At its meeting on November 14, 2007, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) reaffirmed its vote against a blanket deferral of Statement 157, Fair Value Measurements.  “For fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007, companies will be required to implement the standard for financial assets and liabilities, as well as for any other assets and liabilities that are carried at fair value on a recurring basis in financial statements,” says a recent FASB release.  “As a result, Statement 157 becomes effective as originally scheduled in accounting for the financial assets and liabilities of financial institutions.”  

The Board did provide a one-year deferral for the implementation of Statement 157 for other nonfinancial assets and liabilities, and promises to issue an exposure draft “in the near future” on this partial deferral.  In the meantime, its release of SFAS 141R, Business Combinations: Applying the Acquisition Method, the joint project of the IASB and FASB may be encountering delays.  While the Technical Plan still schedules the final release of 141R for the fourth quarter of this year, the most recent project update (as of November 19, 2007) merely indicates that “the next step is for the FASB and the IASB to issue their final business combinations and noncontrolling interest standards.  The issuance date has not been determined.”