Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

The Brink’s Company (along with its subsidiaries, “we,” “our,” “Brink’s” or the “Company”), based in Richmond, Virginia, is a leading provider of secure transportation, cash management services and other security-related services to banks and financial institutions, retailers, government agencies, mints, jewelers and other commercial operations around the world. Brink’s is the oldest and largest secure transportation and cash management services company in the U.S., and a market leader in many other countries.

Principles of Consolidation

Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include our controlled subsidiaries. Control is determined based on ownership rights or, when applicable, based on whether we are considered to be the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity. See "Venezuela" section below for further information. For controlled subsidiaries that are not wholly-owned, the noncontrolling interests are included in net income and in total equity.

Investments in businesses that we do not control, but for which we have the ability to exercise significant influence over operating and financial policies, are accounted for under the equity method and our proportionate share of income or loss is recorded in other operating income (expense). Investments in businesses for which we do not have the ability to exercise significant influence over operating and financial policies are accounted for at fair value, if readily determinable, with changes in fair value recognized in net income. For equity investments that do not have a readily determinable fair value, we measure these investments at cost minus impairment, if any, plus or minus changes from observable price changes. See "New Accounting Standards" section below for further information. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue is recognized when services related to armored vehicle transportation, ATM services, cash management services, payment services, guarding and the secure international transportation of valuables are performed. We assess our customers' ability to meet contractual terms, including payment terms, before entering into contracts. Taxes collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities are not included in revenues in the consolidated statements of operations.

The amount of revenue recognized in 2018 that was included in the January 1, 2018 contract liability balance was $5.6 million. This revenue consists of services provided to customers who had prepaid for those services prior to the current year.

We also recognized revenue of $0.6 million in 2018 from performance obligations satisfied in the prior year. This amount is a result of changes in the transaction price of our contracts with customers.

Contract Costs

Sales commissions directly related to obtaining new contracts with customers qualify for capitalization. These capitalized costs are amortized to expense ratably over the term of the contracts. At December 31, 2018, the net capitalized costs to obtain contracts was $1.8 million, which is included in other assets on the consolidated balance sheet. Amortization expense in 2018 was not significant and there were no impairment losses recognized related to these contract costs in 2018.

Practical Expedients

For the majority of our contracts with customers, we invoice a fixed amount for each unit of service we have provided. These contracts provide us with the right to invoice for an amount or rate that corresponds to the value we have delivered to our customers. The volume of services that will be provided to customers over the term is not known at inception of these contracts. Therefore, while the rate per unit of service is known, the transaction price itself is variable. For this reason, we recognize revenue from these contracts equal to the amount for which we have the contractual right to invoice the customers. Because we are not required to estimate variable consideration related to the transaction price in order to recognize revenue, we are also not required to estimate the variable consideration to provide certain disclosures. As a result, we have elected to use the optional exemption related to the disclosure of transaction prices, amounts allocated to remaining performance obligations and the future periods in which revenue will be recognized, sometimes referred to as backlog.

We have also elected to use the practical expedient for financing components related to our contract liabilities. We do not recognize interest expense on contracts for which the period between our receipt of customer payments and our service to the customer is one year or less.

For performance obligations related to the services described above, we generally satisfy our obligations as each action to provide the service to the customer occurs. Because the customers simultaneously receive and consume the benefits from our services, these performance obligations are deemed to be satisfied over time. We use an output method, units of service provided, to recognize revenue because that is the best method to represent the transfer of our services to the customer at the agreed upon rate for each action.

Although not as significant as our service offerings, we also sell goods to customers from time to time, such as safe devices. In those transactions, we satisfy our performance obligation at a point in time. We recognize revenue when the goods are delivered to the customer as that is the point in time that best represents when control has transferred to the customer.

Our contracts with customers describe the services we can provide along with the fees for each action to provide the service. We typically send invoices to customers for all of the services we have provided within a monthly period and payments are generally due within 30 to 60 days of the invoice date.

Although our customer contracts specify the fees for each action to provide service, the majority of the services stated in our contracts do not have a defined quantity over the contract term. Accordingly, the transaction price is considered variable as there is an unknown volume of services that will be rendered over the course of the contract. We recognize revenue for these services in the period in which they are provided to the customer based on the contractual rate at which we have the right to invoice the customer for each action.

Some of our contracts with customers contain clauses that define the level of service that the customer will receive. The service level agreements (“SLA”) within those contracts contain specific calculations to determine whether the appropriate level of service has been met within a specific period, which is typically a month. We estimate SLA penalties and recognize the amounts as a reduction to revenue.

Taxes collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities are not included in revenues in the consolidated statements of operations.

The majority of our revenues from contracts with customers are earned by providing services and these performance obligations are satisfied over time. Smaller amounts of revenues are earned from selling goods, such as safes, to customers where the performance obligations are satisfied at a point in time.

Certain of our high-value services involve the leasing of assets, such as safes, to our customers along with the regular servicing of those safe devices. Revenues related to the leasing of these assets are recognized in accordance with ASC 840, Leases, but are included in the above table as the amounts are a small percentage of overall revenues.

Contract Balances

Contract Asset

Although payment terms and conditions can vary, for the majority of our customer contracts, we invoice for all of the services provided to the customer within a monthly period. For certain customer contracts, the timing of our performance may precede our right to invoice the customer for the total transaction price. For example, Brink's affiliates in certain countries, primarily in South America, negotiate annual price adjustments with certain customers and, once the price increases are finalized, the pricing changes are made retroactive to services provided in earlier periods. These retroactive pricing adjustments are estimated and recognized as revenue with a corresponding contract asset in the same period in which the related services are performed. As the estimate of the ultimate transaction price changes, we recognize a cumulative catch-up adjustment for the change in estimate.

Contract Liability

For other customer contracts, we may obtain the right to payment or receive customer payments prior to performing the related services under the contract. When the right to customer payments or receipt of payments precedes our performance, we recognize a contract liability.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand, demand deposits and investments with original maturities of three months or less. Cash and cash equivalents include amounts held by certain of our secure cash management services operations for customers for which, under local regulations, the title transfers to us for a short period of time. The cash is generally credited to customers’ accounts the following day and we do not consider it as available for general corporate purposes in the management of our liquidity and capital resources. We record a liability for the amounts owed to customers (see Note 13).

Trade Accounts Receivable

Trade accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount and do not bear interest. The allowance for doubtful accounts is our best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses on our existing accounts receivable. We determine the allowance based on historical write-off experience. We review our allowance for doubtful accounts quarterly. Account balances are charged off against the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost. Depreciation is calculated principally on the straight-line method based on the estimated useful lives of individual assets or classes of assets.

Leased property and equipment meeting capital lease criteria are capitalized at the lower of the present value of the related lease payments or the fair value of the leased asset at the inception of the lease. Amortization is calculated on the straight-line method based on the lease term. See "New Accounting Standards" section below for further information.

Leasehold improvements are recorded at cost. Amortization is calculated principally on the straight-line method over the lesser of the estimated useful life of the leasehold improvement or the lease term. Renewal periods are included in the lease term when the renewal is determined to be reasonably assured.

Part of the costs related to the development or purchase of internal-use software is capitalized and amortized over the estimated useful life of the software. Costs that are capitalized include external direct costs of materials and services to develop or obtain the software, and internal costs, including compensation and employee benefits for employees directly associated with a software development project.



Estimated Useful Lives	Years
Buildings	16 to 25
Building leasehold improvements	3 to 10
Vehicles	3 to 10
Capitalized software	3 to 5
Other machinery and equipment	3 to 10

Expenditures for routine maintenance and repairs on property and equipment are charged to expense. Major renewals, betterments and modifications are capitalized and depreciated over the lesser of the remaining life of the asset or, if applicable, the lease term.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill is recognized for the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of tangible and identifiable intangible net assets of businesses acquired. Intangible assets arising from business acquisitions include customer lists, customer relationships, covenants not to compete, trademarks and other identifiable intangibles. At December 31, 2018, finite-lived intangible assets have remaining useful lives ranging from 1 to 15 years and are amortized based on the pattern in which the economic benefits are used or on a straight-line basis.

Impairment of Goodwill and Long-Lived Assets

Goodwill is not amortized but is tested at least annually for impairment at the reporting unit level, which is one level below an operating segment. Goodwill is assigned to one or more reporting units at the date of acquisition. Effective February 2017, we implemented changes to our organization and management structure.

After the February 2017 reorganization, we have eight reporting units:


•	U.S.


•	Mexico


•	Canada


•	France


•	Brazil


•	Global Markets - South America


•	Global Markets - EMEA


•	Global Markets - Asia

We performed goodwill impairment tests on the reporting units that had goodwill as of October 1, 2018. We performed a quantitative analysis to determine whether reporting unit fair values exceeded their carrying amounts. We based our estimates of fair value on projected future cash flows. With one exception, we concluded that the fair value of each reporting unit substantially exceeded its carrying value by a range of 57% to 236%. For the France reporting unit, which has $91.2 million of goodwill at December 31, 2018, fair value exceeded carrying value by approximately 9%. We completed these impairment tests, as well as the tests in the previous two years, with no impairment charges required.

Indefinite-lived intangibles are also tested for impairment at least annually by comparing their carrying values to their estimated fair values. We have had no significant impairments of indefinite-lived intangibles in the last three years.

Long-lived assets other than goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangibles are reviewed for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable. For long-lived assets other than goodwill that are to be held and used in operations, an impairment is indicated when the estimated total undiscounted cash flow associated with the asset or group of assets is less than carrying value. If impairment exists, an adjustment is made to write the asset down to its fair value, and a loss is recorded as the difference between the carrying value and fair value.

Retirement Benefit Plans

We account for retirement benefit obligations under Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 715, Compensation – Retirement Benefits. For U.S. and certain non-U.S. retirement plans, we derive the discount rates used to measure the present value of benefit obligations using the cash flow matching method. Under this method, we compare the plan’s projected payment obligations by year with the corresponding yields on a Mercer yield curve. Each year’s projected cash flows are then discounted back to their present value at the measurement date and an overall discount rate is determined. The overall discount rate is then rounded to the nearest tenth of a percentage point. We used Mercer’s Above-Mean Curve to determine the discount rates for the year-end benefit obligations and retirement cost of our U.S. retirement plans. We use a local or regional version of the Mercer yield curve in the majority of our non-U.S. locations. In non-U.S. locations where the cash flow matching method is not possible, rates of local high-quality long-term government bonds are used to select the discount rate.

We select the expected long-term rate of return assumption for our U.S. pension plan and retiree medical plans using advice from our investment advisor. The selected rate considers plan asset allocation targets, expected overall investment manager performance and long-term historical average compounded rates of return.

Benefit plan actuarial gains and losses are recognized in other comprehensive income (loss). Accumulated net benefit plan actuarial gains and losses that exceed 10% of the greater of a plan’s benefit obligation or plan assets at the beginning of the year are amortized into earnings from other comprehensive income (loss) on a straight-line basis. The amortization period for pension plans is the average remaining service period of employees expected to receive benefits under the plans. The amortization period for other retirement plans is primarily the average remaining life expectancy of inactive participants.

Income Taxes

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recorded to recognize the expected future tax benefits or costs of events that have been, or will be, reported in different years for financial statement purposes than tax purposes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which these items are expected to reverse. We recognize tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions if we believe it is more likely than not the benefit will be realized. We review our deferred tax assets to determine if it is more-likely-than-not that they will be realized. If we determine it is not more-likely-than-not that a deferred tax asset will be realized, we record a valuation allowance to reverse the previously recognized tax benefit.

Foreign Currency Translation

Our consolidated financial statements are reported in U.S. dollars. Our foreign subsidiaries maintain their records primarily in the currency of the country in which they operate. The method of translating local currency financial information into U.S. dollars depends on whether the economy in which our foreign subsidiary operates has been designated as highly inflationary or not. Economies with a three-year cumulative inflation rate of more than 100% are considered highly inflationary.

Assets and liabilities of foreign subsidiaries in non-highly inflationary economies are translated into U.S. dollars using rates of exchange at the balance sheet date. Translation adjustments are recorded in other comprehensive income (loss). Revenues and expenses are translated at rates of exchange in effect during the year. Transaction gains and losses are recorded in net income.

Foreign subsidiaries that operate in highly inflationary countries use the U.S. dollar as their functional currency. Local currency monetary assets and liabilities are remeasured into U.S. dollars using rates of exchange as of each balance sheet date, with remeasurement adjustments and other transaction gains and losses recognized in earnings. Other than nonmonetary equity securities, nonmonetary assets and liabilities do not fluctuate with changes in local currency exchange rates to the dollar. For nonmonetary equity securities traded in highly inflationary economies, the fair market value of the equity securities are remeasured at the current exchange rates to determine gain or loss to be recorded in net income. Revenues and expenses are translated at rates of exchange in effect during the year. See "Venezuela" and "Argentina" sections below for further information.

Venezuela

Deconsolidation. Our Venezuelan operations offer transportation and route-based logistics management services for cash and valuables throughout Venezuela. Political and economic conditions in Venezuela, the impact of local laws on our business as well as the currency exchange control regulations and continued reductions in access to U.S. dollars through official currency exchange mechanisms, resulted in an other-than-temporary lack of exchangeability between the Venezuelan bolivar and the U.S. dollar. These conditions restricted the ability of our Venezuelan operations to pay dividends and royalties. It also restricted the ability for our Venezuela business to settle other operating liabilities which significantly increased the risk that this business will no longer be self-sustaining.

Our Venezuela operations experienced negative operating cash flows in the first quarter of 2018. As a result, our Venezuela business obtained local currency borrowings in the first and second quarters of 2018 for the first time since the second quarter of 2016. Our Venezuela business will seek additional local financing to support ongoing needs for more bolivars in an environment with significant inflation. It is uncertain as to whether our Venezuela business will be able to obtain the incremental financing in order to operate the business.

Banks provide a majority of the business for our Venezuela operations and these banks are limited by law as to how much they can charge their customers in interest. The maximum increase to interest allowable under the law is significantly lower than current and projected inflation rates. Therefore, we do not believe that bank customers will accept increases in our prices that will cover our increase in vendor and labor costs resulting from inflation. Through its restriction by law of interest increases for banks, the Venezuelan government has implemented a defacto price control that affected our business.

The currency exchange regulations, combined with other government regulations, such as price controls and strict labor laws, significantly limited our ability to make and execute operational decisions at our Venezuelan subsidiaries. With the May 2018 re-election of the President in Venezuela for an additional six-year term, we expect these conditions to continue for the foreseeable future.

As a result of the conditions described above, we concluded that, effective June 30, 2018, we did not meet the accounting criteria for control over our Venezuelan operations and, as a result, we began reporting the results of our investment in our Venezuelan subsidiaries using the cost method of accounting. This change resulted in a pretax charge of $127 million in the second quarter of 2018. The pretax charge included $106 million of foreign currency translation losses and benefit plan adjustments previously included in accumulated other comprehensive loss. It also included the derecognition of the carrying amounts of our Venezuelan operations’ assets and liabilities, including $32 million of assets and $11 million of liabilities, that were no longer reported in our consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2018. We determined the fair value of our investment in, and receivables from, our Venezuelan subsidiaries to be insignificant based on our expectations of dividend payments and settlements of such receivables in future periods. For reporting periods beginning after June 30, 2018, we have not included the operating results of our Venezuela operations. In 2018 and 2017, we provided immaterial amounts of financial support to our Venezuela operations. Our exposure to future losses resulting from our Venezuelan business is limited to the extent to which we decide to provide U.S. dollars or make future investments in our Venezuelan subsidiaries.

We continue to monitor the situation in Venezuela.

Highly Inflationary Accounting. The economy in Venezuela has had significant inflation in the last several years. Prior to deconsolidation as of June 30, 2018, we reported our Venezuelan results using our accounting policy for subsidiaries operating in highly inflationary economies. Results from our Venezuelan operations prior to the June 30, 2018 deconsolidation are included in items not allocated to segments and are excluded from the operating segments.

Restricted Cash

In France, we offer services to certain of our customers where we manage some or all of their cash supply chains. In connection with this offering, we take temporary title to certain customers' cash, which is included as restricted cash in our financial statements due to customer agreement or regulation (see Note 20).

Concentration of Credit Risks

We routinely assess the financial strength of significant customers and this assessment, combined with the large number and geographic diversity of our customers, limits our concentration of risk with respect to accounts receivable. Financial instruments which potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risks are principally cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivables. Cash and cash equivalents are held by major financial institutions.

Use of Estimates

In accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), we have made a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reporting of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities to prepare these consolidated financial statements. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. The most significant estimates are related to goodwill, intangibles and other long-lived assets, pension and other retirement benefit assets and obligations, legal contingencies, deferred tax assets, purchase price allocations and foreign currency translation.

Fair-value estimates

Fair-value estimates. We have various financial instruments included in our financial statements. Financial instruments are carried in our financial statements at either cost or fair value. We estimate fair value of assets using the following hierarchy using the highest level possible:

Level 1: Quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.

Level 2: Quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, or quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, or inputs other than quoted prices that are directly or indirectly observable, or inputs that are derived principally from, or corroborated by, observable market data by correlation or other means.

Level 3: Unobservable inputs that reflect estimates and assumptions.

New Accounting Standards

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue From Contracts with Customers. Under this standard, an entity recognizes an amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled when the transfer of goods or services to customers occurs. The standard requires expanded disclosures regarding the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. We adopted this standard effective January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method and recognized a cumulative-effect adjustment increasing retained earnings by $1.5 million. The most significant effects of the standard for us are associated with variable consideration and capitalization of costs to obtain contracts, such as sales commissions. Previously, we recognized the impact of pricing changes in the period they became fixed and determinable, and we expensed sales commissions and other costs to obtain contracts as they were incurred. We do not expect a material impact on our future consolidated statements of operations or consolidated balance sheets as a result of implementing this standard. However, adoption of the standard resulted in expanded disclosures related to revenue (see Note 2).

The FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, in January 2016. This standard changes the accounting related to the classification and measurement of certain equity investments. Equity investments with readily determinable fair values must be measured at fair value. All changes in fair value will be recognized in net income as opposed to other comprehensive income. We adopted ASU 2016-01 effective January 1, 2018 and recognized a cumulative-effect adjustment increasing retained earnings by $1.1 million.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which simplifies how certain features related to share-based payments are accounted for and presented in the financial statements. We elected to early adopt this ASU in the fourth quarter of 2016 and, per the requirements of the pronouncement, we applied the amendments to the beginning of 2016. Under ASU 2016-09, accounting changes adopted using the modified retrospective method were calculated as of the beginning of 2016 and reported as a cumulative-effect adjustment. As a result, we recognized a $0.2 million cumulative-effect adjustment to January 1, 2016 retained earnings for previously unrecognized excess tax benefits. We elected to continue our previous accounting policy of estimating forfeitures and, therefore, we did not recognize any cumulative-effect adjustment related to forfeitures. ASU 2016-09 requires that accounting changes adopted using the prospective method should be reported in the applicable interim periods of 2016. We did not have any material changes to previously reported interim financial information in 2016 as it relates to the recognition of excess tax benefits in the statements of operations or the classification of excess tax benefits in the statements of cash flows.

In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory, which changes the timing of when certain intercompany transactions are recognized within the provision for income taxes. We adopted ASU 2016-16 effective January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method and we recognized a cumulative-effect adjustment increasing retained earnings by $0.7 million.

The FASB issued ASU 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows: Restricted Cash, in November 2016. This standard requires entities to include restricted cash and restricted cash equivalent balances with cash and cash equivalent balances in the statements of cash flows. Inclusion of restricted cash impacts our operating activities, financing activities and the effect of exchange rate changes on cash. We adopted ASU 2016-18 effective January 1, 2018 using the retrospective transition method. The adoption of this ASU changed previously reported amounts in the consolidated statements of cash flows. Net cash provided by operating activities increased $44.3 million, net cash provided by financing activities increased $1.5 million and the effect of exchange rate changes on cash decreased favorably by $11.3 million as compared to previously reported amounts for the year ended December 31, 2017. Net cash provided by operating activities increased $22.8 million, net cash used by financing activities decreased $19.9 million and the effect of exchange rate changes on cash increased unfavorably by $3.6 million as compared to previously reported amounts for the year ended December 31, 2016.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost, which requires an entity to report the service cost component in the same line item or items as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by the pertinent employees during the period. The other components of net benefit cost are required to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component and outside a subtotal of income from operations. We elected to early adopt this ASU in the first quarter of 2017 using the retrospective transition method for the periods presented. As a result, the consolidated statements of operations were updated to reflect this guidance. The early adoption of this ASU had no impact on the previously reported income from continuing operations or net income for the prior year periods.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which will require the recognition of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities by lessees for certain leases classified as operating leases under current accounting guidance and will also require expanded disclosures regarding leasing activities. The accounting for capital leases remains substantially unchanged. ASU 2016-02 will be effective January 1, 2019 and we have elected to adopt the new standard at the adoption date through a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings. Under this approach, we will continue to report comparative periods presented in the period of adoption under ASC 840.

We have elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance within the new standard, which among other things, allows us to carry forward the historical lease classification. We also made an accounting policy election to keep leases with an initial term of 12 months or less off of the balance sheet. We will recognize those lease payments in the consolidated statements of operations on a straight-line basis over the lease term. In preparation for adoption of the standard, we are implementing internal controls and key system functionality to enable the preparation of financial information.

We are still in the process of finalizing our opening balance sheet adjustment, but we estimate adoption of the standard will result in recognition of additional lease assets and lease liabilities in the range of $260 million and $360 million as of January 1, 2019. We do not believe the standard will materially affect our consolidated statements of operations or our consolidated statements of cash flows. The standard will have no impact on our debt-covenant compliance under our current agreements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which significantly changes the way entities recognize impairment of many financial assets by requiring immediate recognition of estimated credit losses expected to occur over their remaining life. ASU 2016-13 is effective January 1, 2020, with early adoption permitted January 1, 2019. We are assessing the potential impact of this new standard on financial reporting.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other: Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment, which requires an entity to no longer perform a hypothetical purchase price allocation to measure goodwill impairment. Instead, impairment will be measured using the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of the reporting unit. The guidance is effective January 1, 2020 with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of this guidance, including transition elections and required disclosures, on our financial statements and the timing of adoption.

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging: Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities, which amends and simplifies the application of hedge accounting guidance to better portray the economic results of risk management activities in the financial statements. The guidance expands the ability to hedge nonfinancial and financial risk components, reduces complexity in fair value hedges of interest rate risk, eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness, and eases certain hedge effectiveness assessment requirements. The guidance is effective January 1, 2019 and we do not expect any significant impact on our consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, which allows a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“Tax Reform Act”). The guidance is effective January 1, 2019. We are evaluating the potential impact of the standard on financial reporting and we will determine whether we will reclassify amounts before the end of the first quarter of 2019.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement, which changes the fair value measurement disclosure requirements. The guidance is effective January 1, 2020 with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the potential impact of the standard on financial reporting and the timing of adoption.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-14, Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans, to add, remove, and clarify disclosure requirements related to defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans. The guidance is effective January 1, 2021 with early adoption permitted. We adopted this guidance in the fourth quarter of 2018 and, as a result, our retirement benefits note no longer includes disclosures related to amounts in accumulated other comprehensive income expected to be recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost in the next fiscal year. Our retirement benefits note also no longer includes disclosures regarding the effects of a one-percentage-point change in assumed health care cost trend rates on the aggregate of the service and interest cost components of net periodic benefit costs and the benefit obligation for retirement benefits other than pensions. All other provisions of this ASU were either not applicable to us or we were already disclosing the information required.