Fair value suspension branded 'stupid'

Analysts have said that the possiblity of fair value being dropped in one part of the world while it still operates in another is 'stupid.'

The move has been ruled out in Europe for now, but might still happen in the US. The prospect of having a suspension in fair value in one jurisdiction while it still operates in another would cause serious comparability problems for end-users.

'Would you have [mark- to market suspended] just in the US, just in the UK, or just in my office? There would be no comparability.' said Peter Elwin head of accounting and valuation research at Cazenove Equities. 'How stupid is that?'

His comments were made at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Meet the Experts event in London, which also heard from Bob Herz, chairman of FASB.

'Suspending fair value is completely the wrong thing to do,'added Elwin.

Sarah Deans of JP Morgan called for fair value rules to be toughened not relaxed. The chartered accountant said: ' We should have more fair value for financial instruments not less. I am very alarmed at the proposals. I would rather have fair value than what someone thinks or hopes what something might be worth.'

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