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LJN NewslettersNewsSectionsThe Corporate Counselor

SEC Mark-to-Market Report

BY Marvin J. Miller Jr.
January 28, 2009

As attorneys, why should we care about developments in fair value accounting? In a word: Disclosure. The further clarification and guidance on fair value and mark-to-market accounting requirements appear to be heading in a direction that may require increased disclosure requirements which may in turn require our input.

Mark-to-Market Accounting Report

The latest development in this process occurred on Dec. 30, 2008, when the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) submitted to Congress its study on mark-to-market accounting, Report and Recommendations Pursuant to Section 133 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008: Study on Mark-to-Market Accounting (available at www.sec.gov/news/studies/2008/marktomarket123008.pdf) (the “SEC Report”). Overall, the SEC Report contains a very useful history of valuation measurements and approaches to provide historical context to the issuance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (“FASB”) Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 157: Fair Value Measurements (September 2006) (summary available at www.fasb.org/pdf/fas157.pdf), or FAS 157, and attempts to show that FAS 157 was a logical and necessary step in the evolution of the fair-value accounting process. (A discussion of the methodology used by the SEC in gathering the information for the SEC Report is beyond the scope of this paper. See SEC Report, Section II.A., p. 43.) The SEC Report also contains eight recommendations to improve fair value and mark-to-market accounting requirements, as well as suggestions for monitoring developments and implementation of standards in the future. (The Eight Recommendations are summarized in the SEC Report on pp. 7-10.)

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