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European Commission Fines And Other Legal And Tax Matters | 12 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2015
European Commission Fines And Other Legal And Tax Matters [Abstract] |
European Commission Fines And Other Legal And Tax Matters | EUROPEAN COMMISSION FINES AND OTHER LEGAL AND TAX MATTERS European Commission Fines in Italy In 2002, the Company reported that it was aware that the European Commission (the "Commission") was investigating certain aspects of the leaf tobacco markets in Italy. One of the Company's subsidiaries, Deltafina, S.p.A. ("Deltafina"), buys and processes tobacco in Italy. The Company reported that it did not believe that the Commission investigation in Italy would result in penalties being assessed against it or its subsidiaries that would be material to the Company’s earnings. The reason the Company held this belief was that it had received conditional immunity from the Commission because Deltafina had voluntarily informed the Commission of the activities that were the basis of the investigation. On December 28, 2004, the Company received a preliminary indication that the Commission intended to revoke Deltafina’s immunity for disclosing in April 2002 that it had applied for immunity. Neither the Commission’s Leniency Notice of February 19, 2002, nor Deltafina’s letter of provisional immunity, contains a specific requirement of confidentiality. The potential for such disclosure was discussed with the Commission in March 2002, and the Commission never told Deltafina that disclosure would affect Deltafina’s immunity. On November 15, 2005, the Company received notification from the Commission that the Commission had imposed fines totaling €30 million on Deltafina and the Company jointly for infringing European Union antitrust law in connection with the purchase and processing of tobacco in the Italian raw tobacco market. In January 2006, the Company and Deltafina each filed appeals in the General Court of the European Union ("General Court"). Deltafina’s appeal was held on September 28, 2010. For strategic reasons related to the defense of the Deltafina appeal, Universal withdrew its appeal. On September 9, 2011, the General Court issued its decision, in which it rejected Deltafina’s application to reinstate immunity. Deltafina appealed the decision of the General Court to the European Court of Justice, and a hearing was held in November 2012. Effective with the September 9, 2011 General Court decision, the Company recorded a charge for the full amount of the fine (€30 million) plus accumulated interest (€5.9 million). The charge totaled $49.1 million at the exchange rate in effect on the date of the General Court decision. Deltafina previously provided the Commission a bank guarantee in the amount of the fine plus accumulated interest in order to stay execution during the appeals process. In January 2013, the guarantee was fully collateralized with a bank deposit. On June 12, 2014, the European Court of Justice issued its final decision on the matter, in which it rejected Deltafina's application to reinstate immunity. Deltafina and the Company paid the final amount of the fine and interest, approximately €38.9 million ($53.0 million), before June 30, 2014. Upon payment, the bank guarantee was terminated and the related deposit was returned. The payment of the fine and interest did not have a material impact on the Company's or Deltafina's operations. Other Legal and Tax Matters In addition to the above-mentioned matter, various subsidiaries of the Company are involved in other litigation and tax examinations incidental to their business activities, including the assessments disclosed in Note 14 related to inter-state value added taxes in Brazil. While the outcome of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, management is vigorously defending the matters and does not currently expect that any of them will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business or financial position. However, should one or more of these matters be resolved in a manner adverse to management’s current expectation, the effect on the Company’s results of operations for a particular fiscal reporting period could be material.

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