Fair Value accounting standards are here to stay – Results of the SEC study

Congressionally-Mandated Study Says Improve, Do Not Suspend, Fair Value Accounting Standards

Washington, D.C., Dec. 30, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today delivered a report to Congress mandated by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 that recommends against the suspension of fair value accounting standards. Rather, the 211-page report by the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant and Division of Corporation Finance recommends improvements to existing practice, including reconsidering the accounting for impairments and the development of additional guidance for determining fair value of investments in inactive markets, including situations where market prices are not readily available.

As mandated by the Act, the report addresses the following six key issues:

1. the effects of such accounting standards on a financial institution’s balance sheet;
2. the impacts of such accounting on bank failures in 2008;
3. the impact of such standards on the quality of financial information available to investors;
4. the process used by the Financial Accounting Standards Board in developing accounting standards;
5. the advisability and feasibility of modifications to such standards; and
6. alternative accounting standards to those provided in such Statement Number 157.

SEC Report to Congress on Mark-to-Market Accounting (in PDF format – 211 pages)

Read the full press release

Source: SEC.gov