FASB Eases Fair-Value Rules Amid Lawmaker Pressure

By Ian Katz

April 2 (Bloomberg) -- The Financial Accounting Standards Board, pressured by U.S. lawmakers and financial companies, voted to relax fair-value accounting rules that Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. say don’t work when markets are inactive.

Changes to fair-value, or mark-to-market accounting, approved by FASB today allow companies to use “significant” judgment in gauging prices of some investments on their books, including mortgage-backed securities. Analysts say the measure may reduce banks’ writedowns and boost net income. Firms could apply the changes to first-quarter results.

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Odteraz budu moct banky ocenovat aktiva nie na zaklade ich trhovej hodnoty ale podla svojho modelu "aku cenu si myslime ze by to ktore aktivum malo za normalnych nekrizovych podmienok", cim ca vyhnu odpisom zlych uverov a umelo zvysia zisky. Menej transparentnosti, viac zahmlievania. Riesenie problemov sa odklada. Vitajte v novom svete, kde neviete na com ste, neviete kto je chodiaci zombie a kto je fit.

kvalitna analyza tejto zmeny.. by James Kwak