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Nature of the Business and Basis of Presentation (Policies)
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis Presentation
Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its majority or wholly-owned subsidiaries, which include the following:
 
Ownership as of
 
March 31, 2014
 
December 31, 2013
BNS Liquidating Trust ("BNS Liquidating Trust")
84.9
%
 
84.9
%
DGT Holdings Corp. ("DGT") (a)
82.9
%
 
76.7
%
Handy & Harman Ltd. ("HNH")
54.3
%
 
54.9
%
SPH Services, Inc. ("SPH Services")
100.0
%
 
100.0
%
Steel Excel Inc. ("Steel Excel")
55.3
%
 
55.1
%
WebFinancial Holding Corporation ("WebFinancial")
100.0
%
 
100.0
%
(a) DGT’s financial statements are recorded on a two-month lag, and as a result, the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet and Consolidated Statement of Operations as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2014 includes DGT’s activity as of and for its three months ended January 31, 2014.

Acquired companies are presented from their dates of acquisition (see Note 2 - “Acquisitions”). Significant inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The results of operations for businesses that have been disposed of are removed from the results of the Company's continuing operations and classified as discontinued operations for each period presented in the Company's consolidated income statement. Similarly, the assets and liabilities of such businesses are reclassified from continuing operations and presented as discontinued operations for each period presented in the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets. Businesses are reported as discontinued operations when the Company no longer has continuing involvement in their operations and no longer has significant continuing cash flows from their operation (see Note 3 - "Discontinued Operations" for additional information).
New Accounting Pronouncements
New Accounting Pronouncements

In April 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-08, Presentation of Financial Statements (Topic 205) and Property, Plant, and Equipment (Topic 360): Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity. Under the new guidance, only disposals representing a strategic shift in operations should be presented as discontinued operations. Those strategic shifts should have a major effect on an organization's operations and financial results. In addition, the new guidance requires expanded disclosures about discontinued operations that will provide financial statement users with more information about the assets, liabilities, income and expenses of discontinued operations. The new guidance also requires disclosure of the pre-tax income attributable to a disposal of a significant part of an organization that does not qualify for discontinued operations reporting. The ASU is effective for fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2014, with early adoption allowed.