New Accounting Standards

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

New Accounting Standards [Abstract]

New Accounting Standards

NOTE 2. NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

Effective January 1, 2010, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2009-16, "Transfers and Servicing" (ASC Topic 860). This ASU amends certain provisions of ASC 860 related to accounting for transfers of financial assets and a transferor's continuing involvement in transferred financial assets. The adoption of this ASU did not have any impact on the Company's financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Effective January 1, 2010, the Company adopted ASU No. 2009-17, "Consolidations (Topic 810) - Improvements to Financial Reporting by Enterprises Involved with Variable Interest Entities (VIEs)." This ASU carries forward the scope of ASC 810, with the addition of entities previously considered qualifying special-purpose entities, as the concept of these entities was eliminated in ASU No. 2009-16 (ASC 860). The amendments required the Company to reconsider previous conclusions relating to the consolidation of VIEs, whether the Company is the VIE's primary beneficiary, and what type of financial statement disclosures are required. See Note 3 for further information.

Effective January 1, 2010, the Company adopted ASU No. 2010-06, "Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (Topic 820): Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements." This ASU amends guidance related to the disclosures of fair value measurements. In particular, it amends Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 820-10 to clarify existing disclosures and provides for further disaggregation within classes of assets and liabilities, and further disclosure about inputs and valuation techniques. It also requires disclosure of significant transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy and separate disclosure of purchases, sales, issuances and settlements in the reconciliation of Level 3 activity (this was required beginning in 2011). See Note 17 for the Company's fair value disclosures.

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued ASU No. 2011-04, "Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs." This ASU will require enhanced disclosures for fair value measurements, including quantitative sensitivity analysis of unobservable inputs used in Level 3 fair value measurements. The ASU also clarifies the FASB's intent about the application of existing fair value measurement requirements. The Company will be required to adopt this ASU effective January 1, 2012. The Company does not expect that this ASU will have material impact on its financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-08, "Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Goodwill for Impairment." This ASU amends the guidance on testing goodwill for impairment, providing entities with the option of performing a qualitative assessment before calculating the fair value of the reporting unit. If it is determined, on the basis of the qualitative assessment, that the fair value of the reporting unit is more likely than not less than the carrying amount, the two-step impairment test would be required. This ASU does not change how goodwill is calculated or assigned to reporting units, nor does it revise the requirement to test goodwill annually for impairment. This ASU is effective for goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect that this ASU will have any material impact on its testing of goodwill for impairment.