FASB Issues Additional Guidance, Disclosures on Fair Value Measurements and Impairments

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has issued three final Staff Positions (FSPs) designed to provide additional application guidance and enhance disclosures regarding fair value measurements and impairments of securities.

The FSPs were issued April 9, 2009 and include:

• FSP FAS 157-4, Determining Fair Value When the Volume and Level of Activity for the Asset or Liability Have Significantly Decreased and Identifying Transactions That Are Not Orderly, which provides guidelines for making fair value measurements more consistent with the principles presented in FASB Statement No. 157, Fair Value Measurements.
• FSP FAS 107-1 and APB 28-1, Interim Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments, which enhances consistency in financial reporting by increasing the frequency of fair value disclosures.
• FSP FAS 115-2 and FAS 124-2, Recognition and Presentation of Other-Than-Temporary Impairments, which provides additional guidance designed to create greater clarity and consistency in accounting for and presenting impairment losses on securities.

The FSPs come in the wake of extensive input on proposed guidance, including more than 600 written comment letters, emails, face-to-face meetings and other discussions with a broad range of affected constituents.  The end results include substantive changes from the guidance first proposed by FASB.

“The changes include a number of new disclosures relating to the determinations of fair value and to estimated credit losses and credit exposures,” said FASB Chairman Robert H. Herz.  “Virtually all of the investors providing input expressed the need for greater transparency by banks.  Taken together, these three new documents require significantly expanded and enhanced disclosures.”

FSP FAS 157-4 relates to determining fair values when there is no active market or where the price inputs being used represent distressed sales.  It reaffirms what Statement 157 states is the objective of fair value measurement; to reflect how much an asset would be sold for in an orderly transaction (as opposed to a distressed or forced transaction) at the date of the financial statements under current market conditions.  Specifically, it reaffirms the need to use judgment to ascertain if a formerly active market has become inactive and in determining fair values when markets have become inactive.

FSP FAS 107-1 and APB 28-1 relate to fair value disclosures for any financial instruments that are not currently reflected on the balance sheet of companies at fair value.  Prior to issuing this FSP, fair values for these assets and liabilities were only disclosed once a year.  The FSP now requires these disclosures on a quarterly basis, providing qualitative and quantitative information about fair value estimates for all those financial instruments not measured on the balance sheet at fair value.

FSP FAS 115-2 and FAS 124-2 on other-than-temporary impairments is intended to bring greater consistency to the timing of impairment recognition, and provide greater clarity to investors about the credit and noncredit components of impaired debt securities that are not expected to be sold.  The measure of impairment in comprehensive income remains fair value.  The FSP also requires increased and timelier disclosures sought by investors regarding expected cash flows, credit losses, and an aging of securities with unrealized losses.

The FSPs are effective for interim and annual periods ending after June 15, 2009, but entities may early adopt the FSPs for the interim and annual periods ending after March 15, 2009.  Beyond these near-term actions, the FASB has a joint project with the International Accounting Standards Board aimed at more broadly revamping and converging their respective standards on accounting for financial instruments.
 

Also in this month's issue:

The Employment Outlook Less Bleak for New Accounting Grads

Accounting Grads Survey