Warning 1:  Many of the links were broken when the FASB changed all of its links.  If a link to a FASB site does not work , go to the new FASB link and search for the document.  The FASB home page is at http://www.fasb.org/ 

Warning 2:  In February 2008 the FASB for the first time allowed users free access to its "FASB Accounting Standards Codification" database. Access will be free for at least one year, although registration is required for free access. Much, but not all, information in separate booklets and PDF files may now be accessed much more efficiently as hypertext in one database. The Glossary below has not been updated for the Codification Database. Although the database is off to a great start, there is much information in this Glossary and in the FASB standards that cannot be found in the Codification Database. You can read the following at http://asc.fasb.org/asccontent&trid=2273304&nav_type=left_nav

Welcome to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification™ (Codification).

The Codification is the result of a major four-year project involving over 200 people from multiple entities. The Codification structure is significantly different from the structure of existing accounting standards. The Notice to Constituents provides information you should read to obtain a good understanding of the Codification history, content, structure, and future consequences.

Click here to view the Notice to Constituents (Adobe Acrobat format).

The DIG documents are not yet available in the Codification Database, but they can now be accessed at  http://www.fasb.org/derivatives/ 
Over 300 pages of  DIG pronouncements can be downloaded from  http://www.fasb.org/derivatives/allissuesp2.pdf 

FAS 133 and IAS 39 Glossary and Transcriptions of Experts
Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

The FASB's Derivatives and Hedging Glossary (in the Accounting Standards Codification Database) ---
http://asc.fasb.org/subtopic&trid=2229141&nav_type=left_nav

Bob Jensen's CD --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/Calgary/CD/

I'm sharing some old (well relatively old) accounting theory quiz and exam material that I added to a folder at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/Calgary/CD/

"What’s a Couple of Hundred Trillion When You’re Talking Derivatives?" by Floyd Norris, The New York Times, September 23, 2006 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/23/business/23charts.html

Everett McKinley Dirksen, the Senate Republican leader in the 1950’s, is supposed to have said, “A billion here and a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.” What would he have thought of derivatives today?

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, a trade group, reported this week that the outstanding nominal value of swaps and derivatives at the end of June was $283.2 trillion.

Compare that with the combined gross domestic product of the United States, the European Union, Canada, Japan and China, which is about $34 trillion. The total value of all homes in the United States is about the same amount.

To be sure, notional value is an exaggerated term as it greatly overstates the amount at risk in many contracts. But the growth rate is real, and in the fastest-growing area of swaps — credit default swaps — notional value is closer to the amount at risk, because such swaps promise to make up the losses if a borrower defaults on the notional amount.

The value of outstanding credit default swaps doubles every year — a trend that must eventually stop — and now equals $26 trillion. That is about the same as the total amount of bond debt in the United States, and corporate debt, on which most credit swaps are traded, comes to just $5.2 trillion.

The credit derivatives cover the risks of default by individual companies, and offer insurance against default for bond indexes and specified bond portfolios.

The growth of the market has forced the swaps and derivatives association to change the way its credit swaps work. It used to be that if a company defaulted, the writer of a credit swap would have to pay par value for the bond he had guaranteed, and could then sell the bond to reduce his losses.

But in some cases defaults led to bond rallies, as those who had purchased credit swaps scrambled to get bonds to deliver. Now traders can choose cash settlements, with the amounts to be paid determined through auctions.

Until 1997, the association provided separate numbers on currency and interest rate contracts, but innovations blurred the distinction between those categories, and now it publishes a combined total. At the end of June, the figure was $250.8 trillion, up 25 percent over the previous 12 months.

Growth in that market slowed markedly early in this decade, as worldwide markets cooled, and there was even one annual decline, from mid-2000 to mid-2001. But growth picked up in 2002 as economies began to recover.

The volume outstanding of equity derivatives is rising by about 30 percent a year, and now totals $5.6 trillion. It could go farther, with world stock market capitalization now about $41 trillion, according to Standard & Poor’s.

Robert Pickel, the chief executive of the association, said that the growth in derivatives enables “more and more firms to benefit from these risk management tools.” On the other hand, the situation allows more and more traders to load up on risk if they choose, and hedge funds have become major derivatives traders.

The combination of large unregulated hedge funds trading ever larger amounts of unregulated derivatives in nontransparent markets makes some people nervous. But so far, anyway, little is being done to change the situation, and nothing devastating has happened to markets.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
One of the main differences between a "financial instrument" versus a "derivative financial instrument" is that the notional is generally not at risk in a "derivative financial instrument." For example if Company C borrows $600 million from Bank B in a financial instrument, the notional amount ($600 million) is at risk immediately after the notional is transferred to Company C. On the other hand, if Company C and Company D contract for an interest rate swap on a notional of $600 million using Bank B as an intermediary, the $600 million notional never changes hands. Only the swap payments for the differences in interest rates are at risk and these are only a small fraction of the $600 million notional. Sometimes the swap payments are even guaranteed by the intermediary, thereby eliminating credit risk.

So where's the risk of a derivative financial instrument that caused all the fuss beginning in the 1980s and led to the most complex accounting standards ever written (FAS 133 in the U.S. and IAS 39 internationally)?

Often there is little or no risk if the derivative contracts are held to maturity. The problem is that derivatives are often settled before maturity at huge gains to one party and huge losses to the counterparty. For example, if Company C swaps fixed-rate interest payments on $600 million (having current value risk with no cash flow variation risk) for variable-rate interest payments on $600 million (having cash flow variation risk but no market value variation risk), Company C has taken on enormous cash flow risk that may become very large if interest rates change greatly in a direction not expected by Company C. If Company C wants to settle its swap contract before maturity it may have to pay an enormous amount of money to do so either to counterparty Company D or to some other company who will take the swap off the hands of Company C. The risk is not the $600 million notional; Rather the risk is in the shifting value of the swap contract itself which can be huge even if it is less than the $600 million notional amount.

Perhaps derivative financial instrument risk is even better illustrated by futures contracts. Futures contracts are traded on organized exchanges such as the Chicago Board of Trade. If Company A speculates in oil futures on January 1, there is no exchange of cash on a 100,000 barrel notional that gives Company A the right to sell oil at a future date (say in one year) at a forward price (say $100 per barrel) one year from now. As a speculation, Company A has gambled by hoping to buy 100,000 barrels of oil one year from now for less than $100 per barrel and sell it for the contracted $100 price.

But futures contracts are unique in that they are net settled in cash each day over the entire one year contract period. If the spot price of oil is $55 on January 12 and $60 on January 13, Company A must provide $500,000 = ($60-$55)(100,000 barrels) to the counterparty on January 13 even though the futures contract itself does not mature until December 31. If Company A has not hedged its position, its risk can become astounding if oil prices dramatically rise. Company A's futures contract had zero value on January 1 (futures contracts rarely have value initially except in the case of options contracts), but the value of the futures contract may become an enormous asset or an enormous liability each each day thereafter depending upon oil spot price movements relative to the forward price ($100) that was contracted.

Hence, derivative contracts may have enormous risks even though the notionals themselves are not at risk. Prior to FAS 133 these risks were generally not booked or even disclosed. In the 1980s newer types of derivative contracts emerged (such as interest rate swaps) in part because it was possible to have enormous amounts of off-balance-sheet debt that did not even have to be disclosed, let alone booked, in financial statements. Astounding frauds transpired that led to huge pressures on the SEC and the FASB to better account for derivative financial instruments.

Most corporations adopted policies of not speculating in derivatives by allowing derivatives to be used only to hedge risk. However, such policies are very misleading since there are two main types of risk --- cash flow risk versus value risk. It is impossible to simultaneously hedge both types of risk, and hedging one type increases the risk of the other type. For example, a company that swaps fixed for floating rate interest payments increases cash flow risk by eliminating value risk (which it may want if it plans to settle debt prior to maturity). The counterparty that swaps floating rate interest payments for fixed rate payments eliminates cash flow risk by taking on value risk. It is impossible to hedge both cash flow and value risk simultaneously.

Hence, to say that a corporation has a policy allowing hedging but not speculating in derivative financial instruments is nonsense. A policy to only hedge cash flow risk may create enormous value risk. A policy to only hedge value risk may create enormous cash flow risk.

As the NYT article above points out that derivative financial instruments are increasingly popular in world commerce. As a result risk exposures have greatly increased even if all contracts were used for hedging purposes only. The problem is that a hedge only reduces or eliminates one type of risk at the "cost" of increasing the other type of risk. Derivative contracts increase one type or the other type of risk the instant they are signed.  Hedging shifts risk but does not eliminate risk per se.

You can read more about scandals in derivative financial instruments contracting (such as one company's "trillion dollar bet" that nearly toppled Wall Street and Enron's derivative scandals) at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds

You can download the CD containing my slide shows and videos on how to account for derivative financial instruments at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/Calgary/CD/

My FAS 133 and IAS 39 Glossary is Below.

Table of Contents and Links

Bob Jensen's FAS 133 Glossary on Derivative Financial Instruments and Hedging Activities

          Also see a comprehensive risk and trading glossary at http://risk.ifci.ch/SiteMap.htm

Glossary for the energy industry --- Also see http://snipurl.com/EnergyGlossary  

Related glossaries are listed at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbus.htm 

Click here for tutorial links 

Risk Glossary --- http://www.riskglossary.com/

If you are having trouble finding something try a Google search.  Especially note that you can add terms and phrases at http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en
For example, you can add a phrase in the second cell and individual words in the top cell.  You can fill in both cells simultaneously to narrow your search.

Also note that you can seek definitions in Google.  In the top cell type in --- define “phrase” where your phrase can be one word like “contango” or “backwardation” or a phrase like “asian option”.
It is important to first type in the word “define” without quotation marks.

Second try a search within the standard itself.  
You can find digital versions of FAS 133 by scrolling down at http://www.fasb.org/st/#fas153 
DIG text is can be searched at http://www.fasb.org/derivatives/ 
Free digital versions of IAS 39 are available but they are difficult to find in EU law.  Fee-based versions are available at http://www.iasb.org/ 

Illustrations --- See Illustrations 

Dear Professor Bob Jensen,

The Journal of Deivatives Accounting (JDA) is preparing to publish its first issue and I would be grateful if you could post the following announcement on your web site.

Regards

Mamouda

Dear Colleagues,

There is a new addition to accounting research Journals. The Journal of Derivatives Accounting (JDA) is an international quarterly publication which provides authoritative accounting and finance literature on issues of financial innovations such as derivatives and their implications to accounting, finance, tax, standards setting, and corporate practices. This refereed journal disseminates research results and serves as a means of communication among academics, standard setters, practitioners, and market participants.

The first and special issue of the JDA, to appear in the Winter of 2003, will be dedicated to:

"Stock Options: Developments in Share-Based Compensation (Accounting, Standards, Tax and Corporate Practice)"

This special issue will consider papers dealing with:

* Analysis of applicable national and international accounting standards * Convergence between IASB and FASB * Accounting treatment (Expensing) * Valuation * Corporate and market practice * Design of stock options * Analysis of the structure of stock options contracts * Executives pay incentives and performance * Taxation * Management and Corporate Governance

For more details on how to submit your work to the journal, please visit http://www.worldscinet.com/jda.html 

Sincerely,
The Editorial Board Journal of Derivatives Accounting (JDA)

An earlier FAS 133 Amendment on the Heels of the Previous (FAS 138) Amendment --- A Mere 104 Pages

Derivative Financial Instruments Frauds --- 
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud.htm

A Condensed Multimedia Overview With Video and Audio from Experts --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/000overview/mp3/133summ.htm 

A Longer and More Boring Introduction to FAS 133, FAS 138, and IAS 39 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/000index.htm 

The Devil's Derivatives Dictionary at http://www.margrabe.com/Devil/DevilF_J.html 

To understand more about derivative financial instruments, I suggest that you begin by going to the file at 
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/speakers/133swapvalue.htm  
Especially note the discussion of the shortcut method at the end of the above document.

A helpful site on FAS 133 is at http://fas133.com 

Differences between FAS 133 and IAS 39 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/canada.htm 

Auditing Requirements for Derivative Financial Securities
Auditing Derivative Instruments, Hedging Activities, and Investments in Securities
http://www.aicpa.org/members/div/auditstd/riasai/sas92.htm 

A Nice Summary of SAS 92 is Available Online (Auditing, Derivative Financial Instruments, Hedging)

SAS 92-New Guidance on Auditing Derivatives and Securities
by Joe Sanders, Ph.D., CPA and Stan Clark, Ph.D., CPA 
http://www.ohioscpa.com/member/publications/Journal/1st2001/page10.asp  

Auditors face many challenges in auditing derivatives and securities. These instruments have become more complex, their use more common and the accounting requirements to provide fair value information are expanding. There is also an increasing tendency for entities to use service organizations to help manage activities involving financial instruments. To assist auditors with these challenges, the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued SAS 92, Auditing Derivative Instruments, Hedging Activities and Investments in Securities. The ASB is also currently developing a companion Audit Guide. SAS 92 supersedes SAS 81, Auditing Investments.

SAS 92 provides a framework for auditors to use in planning and performing auditing procedures for assertions about all financial instruments and hedging activities. The Audit Guide will show how to use the framework provided by the SAS for a variety of practice issues. The purpose of this article is to summarize and explain some of the more significant aspects of SAS 92.

Scope SAS 92 applies to:

Derivative instruments, as defined in SFAS 133, Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activity. Hedging activities which also fall under SFAS 133. Debt and equity securities, as defined in SFAS 115, Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities. The auditor should also refer to APB 18, The Equity Method of Accounting for Investments in Common Stock. Special Skill or Knowledge

SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, in his speech on renewing the covenant with investors stated, "I recognize that new financial instruments, new technologies and even new markets demand more specialized know-how to effectively audit many of today's companies".1 One of the first items noted in SAS 92 is that the auditor may need to seek assistance in planning and performing audit procedures for financial instruments. This advice is based primarily on the complexity of SFAS 133. Understanding an entities' information system for derivatives, including work provided by a service organization, may require the auditor to seek assistance from within the firm or from an outside expert. SAS 73 provides guidance on using the work of a specialist.

Inherent Risk Assessment

The inherent risk related to financial instruments is the susceptibility to a material misstatement, assuming there are no related controls. Assessing inherent risk for financial instruments, particularly complex derivatives, can be difficult. To assess inherent risk for financial instruments, auditors should understand both the economics and business purpose of the entity's financial activities. Auditors will need to make inquiries of management to understand how the entity uses financial instruments and the risks associated with them. SAS 92 provides several examples of considerations that might affect the auditor's assessment of the inherent risk for assertions about financial instruments:2

The complexity of the features of the derivative or security. Whether the transaction that gave rise to the derivative or security involved the exchange of cash. The entity's experience with derivatives or securities. Whether the derivative is freestanding or an embedded feature of an agreement. The evolving nature of derivatives and the applicable generally accepted accounting principles. Significant reliance on outside parties. Control Risk Assessment

SAS 92 includes a section on control risk assessment. Control risk is the risk that a material misstatement could occur and would not be prevented or detected in a timely manner by an entity's internal control. Management is responsible for providing direction to financial activities through clearly stated policies. These policies should be documented and might include:

Policies regarding the types of instruments and transactions that may be entered into and for what purposes. Limits for the maximum allowable exposure to each type of risk, including a list of approved securities broker-dealers and counterparties to derivative transactions. Methods for monitoring the financial risks of financial instruments, particularly derivatives, and the related control procedures. Internal reporting of exposures, risks and the results of actions taken by management. Auditors should understand the contents of financial reports received by management and how they are used. For example, "stop loss" limits are used to protect against sudden drops in the market value of financial instruments. These limits require all speculative positions to be closed out immediately if the unrealized loss on those positions reaches a certain level. Management reports may include comparisons of stop loss positions and actual trading positions to the policies set by the board of directors.

The entity's use of a service organization will require the auditor to gain an understanding of the nature of the service organization's services, the materiality of the transactions it processes, and the degree of interaction between its activities and those of the entity. It may also require the auditor to gain an understanding of the service organization's controls over the transactions the service organization processes for it.

Designing Substantive Procedures Based on Risk Assessments

The auditor should use the assessed levels of inherent and control risk to determine the acceptable level of detection risk for assertions about financial instruments and to determine the nature, timing, and extent of the substantive tests to be performed to detect material misstatements of the assertions. Substantive procedures should address the following five categories of assertions included in SAS 31, Evidential Matter:

1. Existence or occurrence. Existence assertions address whether the derivatives and securities reported in the financial statements through recognition or disclosure exist at the balance sheet date. Occurrence assertions address whether changes in derivatives or securities reported as part of earnings, other comprehensive income, cash flows or through disclosure occurred. Examples of substantive procedures for existence or occurrence assertions include:3

Confirmation with the holder of the security, including securities in electronic form or with the counterparty to the derivative. Confirmation of settled or unsettled transactions with the broker-dealer counterparty. Physical inspection of the security or derivative contract. Inspecting supporting documentation for subsequent realization or settlement after the end of the reporting period. Performing analytical procedures. 2. Completeness. Completeness assertions address whether all of the entity's derivatives and securities are reported in the financial statements through recognition or disclosure. Since derivatives may involve only a commitment to perform under a contract and not an initial exchange of tangible consideration, auditors should not focus exclusively on evidence relating to cash receipts and disbursements.

3. Rights and obligations. These assertions address whether the entity has rights and obligations associated with derivatives and securities reported in the financial statements. For example, are assets pledged or do side agreements exist that allow the purchaser of a security to return the security after a specified period of time? Confirming significant terms with the counterparty to a derivative or the holder of a security would be a substantive procedure testing assertions about rights and obligations.

4. Valuation. Under SFAS 115 and SFAS 133 many financial instruments must now be measured at fair value, and fair value information must be disclosed for most derivatives and securities that are measured at some other amount.

The auditor should obtain evidence corroborating the fair value of financial instruments measured or disclosed at fair value. The method for determining fair value may be specified by generally accepted accounting principles and may vary depending on the industry in which the entity operates or the nature of the entity. Such differences may relate to the consideration of price quotations from inactive markets and significant liquidity discounts, control premiums, commissions and other costs that would be incurred to dispose of the financial instrument.

If the derivative or security is valued by the entity using a valuation model (for example, the Black-Scholes option pricing model), the auditor should assess the reasonableness and appropriateness of the model. The auditor should also determine whether the market variables and assumptions used are reasonable and appropriately supported. Estimates of expected future cash flows, for example, to determine the fair value of long-term obligations should be based on reasonable and supportable assumptions.

The method for determining fair value also may vary depending on the type of asset or liability. For example, the fair value of an obligation may be determined by discounting expected future cash flows, while the fair value of an equity security may be its quoted market price. SAS 92 provides guidance on audit evidence that may be used to corroborate these assertions about fair value.

5. Presentation and disclosure. These assertions address whether the classification, description and disclosure of derivatives and securities are in conformity with GAAP. For some derivatives and securities, GAAP may prescribe presentation and disclosure requirements, for example:

Certain securities are required to be classified into categories based on management's intent and ability such as trading, available-for-sale or held-to-maturity. Changes in the fair value of derivatives used to hedge depend on whether the derivative is a fair-value hedge or an expected cash flow hedge, and on the degree of effectiveness of the hedge. Hedging Transactions

Hedging will require large amounts of documentation by the client. For starters, the auditor will need to examine the companies' established policy for risk management. For each derivative, management should document what risk it is hedging, how it is expected to hedge that risk and how the effectiveness will be tested. Without documentation, the client will not be allowed hedge accounting. Auditors will need to gather evidence to support the initial designation of an instrument as a hedge, the continued application of hedge accounting and the effectiveness of the hedge.

To satisfy these accounting requirements, management's policy for financial instrument transactions might also include the following elements whenever the entity engages in hedging activities:

An assessment of the risks that need to be hedged The objectives of hedging and the strategy for achieving those objectives. The methods management will use to measure the effectiveness of the strategy. Reporting requirements for the monitoring and review of the hedge program. Impairment Losses

Management's responsibility to determine whether a decline in fair value is other than temporary is explicitly recognized in SAS 92. The auditor will need to evaluate whether management has considered relevant information in determining whether other-than-temporary impairment exists. SAS 92 provides examples of circumstances that indicate an other-than-temporary impairment condition may exist:4

Management Representations

The auditor must obtain written representations from management confirming their intent and ability assertions related to derivatives and securities. For example, the intent and ability to hold a debt security until it matures or to enter into a forecasted transaction for which hedge accounting is applied. Appendix B of SAS 85 (AU Sec. 333.17) includes illustrative representations about derivative and security transactions.

Summary

SAS 92 provides guidance for auditing derivatives and securities. Accounting requirements related to these instruments, SFAS 115 and SFAS 133, are very complex and because of their extensive use of fair value measures require significant use of judgment by the accountant. SAS 92 establishes a framework for auditors to assess whether the entity has complied with the provisions of SFAS 115 and SFAS 133. However, because of the subjective nature of many of the requirements of these two standards, considerable auditor judgment will be required to comply with SAS 92.

Effective Date

This SAS is effective for audits of financial statements for fiscal years ending on or after June 30, 2001. Early adoption is permitted.

 

Keeping Up With Financial Instruments Derivatives

Bob Jensen's CD --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/Calgary/CD/

I'm sharing some old (well relatively old) accounting theory quiz and exam material that I added to a folder at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/Calgary/CD/

You can find some great tutorials go to CBOE at http://www.cboe.com/education/ .   But these do not help with learning how to account for the derivatives under FAS 133 and IAS 39.  The same holds for the CBOT at http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,909,00.html  and the CME at http://www.cme.com/edu/ 

New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) for energy and metals under the Education tab at http://www.nymex.com/jsp/index.jsp 

Optionetics has some good tutorials with respect to options but these do not explain options accounting --- http://www.optionetics.com/education/trading.asp 

Daniel Oglevee's Course Site --- http://www.cob.ohio-state.edu/fin/autumn2004/723.htm 

In 2000, ISDA filed a letter to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) urging changes to FAS 133, its derivatives and hedge accounting standard. ISDA’s letter urged alterations to six areas of the standard: hedging the risk-free rate; hedging using purchased options; providing hedge accounting for foreign currency assets and liabilities; extending the exception for normal purchase and sales; and central treasury netting. The FASB subsequently rejected changes to purchased option provisions, conceded some on normal purchases and sales, extending the exception to contracts that implicitly or explicitly permit net settlement, declined to amend FAS 133 to facilitate partial term hedging and agreed to consider changing the restrictions on hedge accounting for foreign currency. 
ISDA ®INTERNATIONAL SWAPS AND DERIVATIVES ASSOCIATION, INC.http://www.isda.org/wwa/Retrospective_2000_Master.pdf  

A good tutorial on energy futures and options hedging is given by the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) under the Education tab at http://www.nymex.com/jsp/index.jsp 

Two Questions
How did Bob Jensen spend his summer vacation?
What can physicists do when they can't find jobs in physics?

Answers

I've spent a great deal of my summer and my Fall 2004 Semester leave plowing through a book entitled Quantitative Finance and Risk Managment:  A Physicists Approach by Jan W. Dash, by Jan W. Dash (World Scientific Publishing, 2004, ISBN 981-238-712-9)
This is a great book by a good writer.

For a more introductory warm up I recommend Derivatives:  An Introduction by Robert A Strong, Edition 2 (Thomson South-Western, 2005, ISBN 0-324-27302-9)

And what about opportunities for physicists?
See "A Geek's Walk on Wall Street," by Peter Coy, Business Week, November 15, Page 26.  This is a review of a book entitled My Life as a Quant, by Emanuel Derman (Wiley, 2005) --- http://www.businessweek.com/@@x3mnUmYQYMjg7RMA/premium/content/04_46/b3908024_mz005.htm 

As one of Wall Street's leading quants, Derman did throw off some intense gamma radiation. He worked at Goldman from 1985 until 2003 except for one year at Salomon Brothers. At Goldman, he moved from fixed income to equity derivatives to risk management, becoming a managing director in 1997. He co-invented a tool for pricing options on Treasury bonds, working with Goldman colleagues Bill Toy and the late Fischer Black, who co-invented the Black-Scholes formula for valuing options on stocks. Derman received the industry's "Financial Engineer of the Year" award in 2000. Now he directs the financial-engineering program at Columbia University.

Derman failed at what he really wanted, which was to become an important physicist. He was merely very smart in a field dominated by geniuses, so he kicked around from one low-paying research job to another. "At age 16 or 17, I had wanted to be another Einstein," he writes. "By 1976...I had reached the point where I merely envied the postdoc in the office next door because he had been invited to give a seminar in France." His move to Wall Street -- an acknowledgment of failure -- brought him financial rewards beyond the dreams of academic physicists and a fair measure of satisfaction as well.

In the tradition of the idiosyncratic memoir, My Life As a Quant is a grab bag of the author's interests. It quotes Schopenhauer and Goethe while supplying not one but three diagrams of a muon neutrino colliding with a proton. There is a long section on the brilliant and punctilious Fischer Black; a glimpse of physicist Richard Feynman; and an embarrassing encounter with finance giant Robert Merton, who sat next to the author on a long flight (Derman treated him rudely before realizing who he was).

Derman's mood seems to vary from bemused on good days to sour on bad ones. The chapter on his postdoc travels is titled "A Sort of Life"; his brief career at Bell Labs, "In the Penal Colony"; his tenure at Salomon Brothers, "A Severed Head." Pre-IPO Goldman Sachs comes off as relatively gentle yet stimulating. He writes: "It was the only place I never secretly hoped would crash and burn."

Continued in the article

Bob Jensen's threads (including video tutorials) on derivative financial instruments and the Freddie and Fannie scandals are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/000index.htm 

Bob Jensen's threads on the trillions of dollars of worldwide frauds using derivative financial instruments are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraudRotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds 

 

You can read a great deal about energy derivatives in The Derivatives 'Zine at http://www.margrabe.com/Energy.html 
Other topics include the following:

The Derivatives 'Zine by Dr. Risk THE WILLIAM MARGRABE GROUP, INC., CONSULTING, PRESENTS

Home ABOUT CONTACT SEARCH LINKS DICTIONARY ACCOUNTING & FAS 133 BIG APPLET ASK DR. RISK! CREDIT RISK CREDIT DP CURRENCY ENERGY EQUITY FIXED INCOME TRADING POST PERSONAL IF ONLY ... DEAL MARKET RISK MODEL RISK BOOKSHELF MATH APPENDIX JAVA JOBS! CALENDAR HUMOR GAMES DEVIL'S DD

Ask Dr. Risk!

• Free answers: Dr. Risk promises any correspondent from a business domain with a website (e.g., Mack@CSFB.com) at least a five-minute response to your important question, as soon as he has a free moment, probably within one month. 
• Fast answers: If you absolutely, positively will have to have an answer overnight, set up your consulting account, ahead of time, with the William Margrabe Group, Inc.. Introductory offer: $300 / hour with one-minute granularity. If we can't provide the answer, we'll refer you to someone who can. If we can't refer you, we'll inform you fast for free.
• No answers: LDiablo@hotmail.com, Chris1492@aol.com, BillyG@MSN.com, and Desperate@Podunk.edu, etc. can no longer count on even brief answers, unless their questions are sufficiently intriguing. Sorry. 

A question of sufficiently general interest to make it into the 'Zine, tends to generate a more comprehensive response. All questions and answers become the property of The William Margrabe Group, Inc

QUANTITATIVE FINANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT A Physicist's Approach
by Jan W Dash

This book is designed for scientists and engineers desiring to learn quantitative finance, and for quantitative analysts and finance graduate students. Parts will be of interest to research academics --- http://www.worldscientific.com/books/economics/5436.html 

804pp	Pub. date: Jul 2004
ISBN 981-238-712-9	US$98 / £73

Contents:

• Introduction, Overview, and Exercise
• Risk Lab (Nuts and Bolts of Risk Management)
• Exotics, Deals, and Case Studies
• Quantitative Risk Management
• Path Integrals, Green Functions, and Options
• The Macro-Micro Model (A Research Topic)

The above sources are not much good about accounting for derivatives under FAS 133, FAS 138, and IAS 39.  For that, go to the following source:

http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/000index.htm 

FAS 133 Tutorial, SmartPros --- http://www.smartpros.com/x33017.xml 

FAS 133, the standard for financial reporting of derivatives and hedging transactions, was adopted in 1998 by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to resolve inconsistent previous reporting standards and practices. It went into effect at most U.S. companies at the beginning of 2001.

Courtesy of Kawaller & Company, SmartPros presents this FAS 133 tutorial to help you understand the provisions of the standard. For news pertaining to FAS 133, click on the links to the right in Related Stories.

PwC Tutorial on IAS 39 --- http://www.pwcglobal.com/images/gx/eng/fs/bcm/032403iashedge.pdf 

PowerPoint Show Highlighting Some Complaints About IAS 39 and IAS 32 --- http://www.atel.lu/atel/fr/publications/Publications/030524_EACT%20mtg_Milan.ppt 

"IAS 32 and IAS 39 Revised:  An Overview," Ernst & Young, February 2004  --- http://www.ey.com/global/download.nsf/International/IAS32-39_Overview_Febr04/$file/IAS32-39_Overview_Febr04.pdf 
I shortened the above URL to http://snipurl.com/RevisedIAS32and39 

Sharing Professor  --- John Hull (who writes about financial instrument derivatives) --- http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~hull/

His great books (not free) are great, but he also shares (for free) some software and data --- http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~hull/

Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives, 5th Edition  Fundamentals of Futures and Options Markets, 4th Edition

Forwarded by Carl Hubbard on September 12, 2003

I would like to bring to your attention Analysis of Derivatives for the CFA(r) Program by Don M. Chance, CFA, recently published this year by the Association for Investment Management and Research(r). While designed for the CFA program, this publication is a terrific text for academic derivatives and risk management courses.

The treatment in this volume is intended to communicate a practical risk management approach to derivatives for the investment generalist. The topics in the text were determined by a comprehensive job analysis of investment practitioners worldwide. The illustrative in-chapter problems and the extensive end-of-chapter questions and problems serve to reinforce learning and understanding of the material.

We believe that this text responds to the need for a globally relevant guide to applying derivatives analysis to the investment process. We hope you will consider adopting Analysis of Derivatives for the CFA(r) Program for a future course.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

Helen K. Weaver
Associate
AIMR

656 PAGES
0-935015-93-0 
HB 2003

Message from Ira Kawaller on August 4, 2002

Hi Bob,

I posted a new article on the Kawaller & Company website: “What’s ‘Normal’ in Derivatives Accounting,” originally published in Financial Executive, July / August 2002. It is most relevant for financial managers of non-financial companies, who seek to avoid FAS 133 treatment for their purchase and sales contracts. The point of the article is that this treatment may mask some pertinent risks and opportunities. To view the article, click on http://www.kawaller.com/pdf/FE.pdf  .

I'd be happy to hear from you if you have any questions or comments.

Thanks for your consideration.

Ira Kawaller Kawaller & Company, LLC http://www.kawaller.com 

kawaller@kawaller.com 717-694-6270

Bob Jensen's documents on derivative financial instruments are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/000index.htm 

March 8, 2002 Message from the Risk Waters Group [RiskWaters@lb.bcentral.com] 

ONLINE TRADING TRAINING NOW AVAILABLE (Investments, Finance, Derivatives) … 
‘Introduction to Trading Room Technology’ from Waters Training. A low-cost, Web-based training solution for financial professionals. Go at your own pace, travel nowhere, and learn about the core trading processes and key technology issues from your own desktop. For more information, go to http://www.waters-training.com  to find out more. Lastly, if you have any colleagues, training managers or business associates who would be interested in this new product, please forward them this message. 
Thank you.

If you are interested in email messages regarding financial risk news, you may be interested in contacting:

Christopher Jeffery  mailto:cjeffery@riskwaters.com 
Editor, RiskNews
http://www.risknews.net 

Governmental Disclosure Rules for Derivative Financial Instruments ---  see Disclosure.

The DIG
In the meantime, the FASB formed the FAS 133 Derivatives Implementation Group (DIG) to help resolve particular implementation questions, especially in areas where the standard is not clear or allegedly onerous.  The FASB's DIG website (that contains its mission and pronouncements) is at http://www.fasb.org/derivatives/  DIG issues are also summarized (in red borders) at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/speakers/133glosf.htm#0000Begin.

IAS 138 Implementation Guidance
"Implementation of SFAS 138, Amendments to SFAS 133," The CPA Journal, November 2001. (With Angela L.J. Huang and John S. Putoubas), pp. 54-56 --- http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2001/1100/dept/d115401.htm

April 25, 2002 message from Charlie Stutesman [southwestern.email@swcollege.com] 

Dear Professor Jensen,

In direct contrast to most trade training derivatives texts which emphasize issues related to the pricing and hedging of derivatives, this groundbreaking text is designed for those who want to teach students how to manage derivatives to maximize firm value through risk management. DERIVATIVES AND RISK MANAGEMENT presents the crucial tools necessary for executives and future derivatives players to effectively hedge with derivatives in order to protect firms from losses.

* WRITTEN TO EMPHASIZE THE ROLE OF MANAGERS: Managers will use derivatives to maximize firm value as opposed to traders who may use derivatives to speculate.

* MANAGERIAL APPLICATION BOXES: Preparing users to meet the challenges of today's business decisions, real-world applications bring chapter concepts to life.

* TECHNICAL BOXES: Concepts presented within the chapters are taken to a higher level of conceptual or mathematical rigor.

We encourage you to request a complimentary exam copy of DERIVATIVES AND RISK MANAGEMENT (ISBN: 0-538-86101-0) by Stulz. Simply reply to this message, contact your South-Western, Thomson Learning representative, call the Thomson Learning Academic Resource Center at 1-800-423-0563, or go to:

http://esampling.thomsonlearning.com/s1.asp?Rid=1+JWA+1719&SC=2SCF2262 

South-Western has helped provide generations of learners with a solid foundation and true understanding of finance. Now more than ever, follow the proven leader into a new century with relevant, comprehensive, and up-to-date finance products and information.

Sincerely,

Charlie Stutesman 
Senior Marketing Manager 
charlie.stutesman@swlearning.com 

IAS 39 Implementation Guidance

Supplement to the Publication
Accounting for Financial Instruments - Standards, Interpretations, and Implementation Guidance
http://www.iasc.org.uk/docs/ias39igc/batch6/39batch6f.pdf

The IASB’s Exposure Draft of the macro hedging compromise is entitled “Amendments to IAS 39:  Recognition and Measurement Fair Value Hedge Accounting for a Portfolio Hedge of Interest Rate” and for a short time can be downloaded free from http://www.iasc.org.uk/docs/ed-ias39mh/ed-ias39mh.pdf
See Macro Hedging 

Also see Bob Jensen's Interest Rate Swap Valuation, Forward Rate Derivation,  and Yield Curves
for FAS 133 and IAS 39 on Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/speakers/133swapvalue.htm 

Hi Patrick,

The term "better" is a loaded term. One of the main criticisms leveled at IASC standards is that they were too broad, too permissive, and too toothless to provide comparability between different corporate annual reports. The IASC (now called IASB) standards only began ot get respect at IOSCO after they started becoming more like FASB standards in the sense of having more teeth and specificity.

I think FAS 133 is better than IAS 39 in the sense that FAS 133 gives more guidance on specific types of contracts. IAS 39 is so vague in places that most users of IAS 39 have to turn to FAS 133 to both understand a type of contract and to find a method of dealing with that contract. IAS 39 was very limited in terms of examples, but this has been recitified somewhat (i.e., by a small amount) in a recent publication by the IASB: Supplement to the Publication Accounting for Financial Instruments - Standards, Interpretations, and Implementation Guidance http://www.iasc.org.uk/docs/ias39igc/batch6/39batch6f.pdf 

In theory, there are very few differences between IAS 39 and FAS 133. But this is like saying that there is very little difference between the Bible and the U.S. Commercial Code. Many deals may be against what you find in the Bible, but lawyers will find it of less help in court than the U.S. Commercial Code. I admit saying this with tongue in cheek, because the IAS 39 is much closer to FAS 133 than the Bible is to the USCC.

Paul Pacter wrote a nice paper about differences between IAS 39 and FAS 133. However, such a short paper cannot cover all differences that arise in practice. The paper is somewhat dated now, but you can find more recent updates on differences at Differences between FAS 133 and IAS 39 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/canada.htm  

Although there are differences between FAS 133 and IAS 39, I would not make too big a deal out of such differences. IAS 39 was written with one eye upon FAS 133, and the differences are relatively minor. Paul Pacter's summary of these differences can be downloaded from http://www.iasc.org.uk/cmt/0001.asp?s=490603&sc={65834A68-1562-4CF2-9C09-D1D6BF887A00}&sd=860888892&n=3288 

Also note "Comparisons of International IAS Versus FASB Standards" --- http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/pocketiasus.pdf

Hope this helps,

Bob (Robert E.) Jensen Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212 Voice: (210) 999-7347 Fax: (210) 999-8134 Email: rjensen@trinity.edu http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen 

-----Original Message----- 
From: Patrick Charles [mailto:charlesp@CWDOM.DM]  
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 11:54 AM 
To: CPAS-L@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU 
Subject: US GAAP Vs IASB

Greetings Everyone

Mr Bolkestein said the rigid approach of US GAAP could make it easier to hide companies' true financial situation. "You tick the boxes and out come the answer," he said. "Having rules is a good thing, but having rigid rules is not the best thing.

http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3AHWRLXXC&live=true&tagid=FTDCZE6JFEC&subheading=accountancy

Finally had a chance to read the US GAAP issue. Robert you mentioned IAS 39, do you have other examples where US GAAP is a better alternative to IASB, or is this an European ploy to get the US to adopt IASB?

Cheers

Mr. Patrick Charles charlesp@cwdom.dm  ICQ#6354999

"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."

Bob Jensen's Glossary of FAS 133 and IAS 39

Bob Jensen's Overview of FAS 133 (With Audio) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/000index.htm 

Interest Rate Swap Valuation, Forward Rate Derivation,  and Yield Curves
for FAS 133 and IAS 39 on Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments 
See http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/speakers/133swapvalue.htm

FAS 133 flow chart  http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/speakers/133flow.htm

Bob Jensen's Document on the Missing Parts of FAS 133

Summary of Key Paragraphs in FAS 133 on Portfolio/Macro Hedging.

Bob Jensen's Weekly Assignments and Hints Regarding FAS 133

Bob Jensen's Technology Glossary (Includes an Extensive Listing of Accounting and Finance Glossaries)

ACCT 5341 International Accounting Theories Course Helpers

Yahoo Finance is Bob Jensen's Favorite Place to learn more about the mechanics and widespread use of derivative financial instruments.  That web site, however, will not help much with respect to accounting for such instruments under FAS 133.

Bob Jensen's Mexcobre Case

For a FAS 133 flow chart, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/speakers/133flow.htm 

Internet Links of Possible Interest

Bob Jensen's Transcripts of Presentations by Experts

• The web address for my multimedia overview of FAS 133 can be found at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/000overview/133suma.htm. 
  

• James Leisenring from the Financial Accounting Standards Board
  Stephen Swad from KPMG Peat Marwick LLP
  
  

• James Leisenring from the Financial Accounting Standards Board
  Lynn Turner from the Securities and Exchange Commission
  
  

• Paul Pacter from the International Accounting Standards Committee
  
  

• Walter Teets from Gonzaga University
  
  

PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Summary Tables (With Some Notes Added by Bob Jensen) 

Derivatives Implementation Group (DIG) 

For a FAS 133 flow chart, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/speakers/133flow.htm 

Differences between FAS 133 and IAS 39 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/canada.htm

Side by Side: IAS 39 Compared with FASB Standards (FAS 133), by Paul Pacter, as published in Accountancy International Magazine, June 1999 --- http://www.iasc.org.uk/news/cen8_142.htm 
Also note "Comparisons of International IAS Versus FASB Standards" --- http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/pocketiasus.pdf

IAS 39 history --- http://www.iasc.org.uk/cmt/0001.asp?s=6941204&sc={CB32B469-886C-4486-86B7-36E49358DDE5}&sd=617116004&n=3306 

Limited Revisions to IAS 39, Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement (E66) --- http://www.iasc.org.uk/cmt/0001.asp?s=6941204&sc={CB32B469-886C-4486-86B7-36E49358DDE5}&sd=268256258&n=3222

Recognition and Measurement (E66)

E66, Proposed Limited Revisions to IAS 39 and Other Related Standards, proposed the following limited revisions to IAS 39, Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement, and other related Standards: changes to require consistent accounting for purchases and sales of financial assets using either trade date accounting or settlement date accounting. IAS 39 currently requires settlement date accounting for sales of financial assets, but permits both trade date and settlement date accounting for purchases; elimination of the requirement in IAS 39 for a lender to recognise certain collateral received from a borrower in its balance sheet; improvement of the wording on impairment recognition; changes to require consistent accounting for temporary investments in equity securities between IAS 39 and other International Accounting Standards; and elimination of redundant disclosure requirements for hedges in IAS 32, Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation. None of the proposed revisions represents a change to a fundamental principle in IAS 39. Instead, the purpose of the proposed changes is primarily to address technical application issues that have been identified following the approval of IAS 39 in December 1998. The IASC Board’s assessment is that the proposed changes will assist enterprises preparing to implement IAS 39 for the first time in 2001 and help ensure a consistent application of the Standard. No further changes to IAS 39 are contemplated.

At its meeting in March 2000, the Board appointed a Committee to develop implementation guidance on IAS 39, Financial Instruments: Recognition. The guidance is expected to be published later this year, after public comment, as a staff guidance document. The IAS 39 Implementation Guidance Committee may refer some issues either to the SIC or to the Board.  http://www.iasc.org.uk/frame/cen2_139.htm

Recommended Reading

Recommended Links

Bob Jensen's Glossary of FAS 133 and IAS 39

A message from Ira Kawaller on January 13, 2002

Hi Bob,

I wanted to alert you to the fact that I posted another article on the Kawaller and Company website, "The New World Under FAS 133." It came out in the latest issue of the GARP Review. It deals with the economics and accounting considerations relating to the use of cross-currency interest rate swaps. The link below brings you to the paper:

http://www.kawaller.com/pdf/garpswaps.pdf

I also posted a new calendar of events, at

http://www.kawaller.com/schedule/calendar.pdf

To navigate to the links in this email message, click on them. If that does not work, copy the link and paste it into the address field of your browser.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions. Thanks for your consideration.

Ira Kawaller kawaller@kawaller.com 
http://www.kawaller.com

Bob Jensen's documents on FAS 133, FAS 138, and IAS 39 are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/000index.htm 

PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Summary Tables

Source:  A Guide to Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities (New York, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 1999, pp. 4-5 and pp. 19-22)  

Note that the FASB's FAS 133 becomes required for calendar-year companies on January 1, 2001.  Early adopters can apply the standard prior to the required date, but they cannot apply it retroactively.   The January 1, 2001 effective date follows  postponements from the original starting date of June 15, 1999 stated in Paragraph 48 on Page 29 of FAS 133.   For fiscal-year companies, the effective date is June 15, 2000.  The international counterpart known as the IASC's IAS 39 becomes effective for financial statements for financial years beginning on the same January 1, 2001.  Earlier application permitted for financial years ending after 15 March 1999.  

Note that Bob Jensen has added notes (in red),

OVERVIEW & EXPECTED IMPACT of FAS 133 and IAS 39

Table of Derivatives-Contract Types