The liabilities for the Stabilizer embedded derivatives and the MCG stand-alone derivative include a risk margin to capture uncertainties related to policyholder behavior assumptions. The margin represents additional compensation a market participant would require to assume these risks.
The Company has identified the following accounts and policies as the most significant in that they involve a higher degree of judgment, are subject to a significant degree of variability and/or contain significant accounting estimates:
Items required by tax law to be included in the tax return may differ from the items reflected in the financial statements. As a result, the effective tax rate reflected in the financial statements may be different than the actual rate applied on the tax return. Some of these differences are permanent, such as the dividends received deduction, which is estimated using information from the prior
Initial adoption is required to be reported using either a full retrospective or modified retrospective approach. Under either method, upon adoption the liability for future policy benefits will be remeasured using current discount rates as of the beginning of the earliest period presented with the impact recorded as a cumulative effect adjustment to AOCI.
The Company invests in high quality, well performing portfolios of commercial mortgage loans and private placements. Under certain circumstances, modifications are granted to these contracts. Each modification is evaluated as to whether a troubled debt restructuring has occurred. A modification is a troubled debt restructuring when the borrower is in financial difficulty and the creditor makes concessions. Generally, the types of concessions may include reducing the face amount or maturity amount of the debt as originally stated, reducing the contractual interest rate, extending the maturity date at an interest rate lower than current market interest rates and/or reducing accrued interest. The Company considers the amount, timing and extent of the concession granted in determining any impairment or changes in the specific valuation allowance recorded in connection with the troubled debt restructuring. A valuation allowance may have been recorded prior to the quarter when the loan is modified in a troubled debt restructuring. Accordingly, the carrying value (net of the specific valuation allowance) before and after modification through a troubled debt restructuring may not change significantly, or may increase if the expected recovery is higher than the pre-modification recovery assessment. As of December 31, 2018, the Company did not have any new commercial mortgage loan or private placement troubled debt restructuring. As of December 31, 2017, the Company did not have any new commercial mortgage loan troubled debt restructuring and had one private placement troubled debt restructuring with a pre-modification and post-modification carrying value of $3.
The Company recognized tax benefits of $5, $9 and $8 for the years ended 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Prior to January 1, 2017, excess tax benefits were recognized in Additional paid-in capital and accounted for in a single pool available to all share-based compensation awards. Excess tax benefits in Additional paid-in capital were not recognized until the benefits resulted in a reduction in taxes payable. The Company used tax law ordering to determine when excess tax benefits would be realized.
(3) Includes the fair value of loaned securities of $759 and $799 as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. In addition, as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company delivered securities as collateral of $123 and $161, respectively. Loaned securities and securities delivered as collateral are included in Securities pledged on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
The outcome of a litigation or regulatory matter is difficult to predict and the amount or range of potential losses associated with these or other loss contingencies requires significant management judgment. It is not possible to predict the ultimate outcome or to provide reasonably possible losses or ranges of losses for all pending regulatory matters, litigation and other loss contingencies. While it is possible that an adverse outcome in certain cases could have a material adverse effect upon the Company's financial position, based on information currently known, management believes that neither the outcome of pending litigation and regulatory matters, nor potential liabilities associated with other loss contingencies, are likely to have such an effect. However, given the large and indeterminate amounts sought in certain litigation and the inherent unpredictability of all such matters, it is possible that an adverse outcome in certain of the Company's litigation or regulatory matters, or liabilities arising from other loss contingencies, could, from time to time, have a material adverse effect upon the Company's results of operations or cash flows in a particular quarterly or annual period.