GASB looking for feedback on accounting for derivatives by governments.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board recently issued a Preliminary Views document that would improve the accounting and financial reporting of derivatives by state and local governments, according to the board.

The proposal would require that the fair value of derivatives be reported in the financial statements, as well as the change in that fair value. If, however, a derivative is effectively hedging (reducing) the risk it was created to address, then the annual changes in the derivative's fair...