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By Stephen LaBarbera, CPA – Audit Manager, Doeren Mayhew
A recent accounting standard update has significantly improved hedge accounting guidance, by simplifying it and by better aligning hedge accounting with risk mitigation activities. These improvements have unveiled interest-rate risk management strategies that were previously unavailable to credit unions and banks. Accounting Standard Update (ASU) 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities, delivers efficient interest-rate risk hedging strategies that are more easily implemented and managed by credit union and bank management teams. For nonpublic entities, this ASU is effective in 2020, however early adoption is permitted.
Although the ASU has resulted in targeted improvements across hedge accounting, in this article, we will focus on the improvements that will most significantly impact credit unions and banks. Because credit unions and banks are in the business of turning short-term deposits into longer-term loans, they are inherently exposed to interest-rate risk. Most credit unions and banks would be negatively impacted by an increasing interest-rate environment, oppositely some may also have significant downside risks.
Interest-rate swaps provide credit unions and banks a method to manage the negative impacts that interest-rate changes may have on cash flows. However, formerly, Topic 815’s guidance only provided limited hedging options for credit unions and banks. For example, entering an interest-rate fair-value hedge on pool of pre-payable fixed-rate assets (e.g., a pool of mortgage loans) was not considered feasible or an effective hedging strategy. Instead many financial institutions would enter interest-rate cash flow hedges on liabilities, which is a strategy that may have undesired consequences, such as negatively impacting future re-pricing decisions on the hedged liability (e.g., needing to keep member six-month CD rates in alignment with the six-month LIBOR for hedge effectiveness purposes).
However certain targeted improvements of this ASU has opened the door to effective and less complex fair-value hedges that may be used to directly hedge the interest-rate risk exposure created by a pool of long-term assets (e.g., mortgage loans or investments):
Additionally, to reduce the cost and complexity of applying hedge accounting, the ASU has simplified tedious requirements surrounding ongoing assessments of hedge effectiveness:
There are new presentation and disclosure requirements that will result in a much more transparent and understandable presentation.
Management teams may have previously considered using swaps as interest-rate hedges, but determined the benefits (e.g., interest-rate risk mitigation or possible income resulting strategies) of implementing hedge accounting were not in alignment with the costs. However, for some credit unions and banks this ASU may have rebalanced the scale. If your management team believes your current mortgage loan or security investment strategies are being dictated by interest-rate risk, we recommend reviewing the potential of a risk mitigation transaction to hedge interest-rate risk.
Transactions in interest-rate swaps have significant risks, including but not limited to, substantial risk of loss. Therefore, management teams should consult internal and/or external advisors when considering interest-rate swap transactions, and not enter any interest-rate swap transaction without fully understanding all risks. When applying the guidance under the new ASU, credit unions and banks should closely review their facts and circumstances with the provisions. If you have specific implementation questions, contact top CPA firm Doeren Mayhew. Our credit union CPAs and bank CPAs stand ready to assist you.
This publication is distributed for informational purposes only, with the understanding that Doeren Mayhew is not rendering legal, accounting, or other professional opinions on specific facts for matters, and, accordingly, assumes no liability whatsoever in connection with its use. Should the reader have any questions regarding any of the news articles, it is recommended that a Doeren Mayhew representative be contacted.
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