The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. 2009 Annual Report

MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
(continued)

RECENTLY ADOPTED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
In May 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards ("SFAS") No. 165, "Subsequent Events" ("SFAS No. 165"). SFAS No. 165 requires the disclosure of the date through which an entity has evaluated subsequent events for potential recognition or disclosure in the financial statements and whether that date represents the date the financial statements were issued or were available to be issued. This standard also provides clarification about circumstances under which an entity should recognize events or transactions occurring after the balance sheet date in its financial statements and the disclosures that an entity should make about events or transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date. This standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning with our fiscal year ended June 30, 2009. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In March 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 161, "Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities-an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133" ("SFAS No. 161"). SFAS No. 161 requires companies to provide qualitative disclosures about their objectives and strategies for using derivative instruments, quantitative disclosures of the fair values of, and gains and losses on, these derivative instruments in a tabular format, as well as more information about liquidity by requiring disclosure of a derivative contract's credit-risk-related contingent features. SFAS No. 161 also requires cross-referencing within footnotes to enable financial statement users to locate important information about derivative instruments. We adopted this disclosure-only standard beginning in our fiscal 2009 third quarter.

In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157, "Fair Value Measurements" ("SFAS No. 157"), to clarify the definition of fair value, establish a framework for measuring fair value and expand the disclosures on fair value measurements. SFAS No. 157 defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (an exit price). SFAS No. 157 also stipulates that, as a market-based measurement, fair value measurement should be determined based on the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, and establishes a fair value hierarchy that distinguishes between (a) market participant assumptions developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity (observable inputs) and (b) the reporting entity's own assumptions about market participant assumptions developed based on the best information available in the circumstances (unobservable inputs).

In February 2008, the FASB issued FASB Staff Position ("FSP") No. FAS 157-1, "Application of FASB Statement No. 157 to FASB Statement No. 13 and Other Accounting Pronouncements That Address Fair Value Measurements for Purposes of Lease Classification or Measurement under Statement 13." This FSP amends SFAS No. 157 to exclude certain leasing transactions accounted for under previously existing accounting guidance. However, this scope exception does not apply to assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination, regardless of whether those assets and liabilities are related to leases.

In February 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. FAS 157-2, "Effective Date for FASB Statement No. 157" ("FSP No. FAS 157-2"). This FSP permits the delayed application of SFAS No. 157 for nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, as defined in this FSP, except for those that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements at least annually, until the beginning of our fiscal 2010. As of July 1, 2008, we adopted SFAS No. 157, with the exception of its application to nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities, which we will defer in accordance with FSP No. FAS 157-2 until the beginning of fiscal 2010. Nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities principally consist of intangible assets acquired through business combinations, long-lived assets when assessing potential impairment, and liabilities associated with restructuring activities. We are currently evaluating the impact of the provisions for such nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities on our consolidated financial statements.

In October 2008, the FASB issued FSP No. FAS 157-3, "Determining the Fair Value of a Financial Asset When the Market for That Asset Is Not Active" ("FSP No. FAS 157-3"), which clarifies the application of SFAS No. 157 in a market that is not active and provides an example to illustrate key considerations in determining the fair value of a financial asset when the market for that financial asset is not active. The FSP is effective upon issuance, including prior periods for which financial statements have not been issued. Revisions resulting from a change in the valuation technique or its application should be accounted for as a change in accounting estimate following the guidance in SFAS No. 154, "Accounting Changes and Error Corrections" ("SFAS No. 154"). However, the disclosure provisions in SFAS No. 154 for a change in accounting estimate are not required for revisions resulting from a change in valuation technique or its application. We adopted SFAS No. 157 beginning in our fiscal 2009 first quarter. As part of this adoption, we evaluated the fair value measurements of our financial assets and liabilities and determined that these instruments are valued in active markets. As such, the guidance in this FSP did not impact our consolidated financial statements.

In April 2009, the FASB issued FSP No. FAS 157-4, "Determining Fair Value When the Volume and Level of Activity for the Asset or Liability Have Significantly Decreased and Identifying Transactions That Are Not Orderly" ("FSP No. FAS 157-4"). This FSP provides additional guidance for estimating fair value in accordance with SFAS No. 157 when there has been a significant decrease in market activity for a financial asset. An entity is required to base its conclusion about whether a transaction was distressed on the weight of the evidence presented. This FSP also re-affirms that the objective of fair value, when the market for an asset is not active, is the price that would be received to sell the asset in an orderly market (as opposed to a distressed or forced transaction). Additional enhanced disclosures are also required in accordance with this FSP. FSP No. FAS 157-4 must be applied prospectively and is effective for interim and annual periods ending after June 15, 2009. The adoption of this standard did not have an impact on our consolidated financial statements as our financial assets are currently valued in active markets.

In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159, "The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities" ("SFAS No. 159"), to permit all entities to choose to elect, at specified election dates, to measure eligible financial instruments at fair value. An entity shall report unrealized gains and losses on items for which the fair value option has been elected in earnings at each subsequent reporting date, and recognize upfront costs and fees related to those items in earnings as incurred and not deferred. SFAS No. 159 became effective for us as of July 1, 2008. As we did not elect the fair value option for our financial instruments, the adoption of this standard did not have an impact on our consolidated financial statements.