SFAS No.157 is to be applied to any asset or liability that is measured at fair value under current GAAP. The statement identified sixty- seven previous pronouncements that referred to fair value and are impacted by its provisions .SFAS No.157( Now FASB ASC 820 ) represents the FASB ’s current position on the trade-off between reliability and relevance of financial information .
It also reflects the FASB ’s conclusion that investors and creditors find fair value measurement
Relevant ,even in the absence of exact market data . As a result , the trade –off now favors relevance ; in order to assess the relative reliability of the fair value measurements provided , financial statement user will need to be made aware of the quality of the information provided through meaningful and transparent disclosures.