FASB Topic 810- Consolidation covers control and significant
influence.
- Control of an entity is defined as the ability to direct the
policies and management that guide the ongoing activities of
another entity so as to increase the benefits and limit the losses
from those activities. It involves two essential characteristics: a
parent's decision-making powers that are not shared with others and
a parent's ability to use that power to increase the benefits it
derives and limit the losses it suffers from the activities of its
subsidiary.
- Significant influence is the power to participate in the
operating and financial policy decisions of an entity; it is not
control over those policies. The concept is used in international
financial reporting standards. If an investor holds at least 20
percent of the voting power of an investee, the investor is
presumed to have significant influence. The assumption of influence
can be reversed through a clear demonstration to the contrary.