Banking accounts volatility induced by IAS 39: A simulation model applied to the French case

The European Union's decision of adopting the International Accounting Standards for the whole of its countries members was deeply contested by the European banks. In fact, the banking industry was completely opposed to IAS 39 which treats the financial instruments. In order to demonstrate the impact of different accounting models for financial instruments on the financial statements of banks, we developed a simulation model capturing the most important characteristics of a modern universal bank. It demonstrates that under the current IAS 39, the results of a fully hedged bank may have to show volatility in income statements due to changes in market interest rates. However, results of a partially hedged bank in the same scenario may be less affected.