GASB Issues Statement No. 53, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivative Instruments

Business Wire, June 30, 2008

NORWALK, Conn. -- The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) today issued GASB Statement No. 53, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivative Instruments. Statement 53 is intended to improve how state and local governments report information about derivative instruments--financial arrangements used by governments to manage specific risks or make investments--in their financial statements. The Statement specifically requires governments to measure most derivative instruments at fair value in their financial statements that are prepared using the economic resources measurement focus and the accrual basis of accounting. The guidance in this Statement also addresses hedge accounting requirements and is effective for financial statements for reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2009, with earlier application encouraged.

"By requiring the fair values of derivative instruments to be reported on the face of financial statements prepared using the accrual basis of accounting, Statement 53 brings additional transparency to those transactions," said Robert Attmore, chairman of the GASB. "The application of the financial reporting standards required by this Statement gives the users of financial statements a clearer look into the risks their governments are sometimes exposed to when they enter into these transactions and how those risks are managed."

Governments often enter into derivative instruments as hedges of identified financial risks associated with specific assets or liabilities, or expected transactions (that is, hedgeable items). Many of these hedges are intended to effectively offset changes in interest rates or commodity prices. While derivative instruments can be an effective risk management or investment tool, they also can expose governments to significant risks and liabilities.

The new standard provides specific criteria that governments will use to determine whether a derivative instrument will result in an effective hedge. Changes in fair value for effective hedges that are achieved with derivative instruments will be recognized in the reporting period to which they relate. The changes in fair value of these hedging derivative instruments do not affect current investment revenue, but are instead reported as deferrals in the statement of net assets or the balance sheet. Derivative instruments that either do not meet the criteria for an effective hedge or are associated with investments that are already reported at fair value are classified as investment derivative instruments for financial reporting purposes. Changes in fair value of those derivative instruments are reported as part of investment revenue in the current reporting period. Statement 53 also improves disclosures, providing a summary of the government's derivative instrument activity, its objectives for entering into derivative instruments, and their significant terms and risks.

More information about GASB Statement 53-- including a question and answer document, fact sheet, and plain language article--is available at www.gasb.org.

About the Governmental Accounting Standards Board

The GASB is the independent, not-for-profit organization formed in 1984 that establishes and improves financial accounting and reporting standards for state and local governments. Its seven members are drawn from the Board's diverse constituency, including preparers and auditors of government financial statements, users of those statements, and members of the academic community. More information about the GASB can be found at its website www.gasb.org.