Congress Fuming after MTM Hearing

This article from CFO.com, Congress Members Fume at Fair Value, provides a clear summary of last week’s congressional hearing on fair-value accounting, emphasizing that Congressmen called for changes to mark-to-market rules, rather than an outright suspension of those rules. As most of us know by now, the meeting culminated in a promise from FASB to have some fair-value accounting rules guidance ready in three weeks. However, only time will tell whether this guidance will actually solve the issue or not. In the meantime, Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL) and FASB Chairman Robert Herz both believe that some institutions are waiting to write down damaging assets until potentially beneficial rule changes are enacted.