Accounting For Financial Instruments For Securities and Investment Term Paper

Accounting For Financial Instruments For Securities and Investment Companies and Banking Institutions - Term Paper Example In particular, the use of the SFAS 157 accounting policy differs in its application for the banking industry and investment companies. Recent bouts of credit crises have ended in lasting implications in which financial instruments have stringent regulations. International accounting standards demand that certain procedures get disclosure in the accounting and valuation of financial instruments and securities. The standards are highly specific on fair value measurements for different classes of financial instruments. The objective of this report is to debate the differences in accounting for financial instruments and securities in investment companies and banking corporations with regard to SFAS 175 (ASC 820-20). Advancements in economic perspectives are responsible for the unprecedented increase in the use of financial instruments. Therefore, accounting regulations bodies have had to come up with policy guidelines to keep pace with these changes. Policy changes in regulation of finan cial instruments will continue to affect the industry for many years to come. An intriguing and somewhat challenging issue pertaining to the use of financial instruments and securities is the difference in their usage across a range of industries. SFAS 157, on fair value measurements, seeks to fill this important role and resolve any obstructing issues. This paper discusses how the financial reporting standard varies for the investment and the banking industries. SFAS 157 (ASC 820-10) Fair Value Measurements The fair value measurement standard, which came into force in 2006, seeks to provide a unified framework that offers greater consistency in application of fair value measurement guidelines (J.P. Morgan, 2).SFAS 157, Fair Value Measurement, defines fair value, outlines a framework for its measurement through levels, and expands disclosures relating to fair value. The accounting statement provides a major pronouncement to the measurement of fair value for financial instruments, an d its effects spread to several corporate entities. The broad mandate of the SFAS 157 is to increase disclosure requirements for fair value measurements. IFRS standards require that the measure on securities be at fair value. Previously, accounting regulations on measurement of value for financial instruments were scattered and inconsistent, and the Fair Value Measurements guidelines’ intention was to lay a foundation for all fair value measurements, disambiguate the term ‘fair value’, and enhance disclosures falling under the fair value categorization (Deloitte, 7). To some extent, the disclosure of the financial instrument values and particularly securities differs with the industry type, notably for the banking and the investment industry. Terms on Fair Value Measurement In SFAS 157, fair value is the price at which an asset is saleable or transferrable between participants in the market at the date the measurement takes place (J.P. Morgan, 3). Inputs can eith er be observable and unobservable, where the observable inputs are indicative of the market conditions and the unobservable inputs indicate the company’s perspective on the price of an asset. An active market is one where daily price is obtainable and the fair value is easy to obtain without reliance on forecasting models or other forms of adjustments. Accounting for Financial Instruments and Securities Financial instruments are negotiable cash instruments with a certain financial worth. Financial instruments give an entity the right to receive or the commitment to provide cash or another financial instru