“Those meetings and analysis of comment letters on the Discussion Paper
confirm that IASC faces controversies and complexities in seeking a way
forward. While some acceptance exists of the view put forward in the
Discussion Paper – that measurement of all financial assets and liabilities at
fair value is necessary to obtain consistency and relevance to users –
application of that concept to some industries and to some kinds of financial
assets and liabilities continues to present difficulty. Widespread unease is also
evident about the prospect of including unrealised gains, particularly on longterm
debt, in income as proposed in the Discussion Paper. Those difficulties
will not be easily or quickly resolved. Further, while several national standard
setters have undertaken projects to develop national standards on various
aspects of recognition and measurement of financial instruments, no country
has in place or proposed standards that are similar to the proposals in the
Discussion Paper.” (IASC 1998, p. 1023)