In 1997 the SEC issued new disclosure rules in an amendment to Regulation S-X titled “Disclosure of Accounting Policies for Derivative Financial Instruments and Derivative Commodity Instruments and Disclosure of Quantitative and Qual- itative Information about Market Risk Inherent in Derivative Financial Instru- ments, Other Financial Instruments, and Derivative Commodity Instruments.” As indicated by its title, this release requires the disclosure of qualitative and quanti- tative information about market risk by all companies registered with the SEC. Market risk is defined as the risk of loss arising from adverse changes in market rates and prices from such items as
• Interest rates • Currency exchange rates • Commodity prices • Equity prices