The recent surge in pension freezes coincides with a period in which new pension
accounting rules have emphasized increased transparency, international convergence,
and a concerted move towards full fair-value accounting – starting with Financial
Reporting Standard No. 17 (FRS 17): Retirement Benefits (ASB, 2000) in the UK, and
leading to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 158 (SFAS 158):
Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans
(FASB, 2006) in the USA Following the FRS 17 model, SFAS 158 is the first phase of
a two-phase project to overhaul US pension accounting and primarily focuses on
recognizing the full funded status of pensions on the balance sheet[3]. The second
phase of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB’s) pension project is
expected to impose more of a mark-to-market framework for measuring and reporting
pension expense components on the income statement.