Kapitalerhaltung bei Anwendung der erfolgsneutralen Stichtagskursmethode zur Währungsumrechnung

Different methods for the translation of financial statements of foreign subsidiaries result indifferent profit contributions in the consolidated financial statements and accordingly to differentamounts of capital maintained as measured in the group’s reporting currency. Thetranslation methods imply assumptions about the validity of macro-economic equilibria suchas the Purchasing Power Parity or the Fisher Effect. A model contrasting central and localcapital maintenance is developed under the assumption that the International Fisher Effect isvalid. The consumption of capital is analyzed when the closing rate method is used with exchangedifferences offset against capital. This method is prevalent under the application of thefunctional method according to IAS 21 and SFAS 52. An empirical analysis shows that theimpact on the consolidated financial statements of the DAX 30 companies for fiscal year 2004is significant. With respect to this evidence accounting measures may be misleading for economicdecisions or judgements.