Reclassifications of financial intstruments in the Nordic countries : The effects of the reclassification amendments on Nordic banks financial statements of 2008 and 2009

Sammanfattning: Due to the apparent global economic conditions, at the end of 2008, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued amendments to IAS 39 Financial instruments: recognition and measurement and IFRS 7 Financial instruments: disclosures in October and November, 2008. The amendments allow banks to reclassify their non-derivative financial instruments in rare circumstances. This thesis investigates whether banks in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) reclassify financial instruments, in their financial statements of 2008 and 2009. The result of the study shows that 47% of the sample Nordic banks reclassified financial instruments in 2008 and 12% in 2009. All banks increased their net profit as a result of reclassifying financial instruments in 2008. The return on equity (ROE) increased significantly compared to whether the banks would not had reclassified their financial instruments. Tendencies found among the sample Nordic banks are that larger and less profitable banks used the possibility to reclassify financial instruments to a greater extent. Because none of the banks made losses on their choice to reclassify in 2008, the conclusion is that the opportunity given due to the amendments are mostly used by the banks to enhance the net income and the key ratio ROE. This shows that management decisions are short-term. This also indicates that the amendments may be misused by management to enhance current profit for their own benefit. The thesis also concludes that the departure from fair-value as the valuation method for financial instruments, due to recent massive critic, is unlikely.