Gain access to the 2017 financial statements of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan from the company’s website or www.sedar.com. On January 1, 2018, PotashCorp and Agrium completed a merger and formed a new company called Nutrien Ltd. You can still access the Potash Corporation financial statements using either www.potashcorp.com or www.nutrien.com.

Instructions

a. Note 31 provides information on the principles of consolidation that PotashCorp applies. What does the company mean by “control”? Does any judgement have to be applied in determining whether control over another entity exists? Explain briefly.

b. Does PotashCorp apply IAS 39 or IFRS 9 in accounting and reporting its financial asset investment assets?

c. Refer to Note 19 Investments. Identify, by name, the investee companies of PotashCorp. For each, identify the classification of investment, the percentage of voting rights held by PotashCorp, the method of accounting for the investee, its carrying amount, and its fair value.

d. What additional information is provided in Note 19 about the investments accounted for using the equity method? Explain, in general terms only, why the income reported on the statement of income from associates and joint ventures differs from the $172 million of dividends received from them as reported in this note.

e. Explain the impairment assessment policy for PotashCorp’s available-for-sale investments discussed in Note 19. Include information about the event that triggered the impairment assessment in 2017.