Deferral of the Effective Date of Certain Provisions of FASB Statement No. 125—an amendment of FASB Statement No. 125 (Issued 12/96)

Summary

FASB Statement No. 125, Accounting for Transfers and Servicing of Financial Assets and Extinguishments of Liabilities, was issued in June 1996 and establishes, among other things, new criteria for determining whether a transfer of financial assets in exchange for cash or other consideration should be accounted for as a sale or as a pledge of collateral in a secured borrowing. Statement 125 also establishes new accounting requirements for pledged collateral. As issued, Statement 125 is effective for all transfers and servicing of financial assets and extinguishments of liabilities occurring after December 31, 1996.

The Board was made aware that the volume and variety of certain transactions and the related changes to information systems and accounting processes that are necessary to comply with the requirements of Statement 125 would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for some affected enterprises to apply the transfer and collateral provisions of Statement 125 to those transactions as soon as January 1, 1997. As a result, this Statement defers for one year the effective date (a) of paragraph 15 of Statement 125 and (b) for repurchase agreement, dollar-roll, securities lending, and similar transactions, of paragraphs 9-12 and 237(b) of Statement 125.

This Statement provides additional guidance on the types of transactions for which the effective date of Statement 125 has been deferred. It also requires that if it is not possible to determine whether a transfer occurring during calendar-year 1997 is part of a repurchase agreement, dollar-roll, securities lending, or similar transaction, then paragraphs 9-12 of Statement 125 should be applied to that transfer.

All provisions of Statement 125 should continue to be applied prospectively, and earlier or retroactive application is not permitted.