“Unreliable Accounts: How Regulators Fabricate Conceptual Narratives to Diffuse Criticism” by Karthik Ramanna: A Comment on Ideological Capture

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Palea
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Capital Market ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Fair Value Accounting ◽  
Balance Sheets ◽  
Accounting Practice

Abstract Karthik Ramanna in ‘Unreliable accounts: How regulators fabricate conceptual narratives to diffuse criticism’ considers how the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) justified a conjunctural break from historic cost accounting (HCA) to Fair Value Accounting (FVA). Karthik’s paper explores how the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) legitimized the introduction of fair value accounting (FVA). This fundamental reorientation of financial reporting practice can, he argues, be understood within a framing device: conceptual veiling. Firstly, the FASB is (suspected to be) captured by the interests of investors and capital market actors. Secondly, the FASB needed to construct new narratives to enable this reorientation in accounting practice and this was achieved with changes to the governing conceptual framework. An alternative framing device is offered in this review, that of the financialization of company financial reporting and implications for company viability as opposed to a capital market efficiency perspective. Financialized accounting facilitates the valuation of a range of asset classes to a market value. These asset valuations are speculative in nature. FVA accounting imports speculative capital market risk onto company balance sheets and this can threaten company financial stability and viability for a going concern.

scholarly journals An Evaluation Of The Implementation Of Fair Value Accounting: Impact On Financial Reporting

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen T. Cascini ◽  
Alan DelFavero
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
The United States ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Assets ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Continuous Change ◽  
Fair Value Accounting ◽  
The Cost

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The accounting industry is in a state of continuous change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In the United States, the historical cost principle has traditionally been the foundation of accounting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Until recently, assets and liabilities have been required to be recorded at their acquisition prices, with the exception of designated financial assets and financial liabilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>However, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has now created accounting standards that are distant from the cost principle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 157: Fair Value Measurements, issued in September 2006 (FAS157, now codified as ASC 820) and Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 159: The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, created in February 2007 (FAS159, now ASC 825-10-25), significantly increases the viability of fair value accounting. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the benefits and pitfalls of fair value and the corresponding affects on various stakeholders. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></span></p>

scholarly journals Fair Value Accounting: Affect On The Auditing Profession

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Pannese ◽  
Alan DelFavero
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Credit Crisis ◽  
Fair Value Accounting ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Business Entities ◽  
Recent Financial Crisis

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: text1;">During this period of global markets, multinational corporations are demanding financial accounting standards with enhanced uniformity. In an effort to achieve this objective, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have been working together on the Convergence Project, aiming to develop accounting standards that closely correlate with international financial reporting standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In September 2006 and February 2007, the FASB issued two key fair value accounting (FVA) standards which focused on providing guidelines for fair value measurement (through a classification hierarchy), expanding disclosure requirements, and also allowing business entities to increase FVA&rsquo;s application.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>However, the recent financial crisis has placed increased scrutiny on estimates derived under FVA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Consequently, a spotlight has been placed on the auditing profession, as the effectiveness of an auditor&rsquo;s ability to test estimates derived under FVA has been questioned due to numerous firms approaching collapse in the midst of the credit crisis. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Thus, the purpose of this paper is to present the challenges auditors face when auditing FV estimates, and to discuss the profession&rsquo;s capability of adapting to FVA in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></p>

scholarly journals Fair-value-accounting, inactieve markten en procycliciteit

2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-26
Author(s):  
Bert-Jan Bout ◽  
Ralph Ter Hoeven ◽  
Henk Langendijk
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Advisory Panel ◽  
International Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Fair Value Accounting ◽  
Expert Advisory ◽  
Mate Waarin

In deze bijdrage besteden wij aandacht aan de gevolgen van inactiviteit van de markten voor de wijze waarop de fair value van financiële instrumenten wordt bepaald. De bestaande IFRS hieromtrent en de aanvullende guidance van de door de Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) en International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) opgerichte Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) worden in dit kader behandeld. Tevens bespreken wij de vermeende procyclische werking van waardering tegen fair value aan de hand van een aantal onderzoeksrapporten die nader ingaan op de achtergronden en oorzaken van de invloed van fair-value-accounting (FVA) op het financiële systeem. In een jaarrekeningonderzoek onder alle banken en verzekeraars binnen de ‘FTSE Eurofirst 300’-index, wordt nagegaan in hoeverre de financiële activa en financiële verplichtingen op fair value zijn gewaardeerd; de gevoeligheid voor fair-value-veranderingen wordt daarbij op netto-basis beoordeeld. Daarnaast is onderzocht of er een verband bestaat tussen de grootte van een bank en de mate waarin financiële activa en financiële verplichtingen op fair value zijn gewaardeerd. Ook wordt onderzocht, aan de hand van de fair-value-hiërarchie, in hoeverre marktinactiviteit invloed heeft gehad op de wijze waarop de financiële instrumenten zijn gewaardeerd. Tevens geven wij enkele best practices op een aantal toelichtingsgebieden. Het artikel sluiten wij af met een nabeschouwing.

Do Financial Statement Users Judge Relevance Based on Properties of Reliability?

2012 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 1335-1356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Kadous ◽  
Lisa Koonce ◽  
Jane M. Thayer
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Firm Valuation ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
International Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Representational Faithfulness ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACT Relevance and reliability (now referred to as “representational faithfulness”) are qualities of financial information that both the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board use in setting standards for financial reporting. Despite their importance, very little research has addressed how financial statement users apply these constructs. Via experiments set within the fair value context, we show that users do not view them as independent constructs. Instead, variations in properties that are associated with the reliability of a measurement influence users' assessments of the relevance of fair value. The relationship between assessed relevance and assessed reliability is unidirectional, in that factors underlying reliability influence judgments of relevance, but factors underlying relevance do not influence judgments of reliability. Our findings are important because inappropriate assessments of relevance can influence firm valuation. The results are particularly meaningful in the context of fair value because such measurements can vary widely in reliability. JEL Classifications: M41.

Selecting Railway Investments in 1890s America

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-93
Author(s):  
Joel E. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Accounting Data ◽  
Rational Decisions

ABSTRACT The purpose of financial reporting is to provide information to investors and creditors to help them make rational decisions (Financial Accounting Standards Board [FASB] 2010). Tracing the development of investors' methods should help with understanding the role of financial accounting. This study examines investment practices involving railways in 1890s America. As such, it furthers our knowledge about the development of investment methods and their necessary information. Moreover, it shows that as investment methods grew in sophistication, there was an enhanced demand for greater comparability in accounting data to make meaningful analyses. Competing investment strategies, largely devoid of accounting information, are also discussed.

Viewing the 1996 FAF Restructuring as Policy Making without a Formal Due Process

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul B. W. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Public Accounting

In 1996, a major financial reporting controversy emerged, escalated, and was resolved without substantial exposure or a formal due process. Specifically, a committee of the Financial Executives Institute (FEI) sent a letter to the chair of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) asserting that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) “process is broken and in need of substantive repair.” When Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Arthur Levitt determined that neither FAF nor public accounting leaders were dealing with the FEI proposals to his satisfaction, he acted to defeat this perceived threat to FASB's independence, focusing on the composition of the FAF. In response, the FAF trustees resisted because they viewed his intervention as a threat to FASB's independence. When the trustees did not voluntarily change, Levitt proposed reconsidering Accounting Series Release No. 150, which designates FASB as the sole source of GAAP for SEC filings. Eventually, Levitt prevailed. This paper describes this intervention as a case of policy making without a formal due process and adds to the already weighty evidence that accounting standards are political.

scholarly journals Valuation Implications of FAS 159 Reported Gains and Losses From Fair Value Accounting for Liabilities

2021 ◽  
pp. 0148558X2110178
Author(s):  
Sung Gon Chung ◽  
Cheol Lee ◽  
Gerald J. Lobo ◽  
Kevin Ow Yong
Keyword(s):  
Stock Returns ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Institutional Ownership ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Fair Value Accounting ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Current Period ◽  
Gains And Losses

This study examines the economic implications of fair value liability gains and losses arising from the adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 159 (hereafter, FAS 159). We find a positive correspondence between a firm’s FAS 159 fair value liability gains and losses and current period stock returns, consistent with the notion that these gains and losses are priced by equity investors. However, further analysis indicates that fair value gains and losses from liabilities have a statistically significant negative association with future returns, suggesting that investors misprice this earnings component and subsequently correct the mispricing. We also find that the negative association for fair value gains is stronger for firms with lower levels of institutional ownership.

Determinants and Consequences of Firms' Derivative Accounting Decisions

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer Pierce
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Firm Risk ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Earnings Volatility ◽  
Hedge Accounting ◽  
Reported Earnings ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACTFinancial accounting standards require derivatives to be recognized at fair value with changes in value recognized immediately in earnings. However, if specified criteria are met, firms may use an alternative accounting treatment, hedge accounting, which is intended to better represent the underlying economics of firms' derivative use. Using FAS 161 disclosures, I examine determinants of hedge accounting use and the effects of hedge accounting on financial reporting and capital markets. I find variation in firms' hedge accounting use and provide evidence that compliance costs of applying hedge accounting affect firms' decision to use hedge accounting. Firms decrease their reported earnings volatility via derivatives that receive hedge accounting and could further decrease their earnings volatility if hedge accounting were applied to all their derivatives. Inconsistent with arguments given for using hedge accounting, I fail to find a decrease in investors' assessments of firm risk from using hedge accounting.JEL Classifications: M40; M41; G32.

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