2. Accounting Pronouncements
Recently Adopted Accounting Standards
In July 2013, accounting guidance was issued to provide for inclusion of the Overnight Index Swap Rate (OIS, also referred to as the Fed Funds Effective Swap Rate) as a benchmark interest rate for hedge accounting purposes. Prior to this guidance, in the United States (U.S.) only interest rates on direct U.S. Treasury obligations and the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) swap rate were considered benchmark interest rates for hedge accounting purposes. The guidance was effective for Ball prospectively for qualifying new or redesignated hedging relationships entered into on or after July 17, 2013. The guidance did not have a material effect on the company’s consolidated financial statements.
In February 2013, amendments to the existing accounting guidance were issued requiring the company to present, either on the face of the financial statements or in the notes, the effect of significant amounts reclassified in their entirety from each component of accumulated other comprehensive earnings based on the source into net earnings during the reporting period. For amounts not required to be reclassified in their entirety, the company is required to cross-reference to other disclosures that provide additional details about those reclassifications. The new guidance was effective for Ball prospectively on January 1, 2013, and the additional required disclosures are included in Note 15.
In December 2011, accounting guidance was issued requiring disclosures to help reconcile differences in the offsetting requirements under U.S. GAAP and international financial reporting standards (IFRS). The new disclosure requirements mandate that companies 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. Further guidance was issued in January 2013 to clarify the intended scope of the required disclosures. The guidance was effective for Ball on January 1, 2013, and did not have a material effect on the company’s consolidated financial statements.
New Accounting Guidance
In July 2013, accounting guidance was issued to eliminate diversity in practice for the financial statement presentation of an unrecognized tax benefit when a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss or a tax credit carryforward exists. In general, an unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion of an unrecognized tax benefit, should be presented in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward, unless certain exceptions exist. The guidance is effective for Ball on January 1, 2014, and is not expected to have a material effect on the company’s consolidated financial statements.
In May 2013, the Committee of Sponsoring Organization of the Treadway Commission (COSO) issued the 2013 “Internal Control — Integrated Framework” (Framework). The 2013 Framework is expected to: (1) help companies design and implement internal controls in light of the changes in business and operating environments since the issuance of the original Framework, (2) broaden the application of internal controls in addressing operating and reporting objectives and (3) clarify the requirements for determining what constitutes effective internal controls. Implementation of the 2013 Framework is effective for Ball for the year ended December 31, 2014. During the transitional period, companies can continue to use the original Framework but should disclose whether the original or the 2013 Framework was utilized. Ball is continuing to use the original Framework issued in 1992 and does not expect the implementation of the 2013 Framework to have a material effect on the company’s established internal controls around financial reporting.
In March 2013, accounting guidance was issued to clarify that a company should release the cumulative translation adjustment into net earnings if the parent ceases to have a controlling financial interest in a subsidiary or group of assets within a foreign entity. The guidance also affects entities that lose a controlling financial interest in an investment in a foreign entity and those that acquire a business in stages by increasing an investment in a foreign entity from one accounted for under the equity method to one accounted for as a consolidated investment. The guidance will be effective for Ball prospectively on January 1, 2014, and is not expected to have a material effect on the company’s consolidated financial statements.