The International Accounting Standards Board will today consider adjusting its rules to make it easier for banks to reclassify some of their holdings and account for more financial instruments at cost rather than at their depressed market value.
Most bank assets are reported at fair, or current market, value. Plunging markets and the credit freeze have led to banks and insurers writing down billions in the value of their holdings, crushing profits and undermining capital reserves.
At the weekend, the US Financial Accounting Standards Board issued guidance on its own fair value rules by adding examples of how to operate in the current illiquid markets after similar work by the IASB.