Fair Value Accounting for All Financial Instruments: Perceptions from Managers of Australian Financial Institutions

The Joint Working Group (JWG) proposal for the measurement of all financial instruments at fair value and the recognition of changes in fair value in the income statement met with criticism from the Joint Working Group of Banking Associations QWGBA). This research study investigates the extent to which chief financial officers in Australian financial institutions agree with the JWGBA. Findings indicated respondents tended to agree, albeit to a lesser extent, with the JWGBA. Conversely, they also agree with the JWG, as they believe fair-value information is not commercially sensitive and could be reliably determined.     

DEVELOPMENTS IN SIZE LABELLING OF WOMEN'S GARMENTS

This article describes the developments in the womenswear trade which brought about the need for a standard system of size labelling, and how this has evolved to the present day where an international system of size labelling is now being adopted.     

User Requirements for Not-For-Profit Entity Financial Reporting: An International Comparison

This study investigates the not-for-profit (NFP) external financial reporting regulatory environments of the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand and compares them with that of Australia. It finds a lack of clarity in the definition of a NFP entity under Australian accounting standards. The study also identifies various types of information that earlier research and the guidance in other countries suggest are useful to the users of NFP entities' financial statements. This information is not currently required under Australian accounting standards.     

Sex equity in early childhood environments

Many children spend their days in day-care centres where they have the opportunity to learn about sex appropriate behaviours. The instrument Sex Equity in Early Childhood Environments (SEECE) was developed for use in promoting equiry. Field-tested and revised, the instrument addresses the areas of teaching behaviour, child awareness, centre and community, facilities and equipment and career awareness. The SEECE instrument can be used with relative ease in focusing on changes needed to achieve a more equitable environment.     

Federal Home Loan Bank Advances and Commercial Bank Portfolio Composition

Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances are a source of government‐sponsored liquidity intended to encourage housing finance, although “community financial institutions” may use such funds more generally. Because money is fungible, it is an empirical question as to how advances are actually employed. Using panel‐vector autoregression techniques, we estimate dynamic responses of U.S. commercial bank portfolios to: FHLB advance shocks, bank lending shocks, and macroeconomic shocks. We find that FHLB advances: (i) are used as a general source of liquidity by U.S. commercial banks of all sizes and (ii) dampen the sensitivity of mortgage lending to macroeconomic shocks at small banks.