Selective Trading of Available-for-Sale Securities: Evidence from U.S. Commercial Banks

This paper examines the selective trading of available-for-sale (AFS) securities by U.S. banks after the implementation of fair value accounting under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 115, Accounting Standards Codification Topic 320. Our findings suggest firms still engage in earnings management through selective selling of AFS securities despite the mandatory disclosure of unrealized security holding gains and losses in their financial statements. Such activities do not appear to be driven by the lack of reliability of the fair value measure. Instead, the degree of earnings management varies significantly with the reporting format of unrealized AFS security holding gains and losses. We find evidence of earnings management among banks that choose to report unrealized holding gains and losses in the statement of shareholders’ equity. By contrast, we find no such evidence among banks disclosing unrealized holding gains and losses in the income statement.     

Foreign Currency Translation Reporting and the Exchange-Rate Exposure Effect

This study further explores a structural break in the relation between stock returns of firms with foreign currency positions and lagged exchange rate changes (exchange rate exposure effect) documented in Bartov and Bodnar (1994). We examine whether changes in the financial accounting reporting of foreign currency positions from SFAS No. 52 might have improved investors' ability to characterize firms' economic exchange rate exposures, and thus the impact of exchange rate movements on firm value. Our findings indicate that only firms reporting using the dollar as the functional currency (i.e., those reporting as if they were still under SFAS No. 8) retain a significant relation between the lagged change in the dollar and firm value in the post-SFAS No. 52 period. For firms reporting using the foreign currency as the functional currency (i.e., those who switched to the new translation method) the significant lagged relation disappears. This is consistent with the use of a foreign currency as the functional currency under SFAS No. 52 facilitating valuation of U.S. firms with foreign operations.     

Choice of Accounting Method for Valuation of Investment Securities: Evidence from Hong Kong Firms

This study examines whether Hong Kong managers choose “benchmark” or “alternative” valuation method for investment securities, after the Hong Kong SSAP 24 became effective starting with fiscal‐year ending December 31, 1999. Tests are conducted on a sample of 292 firms, out of which 155 Hong Kong firms reported unrealized gains and losses and 128 firms that did not report holding gains/losses, but reported investment securities. The findings indicate that firms with strong relative performance, i.e. current year's EPS higher than that of the last year, chose the alternative valuation method when the investment securities had holding gains and recognized the unrealized holding gains in the equity section of the balance sheet. This finding is consistent with the Cookie Jar hypothesis because these holding gains would be used in the income statement in future periods, when needed. With regard to firms with strong relative performance and holding losses, the findings indicate that the benchmark valuation was used. The losses were reported in the income statement to the extent that they did not reduce the EPS below that of the last year. This finding is consistent with the Income Smoothing Hypothesis, because the use of benchmark valuation reduced EPS of the current year to bring it in line with that of the last year. Evidence on firms with weak economic performance and holding gains or losses provided weak support to the Income Smoothing Hypothesis and Big Bath Hypothesis. Additionally, the results indicate that the firms with high debt‐equity ratio preferred the benchmark method and recorded securities at cost. This treatment provided managers with an opportunity to liquidate or reclassify the securities in future periods and use the accrued gains, when needed. The findings are inconclusive with regard to the impact of bonus plan on the choice of valuation method.     

Hedging Foreign Exchange Exposure: Risk Reduction from Transaction and Translation Hedging

Using a sample of Swedish firms we investigate the risk reducing effect of foreign exchange exposure hedging. Further, we investigate risk reduction from using different hedging instruments, and particular interest is directed towards the impact of transaction exposure hedges and translation exposure hedges respectively. We find that firms' foreign exchange exposure is increasing with the level of inherent exposure, measured as the difference between revenues and costs denominated in foreign currency, and that it is decreasing with firm size. We find a significant reduction in foreign exchange exposure from the use of financial hedges. The evidence suggests that the usage of foreign denominated debt as well as currency derivatives reduce firms' foreign exchange exposure. Further, we find that transaction exposure hedges significantly reduce exposure, and that translation exposure hedges also reduce exposure. A possible explanation for the latter is that translation exposure approximates the exposed value of future cash flows from operations in foreign subsidiaries (i.e. economic exposure). If so, by hedging translation exposure, economic exposure is reduced.     

SFAS 133 and income smoothing via discretionary accruals: The role of hedge effectiveness and market volatility

This study investigates whether the Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 133 (SFAS 133) influences firms’ income smoothing via discretionary accruals decisions. Moreover, we investigate whether the level of hedge effectiveness and market volatility affects the impact of SFAS 133 on firms’ income smoothing via discretionary accruals decisions. Consistent with our predictions, we find a significant increase in income smoothing via discretionary accruals activity after the adoption of SFAS 133. We also find that income smoothing via discretionary accruals after the adoption of SFAS 133 increases with the level of hedge ineffectiveness. By contrast, we find that perfect hedgers do not engage in more income smoothing via discretionary accruals after the adoption of SFAS 133. Finally, we find that the higher the market volatility is the larger the income smoothing is via discretionary accruals after the adoption of SFAS 133. This implies that higher market volatility makes it more difficult for firms to meet hedge accounting requirements, thereby increasing unmanaged earnings volatility and income smoothing. Prior studies suggest that regulators are expressing concern about the effect of earnings management on the quality of reported earnings and the functioning of capital markets (e.g., Barton, 2001 ). In this regard, our findings imply that accounting standard setters should take into account the trade‐off between transparency and income smoothing.     

The Foreign Exchange Exposure Management Practices of Finnish Industrial Firms

This study employs questionnaire survey and financial accounting data to extend earlier empirical work on the foreign exchange (FX) exposure management practices of Finnish industrial firms. The paper concentrates on: (i) the form that FX corporate hedging policy takes; (ii) the control of FX procedures and trading; and, (iii) our respondents' perceptions about their ability to predict FX rate changes for hedging decisions. Our results indicate that the extent to which firms hedge FX exposure depends on the type of exposure and the form that FX hedging policy takes. Also, a significant number of the firms pursue FX hedging strategies on the expectation of attaining trading profits and this strategy appears to be accommodated within their FX policies. This feature is not explicitly demonstrated in previous studies. Finnish firms hedge a much higher proportion of both transaction and translation exposures compared to economic exposure. We partly attribute this emphasis to the requirements of the Finnish Accounting Act, which came into effect in 1993. The organisational, historical and financial settings of the firms also have significant impacts on exposure management practices. The overall implication of those results is that firms respond to changes in the financial, economic and regulatory environments in which they operate.     

Foreign Currency Translation Under Two Cases-Integrated and Isolated Economies

Beaver and Wolfson (1982 BW) identify economic interpretability and symmetry as desirable properties for financial statement translation. They then analyze translation methods with respect to these properties assuming perfect and complete markets between and within both countries (referred to, here, as the integrated economies case).
This study extends BW's analysis by examining isolated economies characterized by perfect and complete internal markets and a random relationship between prices and exchange rates. In BW's integrated economies case, inflation differentials drive exchange rate changes. No exchange risk exists, although monetary assets are exposed to the risk of unexpected inflation. Isolated economies expose monetary and nonmonetary items to both exchange and inflation risk.
In both cases, economic interpretability and symmetry can be achieved only by current value accounting translated at current exchange rates. In the integrated economies case, symmetry alone is achieved through current value accounting translated by current exchange rates for monetary items and historical costs translated by historical rates for nonmonetary items. In the isolated economies case, symmetry alone is achieved through current value accounting for monetary items and historical cost for non-monetary items, all translated at the current rate. In both cases, including translation gains or losses in income is a condition for these results.
This extension of BW demonstrates (1) the translation rate required for symmetry depends upon the assumed relationship between prices and exchange rates, (2) a well-defined economic scenario exists where historical cost accounting using current rate translation results in symmetry, and (3) the results depend on including translation gains and losses in income.     

Hidden risks of hedge accounting in financial institutions: A study of Franklin Savings Association

The hedge accounting standards for financial institutions stipulated in SFAS No. 80 impose ambiguous guidelines whose enforcement can produce detrimental effects on the financial condition of institutions. Combining these standards with the interpretive authority of regulatory agencies can subject institutions to regulatory risk-the risk of an adverse regulatory ruling resulting from disparate interpretations of the accounting standards. The accounting regulations specified in SFAS No. 80 permit financial institutions to defer derivative-contract losses over the life of the underlying asset or liability. If the hedge designation is misused, however, the capital position of the institution may potentially be misstated prior to maturity of the derivative contracts. Further, when a hedging program goes awry, the current hedge accounting standards may actually encourage the shift to what is actually a speculation program by permitting a larger asset base on which to “earn back” a portion of the hedging losses. Thus, institutional programs initially designed to mitigate interest-rate risk can instead become risk-increasing, separate profit centers. Events leading to the RTC conservatorship of Franklin Savings Association are used to illustrate the opportunities and regulatory threats inherent in hedge accounting. Subsequent analysis indicates that similar ordeals could be avoided by a clarification of hedge accounting standards, the consistent application of standards by regulators, or by increasing capital requirements for those institutions that use derivatives as separate profit centers as opposed to hedging risk exposures.     

外币报表折算方法选择的多维视角分析——从SFAS 8到SFAS 52转变的思考

外币报表折算方法的选择是争论较多的一个会计难题,从SFAS 8到SFAS 52的转变出发,从汇率理论到会计理论和决策理论进行多视角的分析,可以发现时态法和现时汇率法各自的理论上的优点和缺陷。立足现实的角度,我国的外币报表折算方法应采取更为灵活的策略。     

美国公司呈报全面收益方式研究及启示

本文对美国公司全面收益的呈报情况进行了研究,以确定在SFAS130发布后的几年间,美国公司主要以何种方式报告全面收益。研究显示,大多数公司在股东权益变动表列示其它全面收益和全面收益总额。目前,没有充分的证据表明全面收益能更好地预示未来现金流量或对股票价格有影响。     

全面收益观发展动态及其在我国会计准则体系中的应用

本文认为,全面收益概念的出现标志着人们已从更广阔的意义上关注收益信息的披露。适应全面收益观对财务业绩报告进行改革是国际趋势,我国新发布的新企业会计准则体系也反映出了全面收益观的应用,引入了利得和损失概念,增加了所有者权益变动表,并对利润表的结构和内容进行了改革。     

Delayed price response to the announcements of earnings and its components in Finland

Several studies report that even after accounting earnings are announced, estimated cumulative unexpected returns continue to drift up for firms that report unexpectedly good earnings and down for firms that report unexpectedly bad earnings. This paper shows that because Finnish companies tend to pay more attention to tax considerations than so-called economic reality when preparing their financial reports, this drift does not exist for reported earnings, i.e. net profit based on Finnish accounting regulations. It appears, however, that several other income levels assessed by financial statement analysis are important in this respect. The results imply that firms that make extensive adjustments for tax purposes have high unexpected returns. This is explained by the fact that those firms have enough income to extensively exploit the depreciation and other earnings management possibilities.     

浅议资产减值会计在我国的发展

在以历史成本计量资产价值的情况下,资产减值损失只有在相关资产发生转让、出售等时才予以确认,其结果是会计报表所反映的资产价值和净利润等均被高估,从而导致财务会计报告难以真实地反映企业实际的财务状况和经营成果。本文在对资产减值会计在我国发展的基础上,比较了我国资产减值会计与国际惯例的差异,对我国资产减值会计发展进行思考,阐述我国资产减值会计的发展趋势。     

The Effect of Aggregation of Accounting Information via Segment Reporting on Accounting Conservatism

In a sample of U.S. multiple-segment firms, we document a negative association between aggregation via segment reporting and timely loss recognition. A higher level of aggregation, as reflected in a firm’s reported organizational structure (the definition and characteristics of its segments), causes a multiple-segment firm to exhibit less cross-segment variation in profitability than a matched control portfolio of single-segment firms. We find that firms that engage in more aggregation report accounting numbers that provide less timely information about economic losses. We also observe that firms that provide more disaggregated segment data subsequent to adopting SFAS 131 experienced an increase in timely loss recognition. This result implies that higher quality segment reporting leads to an increase in timely loss recognition, which, per extant research, is associated with better governance. Our results complement results in Berger and Hann [2003. The impact of SFAS No. 131 on information and monitoring. Journal of Accounting Research, 41, 163–223] that show a decline in inefficient internal-capital-market transfers subsequent to the adoption of SFAS 131. Overall, we provide evidence supporting Beyer, Cohen, Lys, and Walther’s [2010. The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 50, 296–343] contention that accounting conservatism is, in part, a function of managers’ aggregation choices.     

Economic Determinants of Multiple Accounting Method Choices in a Swiss Context

This article investigates economic determinants that may affect multiple accounting method choices made by Swiss listed companies. It intends to make a contribution to the accounting choice literature for at least four reasons. This is, to our knowledge, the first study to investigate the economic determinants of Swiss accounting method choices. Second, Swiss firms provide an interesting sample for testing accounting method choices because they can choose from a much wider range of accounting methods than their American counterparts. Third, this study examines the balance sheet effect as well as the income statement effect. Lastly, multiple accounting methods are used instead of individual choices. The empirical results exhibit that income‐accelerating accounting method choices is positively associated with the recourse to bank and private loans, the extent of assets specificity and the ownership dilution of the firm and negatively with labour force. Additionally, firms that select leverage‐ratios decreasing accounting methods, make higher recourse to debt and especially bank loans to finance their activities and exhibit a higher proportion of specific assets than other corporations. Overall, this result suggests that in a Swiss context, managers may select accounting methods to decrease both debt and political costs as well as to increase their own compensation to some extent.     

Relative Value Relevance of Alternative Accounting Treatments for Unrealized Gains: Implications for the IASB

We investigate the relative value relevance of the alternative accounting methods for unrealized gains on investment properties in New Zealand (NZ). Using both the Likelihood‐ratio test and the F‐test, we find that, while preferred by the NZ standard setter, recognition of unrealized gains in the income statement is not superior to (or significantly different from) recognition of unrealized gains in revaluation reserve in terms of their value relevance. The results are robust to the different research methods we used. Our results have implications for the International Accounting Standards Board in terms of: (i) recognizing changes in fair values of investment properties in the income statement under the revised IAS 40: Investment Property in countries where “realization” refers to net income available for distribution; (ii) its intent to issue a standard on a single statement of comprehensive income; and (iii) its initiative to reduce or eliminate alternative accounting treatments for similar fact situations in its standards.     

关于会计要素几个问题的思考

本文注意到会计要素的重要性及其在不同国家财务会计概念框架中的差异性,首先探讨了会计要素设置的决定因素,并分析了与此相关的一个典型问题——为什么现金流量表不设置会计要素。此外,本文还对收入与利得的区分及其经济后果进行了探讨,并分析了资产计价先于收益决定的逻辑基础。最后,本文还对资产的定义进行了综评。     

Tax asymmetry and futures hedging under liquidity constraints

This paper examines the optimal futures hedging decision of a firm facing uncertain income that is subject to asymmetric taxation with no loss‐offset provisions. All futures contracts are marked to market and require interim cash settlement of gains and losses. The firm is liquidity constrained in that it is forced to prematurely close its futures position on which the interim loss incurred exceeds a threshold level. The liquidity risk created by the interim funding requirement of a futures hedge is shown to proffer the firm perverse incentives, thereby making an under‐hedge optimal. This under‐hedging result holds irrespective of whether the firm is risk neutral or risk averse. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Operational Hedging Properties of Intangible Assets: the Case of Non–voluntary Foreign Asset Selloffs

In this paper we examine the valuation effects and long–term performance of US multinational firms involved in forced transfers of their foreign operating assets during the 1965–88 period. The evidence suggests that the operational hedging ability of the firm to address country risk (nationalization threats) is related to the level of its intangible assets. While it is well known that firms with high levels of intangible assets prefer foreign direct investment, our results show that intangible assets have hidden properties of protection against country risk as well. We document significantly negative abnormal returns only for divesting firms with low levels of intangible assets, but not for firms with high levels of intangible assets. In addition, we show that low (high) growth firms are involved in partial (complete) withdrawals, and show that the long–term economic performance of firms choosing the complete withdrawal strategy is better than those that opt to remain. We argue that management's attempt to maintain economic links in a hostile foreign environment can be attributed in part to the firm's low growth opportunities, performance, and lack of contingent plans to address country risk.     

苏宁云商财务报表分析

本文运用杜邦分析法分析苏宁云商(002024)在2011年1月1日到2012年12月31日的财务报表(主要包括资产负债表、利润表),利用净资产收益率、销售净利率、资产周转率、权益乘数等指标对其经营状况和财务成果做出评价和建议。