Recent Accounting Pronouncements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

2.  Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Adoption of New Accounting Standards

Comprehensive Income

In June 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“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 Company retrospectively adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2012. The adoption of the standard did not have any effect on 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 Company adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2012. The adoption of the standard did not have any effect on the Company’s consolidated results of operations and financial condition. See Note 3 and Note 10 for the required disclosures.

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 Company adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2012. The adoption of the standard did not have any effect 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 standard for DAC. Under this new standard, only the following costs incurred in the acquisition of new and renewal insurance contracts are capitalizable as DAC: (i) incremental direct costs of a successful contract acquisition, (ii) portions of employees’ compensation and benefits directly related to time spent performing acquisition activities (that is, underwriting, policy issuance and processing, medical and inspection, and contract selling) for a contract that has been acquired, (iii) other costs related to acquisition activities that would not have been incurred had the acquisition of the contract not occurred, and (iv) advertising costs that meet the capitalization criteria in other GAAP guidance for certain direct-response marketing. All other acquisition related costs are expensed as incurred. The Company retrospectively adopted the new standard on January 1, 2012. The cumulative effect of the adoption reduced retained earnings by $1.4 billion after-tax and increased accumulated other comprehensive income by $113 million after-tax, totaling to a $1.3 billion after-tax reduction in total equity at January 1, 2012. See Note 1 and Note 6 for additional information on the adoption of this standard.

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.