Effective Product Control

CHAPTER 4Accounting Standards: Recognition and Measurement

At the centre of a product controller's skill set is an understanding of how to account for the financial instruments they are controlling. This skill is necessary as accounting principles influence the P&L (the income statement), balance sheet (the statement of financial position) and the financial reporting of a bank.

As most banks have a global presence they will consequently have companies domiciled in multiple legal jurisdictions around the world. The jurisdiction is important as it will determine which Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAPs) the bank will need to abide by when accounting for the sales and trading activities that it undertakes in those jurisdictions.

For example, an Australian subsidiary of a U.S. bank will produce financial statements using Australian GAAP for standalone financial reporting and U.S. GAAP for consolidated financial reports prepared by the bank's group.

Although each country will have its own set of GAAPs, there has been a global convergence of accounting standards. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) publishes international accounting standards which many countries have either adopted or aligned their local GAAP to.

For example, IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement, as issued by the IASB, has been adopted by Australia with the issue of AASB 13 Fair Value Measurement by the Australian Accounting Standards Board.

IFRS is a consolidated set of accounting standards, ...