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Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation (Policies) | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2015
Business Segments | Starting in the 1st quarter of 2015, the Company manages its business through three business segments: Commercial Lines, managed in Bala Cynwyd, offers specialty property and casualty products designed for product lines such as Small Business Binding Authority, Property Brokerage, and Programs; Personal Lines, managed in Scottsdale, AZ, offers specialty personal lines and agricultural coverage; and Reinsurance Operations, managed in Bermuda, provides reinsurance solutions through brokers and primary writers including insurance and reinsurance companies. The Commercial Lines and Personal Lines segments comprise the Company’s U.S. Insurance Operations. See Note 14 for additional information regarding segments.
Interim Consolidated Financial statements | The interim consolidated financial statements are unaudited, but have been prepared in conformity with United States of America generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), which differs in certain respects from those principles followed in reports to insurance regulatory authorities. The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The unaudited consolidated financial statements include all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, of a normal recurring nature and are necessary for a fair statement of results for the interim periods. Results of operations for the quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results of a full year. The accompanying notes to the unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the notes to the consolidated financial statements contained in the Company’s 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Intercompany Balances and Transactions | The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Global Indemnity and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Investments | The Company regularly performs various analytical valuation procedures with respect to its investments, including reviewing each fixed maturity security in an unrealized loss position to assess whether the security is a candidate for credit loss. Specifically, the Company considers credit rating, market price, and issuer specific financial information, among other factors, to assess the likelihood of collection of all principal and interest as contractually due. Securities for which the Company determines that a credit loss is likely are subjected to further analysis through discounted cash flow testing to estimate the credit loss to be recognized in earnings, if any. The specific methodologies and significant assumptions used by asset class are discussed below. Upon identification of such securities and periodically thereafter, a detailed review is performed to determine whether the decline is considered other than temporary. This review includes an analysis of several factors, including but not limited to, the credit ratings and cash flows of the securities and the magnitude and length of time that the fair value of such securities is below cost. For fixed maturities, the factors considered in reaching the conclusion that a decline below cost is other than temporary include, among others, whether:
| (1) | the issuer is in financial distress;
| (2) | the investment is secured;
| (3) | a significant credit rating action occurred;
| (4) | scheduled interest payments were delayed or missed;
| (5) | changes in laws or regulations have affected an issuer or industry;
| (6) | the investment has an unrealized loss and was identified by the Company’s investment manager as an investment to be sold before recovery or maturity; and
| (7) | the investment failed cash flow projection testing to determine if anticipated principal and interest payments will be realized.
According to accounting guidance for debt securities in an unrealized loss position, the Company is required to assess whether it has the intent to sell the debt security or more likely than not will be required to sell the debt security before the anticipated recovery. If either of these conditions is met, the Company must recognize an other than temporary impairment with the entire unrealized loss being recorded through earnings. For debt securities in an unrealized loss position not meeting these conditions, the Company assesses whether the impairment of a security is other than temporary. If the impairment is deemed to be other than temporary, the Company must separate the other than temporary impairment into two components: the amount representing the credit loss and the amount related to all other factors, such as changes in interest rates. The credit loss represents the portion of the amortized book value in excess of the net present value of the projected future cash flows discounted at the effective interest rate implicit in the debt security prior to impairment. The credit loss component of the other than temporary impairment is recorded through earnings, whereas the amount relating to factors other than credit losses is recorded in other comprehensive income, net of taxes. For equity securities, management carefully reviews all securities with unrealized losses to determine if a security should be impaired and further focuses on securities that have either:
| (1) | persisted with unrealized losses for more than twelve consecutive months or
| (2) | the value of the investment has been 20% or more below cost for six continuous months or more.
Derivatives Policy | The Company accounts for the interest rate swaps as non-hedge instruments and recognizes the fair value of the interest rate swaps in other assets or other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets with the changes in fair value recognized as net realized investment gains (losses) in the consolidated statement of operations. The estimated fair value of the interest rate swaps, which is primarily derived from the forward interest rate curve, is based on the valuation received from a third party financial institution.
Fair Value Measurement Policy | The Company’s invested assets and derivative instruments are carried at their fair value and are categorized based upon a fair value hierarchy:
| • |  | Level 1—inputs utilize quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets that the Company has the ability to access at the measurement date.
| • |  | Level 2—inputs utilize other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for similar assets, either directly or indirectly.
| • |  | Level 3—inputs are unobservable for the asset, and include situations where there is little, if any, market activity for the asset.
In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, the level in the fair value hierarchy within which the fair value measurement falls has been determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The Company’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, and considers factors specific to the asset. Both observable and unobservable inputs may be used to determine the fair value of positions that the Company has classified within the Level 3 category. As a result, the unrealized gains and losses for invested assets within the Level 3 category presented in the tables below may include changes in fair value that are attributed to both observable (e.g., changes in market interest rates) and unobservable (e.g., changes in unobservable long-dated volatilities) inputs. The Company’s pricing vendors provide prices for all investment categories except for investments in limited partnerships which are measured utilizing net asset values as a practical expedient. Two vendors provide prices for equity and fixed maturity securities. The following is a description of the valuation methodologies used by the Company’s pricing vendors for investment securities carried at fair value:
| • |  | Equity prices are received from all primary and secondary exchanges.
| • |  | Corporate and agency bonds are evaluated by utilizing a multi-dimensional relational model. For bonds with early redemption options, an option adjusted spread model is utilized. Both asset classes use standard inputs and incorporate security set up, defined sector breakdown, benchmark yields, apply base spreads, yield to maturity, and adjust for corporate actions.
| • |  | Data from commercial vendors is aggregated with market information, then converted into a prepayment/spread/LIBOR curve model used for commercial mortgage obligations (“CMO”). CMOs are categorized with mortgage-backed securities in the tables listed above. For ABS’s, data derived from market information along with trustee and servicer reports is converted into spreads to interpolated swap yield curve. For both asset classes, evaluations utilize standard inputs plus new issue data, monthly payment information, and collateral performance. The evaluated pricing models incorporate discount rates, loan level information, prepayment speeds, treasury benchmarks, and LIBOR and swap curves.
| • |  | For municipals, a multi-dimensional relational model is used to evaluate securities within this asset class. The evaluated pricing models for this asset class incorporate security set-up, benchmark yields, apply base spreads, yield to worst or market convention, ratings updates, prepayment schedules and adjustments for material events notices.
| • |  | U.S. treasuries are evaluated by obtaining feeds from a number of live data sources including active market makers and inter-dealer brokers.
| • |  | For MBSs, a matrix model correlation to TBA (a forward MBS trade) or benchmarking is utilized to value a security.
Statutory Income Tax Rates | statutory income tax rate of each country is applied against the expected annual taxable income of the Company in each country to estimate the annual income tax expense.
Loss Reserves and Prior Year Development | When analyzing loss reserves and prior year development, the Company considers many factors, including the frequency and severity of claims, loss trends, case reserve settlements that may have resulted in significant development, and any other additional or pertinent factors that may impact reserve estimates.
Earnings Per Share | Earnings per share have been computed using the weighted average number of ordinary shares and ordinary share equivalents outstanding during the period.

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