0001193125-11-202843.txt : 20111007 0001193125-11-202843.hdr.sgml : 20111007 20110729161131 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0001193125-11-202843 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: CORRESP PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 2 FILED AS OF DATE: 20110729 FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0000014272 STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION: PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS [2834] IRS NUMBER: 220790350 STATE OF INCORPORATION: DE FISCAL YEAR END: 1231 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: CORRESP BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: 345 PARK AVE CITY: NEW YORK STATE: NY ZIP: 10154 BUSINESS PHONE: 2125464000 MAIL ADDRESS: STREET 1: 345 PARK AVE CITY: NEW YORK STATE: NY ZIP: 10154 FORMER COMPANY: FORMER CONFORMED NAME: BRISTOL MYERS CO DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 19891012 CORRESP 1 filename1.htm Correspondence
   

Katherine R. Kelly

Vice President & Assistant General Counsel

LOGO

   

345 Park Avenue

Tel 212-546-4852

 

New York, NY 10154-0037

Fax 212-605-9475

    katherine.kelly@bms.com
    July 29, 2011

VIA EDGAR

 

Mr. Jim B. Rosenberg

Senior Assistant Chief Accountant

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Division of Corporation Finance

100 F Street, NE

Washington, DC 20549

 

  Re:   

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

Form 10-K for the Year Ended December 31, 2010

Filed February 18, 2011

File No. 1-1136

Dear Mr. Rosenberg:

This letter responds to the additional oral comment received from Ms. Sasha Parikh, Staff Accountant, on June 30, 2011 responding to Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s response letter dated June 1, 2011. For your convenience, we have included a summary of the oral comment below and follow with our response.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 26. Legal Proceedings and Contingencies, page 122

Comment: For those matters for which you are unable to provide an estimated range of potential loss, please supplementally provide an explanation of the procedures you undertake on a quarterly basis to attempt to develop a range of reasonably possible loss for disclosure.

We have robust processes in place to assess and monitor our litigation contingencies, including determining for each matter whether we can estimate a range of potential loss. Supplementing our general quarterly disclosure controls and procedures, which include, among other things, frequent calls led by the controller’s group to review and monitor open accounting items and disclosure committee meetings at which significant litigation developments are reviewed and discussed, we have a series of quarterly litigation-specific meetings and teleconferences that focus on the accounting and disclosure considerations of litigation developments, in particular whether for any matter an estimated loss has become probable and reasonably estimable and, if not, whether a range of potential loss can be reasonably estimated in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 450, Contingencies (“ASC 450”) (formerly FASB Statement No. 5, Accounting for Contingencies). Towards the end of each quarter, our accounting team responsible for corporate financial reporting and litigation reserves have multiple teleconferences, each dedicated to a specific matter-type such as products liability or environmental, with the responsible lawyers for those types of matters. At the end of each quarter, we have a regular quarterly internal litigation conference call among our general counsel, in-house litigation counsel, in-house securities and disclosure counsel, controller, assistant controller and accounting team, and during the quarter-close process, we also have a teleconference with the same internal group and our independent registered public accounting firm. Throughout the quarter, we have frequent communication between the legal and accounting functions and if any significant development occurs or is expected to occur in any of our litigation matters, our litigation group promptly informs the appropriate individuals in legal and accounting and, if necessary, convenes an ad hoc call with the same individuals that participate on the regular quarterly litigation conference call.

 


Mr. Jim B. Rosenberg      Page 2   

At each stage in the process, we consider the accounting and disclosure implications of any developments in our litigation matters and whether the possibility of loss is probable, reasonably possible or remote. For those matters in which the possible loss are not both probable and reasonably estimable, we assess whether we can reasonably estimate a range of potential loss. For purposes of determining this, we consider a number of factors. These factors include, but are not limited to: the type of claims involved in the litigation matter, the status of the case including its procedural posture and how quickly it is progressing, our litigation attorney’s counsel with respect to the underlying merits of the claims, whether there have been any negotiations or settlement offers between the parties in the matter, whether there are any precedents or other relevant historical experience, and any other unique facts or circumstances that might be probative. This assessment is then re-evaluated whenever a significant development occurs and also at the end of each quarter and we revise and update the litigation disclosure in our Form 10-Ks and Form 10-Qs accordingly.

We believe these litigation-specific processes ensure that we receive and review the information necessary to make appropriate judgments each quarter regarding the accounting and disclosure of our litigation contingencies in accordance with ASC 450.

In connection with this response, BMS acknowledges that (i) BMS is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the filing; (ii) Staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to Staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the filings; and (iii) BMS may not assert Staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under federal securities laws of the United States.

If you have any questions with respect to this letter, please contact the undersigned at (212) 546-4852.

 

Sincerely,

/s/ Katherine R. Kelly

Katherine R. Kelly

Vice President & Assistant General Counsel

 

cc:    Michael Grobstein, Chair of the Audit Committee, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Lamberto Andreotti, Chief Executive Officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Charles Bancroft, Chief Financial Officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Sandra Leung, General Counsel and Secretary, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
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