RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

3. RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

During 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued the following applicable Accounting Standards Updates (ASU):

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements:

Accounting Standards Update 2013-05, Foreign Currency Matters (Topic 830): Parent’s Accounting for the Cumulative Translation Adjustment upon Derecognition of Certain Subsidiaries or Groups of Assets within a Foreign Entity or of an Investment in a Foreign Entity.  The amendments in this ASU require that when a reporting entity (parent) ceases to have a controlling financial interest in a subsidiary or group of assets within a foreign entity, the parent should release the cumulative translation adjustment into net income only if the sale or transfer results in the complete or substantially complete liquidation of the foreign entity in which the subsidiary or group of assets had resided.  Sale of an investment in a foreign entity includes both: (1) events that result in the loss of a controlling financial interest in a foreign entity; and (2) events that result in an acquirer obtaining control of an acquiree in which it held an equity interest immediately before the acquisition date.  The Company adopted these provisions in the first quarter of 2014 and adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. 

Accounting Standards Update 2013-11, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists.  The amendments in this ASU requires an unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion of thereof, to be presented in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward.  The only exception would be if the deferred taxes related to these items are not available to settle any additional income taxes that would result from the disallowance of a tax position either by statute or at the entity’s choosing.   In such cases, the unrecognized tax benefit should be presented in the financial statements as a liability and should not be combined with deferred tax assets.  The Company adopted these provisions in the first quarter of 2014 and adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted:

Accounting Standards Update 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.  The amendments in the ASU require that only disposals representing a strategic shift in operations should be presented as discontinued operations. Those strategic shifts should have a major effect on the organization’s operations and financial results. Examples include a disposal of a major geographic area, a major line of business, or a major equity method investment.  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 amendments in the ASU are effective in the first quarter of 2015 with early adoption permitted.  The Company plans to adopt these provisions in the first quarter of 2015 and does not expect the adoption to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.