US watchdog begins fair value education drive

US financial watchdog, the SEC, is to begin a campaign of executive education by focusing on fair value accounting, one of the most controversial topic in board rooms struggling with the effects of the credit crunch.

SEC commisioner Paul Atkins will headline a conference for CEOs and CFOs at the University of South Florida alongside Edward Trott of FASB, the US' accounting standard setter working in tandem with the IASB.

The agenda is expected to be pro fair value at a time when many in corporate America, as well as the UK, have thrown doubt on its ability to properly reflect true financial positions.

Michael Mard, a valuation expert who will lead several workshops at the event, agrees that the topic is timely and quoted Bear Stearns as an example of the need for pinpoint financial reporting. Ahead of the conference he said: 'Did Bear Stearns collapse because $46bn of assets were marked to fair value, $17bn of which was at the lowest Level 3 of reporting? Or did it collapse because its financial reporting did not show the extent of its dependency on sub-prime mortgages and hedge fund calls and thus was not transparent enough?'

Atkins was once a partner at PwC in advisory while Trott was at KPMG for 30 years and led the firm's national accounting group.