Daily Real Estate News  |  April 3, 2009  |   Banks Get New Leeway in Valuing Assets
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has approved a rule change that allows banks to report on their income statements certain assets at their value in a normal market. They'll only be required to write them down to market value if the drop is "other than temporary."

The fall in asset values would be indicated on their balance sheets, but critics contend that the change will permit banks to put off recognizing losses from bad loans. Another change approved by the FASB will force banks to disclose the impact of the new reporting rules, though the extent of the disclosures remains to be seen.

Source: New York Times, Floyd Norris (04/03/2009)

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