Press Release

INVESTORS WELCOME A COMMON APPROACH TO FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING IN CURRENT TURBULENT MARKET

13 December 2007

The Investment Management Association (IMA) has welcomed the paper published today on fair value accounting by the Global Public Policy Committee (GPPC), which is made up of the six main accounting practices [1].  The IMA believes this paper will help raise further awareness of the requirements for fair value measurement of financial assets and liabilities, along with the related disclosures, as set by International Financial Reporting Standards.  It will also go some way to ensure that the current market turmoil does not result in inconsistent application of existing standards on fair value for 31 December year ends.

Commenting, Liz Murrall, Senior Adviser for Corporate Governance at the IMA said:

"The fact that the main practices have come together to draw up this guidance in advance of the year end is welcome. The current ‘credit crunch' means that this is not a normal market and there are not necessarily going to be willing buyers and sellers to determine fair value.  This is a global problem which will have an impact on all entities, not just financial institutions.  In this situation there is bound to be considerable uncertainty around valuations and the need to secure uniform standards is ever more important."

The GPPC paper can be viewed here