Summary of Statement No. 52

Foreign Currency Translation (Issued 12/81)

Application of this Statement will affect financial reporting of most companies operating in foreign countries. The differing operating and economic characteristics of varied types of foreign operations will be distinguished in accounting for them. Adjustments for currency exchange rate changes are excluded from net income for those fluctuations that do not impact cash flows and are included for those that do. The requirements reflect these general conclusions:

The economic effects of an exchange rate change on an operation that is relatively self-contained and integrated within a foreign country relate to the net investment in that operation. Translation adjustments that arise from consolidating that foreign operation do not impact cash flows and are not included in net income.

The economic effects of an exchange rate change on a foreign operation that is an extension of the parent’s domestic operations relate to individual assets and liabilities and impact the parent’s cash flows directly. Accordingly, the exchange gains and losses in such an operation are included in net income.

Contracts, transactions, or balances that are, in fact, effective hedges of foreign exchange risk will be accounted for as hedges without regard to their form.

More specifically, this Statement replaces FASB Statement No. 8, Accounting for the Translation of Foreign Currency Transactions and Foreign Currency Financial Statements, and revises the existing accounting and reporting requirements for translation of foreign currency transactions and foreign currency financial statements. It presents standards for foreign currency translation that are designed to (1) provide information that is generally compatible with the expected economic effects of a rate change on an enterprise’s cash flows and equity and (2) reflect in consolidated statements the financial results and relationships as measured in the primary currency in which each entity conducts its business (referred to as its functional currency).

An entity’s functional currency is the currency of the primary economic environment in which that entity operates. The functional currency can be the dollar or a foreign currency depending on the facts. Normally, it will be the currency of the economic environment in which cash is generated and expended by the entity. An entity can be any form of operation, including a subsidiary, division, branch, or joint venture. The Statement provides guidance for this key determination in which management’s judgment is essential in assessing the facts.

A currency in a highly inflationary environment (3-year inflation rate of approximately 100 percent or more) is not considered stable enough to serve as a functional currency and the more stable currency of the reporting parent is to be used instead.

The functional currency translation approach adopted in this Statement encompasses:

1. Identifying the functional currency of the entity’s economic environment
2. Measuring all elements of the financial statements in the functional currency
3. Using the current exchange rate for translation from the functional currency to the reporting currency, if they are different
4. Distinguishing the economic impact of changes in exchange rates on a net investment from the impact of such changes on individual assets and liabilities that are receivable or payable in currencies other than the functional currency

Translation adjustments are an inherent result of the process of translating a foreign entity’s financial statements from the functional currency to U.S. dollars. Translation adjustments are not included in determining net income for the period but are disclosed and accumulated in a separate component of consolidated equity until sale or until complete or substantially complete liquidation of the net investment in the foreign entity takes place.

Transaction gains and losses are a result of the effect of exchange rate changes on transactions denominated in currencies other than the functional currency (for example, a U.S. company may borrow Swiss francs or a French subsidiary may have a receivable denominated in kroner from a Danish customer). Gains and losses on those foreign currency transactions are generally included in determining net income for the period in which exchange rates change unless the transaction hedges a foreign currency commitment or a net investment in a foreign entity. Intercompany transactions of a long-term investment nature are considered part of a parent’s net investment and hence do not give rise to gains or losses.