New Accounting Standards

9 Months Ended

Sep. 25, 2011

New Accounting Standards [Abstract]

New Accounting Standards

2. New Accounting Standards

Accounting Standards Recently Adopted

In April 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-02, "A Creditor's Determination of Whether a Restructuring Is a Troubled Debt Restructuring." ASU No. 2011-02 amends the guidance within ASC Topic 310, "Receivables," to clarify how creditors determine when a restructuring constitutes a troubled debt restructuring. In addition, ASU No. 2011-02 clarifies the guidance on a creditor's evaluation of whether a debtor is experiencing financial difficulties even though the debtor may not be in payment default. The Company adopted ASU No. 2011-02 beginning June 27, 2011. Refer to Note 6 for further information regarding the Company's identification and disclosure of any troubled debt restructurings.

In July 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2010-20, "Disclosures about the Credit Quality of Financing Receivables and the Allowance for Credit Losses." ASU No. 2010-20 amends the guidance within Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 310, "Receivables," to facilitate financial statement users' evaluation of (1) the nature of credit risk inherent in the entity's portfolio of financing receivables; (2) how that risk is analyzed and assessed in arriving at the allowance for credit losses; and (3) the changes and reasons for those changes in the allowance for credit losses. The amendments in ASU No. 2010-20 also require an entity to provide additional disclosures such as a rollforward schedule of the allowance for credit losses on a portfolio segment basis, credit quality indicators of financing receivables and the aging of past due financing receivables. The Company was required to adopt the majority of ASU No. 2010-20 as of December 31, 2010 with the remainder as of January 1, 2011; please refer to Note 6 for further discussion.

In June 2009, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 166, "Accounting for Transfers of Financial Assets, an amendment of FASB Statement No. 140." SFAS No. 166 amended the guidance within ASC Topic 860, "Transfers and Servicing," primarily by removing the concept of a qualifying special purpose entity as well as removing the exception from applying FASB Interpretation No. 46(R), "Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities." Upon the effective adoption date, formerly qualifying special purpose entities (QSPEs) as defined under prior U.S. GAAP had to be evaluated for consolidation within an entity's financial statements. Additionally, the guidance within ASC Topic 860 requires enhanced disclosures about the transfer of financial assets as well as an entity's continuing involvement, if any, in transferred financial assets. In connection with term asset-backed securitization transactions prior to 2009, HDFS utilized QSPEs as defined under prior U.S. GAAP which were not subject to consolidation in the Company's financial statements.

In June 2009, the FASB issued SFAS No. 167, "Amendments to FASB Interpretation No. 46(R)." SFAS No. 167 amended the guidance within ASC Topic 810, "Consolidations," by adding formerly off-balance sheet QSPEs to its scope (the concept of these entities was eliminated by SFAS No. 166). In addition, companies must perform an analysis to determine whether the company's variable interest or interests give it a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity (VIE). Companies must also reassess on an ongoing basis whether they are the primary beneficiary of a VIE.

The Company was required to adopt the new guidance within ASC Topic 810 and ASC Topic 860 as of January 1, 2010. The Company determined that the formerly unconsolidated QSPEs that HDFS utilized were VIEs, of which the Company was the primary beneficiary, and consolidated them into the Company's financial statements beginning January 1, 2010; please refer to Note 7 for further information concerning the Company's consolidated VIEs.

Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-04, "Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs." ASU No. 2011-04 clarifies the application of existing guidance within ASC Topic 820, "Fair Value Measurement" to ensure consistency between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). ASU No. 2011-04 also requires new disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements related to Level 3 measurements and also requires new disclosures around transfers into and out of Levels 1 and 2 in the fair value hierarchy. The Company is required to adopt ASU No. 2011-04 beginning in the first quarter of 2012, and the adoption of ASU No. 2011-04 will only impact the content of the current disclosure.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-05, "Presentation of Comprehensive Income." ASU No. 2011-05 amends the guidance within ASC Topic 220, "Comprehensive Income," to eliminate the option to present the components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of shareholders' equity. ASU No. 2011-05 requires that all nonowner changes in shareholders' equity be presented in either a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. The Company is required to adopt ASU No. 2011-05 beginning in the first quarter of 2012, and the adoption of ASU No. 2011-05 will only impact the format of the current presentation.