Since the release last year of the FASB’s “signature” Statement, SFAS 157, Fair Value Measurements, the Board received requests to defer the effective date—currently scheduled for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007.  At a meeting two weeks ago (see BVWire # 61-3), the Board declined to adopt a “blanket” deferral, according to former Board member Ed Trott, who addressed a standing-room-only session at the ASA conference.  However, the Board did ask its staff to review ways to issue partial deferrals.  “Public companies present one possible area,” he said, as do intangible assets, but financial instruments most likely will not support deferral.  “I think it would be a shame to the user community to take away the dispersion of fair value measurements,” Trott added, but the Board will meet again in the next few weeks to discuss the possibility of “slicing” the effective date through partial deferrals.  For a calendar of open meetings, click here.

In the meantime, the final version of SFAS 141R, Business Combinations—Applying the Acquisition Method, a joint effort by the FASB and the IASB, is “due any day now,” Trott said. But in another session devoted exclusively to application of 141R, Gerald Mehm indicated that the long-awaited release, originally scheduled for the beginning of November, may yet be delayed.  “There are still some troubling areas,” he said, including measurement of non-controlling interests and intangibles.  “The latest rumblings from the FASB suggest that there is such a thing as 'defensive value,'” Mehm added, “and the Board will be issuing guidance.”  For a current project update, click here.