WASHINGTON -- Comptroller of the Currency Eugene A. Ludwig last week said he opposes the extension of market-value accounting standards to bank liabilities.
Mr. Ludwig wrote Dennis R. Beresford, chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, to inform him that the Comptroller's office opposes a move to enlarge the scope of Financial Accounting Standard 115, which takes effect in 1994.
"We are not supportive of this liability project," Mr. Ludwig wrote.
Standard 115 would require financial institutions to account for some securities at market value. The accounting standards board initially wanted to include both assets and liabilities in Standard 115 but decided to study that approach some more.
Mr. Beresford, speaking at a conference sponsored by the Amercian Institute of Certified Public Accountants here, said the board willl decide in mid-December whether banks will have to mark liabilities to market.
No Delay Expected
"We think there was some basis in issuing 115 because assets are sold," explained Zane Blackburn, the Comptroller's chief accountant. "But when you look at the liabilities, they are not sold."
Mr. Beresford would not predict where the board will come out on liabilities, but he did say the board has no intention of delaying the implementation of Standard 115, as some bankers had hoped.
Looking to the future, Mr. Beresford said the board will tackle accounting standards for derivatives. He said banks are not giving investors enough information about their derivatives activities.
