b'FORGING TRANSFORMATION. FOSTERING SUSTAINABILITY. NOTES TO THE SPECIAL PURPOSE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS30th June 2017(Expressed in Trinidad and Tobago Dollars)4.Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)m.Employee benefits (continued)ii.Post employmentNIBTT contributes to a defined benefit staff pension plan which covers all qualifying employees. Members contribute 5% (2017: 5%) of their pensionable salaries to the Plan whilst NIBTT currently contributes 14% (2017: 14%). All permanent employees are eligible for membership and temporary employees under certain conditions.The liability recognised in the statement of financial position in respect of defined benefit pension plan is the present value of the defined benefit obligation at the end of the reporting period less the fair value of plan assets. The defined benefit obligation is calculated annually by independent actuaries using the projected unit credit method. The present value of the defined benefit obligation is determined by discounting the estimated future cash outflows using interest rates of high-quality corporate bonds that are denominated in the currency in which the benefits will be paid, and that have terms to maturity approximating to the terms of the related pension obligation. In countries where there is no deep market in such bonds, the market rates on the government bonds are used. Actuarial gains and losses arising from experience adjustments and changes in actuarial assumptions are charged or credited to equity in other comprehensive income in the period in which they arise. Past-service costs are recognised immediately in income.n.Determination of fair valuesA number of NIBTTs accounting policies and disclosures require the determination of fair value, for both financial and non-financial assets and liabilities. Fair values have been determined for measurement and/or disclosure purposes based on the following methods.When applicable, further information about the assumptions made in determining fair values is disclosed in the notes specific to that asset or liability.i.Financial assets at fair value through profit or lossAs stated in Note 4 e, financial assets at fair value through profit or loss are measured at their fair values based on quoted market prices. Where the instrument is not actively traded or quoted on recognised exchanges, fair value is determined using discounted cash flow analysis recent arms length transaction and other valuation techniques. Professional valuations are also used to value these securities. Where fair value cannot be reliably measured, the investment is stated at cost less impairment losses.The NIBTT uses the following hierarchy for determining and disclosing the fair value of financial instruments by valuation techniques. Level 1Included in the Level 1 category are financial assets and liabilities that are measured in whole or in part by reference to published quotes in an active market. A financial instrument is regarded as quoted in an active market if quoted prices are readily and regularly available from an exchange, dealer, broker, industry group, pricing service or regulatory agency and those prices represent actual and regularly occurring market transactions on an arms length basis.47'