ACCOUNTING CHANGES AND NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Notes to Financial Statements [Abstract]

ACCOUNTING CHANGES AND NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

3. ACCOUNTING CHANGES AND NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

On May 12, 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) ratified Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2011-04, “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRS.” This ASU establishes a global standard for measuring amounts at fair value, and although itdid not have a material effect on the Company's financial position or results of operations, itdid change the Company's disclosure policies for fair value. This ASU became effective for reporting periods (including interim periods) beginning after December 15, 2011, and the Companyadopted this ASU for the interim period ending March 31, 2012. See Note 10.

On June 16, 2011, the FASB ratified ASU No. 2011-05, “Presentation of Comprehensive Income.” This ASU eliminates the previous option to report other comprehensive income and its components in the statement of changes in equity. Upon adoption, other comprehensive income must be presented either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. The Company adopted this ASU for the interim period ending March 31, 2012, which is the period for which it became effective for calendar year-end entities, and has elected to utilize the 'single continuous statement' for this interim presentation. See the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income.

On September 15, 2011, the FASB ratified ASU No. 2011-08, “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Goodwill for Impairment.” This ASU permits an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not (a likelihood of more than 50 percent) that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. After assessing qualitative factors, if an entity determines that it is not more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, no further testing is necessary. If an entity determines that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying value, then the traditional two-step goodwill impairment test must be performed. This ASU became effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011, but early adoption was permitted. Although it did not early-adopt ASU No. 2011-08 during 2011, the Company will evaluate the standard when performing its future goodwill impairment tests.

On December 16, 2011, the FASB ratified ASU No. 2011-11, “Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities.” The new disclosure requirements mandate that entities disclose both gross and net information about instruments and transactions eligible for offset in the statement of financial position as well as instruments and transactions subject to an agreement similar to a master netting arrangement. In addition, the standard requires disclosure of collateral received and posted in connection with master netting agreements or similar arrangements. This ASU is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning on or after January 1, 2013.This ASU will not have a material effect on the Company's financial position or results of operations, but will change the Company's disclosure policies for financial derivative instruments. The Company plans to adopt this ASU for the interim period ending March 31, 2013.