Interim financial statements (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Management's responsibility

Management’s responsibility. The accompanying interim financial statements were prepared by management, who is responsible for their integrity and objectivity. These financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), including management’s best judgments and estimates. In the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of this information for all interim periods, consisting only of normal recurring accruals, have been made. The Company’s results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year and actual results could differ.

Consolidation

Consolidation. The condensed consolidated financial statements include all subsidiaries in which the Company owns more than 50% voting rights in electing directors. All significant intercompany amounts and transactions have been eliminated and provisions have been made for noncontrolling interests. Unconsolidated investees, in which the Company typically owns 20% through 50% of the voting stock, are accounted for using the equity method.

Restrictions on cash and investments

Restrictions on cash and investments. The Company maintains investments in accordance with certain statutory requirements for the funding of statutory premium reserves. Statutory reserve funds, which approximated $468.8 million and $490.8 million at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, are required to be fully funded and invested in high-quality securities and short-term investments. Statutory reserve funds are not available for current claim payments, which must be funded from current operating cash flow. In addition, included within cash and cash equivalents are statutory reserve funds of approximately $27.7 million and $14.2 million at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. Although these cash statutory reserve funds are not restricted or segregated in depository accounts, they are required to be held pursuant to state statutes. If the Company fails to maintain minimum investments or cash and cash equivalents sufficient to meet statutory requirements, the Company may be subject to fines or other penalties, including potential revocation of its business license. These funds are not available for any other purpose. In the event that insurance regulators adjust the determination of the statutory premium reserves of the Company’s title insurers, these restricted funds as well as statutory surplus would correspondingly increase or decrease.

Cumulative effect adjustments on adoption of new accounting standards and Recent significant accounting pronouncements

Cumulative effect adjustments on adoption of new accounting standards. In February 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2018-02, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income, Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, which amended its standard on comprehensive income to provide a one-time option for an entity to reclassify the stranded tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the 2017 Act) that was passed in December 2017 from accumulated other comprehensive income/loss (AOCI) directly to retained earnings. The stranded tax effects result from the remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities which were originally recorded in comprehensive income but whose remeasurement is reflected in the income statement. The Company adopted ASU 2018-02 effective on January 1, 2018 and reclassified $1.0 million of net tax expense from AOCI to retained earnings in the consolidated statement of equity.

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, which, among others, (i) required equity investments, with certain exceptions, to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income, (ii) simplified the impairment assessment of equity investments without readily determinable fair values by requiring a qualitative assessment to identify impairment; (iii) eliminated the requirement for public business entities to disclose the methods and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized cost on the balance sheet; and (iv) required separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial asset on the balance sheet or the accompanying notes to the financial statements. The Company adopted ASU 2016-01 effective on January 1, 2018, which resulted in a reclassification of the outstanding net unrealized investment gains, net of taxes, of $4.6 million relating to investments in equity securities previously carried in AOCI to retained earnings in the consolidated statement of equity.

Recent significant accounting pronouncements. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Topic 842:Leases (Topic 842), which updates the current guidance related to leases. Topic 842 includes the requirement for the lessee to recognize in the balance sheet a liability equal to the present value of contractual lease payments with terms of more than twelve months and a right-of-use asset representing the right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. In transition, lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. Additional financial statement disclosures are required to meet the objective of enabling users to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-10, Codification Improvements to Topic 842: Leases and ASU 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842) - Targeted Improvements. ASU 2018-10 clarifies certain aspects of the new lease standard which include amendments addressing, among others, the rate implicit in the lease, lessee reassessment of lease classification, variable payments that depend on an index or rate and certain transition adjustments. ASU 2018-11 provides an optional transition method which will allow the application of the recognition and measurement requirements of Topic 842 in the period of adoption. If elected, the comparative periods would continue to be reported under the legacy lease guidance in Topic 840, including the related disclosures, and a cumulative effect adjustment would be made to retained earnings as of the adoption date. These ASUs are effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018 and early adoption is permitted.

The Company expects to adopt Topic 842 on January 1, 2019 using the optional transition method of adoption. The adoption is expected to result in material increases in the assets and liabilities to be reported on its 2019 consolidated balance sheets based on the Company's estimate of undiscounted future minimum lease payments of approximately $90 million to $100 million as of December 31, 2018. However, the Company expects the new lease standard will likely have an insignificant impact on its consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income and cash flows. The Company is currently in the process of system implementation and data migration, and expects the transition to be completed during the fourth quarter 2018. The Company is planning to elect most of the practical expedients permitted by Topic 842 at adoption date.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement, which removes Topic 820 disclosure requirements relating to the amount of and reasons for transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy; the policy for timing of transfers between levels; and the valuation processes for Level 3 fair value measurements. Also, ASU 2018-13 adds new requirements to disclose changes in unrealized gains and losses for the period included in other comprehensive income for recurring Level 3 fair value measurements held at the end of the reporting period, and the range and weighted average of significant unobservable inputs used to develop Level 3 fair value measurements. ASU 2018-13 is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and early adoption is permitted. The Company expects this ASU will have minimal effect on its financial statements and related disclosures when it is adopted on January 1, 2020 considering the Company does not have any Level 3 fair value measurements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer's Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That is a Service Contract. ASU 2018-15 aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. ASU 2018-15 is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that the new guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.