|
NEWS RELEASE
Sept. 30, 2008
ABA Media Contact: Jonathan Snowling
(202) 663-5468
E-mail: jsnowlin@aba.com
ABA COMMENDS SEC AND FASB FOR CLARIFICATION OF FAS 157 (FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING GUIDELINES)
by Edward L. Yingling, ABA president and CEO
"The American Bankers Association applauds Chairman Cox and the Securities and Exchange Commission for clarifying the SFAS 157 accounting rules for measuring fair value. This guidance will help auditors more accurately price assets that are difficult to value under current market conditions. The SEC's action will give preparers and auditors of financial statements a better understanding of the accounting literature as they prepare third quarter reports.
"Since March the ABA has strongly made the case that repairs to SFAS 157 could be done within the standard itself. We believed that was the most realistic way to address the problems with SFAS 157 and possibly the only way to resolve the issue in time for banks' financial statements for the period ending on Sept. 30.
"More and more of our members in recent weeks have raised concerns that a number of accounting firms were mistakenly interpreting SFAS 157 in a way that required marking assets to fire sale values. We expressed the urgency of the situation in a letter to the SEC on Tuesday of last week, which was followed by a productive meeting on Thursday with representatives of the SEC, PCAOB, FASB, and eight major accounting firms."
###
The American Bankers Association brings together banks of all sizes and charters into one association. ABA works to enhance the competitiveness of the nation's banking industry and strengthen America's economy and communities. Its members – the majority of which are banks with less than $125 million in assets – represent over 95 percent of the industry's $13.3 trillion in assets and employ over 2 million men and women.
| 
