In August 2001, SFAS No. 144, “Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long- Lived Assets” was issued which addresses financial accounting and reporting for the impairment or disposal of long-lived assets. While this standard supersedes SFAS No. 121, “Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and for Long-Lived Assets to Be Disposed Of,” it retains many of the fundamental provisions of that standard. SFAS No. 144 also supersedes the accounting and reporting provisions of APB Opinion No. 30, “Reporting the Results of Operations – Reporting the Effects of Disposal of a Segment of a Business, and Extraordinary, Unusual and Infrequently Occurring Events and Transactions,” for the disposal of a segment of a business. Intangible assets with estimable useful lives are amortized over their respective useful lives, and reviewed for impairment in accordance with SFAS No. 144. The Company adopted the provisions of SFAS No. 144 beginning in the first quarter of 2002. Adoption of SFAS No. 144 had no impact on the consolidated earnings and finan- cial position of the Company. Other intangible assets consist principally of payments made to purchase customer lists of former agents in countries where the Company established its own presence by opening its own offices. Other intangible assets are included in Other Assets, net and are amortized over their estimated useful lives for periods up to 15 years. Balances as of December 31 are as follows: 2002 2001 Identifiable intangible assets $ 15,764 15,714 Less accumulated amortization (6,044) (5,094) $ 9,720 10,620 Aggregate amortization expense for the year ended December 31 $ 950 913 Estimated annual amortization expense will approximate $967 during each of the next five years. 46 expd 02 Note 1