| Clarification description | Clarification raised by UNSD: SNA paragraph 13.71 deals with the change in value of financial derivatives in the balance but it does not tell how to record the value of a financial derivative when it first appears in the system. The paragraph states that
“.......The market value of a forward contract can switch between an asset position and a liability position between accounting dates depending on price movements in the underlying item(s). All price changes, including those that result in such switches, are treated as revaluations.”
It is not clear how the initial value of forward type financial derivatives appear in the system. After the contract is signed, should both parties record the (nonzero) new asset/liability appear via the OCVA or the revaluation account? It would be in line with 13.71 if all value changes, also the initial, is treated as revaluation. On the other side, we cannot revalue a nonexistent asset. Do we create an asset/liability with zero value at the beginning of the accounting period?
The treatment could affect contracts (and leases) which are now classified as intangible non-produced assets. As such they appear in the system through the OCVA account. Proposals have been presented to treat leases (which are types of contract) as forward-type financial derivatives. |
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