I'm not sure what type of derivatives are being talked about since I don't see how otc derivatives can be marked to market. Some derivatives can be marked to market though, for instance, mutual fund shares, futures and options.
Posted by Bob at March 17, 2004 07:10 AMNon-Competitive Trade Barriers are nothing new. The EU and the US in fact all nations use them accounting standards for manipulating and adopting import tariffs. The un-declared war on trade between the US and the EU is probably the biggest cost item, the accounting standards are merely one battle. As an American I find it amazing that people would even want one accounting standard since taxation and amortization tables vary so widely.
As far as derivatives go the offsetting of risk is a normal course of business, and expensing employee awarded options should not occur until they are exercised. The two issues of derivatives and employee options are similar in nature in that the event may or may not occur; the same is true of estimated taxes. So the real answer is a cash accounting system that takes everything as it happens.
So if the derivatives, options, and taxes were recorded and posted as cash items and a calendar of charts of accounts based on time value were posted in real time the nature of liabilities could be assigned a time value, not a periodic value based on some committee dictate.
Posted by Jim Nesfield at March 17, 2004 07:23 AM