Financial Reporting for Financial Instruments^*

Financial Reporting for Financial Instruments provides an integrated examination of the four most active areas of empirical accounting research on financial reporting for financial instruments: (1) banks’ loan loss accruals, (2) fair value versus amortized cost accounting measurement bases, (3) balance sheet presentation of risk-concentrated financial instruments such as derivatives and retained residual securities in securitizations, and (4) risk disclosures. The author explains conceptual and practical issues regarding financial reporting for financial instruments, summarizes extant empirical research in these areas, and indicates future empirical research possibilities. He emphasizes that empirical researchers should strive to incorporate four ideas into their research topics and designs: (1) financial instruments exhibit identifiable heterogeneity in their contractual features and risks; (2) at a first approximation, financial institutions are portfolios of interrelated financial instruments; (3) the markets in which financial instruments trade and the institutional settings in which financial institutions operate affect their value and risks; and (4) accounting and disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) imperfectly capture the first three ideas.