NOTE 9 – ACCOUNTING STANDARDS UPDATES

ASU 2016-01,” Financial Instruments – Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities.”  ASU 2016-1, among other things, (i) requires equity investments, with certain exceptions, to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income, (ii) simplifies the impairment assessment of equity investments without readily determinable fair values by requiring a qualitative assessment to identify impairment, (iii) eliminates 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, (iv) requires public business entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes, (v) requires 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, (vi) requires 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 and (viii) clarifies that an entity should evaluate the need for a valuation allowance on a deferred tax asset related to available-for-sale. ASU 2016-1 will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2018 and is not expected to have a significant impact on its financial statements.

ASU 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842).” ASU 2016-02 requires the lease rights and obligations arising from lease contracts, including existing and new arrangements, to be recognized as assets and liabilities on the balance sheet. ASU 2016-02 is effective for the Company January 1, 2019. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements.

ASU 2016-07, “Investments-Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323) – Simplifying the Transition to the Equity Method of Accounting.” ASU 2016-07 eliminates the requirement that when an investment qualifies for the use of the equity method as a result in the increase in ownership interest, to retroactively apply the equity method of accounting to all previous periods that the investment was held. The amendments require that the equity method investor add the cost of acquiring the additional interest to the current basis of the investment. ASU 2016-07 will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2017 and is not expected to have a significant impact on its financial statements.

ASU 2016-09, “Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting.” Under ASU 2016-09 all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies related to share-based payment awards should be recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement during the period in which they occur. Previously, such amounts were recorded in the pool of excess tax benefits included in additional paid-in capital, if such pool was available. Because excess tax benefits are no longer recognized in additional paid-in capital, the assumed proceeds from applying the treasury stock method when computing earnings per share should exclude the amount of excess tax benefits that would have previously been recognized in additional paid-in capital. Additionally, excess tax benefits should be classified along with other income tax cash flows as an operating activity rather than a financing activity, as was previously the case. ASU 2016-09 also provides that an entity can make an entity-wide accounting policy election to either estimate the number of awards that are expected to vest (current GAAP) or account for forfeitures when they occur. ASU 2016-09 changes the threshold to qualify for equity classification (rather than as a liability) to permit withholding up to the maximum statutory tax rates (rather than the minimum as was previously the case) in the applicable jurisdictions. ASU 2016-09 will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2017 and is not expected to have a significant impact on its financial statements.

ASU 2016-13, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Statements.” ASU 2016-requires 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 and requires enhanced disclosures related to the significant estimates and judgments used in estimating credit losses, as well as the credit quality and underwriting standards of an organization’s portfolio. In addition, ASU 2016-13 amends the accounting for credit losses on available-for-sale debt securities and purchased financial assets with credit deterioration. ASU 2016-13 will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact of ASU 2016-13 on its financial statements.