When the SEC and other regulators (such as the PCAOB—Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) look at the BV landscape, they see “an alphabet soup in chaos,” according to Bruce Bingham, ASA (Trenwith Valuation, LLC), who also spoke at the rich and informative CICBV/ASA conference. These agencies have expressed “grave concerns” about the BV community’s ability to regulate itself—and unless cohesive, consistent standards emerge from the profession, he warns, “we will have a problem, and other regulatory entities will tell us how to ‘keep our house.’”

Bingham currently chairs the International Valuation Standards Committee (IVSC) team of experts who will be drafting standards and implementation guidance on fair value measurement of intangible assets. The IVSC team will coordinate its efforts with those by the Appraisal Foundation’s task force, chaired by Jay Fishman, ASA (Financial Research Associates), who is serving both committees. Bingham indicated that an outline for the new standard will be out soon for comment; in the meantime, visit IVSC for more information.