content_image/223641.jpg content_image/223640.jpg
Note 12 – Retirement Benefit Plans (continued) 

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price). The FASB provides accounting rules that classify the inputs used to measure fair value into the following hierarchy: 

Level 1  – Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. 

Level 2  – Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities, or unadjusted quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, or inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability. 

Level 3  – Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability. 

The following table presents the fair value hierarchy for those investments of the Company’s pension assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2011: 

<img src='content_image/223641.jpg'>

The following table presents the fair value hierarchy for those investments of the Company’s pension assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2010: 

<img src='content_image/223640.jpg'>

