Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a morning speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, made it clear he does not support suspending mark-to-market accounting.
But it gets muddier from there.
Bernanke went on to note that in highly illiquid markets, the marks that are generated can be "misleading," and there needs to be a reasonable way to address valuation of assets. Bernanke admitted he had "no solution" for this, but said it would be worthwhile to "identify the weak points of mark to market and try to make some improvements."
Separately, Reuters is reporting this morning that the SEC is not planning to suspend mark-to-market accounting.
A Congressional panel will be looking into the accounting rule in hearings this Thursday. Rep. Barney Frank also said he was opposed to eliminating mark to market, but thought that the rules might be tweaked in some way, though he has been vague on what tweaking might mean.
- Bernanke Says Regulatory Overhaul Needed
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