Accounting for Financial Instruments

This work, motivated by the controversy surroundingfair value accounting for all financial instrumentsin financial institutions, generates empiricalevidence on preparer and user preferences. Anunderstanding of actual perceptions is important forstandard-setters to determine the most acceptableaccounting standard for financial instruments,particularly for the complex financial institutionsindustry in Australia and Singapore, two prominentfinancial markets of the Asian Pacific region. Onaverage, preparers neither strongly support norstrongly oppose fair value accounting, while usersare slightly more supportive. Results show thatachieving the qualitative characteristics espoused bythe IASB framework for financial reporting is farmore important than trying to fulfill the differentneeds of various groups. This slight support for fairvalue accounting is part of a bigger tapestry of aslow but steady movement towards fair valuemeasurement in financial accounting and reporting.The findings would be useful to those interested inaccounting standards, especially in relation to fairvalue accounting for financial instruments infinancial institutions.

Autorentext

Rebecca Chyi Woan Tan, PhD: Research interest in international financial accounting, accounting education and also environmental accounting. Published in the International Journal of Accounting, Australian Accounting Review and Asian Review of Accounting. Senior Lecturer at The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

Klappentext
This work, motivated by the controversy surrounding fair value accounting for all financial instruments in financial institutions, generates empirical evidence on preparer and user preferences. An understanding of actual perceptions is important for standard-setters to determine the most acceptable accounting standard for financial instruments, particularly for the complex financial institutions industry in Australia and Singapore, two prominent financial markets of the Asian Pacific region. On average, preparers neither strongly support nor strongly oppose fair value accounting, while users are slightly more supportive. Results show that achieving the qualitative characteristics espoused by the IASB framework for financial reporting is far more important than trying to fulfill the different needs of various groups. This slight support for fair value accounting is part of a bigger tapestry of a slow but steady movement towards fair value measurement in financial accounting and reporting. The findings would be useful to those interested in accounting standards, especially in relation to fair value accounting for financial instruments in financial institutions.