The Fair Value Principle and its Impact on Debt and Equity

Accounting thought has it that consistency of accounting standards is widely regarded as a crucial qualitative characteristic of superior accounting systems (Moxter 2003). In this respect, it is noticeable that the hopes of the international accounting community are today centred on the asset and liability approach (e.g. IASB 2006b) and on fair value as a uniform measurement attribute (e.g. FASB, CON7). Some even view these two paradigms as the ‘hidden agenda’ of international standards setters.