NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC | 2013 | FY | 3


Concentration of Credit Risk
The Company sells products to customers in diversified industries and geographic regions and, therefore, has no significant concentrations of credit risk. The Company continuously evaluates the creditworthiness of its customers and generally does not require collateral.
The Company evaluates the collectibility of accounts receivable based on a combination of factors. When aware of a specific customer’s inability to meet its financial obligations, such as in the case of bankruptcy filings or deterioration in the customer’s operating results or financial position, the Company records a specific reserve for bad debt to reduce the related receivable to the amount the Company reasonably believes is collectible. The Company also records reserves for bad debt for all other customers based on a variety of factors, including the length of time the receivables are past due and historical collection experience. Accounts are also reviewed for potential write-off on a case-by-case basis. Accounts deemed uncollectible are written off, net of expected recoveries. If circumstances related to specific customers change, the Company’s estimates of the recoverability of receivables could be further adjusted.
The Company’s forward exchange contracts do not subject the Company to risk due to foreign exchange rate movement, because gains and losses on these instruments generally offset gains and losses on the assets, liabilities and other transactions being hedged. The Company is exposed to credit-related losses in the event of non-performance by counterparties to certain derivative financial instruments. The Company does not obtain collateral or other security to support derivative financial instruments subject to credit risk, but monitors the credit standing of the counterparties.
The credit exposure that results from commodity, interest rate, foreign exchange and other derivatives is the fair value of contracts with a positive fair value as of the reporting date. The credit exposure on the Company’s interest rate and foreign currency derivatives at December 31, 2013 was $23.1 million and $2.9 million, respectively.

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