Accounting for Financial Instruments

This practical book shows how to deal with the complicated area of accounting of financial instruments. Containing a huge number of sophisticated worked examples, the book treats this complex subject in a way which will give clear guidance on the subject, including coverage of the complex IAS 39, Structured Products, and Securitisation and Credit Derivatives. In an introductory, controversial overview of the subject, the book highlights the mistakes that both auditing firms and the accounting standard setters are making, and demonstrates the contribution the IFRSs have made to the current credit crisis. Unlike other works covering accounting and financial instruments, this book addresses the problems that accountants, and internal and external auditors are facing by including detailed practical examples, along with commentary on why the accounting standards have difficulty coping with the sophistication of financial instruments, and will, therefore, enable the reader quickly to reach a sophisticated level of understanding of the issues.