Fair value standard will be released next month: Tweedie

International Accounting Standards Board chairman, Sir David Tweedie, said he will release a new fair value accounting rule by November.

In an address to a meeting of European Finance Ministers, which have in the past been critical of the IASB’s response to the financial crisis, Tweedie has sought to ease concerns by announcing that he is on track to deliver a new fair value standard by the end of this year.

“I gave a commitment to deliver on this timetable. We will publish the new standard in November,” he said.

The accounting rule known as fair value came under fire from banks and sections of Europe in the wake of the financial crisis. The rule, which forces companies to measure their assets at their fair market value, led to huge write downs as financial institutions struggled to sell assets in stagnant markets.

Controversially, Tweedie said he will not require loan books to be held at fair value which has now become a potential sticking point between the IASB and its US counterpart the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

FASB's proposal will see all assets measured at fair value. The IASB's mixed measurement model would see banks' loan books valued on an amortised cost basis.

The two standard setters are trying to converge US and international accounting rules, in the hope that the US will eventually adopt the new rules. But the fair value standard has now emerged as a significant obstacle, highlighted by Tweedie who said he simply did have the time to co-ordinate efforts with FASB in the revision of fair value, in the wake of the financial crisis.

“As I said in June, given the urgency of the fundamental issues surrounding IAS 39, none of us can afford the potential protracted back-and-forth resulting from piecemeal changes in international and US standards that would undermine the comprehensive and desperately needed reform that is under way,” he said.

“In our discussions with the FASB aiming to reach a common global approach, we will emphasise our position in favour of a mixed measurement model over one that requires full fair value measurement on the balance sheet… I remain optimistic that we can overcome our current differences.”