for its fiscal year beginning January 1, 2012.  The Company is evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU No. 2011-04.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-05 “Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income” (“ASU No. 2011-05”).  ASU No. 2011-05 provides that, upon adoption, entities must present the components of net income, the components of comprehensive income and the total of comprehensive income for all periods presented.  The option of presenting the components of comprehensive income in the statement of changes of equity has been eliminated.  ASU No. 2011-05 is effective for interim or annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011.  The Company will adopt ASU No. 2011-05 for its fiscal year beginning January 1, 2012.  The adoption of ASU No. 2011-05 will not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or the results of its operations.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-08 “Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Goodwill for Impairment” (“ASU No. 2011-08”).  ASU No. 2011-08 provides that entities have the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of recorded goodwill is less than its carrying value.  If an entity concludes that it is more likely than not that the fair value of recorded goodwill is less than its carrying value, it is then required to calculate the fair value of the recorded goodwill and to measure the amount of impairment loss, if any.  ASU No. 2011-08 is effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011.  Earlier application is permitted.  The Company is evaluating the early application of the standard.  The adoption of ASU No. 2011-08 will not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or the results of its operations.