Recent Accounting Pronouncements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

3. Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Adoption of New Accounting Standards

Receivables

In April 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") updated the accounting standards for troubled debt restructurings. The new standard includes indicators that a lender should consider in determining whether a borrower is experiencing financial difficulties and provides clarification for determining whether the lender has granted a concession to the borrower. The standard sets the effective dates for troubled debt restructuring disclosures required by recent guidance on credit quality disclosures. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after June 15, 2011, and is to be applied retrospectively to modifications occurring on or after the beginning of the annual period of adoption. For purposes of measuring impairments of receivables that are considered impaired as a result of applying the new guidance, the standard should be applied prospectively for the interim or annual period beginning on or after June 15, 2011. The Company adopted the standard in the third quarter of 2011. The adoption did not have any effect on the Company's consolidated results of operations and financial condition. See Note 6 for the required disclosures.

Fair Value

In January 2010, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to disclosures on fair value measurements. The standard expands the current disclosure requirements to include additional detail about significant transfers between Levels 1 and 2 within the fair value hierarchy and presents activity in the rollforward of Level 3 activity on a gross basis. The standard also clarifies existing disclosure requirements related to the level of disaggregation to be used for assets and liabilities as well as disclosures on the inputs and valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2009, except for the disclosure requirements related to the Level 3 rollforward, which are effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2010. The Company adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2010, except for the additional disclosures related to the Level 3 rollforward, which the Company adopted in the first quarter of 2011. The adoption did not have any effect on the Company's consolidated results of operations and financial condition. See Note 4 and Note 14 for the required disclosures.

Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities

In June 2009, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to the consolidation of VIEs. The standard amends the guidance on the determination of the primary beneficiary of a VIE from a quantitative model to a qualitative model and requires additional disclosures about an enterprise's involvement in VIEs. Under the new qualitative model, the primary beneficiary must have both the power to direct the activities of the VIE and the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive gains that could be potentially significant to the VIE. In February 2010, the FASB amended this guidance to defer application of the consolidation requirements for certain investment funds. The standards are effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after November 15, 2009. The Company adopted the standards effective January 1, 2010 and as a result consolidated certain collateralized debt obligations ("CDOs"). At adoption, the Company recorded a $5.5 billion increase to assets and a $5.1 billion increase to liabilities. The difference between the fair value of the assets and liabilities of the CDOs was recorded as a cumulative effect increase of $473 million to appropriated retained earnings of consolidated investment entities. Such amounts are recorded as appropriated retained earnings as the CDO note holders, not Ameriprise Financial, ultimately will receive the benefits or absorb the losses associated with the assets and liabilities of the CDOs. Subsequent to the adoption, the net change in fair value of the assets and liabilities of the CDOs will be recorded as net income attributable to noncontrolling interests and as an adjustment to appropriated retained earnings of consolidated investment entities. See Note 4 for additional information related to the application of the amended VIE consolidation model and the required disclosures.

Recognition and Presentation of Other-Than-Temporary Impairments ("OTTI")

In April 2009, the FASB updated the accounting standards for the recognition and presentation of other-than-temporary impairments. The standard amends existing guidance on other-than-temporary impairments for debt securities and requires that the credit portion of other-than-temporary impairments be recorded in earnings and the noncredit portion of losses be recorded in other comprehensive income when the entity does not intend to sell the security and it is more likely than not that the entity will not be required to sell the security prior to recovery of its cost basis. The standard requires separate presentation of both the credit and noncredit portions of other-than-temporary impairments on the financial statements and additional disclosures. This standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods ending after June 15, 2009, with early adoption permitted for periods ending after March 15, 2009. At the date of adoption, the portion of previously recognized other-than-temporary impairments that represent the noncredit related loss component shall be recognized as a cumulative effect of adoption with an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings with a corresponding adjustment to accumulated other comprehensive income. The Company adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2009 and recorded a cumulative effect increase to the opening balance of retained earnings of $132 million, net of DAC and DSIC amortization, certain benefit reserves and income taxes, and a corresponding increase to accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of impacts to DAC and DSIC amortization, certain benefit reserves and income taxes. See Note 5 for the required disclosures.

Future Adoption of New Accounting Standards

Balance Sheet

In December 2011, the FASB updated the accounting standards to require new disclosures about offsetting assets and liabilities. The standard requires an entity to disclose both gross and net information about instruments and transactions eligible for offset in the statement of financial position and instruments and transactions subject to an agreement similar to a master netting arrangement. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013 on a retrospective basis. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the standard on its consolidated results of operations and financial condition.

Comprehensive Income

In June 2011, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to the presentation of comprehensive income. The standard requires entities to present all nonowner changes in stockholders' equity either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. The amendments do not affect how earnings per share is calculated or presented. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011. The standard is to be applied retrospectively. The adoption of the standard will not impact the Company's consolidated results of operations and financial condition.

Fair Value

In May 2011, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to fair value measurement and disclosure requirements. The standard requires entities, for assets and liabilities measured at fair value in the statement of financial position which are Level 3 fair value measurements, to disclose quantitative information about unobservable inputs and assumptions used in the measurements, a description of the valuation processes in place, and a qualitative discussion about the sensitivity of the measurements to changes in unobservable inputs and interrelationships between those inputs if a change in those inputs would result in a significantly different fair value measurement. In addition, the standard requires disclosure of fair value by level within the fair value hierarchy for each class of assets and liabilities not measured at fair value in the statement of financial position but for which the fair value is disclosed. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011. The adoption of the standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated results of operations and financial condition.

Transfers and Servicing: Reconsideration of Effective Control for Repurchase Agreements

In April 2011, the FASB updated the accounting standards related to accounting for repurchase agreements and other similar agreements. The standard modifies the criteria for determining when these transactions would be accounted for as secured borrowings as opposed to sales. The standard is effective prospectively for new transfers and existing transactions that are modified in the first interim or annual period beginning on or after December 15, 2011. The adoption of the standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated results of operations and financial condition.

Accounting for Costs Associated with Acquiring or Renewing Insurance Contracts

In October 2010, the FASB updated the accounting standards for DAC. Under this new standard, only the following costs incurred in the acquisition of new and renewal insurance contracts would be capitalizable as DAC: (i) incremental direct costs of a successful contract acquisition, (ii) portions of employees' salaries and benefits directly related to time spent performing specified acquisition activities (that is, underwriting, policy issuance and processing, medical and inspection, and sales force contract selling) for a contract that has actually been acquired, (iii) other costs related to the specified acquisition activities that would not have been incurred had the acquisition contract not occurred, and (iv) advertising costs that meet the capitalization criteria in other GAAP guidance for certain direct-response marketing. All other costs are to be expensed as incurred. The Company retrospectively adopted the standard on January 1, 2012. The cumulative effect of the adoption reduced retained earnings by $1.4 billion after-tax at January 1, 2012.