Note 2: New Accounting Pronouncements

The following recently issued accounting standards have been adopted by the Company and have been included in the consolidated results of operations, financial position or footnotes of the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements:

Obligations Resulting from Joint and Several Liability Arrangements

In February 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued guidance for the recognition, measurement and disclosure of obligations resulting from joint and several liability arrangements for which the total amount of the obligation is fixed at the reporting date. Examples of obligations within the scope of the updated guidance include debt arrangements, other contractual obligations and settled litigation and judicial rulings. The update requires an entity to measure obligations resulting from joint and several liability arrangements for which the total amount of the obligation is fixed at the reporting date as the sum of the following: (a) the amount the reporting entity agreed to pay on the basis of its arrangement among its co-obligors and (b) any additional amount the reporting entity expects to pay on behalf of its co-obligors. The updated guidance also includes additional disclosures regarding the nature and amount of the obligation, as well as other information about those obligations. The update was effective on a retrospective basis for interim and annual periods beginning January 1, 2014. The adoption of this guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

Foreign Currency Matters

In June 2013, the FASB issued guidance for a parent’s accounting for the cumulative translation adjustment upon derecognition of certain subsidiaries or groups of assets within a foreign entity or of an investment in a foreign entity. The amendments resolve differing views in practice and apply to the release of the cumulative translation adjustment into net income when a parent either sells a part or all of its investment in a foreign entity or no longer holds a controlling financial interest in a subsidiary or a business within a foreign entity. The update was effective prospectively for interim and annual periods beginning January 1, 2014. The adoption of this guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

The following recently issued accounting standards are not yet required to be adopted by the Company:

Service Concession Arrangements

In January 2014, the FASB issued guidance for an operating entity that enters into a service concession arrangement with a public sector grantor who controls or has the ability to modify or approve the services that the operating entity must provide with the infrastructure, to whom it must provide the services and at what price. The grantor also controls, through ownership or otherwise, any residual interest in the infrastructure at the end of the term of the arrangement. The guidance specifies that an operating entity should not account for the service concession arrangement as a lease. The operating entity should refer instead to other accounting guidance to account for the various aspects of the arrangement. The guidance also specifies that the infrastructure used in the arrangement should not be recognized as property, plant and equipment of the operating entity. This update should be applied on a modified retrospective basis to service concession arrangements that exist at the beginning of an entity’s fiscal year of adoption. This requires the cumulative effect of applying the update to be recognized as an adjustment to the opening retained earnings balance for the annual period of adoption. The update is effective for interim and annual periods beginning January 1, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this updated guidance is not expected to have a material impact on results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

Reporting Discontinued Operations

In April 2014, the FASB issued guidance that changes the criteria for determining which disposals can be presented as discontinued operations and modifies related disclosure requirements. Under the updated guidance, a discontinued operation is defined as a component or group of components that is disposed of or is classified as held for sale and represents a strategic shift that has or will have a major effect on an entity’s operations and financial results. A strategic shift could include a disposal of a major geographical area of operations, a major line of business, a major equity method investment or other major part of the entity. A component comprises operations and cash flows that can be clearly distinguished, operationally and for financial reporting purposes, from the rest of the entity including a reportable segment, an operating segment, a reporting unit, a subsidiary or an asset group. The update no longer precludes presentation as a discontinued operation if there are operations and cash flows of the component that have not been eliminated from the reporting entity’s ongoing operations or if there is significant continuing involvement with a component after its disposal. The guidance is effective on a prospective basis for interim and annual periods beginning after January 1, 2015. In general, this guidance is likely to result in fewer disposals of assets qualifying as discontinued operations.  

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

In May 2014, the FASB issued a comprehensive new revenue recognition standard that supersedes most current revenue recognition guidance, including industry-specific guidance. The core principle of the new guidance is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning January 1, 2017 and early adoption is not permitted. The new guidance allows for either full retrospective adoption, meaning the guidance is applied to all of the periods presented, or modified retrospective adoption, meaning the standard is applied only to the most current period presented in the financial statements. The Company is evaluating the new guidance, the best transition method and the impact the new standard will have on its results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

Accounting for Stock-based Compensation with Performance Targets

In June 2014, the FASB issued guidance for the accounting for stock-based compensation tied to performance targets. The amendments clarify that a performance target that affects vesting of a share-based payment and that could be achieved after the requisite service period is a performance condition. As a result, the target is not reflected in the estimation of the award’s grant date fair value and compensation cost would be recognized over the required service period, if it is probable that the performance condition will be achieved. The guidance is effective for annual periods and interim periods within those annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015. Earlier adoption is permitted. The Company is evaluating the impact the updated guidance will have on its results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern

In August 2014, the FASB issued guidance that explicitly requires an entity’s management to assess the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. The new guidance requires an entity to evaluate, at each interim and annual period, whether there are conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date the financial statements are issued (or are available to be issued) and to provide related disclosures, if applicable. The new guidance is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2016 and for interim and annual periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect this new guidance to have a material impact on its results of operations, financial position or cash flows.