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FAS 140 Demands Full Disclosure

Paradise Island, Bahamas - In addition to other provisions written into Financial Accounting Standard 140, the accounting rule that replaces FAS 125 will require securitizing companies to disclose detailed securitization-related information in the footnotes accompanying annual audited financial statements.

Companies will be required to disclose pool static losses by year of securitization, cumulative build-up of actual losses to date, and the projection of future losses of pools by the year of origin, said Marty Rosenblatt, national director of securitization services at Deliotte & Touche.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued the new guidelines on Sept. 29, and the new disclosure requirements will effect financial statements starting Dec. 31, 2000, Rosenblatt said.

"So there's not a lot of time to prepare information that, for most companies, hasn't been disclosed before, and, for some companies, hasn't been developed internally," he said. "[It is] a very significant disclosure item that will be controversial."

Rosenblatt released a commentary piece last Monday, which is available on Securitization.net, ABSNet, and Vinodkothari.com.

More subtle changes in the FASB guidelines include an item on the regulatory prowess of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. with regards to banks that securitize. Starting April 2001, attorneys working on transactions will be asked to give a legal opinion as to whether the transaction is set up in conformity with the FDIC guidance.

Also beginning April 2001, there will be added requirements with regards to what is and what is not a qualifying special purpose entity. Other changes in FASB 140 affect removal-of-accounts provisions (ROAPs), and lease securitizations - both issues summarized in Rosenblatt's commentary.

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