Accounting For Financial Instruments: An Overview

The explosion in the growth of derivative financial instruments in recent years is a major cause of concern for accounting standard-setters. This paper considers the reasons for the growth and identifies the accounting problems associated with these instruments. The relevant United States and Australian pronouncements are discussed. Major proposals in ED 59 Financial Instruments are outlined and two critical issues concerning the automatic writedown of financial assets and the treatment of anticipatory hedges are identified. ED 59 contains similar proposals to E 48 issued by the IASC. However, there are some differences between the two documents and these are discussed. The paper also considers possible developments in accounting for financial instruments.