Chairman's - FMC Corporation

FMC CORPORATION
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
Accounting guidance adopted in 2009
Disclosures about Postretirement Benefit Plan Assets
In December 2008, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on an employer’s disclosures about plan assets
of a defined benefit pension or other postretirement plan. The literature requires additional disclosure regarding
how investment allocation decisions are made, additional information about major categories of plan assets,
including concentrations of risk and fair-value measurements, and the fair-value techniques and inputs used to
measure plan assets. We adopted this guidance beginning with our 2009 Form 10-K. See Note 13 for adoption of
this guidance.
Subsequent Events
In May 2009, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on subsequent events. This guidance establishes the
accounting and disclosure of events that occur after the balance sheet date but before financial statements are
issued or are available to be issued. This guidance requires the disclosure of the date through which an entity has
evaluated subsequent events and the basis for that date. We adopted this guidance for our June 30, 2009
Form 10-Q. Other than disclosure, the implementation of this guidance did not have an impact on our
consolidated financial statements.
Business Combinations
In December 2007, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on the accounting for business combinations.
Under the new guidance, an entity is required to recognize the assets acquired, liabilities assumed, contractual
contingencies, and contingent consideration at their fair values on the acquisition date. In April 2009, the FASB
issued additional literature on the accounting for business combinations. This literature addresses issues related
to initial recognition and measurement, subsequent measurement and accounting, and disclosure of assets and
liabilities arising from contingencies in a business combination. We adopted both of these pieces of authoritative
guidance on January 1, 2009. There was no impact to our consolidated financial statements upon adoption of this
literature. All acquisitions, subsequent to January 1, 2009, have and will be accounted for under this new
guidance.
Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements
In December 2007, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on noncontrolling interests in consolidated
financial statements. This guidance applies to the accounting for noncontrolling interests and transactions with
noncontrolling interest holders in consolidated financial statements. This new literature changes the accounting
and reporting for minority interests, which has been recharacterized as noncontrolling interests and classified as a
component of equity. Additionally, the literature provides guidance on the treatment of net income attributable to
noncontrolling interests and requires additional disclosures that identify and distinguish between the interests of
the controlling and noncontrolling owners. We adopted this guidance on January 1, 2009 via retrospective
application of the presentation and disclosure requirements. Other than the new presentation and disclosure
requirements, there was no impact to our consolidated financial statements upon adoption of this guidance.
Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities
In March 2008, the FASB issued authoritative guidance on disclosures about derivative instruments and
hedging activities. This guidance applies to the disclosure requirements for all derivative instruments and hedged
items. This literature amends and expands the disclosure requirements of derivative and hedging accounting
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