The Financial Crisis Advisory Group, which was formed last year by the Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) to tackle the financial crisis, has this week discussed how best to solve the issues surrounding fair value pricing. The group discussed the problems to do with mark to market accounting rules during its third meeting, as well as off balance sheet accounting and how to combine provisioning for loans with accounting principles.
The advisory group is considering providing more guidance on fair value accounting, although some corners of the industry are concerned that more guidance will result in more restrictions. It is likely to issue a statement regarding the provision of guidance in the coming weeks.
With regards to off balance sheet activities, the group is considering providing more information on securitisations and structured products.
It is not just the industry associations that are planning further discussions on the controversial mark to market rules; the US House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets has also tentatively scheduled a hearing on the subject for 12 March. According to recent reports, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s chief accountant and the chairman of the FASB may be asked to testify at the hearing.
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