(7) EFFECT OF NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.” This guidance supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in ASC Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, and most industry-specific guidance throughout the ASC. The guidance requires an entity to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This guidance is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016; however, the FASB deferred the effective date reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The implementation of ASC Topic 605 did not have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

ASU 2016-01, “Financial Instruments – Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities.” ASU 2016-01, among other things, (i) requires equity investments, with certain exceptions, to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income, (ii) simplifies the impairment assessment of equity investments without readily determinable fair values by requiring a qualitative assessment to identify impairment, (iii) eliminates the requirement for public business entities to disclose the methods and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized cost on the balance sheet, (iv) requires public business entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes, (v) requires an entity to present separately in other comprehensive income the portion of the total change in the fair value of a liability resulting from a change in the instrument-specific credit risk when the entity has elected to measure the liability at fair value in accordance with the fair value option for financial instruments, (vi) requires separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial asset on the balance sheet or the accompanying notes to the financial statements and (vii) clarifies that an entity should evaluate the need for a valuation allowance on a deferred tax asset related to available-for-sale. ASU 2016-01 was effective on January 1, 2018 and did not have a material effect on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

ASU 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842).” ASU 2016-02 will, among other things, require lessees to recognize a lease liability, which is a lessee’s obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis; and a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessee’s right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. ASU 2016-02 does not significantly change lease accounting requirements applicable to lessors; however, certain changes were made to align, where necessary, lessor accounting with the lessee accounting model and ASC Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.” ASU 2016-02 will be effective for us on January 1, 2019, and will require transition using a modified retrospective approach for leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements. We are currently evaluating the potential impact of ASU 2016-02 on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

ASU 2016-09, “Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting.” Under ASU 2016-09 all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies related to share-based payment awards should be recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement during the period in which they occur. Previously, such amounts were recorded in the pool of excess tax benefits included in additional paid-in capital, if such pool was available. Because excess tax benefits are no longer recognized in additional paid-in capital, the assumed proceeds from applying the treasury stock method when computing earnings per share should exclude the amount of excess tax benefits that would have previously been recognized in additional paid-in capital. Additionally, excess tax benefits should be classified along with other income tax cash flows as an operating activity rather than a financing activity, as was previously the case. ASU 2016-09 also provides that an entity can make an entity-wide accounting policy election to either estimate the number of awards that are expected to vest (current GAAP) or account for forfeitures when they occur. ASU 2016-09 changes the threshold to qualify for equity classification (rather than as a liability) to permit withholding up to the maximum statutory tax rates (rather than the minimum as was previously the case) in the applicable jurisdictions. ASU 2016-09 was effective on January 1, 2017. The implementation of ASU 2016-09 did not have a material effect on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

On June 16, 2016, the FASB released its finalized ASU 2016-13, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments”. The amendments to U.S. GAAP require businesses and other organization to measure the expected credit losses on financial assets, such as loans, securities, bond insurance, and many receivables, the FASB said. The accounting changes apply to instruments recorded on balance sheets at their historical cost, although there are some limited changes to the accounting for debt instruments classified as available-for-sale. The accounting board added that the write-downs will be based on historical information, current business conditions, and forecasts, and it expects the forecasts to improve the loss estimates on financial assets that are losing value. The board also said the techniques that are employed today to write down loans and other instruments can still be used, although it expects the variables for calculating the losses to change. ASU 2016-13 will become effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021. Companies are permitted to adopt ASU 2016-13 in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact of ASU 2016-13.

ASU 2016-15 “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230)” (“ASU 2016-15”) is intended to reduce the diversity in practice around how certain transactions are classified within the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-15 is effective for public companies for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017 including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted with retrospective application. The application of ASU 2016-15 did not have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, “Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business,” (“ASU 2017-01”) to improve such definition and, as a result, assist entities with evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or as business combinations. The definition of a business impacts many areas of accounting including acquisitions, disposals, goodwill and consolidation. ASU 2017-01 was effective for the Company on January 1, 2018 and is to be applied under a prospective approach. The Company expects the adoption of this new guidance to impact the determination of whether future acquisitions are considered business combinations.

ASU 2017-08, “Receivables – Nonrefundable Fees and Other Cost” (Topic 310) – amends the amortization period for certain purchased callable debt securities held at a premium. Prior to the issuance of this guidance, premiums were amortized as an adjustment of yield over the contractual life of instrument. ASU 2017-08 premiums on purchased callable debt securities that have an explicit, non-contingent call features that are callable at fixed prices to be amortized to the earliest call date. There are no accounting changes for securities held at a discount. This ASU is effective for annual periods and interim periods within those annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018 and early adoption is permitted. The adoption of ASU 2017-08 is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

ASU 2017-09 “Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718) – clarifies when changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment must be accounted for as modifications. Under AUS 2017-09, an entity should account for changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment unless all of the following are met:

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The fair value of the modified award is the same as the fair value of the original award immediately before modification,

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The vesting conditions of the modified award is the same as the vesting conditions value of the original award immediately before modification, and

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The classification of the modified award as an equity instrument or a liability instrument is the same as the classification of the original award immediately before modification.

ASU 2017-09 was effective for the Company on January 1, 2018 and did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

ASU 2017-12 “Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) amends the hedge accounting recognition and presentation requirements in ASC 815 to improve the transparency and understandability of information convey to financial statement users about an entity’s risk management activities to better align the entity’s financial reporting for hedging relationships with those risk management activities and to reduce the complexity of and simplify the application of hedge accounting. ASU 2017-12 will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2019 and is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. Other accounting standards that have been issued or proposed by the FASB or other standards-setting bodies are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

ASU 2018-02, “Income Statement-Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income.” Issued in February 2018, ASU 2018-02 seeks to help entities reclassify certain stranded income tax effects in accumulated other comprehensive income resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Tax Reform Act), enacted on December 22, 2017. ASU 2018-02 was issued in response to concerns regarding current guidance in GAAP that requires deferred tax liabilities and assets to be adjusted for the effect of a change in tax laws or rates with the effect included in income from continuing operations in the reporting period that includes the enactment date, even in situations in which the related income tax effects of items in accumulated other comprehensive income were originally recognized in other comprehensive income, rather than net income, and as a result the stranded tax effects would not reflect the appropriate tax rate. The amendments of ASU 2018-02 allow an entity to make a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for the stranded tax effects, which is the difference between the historical corporate income tax rate of 34.0% and the newly enacted corporate income tax rate of 21.0%. ASU 2018-02 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 31, 2018; however, public business entities are allowed to early adopt the amendments of ASU 2018-02 in any interim period for which the financial statements have not yet been issued. The amendments of ASU 2018-02 may be applied either at the beginning of the period (annual or interim) of adoption or retrospectively to each of the period(s) in which the effect of the change in the U.S. federal corporate tax rate in the Tax Reform Act is recognized. The Company is currently reviewing the impact of the adoption of ASU 2018-02 on its Consolidated Financial Statements.