Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Accounting Changes and Error Corrections [Abstract]

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements:

In February 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued accounting guidance that requires entities that have obligations resulting from joint and several liability arrangements and for which the total amount is fixed at the reporting date to measure such obligations as the sum of (a) the amount the entity agreed to pay on the basis of its arrangement among its co-obligors, and (b) any additional amount the reporting entity expects to pay on behalf of its co-obligors. Entities are also required to disclose the nature, amount and any other relevant information about such obligations. These amendments became effective on January 1, 2014 and had no impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In March 2013, the FASB issued accounting guidance that clarifies a parent company’s accounting for the cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment when the parent sells a part or all of its investment in a foreign entity. The guidance clarifies that the sale of an investment in a foreign entity includes both (a) events that result in the loss of a controlling financial interest in a foreign entity, and (b) events that result in an acquirer obtaining control of an acquiree in which it held an equity interest immediately before the acquisition date (sometimes also referred to as a step acquisition). Accordingly, the cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment should be released into net income upon the occurrence of those events. These amendments became effective on January 1, 2014 and will be applied prospectively. The impact of these new requirements on our financial statements will depend upon the nature, terms and size of derecognition events, if any, that may occur in the future related to any of our foreign entities.

In July 2013, the FASB issued accounting guidance designed to reduce diversity in practice of financial statement presentation of an unrecognized tax benefit when a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward exists. These new requirements became effective on January 1, 2014 and did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.

In April 2014, the FASB issued accounting guidance that changes the criteria for reporting discontinued operations and modifies related disclosure requirements to provide users of financial statements with more information about the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses of discontinued operations. The guidance improves the definition of discontinued operations by limiting its scope to disposals of components of an entity that represent strategic shifts that have (or will have) a major effect on an entity’s operations and financial results. Additionally, these new requirements require entities to disclose the pretax profit or loss related to disposals of significant components that do not qualify as discontinued operations. These new requirements become effective for public entities in annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2014 and interim periods within those years. Early adoption is permitted, but only for disposals that have not already been reported in previously issued financial statements. We are assessing the impact of these new requirements on our financial statements.