Financial Reporting and Financial Crises: The Case for Measuring Financial Instruments at Fair Value in the Financial Statements

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) (2010) proposes that all financial instruments be measured at fair value in the financial statements. This commentary provides one Board member's reasoning for supporting this proposal, which is based on (1) evidence that the amortized cost model failed to provide timely information about the deteriorating financial condition of failed banks in the current financial crisis, (2) lessons learned from prior financial crises affecting financial institutions in the United States and Japan, and (3) research evidence indicating that fair value measures are most highly correlated with banks' exposures to interest rate and credit risk-two key risk exposures that have led to bank failures in the three most recent financial crises.