Related Party Transactions

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

The Company’s operating subsidiaries engage in transactions with related parties in the normal course of business. The following is a summary of balances and transactions with related parties of the Company:



	March 31, 2012	March 31, 2011
Balances:
Accounts receivable	$32,316	$61,981
Accounts payable	37,520	38,937



	Year Ended March 31,
	2012	2011	2010
Transactions:
Purchases	$210,113	$157,851	$140,432

The Company’s operating subsidiaries have entered into transactions with affiliates of the Company for the purpose of procuring inventory.

The Company’s balances due to and from related parties are primarily with its deconsolidated Zimbabwe subsidiary. The remaining related party balances and transactions relate to the Company’s equity basis investments in companies located in Asia which purchase and process tobacco. The balance due from the Zimbabwe subsidiary includes a pledge to a bank of $38,380 at March 31, 2011 which has been recorded in Notes Payable to Banks. This pledge was no longer required at March 31, 2012.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for related party transactions, including the nature of the relationship(s), a description of the transactions, the amount of the transactions, the effects of any change in the method of establishing the terms of the transaction from the previous period, stated interest rate, expiration date, terms and manner of settlement per the agreement with the related party, and amounts due to or from related parties. If the entity and one or more other entities are under common ownership or management control and this control affects the operating results or financial position, disclosure includes the nature of the control relationship even if there are no transactions between the entities. Disclosure may also include the aggregate amount of current and deferred tax expense for each statement of earnings presented where the entity is a member of a group that files a consolidated tax return, the amount of any tax related balances due to or from affiliates as of the date of each statement of financial position presented, the principal provisions of the method by which the consolidated amount of current and deferred tax expense is allocated to the members of the group and the nature and effect of any changes in that method. Examples of related party transactions include transactions between (a) a parent company and its subsidiary; (b) subsidiaries of a common parent; (c) and entity and its principal owners; and (d) affiliates.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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+ Details