ARC endorses IAS 39 with two parts modified
04 Oct 2004
At its meeting in Brussels on 1 October 2004, the Accounting Regulatory Committee of the European Commission voted to recommend endorsement of IAS 39 for use in Europe, with two modifications.
The modifications (1) prohibit use of the IAS 39 fair value option as it applies to liabilities, and (2) allow using fair value hedge accounting for interest rate hedges of core deposits on a portfolio basis. With respect to hedging of core deposits, EU member states can elect to require the unmodified version of IAS 39. Further, if a Member State permits the modified version, companies can elect to apply the unmodified IAS 39. Click to download the published (PDF 13k). The fair value option as it applies to liabilities is regarded as inconsistent with the IV Accounting Directive and therefore the modification is required for all companies. Even though IFRSs become mandatory in Europe in 2005, the ARC has yet to vote on endorsement of the revised versions of 14 IASs that were adopted by the IASB in December 2003 as part of its Improvements Project (to date, the EC has endorsed only the pre-2003 versions). Nor has the ARC endorsed IAS 32, IFRSs 2 through 5, or IFRIC 1. These are expected to be considered at ARC's 30 November 2004 meeting.