Is “held at fair value” the exact same thing as saying “classified as held-for-trading”?
Thanks!
That’s how I understand it. IFRS uses the Designated at Fair Value language while GAAP uses held for trading.
The primary difference – as far as I can tell – is that held-for-trading means securities that you plan to sell short-term, while designated-at-fair-value can include securities you plan to hold long-term.
The accounting treatment is the same.
Also note that a security which is ‘held at fair value’ could just as well be an AFS (Available-for-sale) instrument, which is held (or measured/carried) in the balance sheet at fair value but with changes in fair value impacting OCI rather than income.
regards