Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Pension and Other Post Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Pension and Other Post Retirement Benefits

23.    Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits

Defined Benefit Pension Plans  Effective January 1, 2005, our previously separate qualified defined benefit pension plan was combined with that of HSBC Finance into a single HSBC North America qualified defined benefit pension plan (either the “HSBC North America Pension Plan” or the “Plan”) which facilitates the development of a unified employee benefit policy and unified employee benefit plan administration for HSBC companies operating in the U.S.

The table below reflects the portion of pension expense and its related components of the HSBC North America Pension Plan which has been allocated to us and is recorded in our consolidated statement of income (loss).

Year Ended December 31,	2011			2010			2009
	(in millions)
Service cost – benefits earned during the period	$	14		$	23		$	24
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation		74			72			77
Expected return on assets		(81	)		(71	)		(54	)
Amortization of prior service cost		(6	)		(5	)		-
Recognized losses		38			46			40
Partial plan termination (1)		-			-			5
Pension expense	$	39		$	65		$	92

⁽¹⁾  Effective September 30, 2009, HSBC North America voluntarily chose to allow all plan participants whose employment was terminated as a result of the strategic restructuring of its businesses between 2007 and 2009 to become fully vested in their accrued pension benefit, resulting in a partial termination of the plan. In accordance with interpretations of the Internal Revenue Service relating to partial plan terminations, plan participants who voluntarily left the employment of HSBC North America or its subsidiaries during this period were also deemed to have vested in their accrued pension benefit through the date their employment ended. As a result, incremental pension expense of $5 million, representing our share of the partial plan termination cost, was recognized during 2009.

Pension expense declined during 2011 due to lower service cost and an increase in the expected return of plan assets primarily due to higher asset levels.

In December 2011, an amendment was made to the Plan effective January 1, 2011 to amend the benefit formula, thus increasing the benefits associated with services provided by certain employees in past periods. The financial impact is being amortized to pension expense over the remaining life expectancy of the participants.

During the first quarter of 2010, we announced that the Board of Directors of HSBC North America had approved a plan to cease all future benefit accruals for legacy participants under the final average pay formula components of the HSBC North America Pension Plan effective January 1, 2011. Future accruals to legacy participants under the Plan are now provided under the cash balance based formula which has been used to calculate benefits for employees hired after December 31, 1999. These changes to the Plan have been accounted for as a negative plan amendment and, therefore, the reduction in our share of HSBC North America’s projected benefit obligation as a result of this decision is being amortized to net periodic pension cost over the future service periods of the affected employees.

The assumptions used in determining pension expense of the HSBC North America Pension Plan are as follows:

	2011			2010			2009
Discount rate		5.30	%		5.60	%		7.15	%
Salary increase assumption		2.75			2.90			3.50
Expected long-term rate of return on Plan assets		7.25			7.70			8.00

Long-term historical rates of return in conjunction with our current outlook of return rates over the term of the pension obligation are considered in determining an appropriate long-term rate of return on Plan assets. In this regard, a “best estimate range” of expected rates of return on Plan assets is established by actuaries based on a portfolio of passive investments considering asset mix upon which a distribution of compound average returns for such portfolio is calculated over a 20 year horizon. This approach, however, ignores the characteristics and performance of the specific investments the pension plan is invested in, their historical returns and their performance against industry benchmarks. In evaluating the range of potential outcomes, a “best estimate range” is established between the 25th and 75th percentile. In addition to this analysis, we also seek the input of the firm which provides us pension advisory services. This firm performs an analysis similar to that done by our actuaries, but instead uses real investment types and considers historical fund manager performance. In this regard, we also focus on the range of possible outcomes between the 25th and 75th percentile, with a focus on the 50th percentile. The combination of these analyses creates a range of potential long-term rate of return assumptions from which we determine an appropriate rate.

Given the Plan’s current allocation of equity and fixed income securities and using investment return assumptions which are based on long term historical data, the long term expected return for plan assets is reasonable.

Investment strategy for Plan Assets  The primary objective of the HSBC North America U.S. Pension Plan is to provide eligible employees with regular pension benefits. Since the Plan is governed by the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), ERISA regulations serve as guidance for the management of plan assets. In this regard, an Investment Committee (the “Committee”) for the Plan has been established and its members have been appointed by the Chief Executive Officer as authorized by the Board of Directors of HSBC North America. The Committee is responsible for establishing the funding policy and investment objectives supporting the Plan including allocating the assets of the Plan, monitoring the diversification of the Plan’s investments and investment performance, assuring the Plan does not violate any provisions of ERISA and the appointment, removal and monitoring of investment advisers and the trustee. Consistent with prudent standards for preservation of capital and maintenance of liquidity, the goal of the Plan is to earn the highest possible total rate of return consistent with the Plan’s tolerance for risk as periodically determined by the Committee. A key factor shaping the Committee’s attitude towards risk is the generally long term nature of the underlying benefit obligations. The asset allocation decision reflects this long term horizon as well as the ability and willingness to accept some short-term variability in the performance of the portfolio in exchange for the expectation of competitive long-term investment results for its participants.

The Plan’s investment committee utilizes a proactive approach to managing the Plan’s overall investment strategy. During the past year, this resulted in the Committee conducting four quarterly meetings including two strategic reviews and two in-depth manager performance reviews. These quarterly meetings are supplemented by the pension investment staff tracking actual investment manager performance versus the relevant benchmark and absolute return expectations on a monthly basis. The pension investment staff also monitors adherence to individual investment manager guidelines via a quarterly compliance certification process. A sub-committee consisting of the pension investment staff and three members of the investment committee are delegated responsibility for conducting in-depth reviews of managers performing below expectation. This sub-committee also provides replacement recommendations to the Committee when manager performance fails to meet expectations for an extended period. During the two strategic reviews in 2011, the Committee re-examined the Plan’s asset allocation levels, interest rate hedging strategy and investment menu options. In 2010, the Committee unanimously agreed to transition the Plan’s target asset allocation mix to 40 percent equity securities, 59 percent fixed income securities and 1 percent cash over a 24-month period. In 2011, the Committee unanimously agreed to accelerate the shift to 40 percent equities, 59 percent fixed income securities and 1 percent cash by year end. Should interest rates rise faster than currently projected by the Committee, a further shift to a higher percentage of fixed income securities may be made.

In order to achieve the return objectives of the Plan, investment diversification is employed to ensure that adverse results from one security or security class will not have an unduly detrimental effect on the entire portfolio. Diversification is interpreted to include diversification by type, characteristic, and number of investments as well as investment style of investment managers and number of investment managers for a particular investment style. Equity securities are invested in large, mid and small capitalization domestic stocks as well as international, global and emerging market stocks. Fixed income securities are invested in U.S. Treasuries (including Treasury Inflation Protected Securities), agencies, corporate bonds, and mortgage and other asset backed securities. Without sacrificing returns or increasing risk, the Committee prefers a limited number of investment manager relationships which improves efficiency of administration while providing economies of scale with respect to fees.

Prior to 2009, both third party and affiliate investment consultants were used to provide investment consulting services such as recommendations on the type of funds to be utilized, appropriate fund managers, and the monitoring of the performance of those fund managers. In 2009, the Committee approved the use of a third party investment consultant exclusively. Fund performance is measured against absolute and relative return objectives. Results are reviewed from both a short-term (less than 1 year) and intermediate term (three to five year i.e. a full market cycle) perspective. Separate account fund managers are prohibited from investing in all HSBC Securities, restricted stock (except Rule 144(a) securities which are not prohibited investments), short-sale contracts, non-financial commodities, investments in private companies, leveraged investments and any futures or options (unless used for hedging purposes and approved by the Committee). Commingled account and limited partnership fund managers however are allowed to invest in the preceding to the extent allowed in each of their offering memoranda. As a result of the current low interest rate environment and expectation that interest rates will rise in the future, the Committee mandated the suspension of its previously approved interest rate hedging strategy in June 2009. Outside of the approved interest rate hedging strategy, the use of derivative strategies by investment managers must be explicitly authorized by the Committee. Such derivatives may be used only to hedge an account’s investment risk or to replicate an investment that would otherwise be made directly in the cash market.

The Committee expects total investment performance to exceed the following long-term performance objectives:

• A long-term return of 7.00 percent;

• A passive, blended index comprised of 11.5 percent S&P 500, 5.6 percent Russell 2000, 9.9 percent EAFE, 2.0 percent S&P/Citigroup Extended Market World Ex-US, 5.5 percent MSCI AC World Free Index, 5.5 percent MSCI Emerging Markets, 50.0 percent Barclays Long Gov/Credit, 9.0 percent Barclays Treasury Inflation Protected Securities and 1 percent 90-day T-Bills; and

• Above median performance of peer corporate pension plans.

HSBC North America’s overall investment strategy for Plan assets is to achieve a mix of at least 95 percent of investments for long-term growth and up to 5 percent for near-term benefit payments with a wide diversification of asset types, fund strategies, and fund managers. The target sector allocations of Plan assets at December 31, 2011 are as follows:

	Percentage of Plan Assets at December 31, 2011
Domestic Large/Mid-Cap Equity		11.5	%
Domestic Small Cap Equity		5.6
International Equity		11.9
Global Equity		5.5
Emerging Market Equity		5.5
Fixed Income Securities		59.0
Cash or Cash Equivalents		1.0
Total		100.0	%

Plan Assets  A reconciliation of beginning and ending balances of the fair value of net assets associated with the HSBC North America Pension Plan is shown below.

Year Ended December 31,	2011			2010
	(in millions)
Fair value of net Plan assets at beginning of year	$	2,564		$	2,141
Cash contributions by HSBC North America		357			187
Actual return on Plan assets		393			397
Benefits paid		(184	)		(161	)
Fair value of net Plan assets at end of year	$	3,130		$	2,564

As a result of the capital markets improving since December 2010, as well as the $357 million contribution to the Plan during 2011, the fair value of Plan assets at December 31, 2011 increased approximately 22 percent compared to 2010.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 requires companies to meet certain pension funding requirements by January 1, 2015. As a result, during the third quarter of 2009, the Committee revised the Pension Funding Policy to better reflect current marketplace conditions and ensure the Plan’s ability to continue to make lump sum payments to retiring participants. In 2011, we revised the Pension Funding Policy to lower the fourth criteria as listed below to $50 million (from $100 million) to reflect lower expected service costs. Until the Plan is fully funded, the revised Pension Funding Policy requires HSBC North America to annually contribute the greater of:

• The minimum contribution required under ERISA guidelines;

• An amount necessary to ensure the adjusted funding target attainment percentage for the Plan Year is equal to or greater than 90 percent;

• Pension expense for the year as determined under current accounting guidance; or

• $50 million which approximates the actuarial present value of benefits earned by Plan participants on an annual basis.

As a result, during 2011 HSBC North America made a contribution to the Plan of $357 million. Additional contributions during 2012 are anticipated.

Accounting principles related to fair value measurements provide a framework for measuring fair value and focuses on an exit price in the principal (or alternatively, the most advantageous) market accessible in an orderly transaction between willing market participants (the “Fair Value Framework”). The Fair Value Framework establishes a three-tiered fair value hierarchy with Level 1 representing quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Fair values determined by Level 2 inputs are inputs that are observable for the identical asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. Level 2 inputs include quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are inactive, and inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability, such as interest rates and yield curves that are observable at commonly quoted intervals. Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability and include situations where there is little, if any, market activity for the asset or liability. Transfers between leveling categories are recognized at the end of each reporting period.

The following table presents the fair values associated with the major categories of Plan assets and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques utilized to determine such fair values as of December 31, 2011 and 2010.

	Fair Value Measurement at December 31, 2011
	Total			(Level 1)			(Level 2)		(Level 3)
	(in millions)
Investments at Fair Value:
Cash and short term investments	$	97		$	97		$	-	$	-
Equity Securities
U.S. Large-cap Growth (1)		347			342			5		-
U.S. Small-cap Growth (2)		159			158			1		-
International Equity (3)		282			117			165		-
Global Equity		174			86			88		-
Emerging Market Equity		175			-			175		-
U.S. Treasury		861			861			-		-
U.S. Government agency issued or guaranteed		70			7			63		-
Obligations of U.S. states and political subdivisions		50			-			42		8
Asset-backed securities		37			-			1		36
U.S. corporate debt securities (4)		598			-			598		-
Corporate stocks – preferred		4			3			1		-
Foreign debt securities		169			2			159		8
Other investments		61			-			61		-
Accrued interest		20			7			13		-
Total investments		3,104			1,680			1,372		52
Receivables:
Receivables from sale of investments in process of settlement		28			28			-		-
Derivative financial assets		26			-			26		-
Total receivables		54			28			26		-
Total Assets		3,158			1,708			1,398		52
Liabilities		(28	)		(28	)		-		-
Total Net Assets	$	3,130		$	1,680		$	1,398	$	52

	Fair Value Measurement at December 31, 2010
	Total			(Level 1)			(Level 2)			(Level 3)
	(in millions)
Investments at Fair Value:
Cash and short term investments	$	128		$	128		$	-		$	-
Equity Securities
U.S. Large-cap Growth (1)		485			478			7			-
U.S. Small-cap Growth (2)		295			215			80			-
International Equity (3)		280			119			161			-
Global Equity		203			84			119			-
Emerging Market Equity		203			-			203			-
U.S. Treasury		519			519			-			-
U.S. Government agency issued or guaranteed		35			4			31			-
Obligations of U.S. states and political subdivisions		30			-			30			-
Asset-backed securities		34			-			6			28
U.S. corporate debt securities (4)		287			-			287			-
Corporate stocks – preferred		6			5			1			-
Foreign debt securities		116			-			99			17
Other investments		59			-			59			-
Accrued interest		13			5			8			-
Total investments		2,693			1,557			1,091			45
Receivables:
Receivables from sale of investments in process of settlement		36			36			-			-
Derivative financial assets		17			-			17			-
Total receivables		53			36			17			-
Total Assets		2,746			1,593			1,108			45
Liabilities		(182	)		(80	)		(102	)		-
Total Net Assets	$	2,564		$	1,513		$	1,006		$	45

⁽¹⁾  This category comprises actively managed enhanced index investments that track the S&P 500 and actively managed U.S. investments that track the Russell 1000.

⁽²⁾  This category comprises actively managed U.S. investments that track the Russell 2000.

⁽³⁾  This category comprises actively managed equity investments in non-U.S. and Canada developed markets that generally track the MSCI EAFE index. MSCI EAFE is an equity market index of 22 developed market countries in Europe, Australia, Asia and the Far East including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

⁽⁴⁾  This category represents predominantly investment grade bonds of U.S. issuers from diverse industries.

⁽⁵⁾  This category is comprised completely of interest rate swaps.

The following table provides additional detail regarding the rating of our U.S. corporate debt securities at December 31, 2011:

	Level 2		Level 3		Total
	(in millions)
AAA to AA (1)	$	60	$	-	$	60
A+ to A- (1)		212		-		212
BBB+ to Unrated (1)		326		-		326
Total	$	598	$	-	$	598

⁽¹⁾  We obtain ratings on our U.S. corporate debt securities from both Moody’s Investor Services and Standard and Poor’s Corporation. In the event the ratings we obtain from these agencies differ, we utilize the lower of the two ratings.

Significant Transfers Into/Out of Levels 1 and 2 for Plan Assets  There were no significant transfers between Levels 1 and 2 during 2011.

Information on Level 3 Assets and Liabilities  The following table summarizes additional information about changes in the fair value of Level 3 assets during 2011 and 2010.

			Total Gains and (Losses) Included in																Current Period Unrealized Gains (Losses)
	Jan 1, 2011		Income		Other Comp. Income			Purchases		Settlement			Transfers Into Level 3		Transfers Out of Level 3		Dec. 31, 2011
	(in millions)
Obligations of U.S. states and political subdivisions	$	-	$	-	$	-		$	2	$	-		$	6	$	-	$	8	$	1
Asset-backed securities		28		-		-			11		(4	)		1		-		36		-
Foreign debt securities		17		-		(2	)		-		(7	)		-		-		8		-
Total assets	$	45	$	-	$	(2	)	$	13	$	(11	)	$	7	$	-	$	52	$	1

			Total Gains and (Losses) Included in																Current Period Unrealized Gains (Losses)
	Jan 1, 2010		Income		Other Comp. Income		Purchases		Settlement			Transfers Into Level 3		Transfers Out of Level 3			Dec. 31, 2010
	(in millions)
Obligations of U.S. states and political subdivisions	$	2	$	-	$	-	$	-	$	-		$	-	$	(2	)	$	-	$	-
Asset-backed securities		18		-		2		-		(1	)		9		-			28		6
Foreign debt securities		1		-		-		16		-			-		-			17		1
Total assets	$	21	$	-	$	2	$	16	$	(1	)	$	9	$	(2	)	$	45	$	7

Valuation techniques for Plan Assets  Following is a description of valuation methodologies used for significant categories of Plan assets recorded at fair value.

Securities:  Fair value of securities is generally determined by a third party valuation source. The pricing services generally source fair value measurements from quoted market prices and if not available, the security is valued based on quotes from similar securities using broker quotes and other information obtained from dealers and market participants. For securities which do not trade in active markets, such as fixed income securities, the pricing services generally utilize various pricing applications, including models, to measure fair value. The pricing applications are based on market convention and use inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means. The following summarizes the valuation methodology used for the major security types of our pension plan assets:

• Equity securities – Since most of our securities are transacted in active markets, fair value measurements are determined based on quoted prices for the identical security. Equity securities and derivative contracts that are non-exchange traded are primarily investments in common stock funds. The funds permit investors to redeem the ownership interests back to the issuer at end-of-day for the net asset value (“NAV”) per share and there are no significant redemption restrictions. Thus the end-of-day NAV is considered observable.

• U.S. Treasury, U.S. government agency issued or guaranteed and Obligations of U.S. States and political subdivisions – As these securities transact in an active market, the pricing services source fair value measurements from quoted prices for the identical security or quoted prices for similar securities with adjustments as necessary made using observable inputs which are market corroborated.

• U.S. government sponsored enterprises – For certain government sponsored mortgage-backed securities which transact in an active market, the pricing services source fair value measurements from quoted prices for the identical security or quoted prices for similar securities with adjustments as necessary made using observable inputs which are market corroborated. For government sponsored mortgage-backed securities which do not transact in an active market, fair value is determined using discounted cash flow models and inputs related to interest rates, prepayment speeds, loss curves and market discount rates that would be required by investors in the current market given the specific characteristics and inherent credit risk of the underlying collateral.

• Asset-backed securities – Fair value is determined using discounted cash flow models and inputs related to interest rates, prepayment speeds, loss curves and market discount rates that would be required by investors in the current market given the specific characteristics and inherent credit risk of the underlying collateral.

• U.S. corporate and foreign debt securities – For non-callable corporate securities, a credit spread scale is created for each issuer. These spreads are then added to the equivalent maturity U.S. Treasury yield to determine current pricing. Credit spreads are obtained from the new issue market, secondary trading levels and dealer quotes. For securities with early redemption features, an option adjusted spread (“OAS”) model is incorporated to adjust the spreads determined above. Additionally, the pricing services will survey the broker/dealer community to obtain relevant trade data including benchmark quotes and updated spreads.

• Corporate stocks – preferred – In general, fair value for preferred securities is calculated using an appropriate spread over a comparable U.S. Treasury security for each issue. These spreads represent the additional yield required to account for risk including credit, refunding and liquidity. The inputs are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data.

• Derivatives – Derivatives are recorded at fair value. Asset and liability positions in individual derivatives that are covered by legally enforceable master netting agreements, including cash collateral are offset and presented net in accordance accounting principles which allow the offsetting of amounts relating to certain contracts. Derivatives traded on an exchange are valued using quoted prices. OTC derivatives, which comprise a majority of derivative contract positions, are valued using valuation techniques. The fair value for the majority of our derivative instruments are determined based on internally developed models that utilize independently-sourced market parameters, including interest rate yield curves, option volatilities, and currency rates. For complex or long-dated derivative products where market data is not available, fair value may be affected by the choice of valuation model and the underlying assumptions about, among other things, the timing of cash flows and credit spreads. The fair values of certain structured derivative products are sensitive to unobservable inputs such as default correlations and volatilities. These estimates are susceptible to significant change in future periods as market conditions change.

Projected benefit obligation  A reconciliation of beginning and ending balances of the projected benefit obligation of the defined benefit pension plan is shown below and reflects the projected benefit obligation of the merged HSBC North American plan.

	2011			2010
	(in millions)
Projected benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	3,384		$	3,113
Service cost		45			76
Interest cost		178			174
Actuarial losses		466			326
Plan amendments (1)		34			(144	)
Benefits paid		(184	)		(161	)
Projected benefit obligation at end of year	$	3,923		$	3,384

⁽¹⁾  The Plan Amendments relate to the approval in December 2010 effective January 1, 2011 to amend the benefit formula, thus increasing the benefits associated with services provided by certain employees in past periods and to the approval in the first quarter of 2010 to cease all future benefit accruals for legacy participants under the final average pay formula effective January 1, 2011.

The accumulated benefit obligation for the HSBC North America Pension Plan was $3.9 billion and $3.4 billion at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively. As the projected benefit obligation and the accumulated benefit obligation relate to the HSBC North America Pension Plan, only a portion of this deficit should be considered our responsibility.

The assumptions used in determining the projected benefit obligation of the HSBC North America Pension Plan at December 31 are as follows:

	2011			2010			2009
Discount rate		4.60	%		5.45	%		5.95	%
Salary increase assumption		2.75			2.75			3.50

Estimated future benefit payments for the HSBC North America Pension Plan are as follows:

	HSBC North America
	(in millions)
2012	$	180
2013		187
2014		194
2015		200
2016		206
2017-2021		1,094

Defined Contribution Plans  We maintain a 401(k) plan covering substantially all employees. Employer contributions to the plan are based on employee contributions. Total expense recognized for this plan was approximately $32 million, $30 million and $31 million in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Certain employees are participants in various defined contribution and other non-qualified supplemental retirement plans. Total expense recognized for these plans was less than $1 million in 2011, 2010 and 2009.

Postretirement Plans Other Than Pensions  Our employees also participate in plans which provide medical, dental and life insurance benefits to retirees and eligible dependents. These plans cover substantially all employees who meet certain age and vested service requirements. We have instituted dollar limits on payments under the plans to control the cost of future medical benefits.

The net postretirement benefit cost included the following components.

Year Ended December 31,	2011		2010		2009
	(in millions)
Service cost – benefits earned during the period	$	1	$	1	$	1
Interest cost		4		4		5
Amortization of transition obligation		2		2		2
Amortization of recognized actuarial gain		-		-		(1	)
Curtailment gain		-		-		(1	)
Net periodic postretirement benefit cost	$	7	$	7	$	6

The assumptions used in determining the net periodic postretirement benefit cost for our postretirement benefit plans are as follows:

	2011			2010			2009
Discount rate		4.95	%		5.20	%		7.15	%
Salary increase assumption		2.75			2.90			3.50

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation is as follows:

	2011			2010
	(in millions)
Accumulated benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	79		$	72
Service cost		1			1
Interest cost		4			4
Actuarial losses		6			10
Transfers		-			(2	)
Benefits paid		(5	)		(6	)
Accumulated benefit obligation at end of year	$	85		$	79

Our postretirement benefit plans are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis. We currently estimate that we will pay benefits of approximately $7 million relating to our postretirement benefit plans in 2012. The funded status of our postretirement benefit plans was a liability of $85 million at December 31, 2011.

Estimated future benefit payments for our postretirement benefit plans are summarized in the following table.

	(in millions)
2012	$	7
2013		7
2014		6
2015		6
2016		6
2017-2021		27

The assumptions used in determining the benefit obligation of our postretirement benefit plans at December 31 are as follows:

	2011			2010
Discount rate		4.25	%		4.95	%
Salary increase assumption		2.75			2.75

For measurement purposes, 7.5 percent (pre-65) and 7.1 percent (post-65) annual rates of increase in the per capita costs of covered health care benefits were assumed for 2011. These rates are assumed to decrease gradually reaching the ultimate rate of 4.5 percent in 2027, and remain at that level thereafter.

Assumed health care cost trend rates have an effect on the amounts reported for health care plans. A one-percentage point change in assumed health care cost trend rates would increase (decrease) service and interest costs and the postretirement benefit obligation as follows:

	One Percent Increase		One Percent Decrease
	(in millions)
Effect on total of service and interest cost components	$	-	$	-
Effect on accumulated postretirement benefit obligation		2		(2	)