Fair Value (FAS 157) Articles
Browse articles
Arcstone Articles: re-organized, made better!
At long last, we've reorganized the Arcstone Articles to read much more like they ought to: that is, ordered by topic instead of by date. We'll keep tinkering. Heck, we may completely remodel. But for now, you'll want to know that all of our articles are organized into the following...
Full Text
SEC & FASB clarify 157
This afternoon the Chairman of the SEC, together with FASB staff, released a short document to clarify the application of FASB Statement No. 157, "Fair Value Measurements." The guidance provides clarification on the use of broker quotes and financial models, application to illiquid markets, and additional information relating to impairments....
Full Text
Excellent CFO.com article on 157
Alrighty, folks. Here's a great article on SFAS 157. Now, if all we did was link to the myriad pieces relating to SFAS 157, we'd have little time to value companies. In the words of David Katz, Fair Value has "achieved the improbable feat of making front-page news." Sensationalism aside,...
Full Text
Dan Primack puts 157 on trial
Dan Primack of PE Hub / PE Week Wire fame recently put FAS 157 on trial. Read his short account here. I'm afraid we've been to (and participated in) too many sessions with the same topic and nowhere near the entertainment value. Cheers to Dan for making a sobering topic...
Full Text
Hodgkin to speak on valuation
Alex Hodgkin, Managing Director of Arcstone Partners, will participate in a panel discussion alongside co-panelist Tom Miller, Managing Director of Quist Valuation, to tackle issues of Fair Value and financial reporting. James Beck of the Mayfield Fund will moderate the discussion. The panel will take place Friday, July 18 at...
Full Text
FAS 157 reckoning in TheDeal.com
Today, at last, FAS 157 made its splash in the private equity scene as it was granted an appropriately-sized article in The Deal. As Dan Primack says (separately, in PE Hub), it's "the most important private equity issue that not enough of us are reporting on." Our thoughts: FASB 157...
Full Text
Auctioning Options
David Reilly appeared on C2 of the WSJ today with an article on the SEC's final clearance for Zions Bancorp to use an auction process to value employee stock options. It's a novel approach that Zions will presumably take to market. Potentially a nice option for publicly traded companies to...
Full Text
The FAS 157 Train: an analogy that won’t stop
Catching up on some overdue summer reading, I picked up the June issue of the Venture Capital Journal (VCJ) to read about the latest from Tuck’s Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship. Some interesting trends jump out of a survey recently conducted by professors Blaydon and Wainwright, which are confirmed...
Full Text
Unité, Clarité, Fraternité?
David Reilly is on a FAS 157 tear. Appearing on the right column of C1 in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Mr. Reilly penned an article about the newly formed Center for Audit Quality, an industry group that has “emerged as the voice of the Big Four.” It’s a nice quick...
Full Text
FASB votes not to delay FAS 157
During today's open meeting of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the members discussed the application of FASB Statement No. 157, Fair Value Measurements and considered deferring the current effective date. My partner Alex Hodgkin, who is in Connecticut today at the quarterly Appraisal Issues Task Force meeting, received word that...
Full Text
Public Equities and Fair Value
A good friend of mine is an analyst at a large, well-regarded hedge fund. We fell into conversation about the New Dial, and how valuation specifically relating to SFAS 157 is influencing the way publicly traded companies are reporting earnings. My friend subscribes in part to the investment philosophy of...
Full Text
The New Dial
Jonathan Weil of Bloomberg wrote today about the implications of Fair Value accounting under SFAS 157, and the possibly misleading results that can be reported under this new standard. It’s a quick read about Wells Fargo’s quarterly earnings statement, well worth your time. In the article, Mr. Weil writes, “Here’s...
Full Text
A Gem from the AITF Top 25
Noting the absence of authoritative guidance relating to Fair Value accounting, the Appraisal Issues Task Force (AITF) paper from February 2006 highlights a significant issue: a valuation specialist and a financial auditor “may disagree on the appropriate approach to value an asset.” Naturally. However, as the AITF paper points out,...
Full Text
AITF Issues Futile Wish List
My partner Alex Hodgkin just returned from the quarterly meeting of The Appraisal Issues Task Force in Chicago. In case you haven’t heard (I hadn’t either), the AITF issued a paper in February 2006 that listed their Top 25 issues they have with FASB’s position on Fair Value for Financial...
Full Text