FASB Accounting Standard (FAS) 133 on derivatives and hedging might be the regulation that everyone loves to hate but after 10 years and multiple revisions, many companies have gotten used to it as the devil they know. So, not surprisingly, FASB's latest fair value accounting proposal for hedges is garnering mixed reviews. The revision would simplify accounting for some – but by no means all – hedges and expand disclosures in financial statements. "People have been suggesting revisions almost since FAS 133 was issued in 1998," says Darren Greway, vice president of product development at treasury services provider FXpress. Greway sees the proposal as a step toward a better model for hedge accounting. "This is probably the most anticipated revision of any FASB statement for a long time," he adds.
Others question the need for more tinkering with FAS 133. "The trend in our market is that companies are becoming more comfortable with FAS 133," says Wolfgang Koester, CEO of FiREApps, a provider of foreign exchange exposure technologies.
Jiro Okochi, CEO and co-founder of Reval, which specializes in managing derivative hedges and implementing FAS 133, agrees: "The feedback we're getting from a lot of companies is, 'You've got to be kidding. Enough is enough.'" By suggesting that there's still room for improvement, FASB "has already made it worse for those companies that invested the time and money to get [hedge accounting] right," he says. (See Jiro Okochi's Final Word on page 46.)
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