SunTrust 2008 Annual Report Download - page 110

SUNTRUST BANKS, INC.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)
In June 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. EITF 03-6-1, “Determining Whether Instruments Granted in Share-Based Payment
Transactions Are Participating Securities.” The FSP concludes that unvested share-based payment awards that contain
nonforfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents are participating securities that should be included in the earnings
allocation in computing earnings per share under the two-class method. The FSP is effective for financial statements issued
for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008, and interim periods within those years. All prior period earnings per
share data presented must be adjusted retrospectively. The Company does not expect the adoption of this standard to have a
material impact on the Company’s financial position and results of operation.
In September 2008, the FASB issued two separate but related exposure drafts for proposed amendments to SFAS No. 140,
and proposed amendments to FASB Interpretation No. (“FIN”) 46(R), “Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities”. The
proposed amendments to SFAS No. 140, among other amendments to the sale criteria on SFAS No. 140, eliminate the
concept of a qualifying special-purpose entity (“QSPE”) and would require an existing QSPE to be analyzed for
consolidation according to FIN 46R. In addition, the proposed amendments introduce the concept of a “participating
interest”, which establishes specific conditions for reporting the transfer of a portion of a financial asset as a sale. The
proposed amendments to FIN 46(R) are intended to change the consolidation model for determining which enterprise should
consolidate a VIE from primarily an economic focus to a control and economic focus. Under the proposed amendment,
companies must first make a qualitative assessment to determine the primary beneficiary, if any, of a VIE and a quantitative
analysis is only required if the qualitative assessment fails to conclusively identify whether the reporting entity is the primary
beneficiary. The amended statement, if finalized, would be effective for the first interim reporting period of 2010. The
Company is currently assessing the impact that these proposed amendments will have on its financial statements. As part of
its project to amend SFAS No. 140 and FIN 46R, the FASB issued FSP FAS No. 140-4 and FIN 46(R)–8 in December 2008,
which requires enhanced disclosures regarding the extent of a transferor’s continuing involvement with transferred financial
assets and the Company’s involvement with VIEs. The required disclosures are included in Note 11, “Certain Transfers of
Financial Assets, Mortgage Servicing Rights, and Variable Interest Entities”.
In December 2008, the FASB issued FSP FAS 132(R) – 1 “Employers’ Disclosures about Postretirement Benefit Plan
Assets”. The FSP requires that entities disclose the fair value of each major category of plan assets of a defined benefit
pension or other postretirement plan. The asset categories should be based on the nature and risks of assets in an employer’s
plan. Entities are also required to disclose information that enables users of financial statements to assess the inputs and
valuation techniques used to develop fair value measurements of plan assets at the reporting date. The disclosure
requirements of this FSP are effective for fiscal year ends after December 15, 2009.
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