FIRST SOLAR, INC. | 2013 | FY | 3


3. Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In December 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-11, Balance Sheet (Topic 210), Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities, updated by ASU 2013-01, Clarifying the Scope of Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities, which requires companies to disclose information about financial instruments that have been offset and related arrangements to enable users of their financial statements to understand the effect of those arrangements on their financial position. Companies will be required to provide both net (offset amounts) and gross information in the notes to the financial statements for relevant assets and liabilities that are offset. ASU 2011-11, as amended by ASU 2013-01, is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning on or after January 1, 2013. The adoption of ASU 2011-11, as amended by ASU 2013-01, in the first quarter of 2013, did not have an impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

In July 2012, the FASB issued ASU 2012-02, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350), Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment. ASU 2012-02 gives companies an option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events and circumstances indicate it is more-likely-than-not that an indefinite-lived intangible asset (excluding goodwill) is impaired. If based on its qualitative assessment, a company concludes that it is more-likely-than-not that the fair value of an indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than its carrying amount, quantitative impairment testing is required. However, if a company concludes otherwise, quantitative impairment testing is not required. ASU 2012-02 is effective for annual and interim impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012, with early adoption permitted. The adoption of ASU 2012-02, in the first quarter of 2013, did not have an impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

In February 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-02, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. ASU 2013-02 supersedes and replaces the presentation requirements for reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income in ASUs 2011-05 and 2011-12 for all public and private organizations. The amendment requires that an entity must report the effect of significant reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income by the respective line items in net income if the amount being reclassified is required under U.S. GAAP. For other amounts that are not required under U.S. GAAP to be reclassified in their entirety to net income in the same reporting period, an entity is required to cross-reference other disclosures required under U.S. GAAP that provide additional detail about those amounts. ASU 2013-02 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning on or after December 15, 2012. The adoption of ASU 2013-02, in the first quarter of 2013, did not have an impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In March 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-05, Parent’s Accounting for the Cumulative Translation Adjustment upon Derecognition of Certain Subsidiaries or Groups of Assets within a Foreign Entity or of an Investment in a Foreign Entity, which applies to the release of cumulative translation adjustments into net income when a parent (i) sells a part or all of its investment in a foreign entity (ii) no longer holds a controlling financial interest in a subsidiary or group of assets within a foreign entity, (iii) sells part of an equity method investment of a foreign entity, or (iv) obtains control of a foreign acquiree in which such parent held an equity interest immediately before the acquisition date through a step acquisition. We do not expect the adoption of ASU 2013-15, in the first quarter of 2014 to have an impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

In July 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-10, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815), Inclusion of the Fed Funds Effective Swap Rate (or Overnight Index Swap Rate) as a Benchmark Interest Rate for Hedge Accounting Purposes. ASU 2013-10 permits, in addition to U.S. treasury interest rates and the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), the Fed Funds Effective Swap Rate (“OIS”) to be used as a U.S. benchmark interest rate for hedge accounting purposes. ASU 2013-10 also removes the restriction on using different benchmark rates for similar hedges. ASU 2013-10 is effective prospectively for qualifying new or redesignated hedging relationships entered into on or after July 17, 2013. The adoption of ASU 2013-10 in the third quarter of 2013 did not have an impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

In July 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-11, Income Taxes (Topic 740), Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward or Tax Credit Carryforward Exists. ASU No. 2013-11 provides that an entity’s unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion of its unrecognized tax benefit, should be presented in its 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, with one exception. That exception states that, to the extent a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward is not available at the reporting date under the tax law of the applicable jurisdiction to settle any additional income taxes that would result from the disallowance of a tax position, or the tax law of the applicable jurisdiction does not require the entity to use, and the entity does not intend to use, the deferred tax asset for such purpose, the unrecognized tax benefit should be presented in the financial statements as a liability and should not be combined with deferred tax assets. ASU 2013-11 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2013. We do not expect the adoption of ASU 2013-11, in the first quarter of 2014, to have an impact on our results of operations, or cash flows, however we expect netting impacts on the consolidated financial position.

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