Impact of recent accounting standards pronouncements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes In Accounting Principles [Abstract]

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block]

22. Impact of recent accounting standards pronouncements

Adoption of New Accounting Standards:

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Updated (“ASU”) 2011-04, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820) - Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs, which represents the converged guidance of the FASB and the IASB (the “Boards”) on fair value measurements. The collective efforts of the Boards and their staffs, reflected in ASU 2011-04, have resulted in common requirements for measuring fair value and for disclosing information about fair value measurements, including a consistent meaning of the term “fair value.” The Boards have concluded that the common requirements will result in greater comparability of fair value measurements presented and disclosed in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP and IFRS. The amendments in this ASU are required to be applied prospectively, and are effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011. The adoption of ASU 2011-04 on January 1, 2012 did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-05, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220) - Presentation of Comprehensive Income, which amends current comprehensive income guidance. This accounting update eliminates the option to present the components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of shareholders’ equity. Instead, comprehensive income must be reported in either a single continuous statement of comprehensive income which contains two sections, net income and other comprehensive income, or in two separate but consecutive statements. This ASU will be effective for public companies during the interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011 with early adoption permitted. The adoption of ASU 2011-05 on January 1, 2012 did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-08, Intangibles —Goodwill and Other (Topic 350) - Testing Goodwill for Impairment, which permits an entity to make a qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying value before applying the two-step goodwill impairment model that is currently in place. If it is determined through the qualitative assessment that a reporting unit’s fair value is more likely than not greater than its carrying value, the remaining impairment steps would be unnecessary. The qualitative assessment is optional, allowing companies to go directly to the quantitative assessment. This update is effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011. The adoption of ASU 2011-08 on January 1, 2012 did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Effect of Newly Issued But Not Yet Effective Accounting Standards:

In July 2012, the FASB issued ASU 2012-02, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350) - Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment, which aims to simplify the impairment test for indefinite-lived intangible assets by permitting an entity the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not (defined as having a likelihood of more than 50 percent) that an indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired as a basis for determining whether the quantitative impairment test included in Accounting Standards Codification Subtopic 350-30, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—General Intangibles Other than Goodwill must be performed. The amendment is effective for annual and interim impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012. The Company currently has no indefinite-lived intangible assets other than goodwill reported on its consolidated balance sheet. As such, the adoption of ASU 2012-02 is not expected to have a material effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In October 2012, the FASB issued ASU 2012-04, Technical Corrections and Improvements. The amendments in this update cover a wide range of Topics in the Accounting Standards Codification. These amendments include technical corrections and improvements to the Accounting Standards Codification and conforming amendments related to fair value measurements. The amendments in this update will be effective for fiscal periods beginning after December 15, 2012. The adoption of ASU 2012-04 is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In February 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-02, Other Comprehensive Income (Topic 220) - Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, which requires an entity to provide information about the amounts reclassified out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (“AOCI”) by component. In addition, an entity is required to present, either on the face of the financial statements or in the notes, significant amounts reclassified out of AOCI by the respective line items of net income, but only if the amount reclassified is required to be reclassified in its entirety in the same reporting period. For amounts that are not required to be reclassified in their entirety to net income, an entity is required to cross-reference to other disclosures that provide additional details about those amounts. ASU 2013-02 does not change the current requirements for reporting net income or other comprehensive income in the financial statements. ASU 2013-02 is effective for the Company on January 1, 2013. The Company currently does not have material AOCI and therefore the adoption of this amendment is not expected to have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.