SCI Bulletin: accounting amendments see positive results

News
• Recent amendments to IAS 39 and IFRS 7 'Reclassification of Financial Assets' permitted Deutsche Bank to mitigate €845m of negative fair value movements, its Q308 results show. In accordance with the amendments, the bank reclassified certain assets - for which no active market existed in Q3 and which it intends to hold for the foreseeable future - out of trading assets and assets available-for-sale into loans. Deutsche Bank elected the option only for a small portion of its debt issuance, resulting in a gain of €146m during the quarter. For comparative purposes, the bank notes that election of the fair value option on all of its own debt would have resulted in a gain in excess of €2bn for Q3.
• After much speculation (see SCI issue 109), the US Treasury looks set to establish a Treasury Guarantee Programme for Troubled Assets and is consulting on whether and how it should be used. Ambac and MBIA have responded by submitting proposals as to how the new programme should work.

People moves
• Stephen Patterson has joined Standard Chartered as a director of structured credit sales. Based in Asia, he reports to Chookiat Rujanapornpaje, md and head of sales - Singapore and Thailand. Patterson was previously senior director and structured credit product manager at RBS, South East Asia.