Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States - 2012

Proposed Changes for the 2012 BE-12,
Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States
Reporting criteria
Changes in reporting thresholds for 2012 BE-12
(thresholds are based on the value of assets, sales, and net income, positive or negative)
Form for
2007 BE-12
BE-12(LF)
BE-12(SF)
BE-12 Mini
(complete report)
BE-12 Mini
(abbreviated report)

Reporting thresholds
2007
$175 million
majority-owned affiliates
$40 million
$15 million
< $15 million

Form for
2012 BE-12
BE-12A
BE-12B
BE-12C
(complete report)
BE-12C
(abbreviated report)

Reporting thresholds
2012
$300 million
majority-owned affiliates
$60 million
$20 million
< $20 million

Additions
The following questions will be added to Form BE-12A of the benchmark survey (no additions
will be made to the other BE-12 forms). Text of the questions is provided at the end of this
document.
ƒ Questions will be added regarding the use of fair value accounting on the balance sheet.
Companies that indicate that they did use fair value accounting will be asked to provide the
amount of net property, plant, and equipment, of total assets, and of total liabilities that was
recorded at fair value. This information will be used to analyze the effect on BEA’s
statistics of the use of fair value accounting by respondent companies, which has expanded
in recent years due to changes in financial accounting standards.
ƒ Questions will be added to collect information on assets, liabilities, and interest receipts
and payments that are related to banking activities. This information will be used to
estimate banks’ implicit service fees for inclusion in BEA’s international services statistics.
ƒ Several check-box questions will be added asking whether U.S. affiliates purchased
contract manufacturing services from others or performed contract manufacturing services
for others. They will also be asked whether they owned the materials used in contract
manufacturing and if the company that performed or purchased the service was located in
the United States or abroad. The information collected will help BEA to align its statistics
with current international statistical standards, which now recommend that these services
be separately identified and reported as services rather than reflected indistinguishably in
statistics on trade in goods.
ƒ A question will be added asking if the U.S. affiliate has equity in its foreign parent(s)
(reverse investment). An item will be added to collect voting percent, equity percent, and
the dollar amount of the investment. The information collected will help BEA to align its
statistics with current international standards, which now recommend that investments by
affiliates in their parent be recorded as direct investment even if those reverse investments
do not meet the 10 percent voting ownership requirement that is the standard definition of
direct investment.
ƒ Several check-box questions will be added to ensure that certain types of finance
companies do not report intercompany debt to BEA that is already reported on Treasury
International Capital surveys.

Deletions
The following data items that were eliminated from the BE-15, Annual Survey of Foreign Direct
Investment in the United States, in 2008, will also be eliminated from the BE-12:
ƒ Balance sheet items: current receivables, allowances for doubtful accounts, other current
assets, other noncurrent assets, current liabilities and long-term debt, other noncurrent
liabilities (BE-12A)
ƒ The breakdown of sales of services to foreign persons into sales of services to the foreign
parent group, to foreign affiliates owned by the U.S. affiliate, and to other foreign persons
(BE-12A)
ƒ The breakdown of employment and employee compensation by occupational classification
(BE-12A, BE-12B)
ƒ The breakdown of total employee compensation into wages and salaries and employee
benefit plans (BE-12A)
ƒ Composition of external finances (BE-12A)
ƒ Manufacturing employment by state (BE-12A, BE-12B)
ƒ Gross property, plant, and equipment by state (BE-12A, BE-12B)
ƒ Commercial property by state (BE-12A, BE-12B)
Several other items will be eliminated:
ƒ Location of the primary U.S. headquarters of the U.S. affiliate (BE-12A, BE-12B, BE-12C)
ƒ Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements (BE-12A)
ƒ Acres of U.S. land owned (BE-12A, BE-12B, BE-12C)
ƒ Basis (shipped or charged) for trade data (check-box questions; BE-12A)
ƒ Exports/imports shipped to/by foreign affiliates owned by U.S. affiliate by country of
origin/destination (as in the benchmark surveys for 2002 and earlier years, these columns
will be combined with the columns “shipped to/by all other foreign persons;” BE-12A)
ƒ Withholding taxes on interest payments and interest receipts (BE-12A)
Modifications
ƒ The question on financial accounting standards will be reworded to ask respondents
whether their data are reported according to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles (U.S. GAAP), according to International Financial Reporting Standards, or
according to other accounting standards (which they will be asked to specify). Text is
provided at the end of this document. (BE-12A, BE-12B)
ƒ Questions on withholding taxes on dividends and on distributed earnings will be combined
(BE-12A)
Other changes
ƒ The consolidation rule for the survey will be modified. The new rule will be more
consistent with U.S. GAAP. Under the new rule, a U.S. affiliate must file on a fully
consolidated domestic U.S. basis, including the full consolidation of all U.S. business
enterprises proceeding down each ownership chain whose voting securities are more than
50 percent owned by the U.S. business enterprise above.
ƒ 2012 BE-12 forms will be made available in eFile in March 2012 so that companies can
file as soon as their fiscal year ends. Throughout the year BEA will send letters to
respondents when their fiscal year ends informing them that eFile is available. Any
company that has not filed by March 2013 will be sent a BE-12 package with a May 31,
2013, due date.

2012 BE-12, Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States
Text of New or Modified Questions
Fair Value Accounting
Has fair value accounting been applied to, or elected for, any asset or liability items included in the
amounts reported on the balance sheet above?
Yes – Report the total amount of the fair value assets and liabilities in the space provided
below.
No – Skip to X.
Close FY 2012
Close FY 2011
(Unrestated)
Of the property, plant, and equipment reported on line
X, what amount was reported using fair value
accounting?
Of the total assets reported on line X, what amount
was reported using fair value accounting?
Of the total liabilities reported on line X, what amount
was reported using fair value accounting?
Banking Industry Activities
In X through X, did you report sales for ISI codes 5221 or 5229 (depository or non-depository
banking)?
Yes
No – Skip to X.
What are the U.S. affiliate’s values for:
Total
Column (1)
equals the sum of
Columns (2) and (3)
(1)
Assets?
Liabilities?
Interest income?
Interest expensed or capitalized?

Banking
Activities
in ISI codes
5221 or 5229
(2)

All other
(3)

Contract Manufacturing – Contracting with a firm to process materials and components,
including payments for fabricating, assembling, labeling, and packaging materials and
components.
Contract Manufacturing Services Purchased
1. In FY 2012, did this U.S. affiliate purchase contract manufacturing services from others?
Yes – Continue with item 2.
No – Skip to item 3.
2. If question 1 is answered “Yes,” indicate whether the U.S. affiliate owned the materials used
by the contract manufacturers and whether the services were purchased from businesses inside
or outside the United States (check all that apply).
The U.S. affiliate owned some or all of the materials used by the contract manufacturers and
the companies providing the manufacturing services were:
Located inside the United States
Located outside the United States
The U.S. affiliate did not own the materials used by the contract manufacturers and the
companies providing the manufacturing services were
Located inside the United States
Located outside the United States
Contract Manufacturing Services Performed
3. In FY 2012, did this U.S. affiliate perform contract manufacturing services for others?
Yes – Continue with item 4.
No – Skip to item 5.
4. If question 3 is answered “Yes,” indicate whether the U.S. affiliate owned the materials used
by the contract manufacturers and whether the services were performed for businesses inside or
outside the United States (check all that apply).
The U.S. affiliate owned some or all of the materials used in the contract manufacturing and
the companies purchasing the manufacturing services were:
Located inside the United States
Located outside the United States
The U.S. affiliate did not own the materials used in the contract manufacturing and the
companies purchasing the manufacturing services were
Located inside the United States
Located outside the United States
Reverse Ownership
Did the U.S. affiliate have an equity interest in the foreign parent named in item X?
Yes – Enter the percent of ownership and the dollar value of the equity owned at the end of FY
2012.
Equity
Voting
Value of
interest
interest equity owned
. %
. % $
No

Intercompany Debt Questions for Finance Companies
1. Is the foreign parent listed in item X in the finance industry (includes banking; does not include
insurance)?
Yes – Continue with item 2
No – SKIP to item 5
2. Is the U.S. affiliate a "bank" or primarily acting as a securities broker or dealer?
Note: A "bank" is a business engaged in deposit banking or closely related functions, including
commercial banks, Edge Act corporations, U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks,
savings and loans, savings banks, bank holding companies and financial holding companies
under the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act.
Yes – Continue with item 3
No – SKIP to item 4
3. Do any of the U.S. business enterprises consolidated in this report have insurance, real estate,
or leasing activities?
Yes – Complete items 5 through X but ONLY report the amounts that relate to insurance, real
estate, and leasing activities. EXCLUDE amounts that represent balances and interest between
banking and finance units in the United States and a foreign parent in the finance industry.
No – SKIP to Y
4. Do any of the U.S. business enterprises consolidated in this report have banking activities or
securities broker or dealer activities?
Yes – Complete items 5 through X but EXCLUDE amounts that represent balances and
interest between banking and finance units in the United States and a foreign parent in the
finance industry.
No – Continue with item 5
Accounting Standards
The BE-12 report should be completed using U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
(U.S. GAAP). If using U.S. GAAP to complete this report is highly burdensome, or otherwise not
feasible, you may use other financial reporting standards, preferably with adjustments to correct
for any material differences between U.S. GAAP and the reporting standards used.
Which financial reporting standards will you use to complete this BE-12 report?
ƒ U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (or adjusted to U.S. GAAP basis)
ƒ International Financial Reporting Standards (as promulgated by, or adapted from, the
International Accounting Standards Board)
ƒ Other reporting standards – Specify the reporting standards used.