In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, Revenue From Contracts With Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date. This ASU defers the effective date of ASU 2014-09, Revenue From Contracts With Customers (Topic 606), issued in May 2014, by one year. ASU 2014-09 is discussed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. The new guidance is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption is permitted as of the date of the original effective date, for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company is currently evaluating the provisions of ASU 2015-14 and ASU 2014-09.

 

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-1, Financial Instruments Overall (Topic 825): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. The amendments in ASU 2016-1: (a) require equity investments (except for those accounted for under the equity method of accounting or those that result in consolidation of the investee) to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income; (b) simplify the impairment assessment of equity securities without readily determinable fair values by requiring a qualitative assessment to identify impairment; (c) eliminate the requirement for public business entities to disclose the method 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; (d) require public business entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes; (e) require an entity to present separately in other comprehensive income, the portion of the total change in the fair value of a liability resulting from a change in the instrument-specific credit risk when the entity has elected to measure the liability at fair value in accordance with the fair value option for financial instruments; (f) require separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial assets on the balance sheet or the notes to the financial statements; and (g) clarify that an entity should evaluate the need for a valuation allowance on a deferred tax asset related to available-for-sale securities in combination with the entity’s other deferred tax assets. The amendments in this ASU are effective for public companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

 

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The FASB issued this ASU to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet by lessees for those leases classified as operating leases under current U.S. GAAP and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. The amendments in this ASU are effective for public business entities for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2018. Early application of this ASU is permitted for all entities. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

 

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-07, Investments – Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323), Simplifying the Transition to the Equity Method of Accounting. The amendments eliminate the requirement that when an investment qualifies for use of the equity method as a result of an increase in the level of ownership interest or degree of influence, an investor must adjust the investment, results of operations, and retained earnings retroactively on a step-by-step basis as if the equity method had been in effect during all previous periods that the investment had been held. The amendments require that the equity method investor add the cost of acquiring the additional interest in the investee to the current basis of the investor’s previously held interest and adopt the equity method of accounting as of the date the investment becomes qualified for equity method accounting. The amendments require that an entity that has an available-for-sale equity security that becomes qualified for the equity method of accounting recognize through earnings the unrealized holding gain or loss in accumulated other comprehensive income at the date the investment becomes qualified for use of the equity method. The amendments are effective for all entities for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2016. The amendments should be applied prospectively upon their effective date to increase the level of ownership interest or degree of influence that result in the adoption of the equity method. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the amendments on its consolidated financial statements.

 

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue versus Net) (“ASU 2016-08”), which clarifies the implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations in the new revenue recognition standard. ASU 2016-08 clarifies how an entity should identify the unit of accounting (i.e. the specified good or service) for the principal versus agent evaluation and how it should apply the control principle to certain types of arrangements. The amendments in ASU 2016-08 affect the guidance in ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), and have similar effective dates and transition requirements (i.e., effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods therein). The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting the new revenue recognition guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

 

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which is essentially the final rule on use of the so-called CECL model, or current expected credit losses. Among other things, the amendments in this ASU require the measurement of all expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. Financial institutions and other organizations will now use forward-looking information to better inform their credit loss estimates. Many of the loss estimation techniques applied today will still be permitted, although the inputs to those techniques will change to reflect the full amount of expected credit losses. In addition, the ASU amends the accounting for credit losses on available-for-sale debt securities and purchased financial assets with credit deterioration. For SEC filers, the amendments in this ASU are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2019, with later effective dates for non-SEC registrant public companies and other organizations. Early adoption will be permitted for all organizations for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the amendments in this ASU on its consolidated financial statements, and is collecting data that will be needed to produce historical inputs into any models created as a result of adopting this ASU.