Commitments and contingent matters

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 21 – Other Commitments and Contingencies

Bankruptcy of Brink's Belgium

Our former cash-in-transit subsidiary in Belgium (Brink's Belgium) filed for bankruptcy in November 2010 after a restructuring plan was rejected by local union employees and was placed into bankruptcy on February 2, 2011.  We continue to operate our Global Services unit in Belgium, which provides secure transport of diamonds, jewellery, precious metals, banknotes and other commodities. 

Deconsolidation. Brink's Belgium continued to provide cash-in-transit services for customers after the bankruptcy filing for approximately three months under the management of a court-appointed trustee.  We no longer control or provide funding for the subsidiary. In accordance with FASB ASC Topic 810, Consolidation, we deconsolidated the subsidiary in November 2010, when the trustee assumed control of the subsidiary.  We estimated that the fair value of our investment at the date of deconsolidation was zero.  Our carrying value of the investment and advances to the subsidiary at the date of the deconsolidation was $11.7 million, which we wrote off as a result of the deconsolidation, resulting in a pretax loss.  We also have incurred approximately $1.7 million of other charges related to the bankruptcy of the subsidiary. The losses related to deconsolidation and other charges have been recorded in Other Operating Income (Expense) in the consolidated statements of income.

Legal Dispute.In December 2010, the court-appointed provisional administrators of Brink's Belgium filed a claim for €20 million against a subsidiary of Brink's. In June 2011, the Brink's subsidiary entered into a settlement agreement related to this claim.  Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the Brink's subsidiary agreed to contribute, upon the satisfaction of certain conditions, €7 million toward social payments to former Brink's Belgium employees in exchange for the bankruptcy receivers requesting withdrawal of the pending litigation and agreeing not to file additional claims. The conditions of the settlement agreement included a release from liability by affected employees, the Belgian tax authority and the Belgian social security authority.  These conditions were satisfied and the settlement was finalized during the third quarter of 2011.  We recorded a pretax charge of €7 million (approximately $10 million) in the second quarter of 2011 related to this claim.

Other

We are involved in various other lawsuits and claims in the ordinary course of business. We are not able to estimate the range of losses for some of these matters. We have recorded accruals for losses that are considered probable and reasonably estimable. We do not believe that the ultimate disposition of any of these matters will have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, financial position or results of operations.

Purchase Obligations

At December 31, 2011, we had noncancellable commitments for $11.7 million in equipment purchases, and information technology and other services.