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Chartered Accountants of Canada Accounting Standards Board / Conseil des normes comptables

Fair Value Measurement

Status: AcSB Exposure Draft issued with comment deadline of September 7, 2010.

Both the IASB and the AcSB have issued Exposure Drafts on “Measurement Uncertainty Analysis Disclosure for Fair Value Measurements” and final standards are expected in the first quarter of 2011.

Background
Activities to Date
Next Steps
Related Information
Contact Information

Background

The objectives of the IASB’s fair value measurement project are to:
  • establish a single source of guidance for all fair value measurements required or permitted by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) to reduce complexity and improve consistency in their application;
  • clarify the definition of fair value and related guidance in order to communicate the measurement objective more clearly; and
  • enhance disclosures about fair value to enable users of financial statements to assess the extent to which fair value is used and to inform them about the inputs used to derive those fair values.

The fair value measurement project is part of the IASB’s and the FASB’s Memorandum of Understanding to achieve convergence of IFRSs and US GAAP and is also consistent with requests from G20 leaders to align fair value measurement in IFRSs and US GAAP.

Activities to Date

In May 2009, the IASB issued an Exposure Draft, “Fair Value Measurement,” proposing a new standard to replace the existing guidance in IFRSs on how to measure fair value. The proposed IFRS does not require additional fair value measurements and, except as outlined in the Highlights to the AcSB Exposure Draft, is largely consistent with:
  • SFAS 157, Fair Value Measurements, published by the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB);
  • FASB Staff Position SFAS 157-4, “Determining Fair Value When the Volume and Level of Activity for the Asset or Liability Have Significantly Decreased and Identifying Transactions that are Not Orderly”;
  • proposed FASB Staff Position, FAS 157-f that provides guidance on the fair value measurement of liabilities; and
  • the report of the IASB’s Expert Advisory Panel published in October 2008 “Measuring and disclosing fair value of financial instruments in markets that are no longer active.”

The AcSB also issued an Exposure Draft proposing to incorporate the new fair value measurement standard proposed by the IASB into Canadian GAAP as part of the IFRSs to be adopted by publicly accountable enterprises upon changeover to IFRSs. Other entities may choose to adopt IFRSs, including this proposed standard. Earlier application, including the final version of this proposed fair value measurement standard, will be permitted.

In considering the financial reporting model for pension plans, the AcSB is developing amendments to Pension Plans, Section 4100. As part of that project, the AcSB expects to propose that the final version of the IASB’s fair value measurement standard will apply also to pension plans. Therefore, the AcSB encourages pension plans to also evaluate the fair value measurement proposals and provide comments.

To gather the views of Canadians on the application of the IASB’s proposals in Canada, AcSB staff held a roundtable on September 1, 2009. The discussions served to make the IASB aware of Canadian views on this topic and assisted the AcSB in developing an informed comment letter to the IASB.

On September 29, 2009, AcSB staff submitted a comment letter responding to the IASB’s Exposure Draft. The letter agrees that the proposed standard on how to determine a fair value measurement is a significant improvement compared to existing guidance in IFRSs.  Compared to US SFAS No. 157 Fair Value Measurements, as amended (or ASC Topic 820-10), the letter identifies several significant concerns that could result in significant GAAP differences between the standards that must be addressed before finalizing the proposed IFRS. During the transition to the new fair value measurement standard, the letter also recommends that IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards be amended to allow IFRS adopters to prospectively apply the new IFRS. The AcSB staff letter posted by the IASB is available here.

On November 5, 2009, the IASB and FASB reaffirmed their commitment to the Memorandum of Understanding and agreed to a goal of making US GAAP and IFRS fair value measurement requirements the same, other than minor necessary differences in wording or style. The Boards will consider the comments received on the IASB's Exposure Draft together, and the FASB will propose amendments to US GAAP fair value measurement requirements, if necessary, to achieve that goal. The Boards also agreed that if they become aware of perceptions that the US GAAP and IFRS fair value measurement requirements are different, they will work together to address those perceptions. 

In June 2010, the IASB issued an Exposure Draft “Measurement Uncertainty Analysis Disclosure for Fair Value Measurements” (Limited re-exposure of the proposed disclosure). The Exposure Draft proposes to change the measurement uncertainty analysis disclosure required for fair value measurements categorized within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy unless another IFRS specifies that such a disclosure is not required for a particular asset or liability. When disclosing a measurement uncertainty analysis, an entity would be required to take into account the effect of correlation between unobservable inputs, when relevant. The Exposure Draft proposal is identical to the proposed measurement uncertainty analysis disclosure in the FASB’s Exposure Draft of proposed amendments to Topic 820.

The AcSB has also issued an Exposure Draft proposing to incorporate the IASB’s Exposure Draft proposal into Part I of the CICA Handbook – Accounting as part of the new standard on “Fair Value Measurement.”  Comments to the IASB and the AcSB on the Exposure Drafts are requested by September 7, 2010.

The effective date of the new standard has not yet been determined, but is expected to be no earlier than January 1, 2012. The IASB plans on completing several projects in 2010 and 2011. To help entities that apply IFRSs undertake an orderly transition to any new requirements, the IASB plans to separately publish for comment, in September 2010, a paper proposing to stagger effective dates of the new standards.

Staff expects the AcSB to issue the final standard shortly after the IASB issues its final fair value measurement standard in the first quarter of 2011.

Related Information

Contact Information

Questions or comments on this project should be directed to:

Rebecca Villmann, CA
Principal, Accounting Standards
Telephone: +1 (416) 204-3464
Fax: +1 (416) 204-3412
Canadian Accounting Standards Board
277 Wellington Street West
Toronto ON M5V 3H2 Canada