FASB Issues Guidance to Assist in Transition Away from Interbank Offered Rates to New Reference Rates
Norwalk, CT, March 12, 2020—The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) today issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) that provides temporary optional guidance to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform.
“This new ASU provides stakeholders with the guidance they need to ease the process of migrating away from LIBOR and other interbank offered rates to new reference rates,” said FASB Chairman Russell G. Golden. “It addresses operational challenges stakeholders raised with the Board and will help simplify matters going forward. At the same time, the new guidance will also help reduce transition-related costs,” he added.
LIBOR and other interbank offered rates are widely used benchmark or reference rates in the United States and globally. Trillions of dollars in loans, derivatives, and other financial contracts reference LIBOR, the benchmark interest rate banks use to make short-term loans to each other.
With global capital markets expected to move away from LIBOR and other interbank offered rates toward rates that are more observable or transaction based and less susceptible to manipulation, the FASB launched a broad project in late 2018 to address potential accounting challenges expected to arise from the transition.
The new guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying generally accepted accounting principles to contract modifications and hedging relationships, subject to meeting certain criteria, that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued.
The ASU is intended to help stakeholders during the global market-wide reference rate transition period. Therefore, it will be in effect for a limited time through December 31, 2022.
The ASU, along with a “FASB in Focus” overview, is available at www.fasb.org.
About the Financial Accounting Standards Board
Established in 1973, the FASB is the independent, private-sector organization, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, that establishes financial accounting and reporting standards for public and private companies and not-for-profit organizations that follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The FASB is recognized by the Securities and Exchange Commission as the designated accounting standard setter for public companies. FASB standards are recognized as authoritative by many other organizations, including state Boards of Accountancy and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). The FASB develops and issues financial accounting standards through a transparent and inclusive process intended to promote financial reporting that provides useful information to investors and others who use financial reports. The Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) supports and oversees the FASB. For more information, visit www.fasb.org.