ASC 480-10 provides guidance on determining whether (1) certain financial instruments with both debt-like and equity-like characteristics should be accounted for outside of equity (i. e., as liabilities or, in some cases, assets) by the issuer and (2) SEC registrants should present certain redeemable equity instruments as temporary equity. Examples of contracts and transactions that may require evaluation under ASC 480-10 include:

. Redeemable shares.

• Redeemable noncontrolling interests.

• Forward contracts to repurchase own shares.

• Forward contracts to sell redeemable shares.

• Written put options on own stock.

• Warrants (and written call options) on redeemable equity shares.

• Warrants on shares with deemed liquidation provisions.

• Puttable warrants on own stock.

• Equity collars.

• Share-settled debt (this term is used to describe a share-settled obligation that  is not in the legal form of debt but has the same economic payoff profile as debt).

• Preferred shares that are mandatorily convertible into a variable number of common shares.

• Unsettled treasury stock transactions.

• Accelerated share repurchase programs.

• Hybrid equity units.

Explanation:

ASC 480-10 is used when an issuer, in the declaration of its financial position, has to categorize some financial instruments that share the characteristics of liabilities and equities. The issuer always classifies legal-form debt as liability and this makes it not applicable under the ASC 480-10.

Under the ASC 480-10, three types of financial instruments are meant to be classified and they include;

1. Mandatorily redeemable financial instruments

2. Obligations to repurchase the entity’s equity shares by transferring assets, and

3.Certain obligations to issue a variable number of equity shares