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Moody’s says IASB’s fair-value look-back causing confusion
By Marine Cole
November 14, 2008 2:54 PM ET
The International Accounting Standards Board amended IAS 39, its standard on fair value, last month to bring its rule closer to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. But the amendment is actually making it more difficult to compare banks on a global basis, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
IASB modified its rule in October to allow financial institutions to reclassify some assets, for instance by transferring them from being available for sale to being held to maturity, to avoid having to use fair value to value them. That was already an option under U.S. GAAP, and the amendment was part of a larger project to converge the accounting rules of IASB with those of the Financial Accounting Standards Board.
“The amendment to IAS 39 was intended to enhance comparability,” Moody’s wrote in a report published today. “However, unlike U.S. GAAP, which requires that reclassifications be recorded at fair value as of the date of reclassification, the amendment to IAS 39 allowed retroactive valuation back to July 1.”
Moody’s referred to this feature of the international standard as the “look-back” option, and said it must be carefully examined and understood by investment and credit professionals because it allows management teams to cherry-pick selected assets, and thus potentially avoid recognition of markdowns.
Moody’s noted that Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Commerzbank all recently reclassified assets under IAS 39 using that look-back option.
“The aggressive use of the IAS 39 look-back option by banks that report their results according to the IFRS could distort their economic reality and significantly affect comparability vis-à-vis peer banks globally,” the ratings agency wrote.
But it noted that IASB also requires disclosure relating to the reclassification, which should allow investors to understand the impact on current and future financial statements. In addition, although the reclassification will be permitted for future quarters too, transfers after Oct. 31 will be done at fair value, eliminating the so-called look-back option, and allowing for better comparability with U.S. GAAP for future quarters.
“While the use of the IAS 39 look-back option does not represent an egregious case of financial reporting opacity, it can be nonetheless misleading for investors and credit professionals,” Moody’s said.
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