NEWS RELEASE 06/29/06
GASB to Hold Panel Discussions, Public Hearing and User Roundtable on Derivatives
Norwalk, CT, June 29, 2006—In line with its commitment to open and rigorous due process, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) will hold panel discussions, a public hearing, and a roundtable exclusively for external financial statement users, regarding the GASB's Preliminary Views (PV) document, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivatives. The panel discussions and roundtable are a part of the GASB's efforts to offer a variety of opportunities for its constituents to respond, in addition to more traditional methods such as comment letters and public testimony.
The panel discussions, hearing, and roundtable are scheduled for July 10, 2006, in New York City at The New School for Social Research, 65 Fifth Avenue (between 13th and 14th Streets), Second Floor, New York, NY. (This is a new location.) The panel discussions will begin at 9 a.m. EDT and are expected to conclude at noon. The public hearing will be conducted between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. The user roundtable will begin at 3 p.m. EDT and is expected to conclude at 5 p.m. EDT.
Each of the three panel discussions scheduled will feature persons with differing perspectives-a financial statement preparer, a user of financial statements, and a member of the derivatives community. The user roundtable will be an informal opportunity for financial statement users to provide feedback to the GASB on its proposals.
Individuals or organizations that want to make an oral presentation at the public hearing should provide to the GASB, by June 30, 2006, a written notification of that intent and a copy of written comments addressing the issues discussed in the PV. Individuals or organizations that want to participate in the user roundtable should contact the GASB by July 7, 2006, to express interest in participating. Due to security measures at The New School for entry into the building, all participants and observers are required to provide their name and affiliation to Ragan Vincent (rpvincent@gasb.org or 203-956-5372) by July 7, 2006
The PV proposes that the fair value of derivatives be reported in the financial statements as well as the change in that fair value. If, however, a derivative is effectively hedging (reducing) the risk it was created to address, then the annual changes in the derivative's fair value would be deferred and reported in a government's balance sheet. Governments also would disclose additional information about their derivatives in the notes to the financial statements.
Written comments on the PV should be sent to the GASB by July 28, 2006. The PV and a plain-language summary written especially for financial statement users and other non-accountants are available to download free from the GASB's website 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.