New Accounting Standards

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

New Accounting Standards [Abstract]

New Accounting Standards

New Accounting Standards

In April 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standard Update ("ASU") No. 2015-03, Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs, which requires debt issuance costs to be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the associated debt liability. The guidance in the new standard is limited to the presentation of debt issuance costs. The standard does not affect the recognition and measurement of debt issuance costs. Early adoption is permitted for financial statements that have not been previously issued. The new guidance will be applied on a retrospective basis. The standard is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years. We are currently evaluating the new guidance to determine the impact it may have on our consolidated financial statements.

In February 2015, FASB issued ASU No. 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis. ASU 2015-02 affects reporting entities that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. ASU 2015-02 modifies the evaluation of whether limited partnerships and similar legal entities are VIEs or voting interest entities, eliminates the presumption that a general partner should consolidate a limited partnership and affects the consolidation analysis reporting entities that are involved with VIEs, particularly those that have fee arrangements and related party relationships. ASU 2015-02 is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the new guidance to determine the impact it may have on our consolidated financial statements.

In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-15 Presentation of Financial Statements—Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40): Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern, which requires management to evaluate whether there are conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern, and to provide certain disclosures when it is probable that the entity will be unable to meet its obligations as they become due within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. ASU 2014-15 is effective for the annual period ended December 31, 2016 and for annual periods and interim periods thereafter with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the new guidance to determine the impact it may have on our consolidated financial statements.

In April 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-08, Presentation of Financial Statements (Topic 205) and Property, Plant, and Equipment (Topic 360): Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity (the "Final Standard"). Under the Final Standard, only disposals representing a strategic shift in operations (e.g., a disposal of a major geographic area, a major line of business or a major equity method investment) will be presented as discontinued operations. Under current GAAP, companies that sell a single investment property are generally required to report the sale as a discontinued operation, which requires the companies to reclassify earnings from continuing operations for all periods presented. The Final Standard is effective in the first quarter of 2015 for public entities with calendar year ends. The FASB will permit early adoption of the Final Standard, beginning in the first quarter of 2014, but only for disposals or classifications as held for sale that have not been reported in financial statements previously issued or available for issuance. We early adopted the standard in the first quarter of 2014. See Note 3 Disposition of Properties and Properties Held for Sale for further information.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in ASC 605, Revenue Recognition. This ASU is based on the principle that revenue is recognized to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. We are required to adopt the new pronouncement in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 using one of two retrospective application methods. We are currently evaluating the new guidance to determine the impact it may have on our consolidated financial statements.