RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

3. RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued the following applicable Accounting Standards Updates (ASU):

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements:

● ASU 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 Company adopted these provisions in the first quarter of 2015 and the adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted:

● ASU No. 2015-03, Interest—Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs The amendments in this ASU require that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. The recognition and measurement guidance for debt issuance costs are not affected by the amendments in this ASU. The amendments should be applied on a retrospective basis, wherein the balance sheet of each individual period presented should be adjusted to reflect the period-specific effects of applying the new guidance. Upon transition, an entity is required to comply with the applicable disclosures for a change in an accounting principle. These disclosures include the nature of and reason for the change in accounting principle, the transition method, a description of the prior-period information that has been retrospectively adjusted, and the effect of the change on the financial statement line items (i.e., debt issuance cost asset and the debt liability). The amendments in this ASU are effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption of the amendments is permitted for financial statements that have not been previously issued. The Company plans to adopt the provisions in the first quarter of 2016 and currently does not expect the adoption to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

● ASU No. 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis. The amendments in this ASU areintended to improve targeted areas of consolidation guidance for legal entities such as limited partnerships, limited liability corporations, and securitization structures (collateralized debt obligations, collateralized loan obligations, and mortgage-backed security transactions).The ASU reduces the number of consolidation models from four to two, thereby simplifying the criteria for consolidation by:

i.      Placing more emphasis on risk of loss when determining a controlling financial interest.  A reporting organization may no longer have to consolidate a legal entity in certain circumstances based solely on its fee arrangement, when certain criteria are met.

ii.     Reducing the frequency of the application of related-party guidance when determining a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity (VIE) and changing consolidation conclusions in several industries that typically make use of limited partnerships or VIEs.

The ASU will be effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company plans to adopt these provisions in the first quarter of 2016 and currently does not expect the adoption to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

● ASU No. 2015-01, Income Statement —Extraordinary and Unusual Items (Subtopic 225-20): Simplifying Income Statement Presentation by Eliminating the Concept of Extraordinary Items This ASU eliminates from U.S. GAAP the concept of extraordinary items. The amendments in this ASU are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted provided that the guidance is applied from the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. The Company plans to adopt these provisions in the first quarter of 2016 and currently does not expect the adoption to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

● ASU No. 2014-15, Presentation of Financial Statements —Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40): Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern. The provisions in this ASU are intended to define management’s responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an organization’s ability to continue as a going concern and to provide related footnote disclosures. Currently, financial statements are prepared under the presumption that the reporting organization will continue to operate as a going concern, except in limited circumstances. This going concern basis of accounting is critical to financial reporting because it establishes the fundamental basis for measuring and classifying assets and liabilities. This ASU provides guidance regarding management’s responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about the organization’s ability to continue as a going concern and the related footnote disclosures. The amendments are effective for the year ending December 31, 2016, and for interim periods beginning the first quarter of 2017, with early application permitted. The Company plans to adopt these provisions in the first quarter of 2016 and will provide such disclosures as required if there are conditions and events that raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. The Company currently does not expect the adoption to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

● ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). This ASU affects any entity using U.S. GAAP that either enters into contracts with customers to transfer goods or services or enters into contracts for the transfer of nonfinancial assets unless those contracts are within the scope of other standards (e.g., insurance contracts or lease contracts). The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To achieve that core principle, an entity should apply a five step process – (i) identifying the contract(s) with a customer, (ii) identifying the performance obligations in the contract, (iii) determining the transaction price, (iv) allocating the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract and (v) recognizing revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of these provisions on its financial statements.