FASB

It remains challenging for investors to fully anticipate the consequences of forthcoming bank regulatory requirements, especially across interrelated strands of regulation. A case in point is a Basel III requirement eliminating filters relating to financial reporting information.

On 12 February, the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) Private Company Council (PCC) voted to add three projects to its formal agenda to consider how accounting in three topical areas should be differentiated for private companies.

Are you the trusting sort? How about when it comes to trusting banks some six years after the financial crisis? You should consider reading The Atlantic’s recent article “What’s Inside America’s Banks?” on why many in the investment world, and the general public, still don’t trust banks.

Last week, Hans Hoogervorst, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), made the case for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow the optional use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by U.S. publicly listed companies.

CFA Institute recently issued a report, User Perspective of Financial Instrument Risk Disclosures Under IFRS (Volume 2), that focuses on the disclosures of derivatives and hedging activities of financial and non-financial institutions.

A list of the top 10 most-read blog posts from the Market Integrity Insights blog in 2012.

In October 2011 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued proposed guidance on how to value investment properties. But instead of providing guidance on how to measure investment properties held by any entity, the FASB created a new type of entity — the so-called “investment property entity” (IPE).

The need for better risk disclosures has been evident throughout the financial crisis. From the standpoint of investors and bank counterparties, the ongoing high cost of borrowing alongside difficulties that many banks still face when accessing different funding markets reflect the opacity surrounding bank institutions’ risk profiles.

CFA Institute recently held a webinar, “Financial Statement Disclosures: Standard Setter, Regulator, and Investor Perspectives,” to discuss the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) proposals for developing a disclosure framework and improving financial disclosures.

Vincent Papa, PhD, CFA, examines the link between sovereign debt and bank risk; capital requirements for the banking industry; the need to improve transparency for derivatives; and other systemic risk issues relating to banks.

There is little question that, in the wake of the credit crisis (think Lehman Brothers and the AIG bailout) and the MF Global debacle, advance warnings about a company’s failing financial health would be welcomed by investors. One such… READ MORE ›

Mohini Singh, ACA, examines why fair value is the most relevant measurement basis for all real estate properties — not just investment properties, as proposed by FASB.

While CFA Institute believes that the FASB and IASB proposals for investment company accounting are a step in the right direction, digging into the details of the proposed changes uncovers some problematic issues.

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, we saw protests against the use of fair value to measure financial instruments as well as complaints regarding how fair value measurements were derived. Sandra Peters, CFA, examines how regulators are responding to concerns.

Did Bank of America have a profit or loss in 2011? Finding the answer requires digging into the company’s financial reports. While the net income stares you down on the face of the income statement, the loss hides behind a curtain known as “comprehensive income.” But that is about to change.