Mark to Market 0
What I’ve been saying:
But if a financial firm holds securities specifically for sale or in a liquid trading book, and funds itself partly or mainly with short-term borrowing, what do investors need to know? Pretty obviously, roughly what the securities would fetch if sold. Supporters of a fairly strict mark-to-market approach say its critics are blaming the messenger for problems of financial firms’ own making.
Now FASB appears to be caving under political pressure, at least to a point. Its proposed rules would give financial companies’ bosses and auditors more discretion to ignore actual market transactions as valuation benchmarks – instead using computer models or other methods to arrive at a value.
The Wall Street Bankers balance sheets have been fantasies for years. Now they shall be fantasies with the sanction of the accountancy profession.
Birds of a feather and all that . . . .
