The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) today published for public comment proposals to improve the information available to investors and others about fair value measurements of financial instruments and liquidity risk.

The proposals form part of the IASB’s response to the credit crisis and follow recommendations of the Financial Stability Forum, which had the support of the Group of Seven (G-7) Finance Ministers.

The proposals also reflect discussions by the IASB’s Expert Advisory Panel on measuring and disclosing fair values of financial instruments when markets are no longer active.

Introducing the proposals, Sir David Tweedie, Chairman of the IASB, said:

The credit crisis has heightened concerns about liquidity risk and pointed to the need for entities to explain more clearly to the outside world how they determine the fair value of financial instruments, especially those that are particularly complex. The proposals build on the advice we have received from the IASB’s Expert Advisory Panel.

For more information about the IASB’s response to the credit crisis, please click here.

The exposure draft Improving Disclosures about Financial Instruments (proposed amendments to IFRS 7) is open for public comment until 15 December 2008. It is available on the ‘comment letter’ section on this Website from today.

Printed copies (ISBN 978-1-905590-77-3) will be available shortly, at £10.00 plus shipping, from:

IASC Foundation Publications Department,
30 Cannon Street, London EC4M 6XH, United Kingdom.

Tel:  +44 (0)20 7332 2730
Fax +44 (0)20 7332 2749
Email: publications@iasb.org
Web: www.iasb.org