Counting the cost

The recent crop of high-profile accountancy scandals has forced the US accounting regulator to clamp down on the ‘creative’ use of special purpose vehicles to shift liabilities off balance sheet. Saskia Scholtes investigates the ramifications for firms having to consolidate large debts

After more than a decade of exuberant growth, the US asset-backed commercial paper market may now be under threat from a recent ruling by the US accountancy regulator. The regulator’s abandonment of rules-based standards in favour of a looser principles-based approach has left the market asking questions about what the finer points of the ruling mean for them.

Last December, the asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) market – short-term debt backed by receivables – was worth $726 billion, more