(c) Other:
During the fourth quarter of 2016, we recorded integration and transaction costs totaling $1.4 related to the acquisition of Karel. See note 4. During the full year 2016, we received recoveries of damages of $12.0 in connection with the settlement of class action lawsuits in which we were a plaintiff, related to certain purchases we made in prior periods. These recoveries were offset in part by the cost to settle an unrelated legal matter during 2016.
12. INCOME TAXES
Our effective income tax rate can vary significantly quarter-to-quarter for various reasons, including the mix and volume of business in various tax jurisdictions within the Americas, Europe and Asia, in jurisdictions with tax holidays and tax incentives, and in jurisdictions for which no net deferred income tax assets have been recognized because management believed it was not probable that future taxable profit would be available against which tax losses and deductible temporary differences could be utilized. Our effective income tax rate can also vary due to the impact of restructuring charges, foreign exchange fluctuations, operating losses, cash repatriations, and changes in our provisions related to tax uncertainties.
Our net income tax expense of $8.4 for the fourth quarter of 2016 was favorably impacted by the reversal of provisions previously recorded for tax uncertainties related to the final reassessments and settlement of tax accounts in connection with the resolution of a transfer pricing matter for one of our Canadian subsidiaries. In connection therewith, we recorded an income tax recovery of $8 million Canadian dollars (approximately $6 at the exchange rate at the time of recording) during the fourth quarter of 2016, as well as refund interest income of approximately $8 (see note 14 below for further details). Our income tax expense for the fourth quarter of 2016 was also favorably impacted by a deferred tax recovery of $3.8 related to a change in the recognition of the deferred tax assets in one of our U.S. subsidiaries. Our income tax expense for the fourth quarter of 2016 was negatively impacted by taxable foreign exchange impacts of $8.6 resulting from the weakening of the Malaysian ringgit and the Chinese renminbi relative to the U.S. dollar, our functional currency (Currency Tax Expense).
Our net income tax expense of $24.7 for the full year 2016 was favorably impacted by the reversal of provisions previously recorded for tax uncertainties related to the resolution of a transfer pricing matter for one of our Canadian subsidiaries. In connection therewith, we recorded aggregate income tax recoveries of $45 million Canadian dollars (approximately $34 at the exchange rates at the time of recording), as well as aggregate refund interest income of approximately $14.3 (see note 14 below for further details). Our net income tax expense for the full year 2016 was negatively impacted by withholding taxes of $1.5 pertaining to the repatriation of $50.0 from a U.S. subsidiary and deferred tax expense of $8.0 related to taxable temporary differences associated with the anticipated repatriation of undistributed earnings from certain of our Chinese subsidiaries. Our net income tax expense for the full year 2016 was also negatively impacted by a Currency Tax Expense of $7.3 (full year 2015 -- $12.2).
See note 14 regarding income tax settlements and contingencies.
13. FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Our financial assets are comprised primarily of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, outstanding cash advances receivable and derivatives used for hedging purposes. Our financial liabilities are comprised primarily of accounts payable, certain accrued and other liabilities and provisions, the Term Loan, borrowings under the Revolving Facility, and derivatives. We record the majority of our financial liabilities at amortized cost except for derivative liabilities, which we measure at fair value. We classify our term deposits as held-to-maturity. We record our short-term investments in money market funds at fair value, with changes recognized in our consolidated statement of operations. The carrying value of the Term Loan approximates its fair value as it bears interest at a variable market rate. The carrying value of the outstanding cash advances receivable from the Solar Supplier approximates their fair value due to their relatively short term to maturity. We classify the financial assets and liabilities that we measure at fair value based on the inputs used to determine fair value at the measurement date. See note 20 of our 2015 annual audited consolidated financial statements for details of the input levels used and our fair value hierarchy at December 31, 2015. There have been no significant changes to the source of our inputs since December 31, 2015.
Cash and cash equivalents are comprised of the following:
December 31 December 31
2015 2016
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Cash $ 476.1 $ 463.4
Cash equivalents 69.2 93.8
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$ 545.3 $ 557.2
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Our current portfolio of cash equivalents consist of bank deposits. The majority of our cash and cash equivalents is held with financial institutions each of which had at December 31, 2016 a Standard and Poor's short-term rating of A-1 or above.
Interest rate risk:
Borrowings under our credit facility bear interest at specified rates, plus specified margins. See note 8. Our borrowings under this facility, which at December 31, 2016 totaled $227.5 (December 31, 2015 -- $262.5), expose us to interest rate risk due to potential increases to the specified rates and margins.
