IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jfr/afr111/v5y2016i3p64.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Earnings Smoothing Management Philosophy of BHCs in the SFAS -133 Framework

Author

Listed:
  • Veliota Drakopoulou

Abstract

Purpose- The main purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not Bank Holding Companies (BHCs) took advantage of SFAS’s 133 differential treatment of the changes in the fair value of cash flow hedges to smooth earnings. Design/methodology/approach- The author used a causal-comparative research design featuring an investigation on the Income Smoothing effects of BHCs’ corporate use of derivatives designated as cash flow hedges and discretionary accruals one year after the 2008 amendment of SFAS 133. Findings- The results of this research showed that SFAS133-Accounting Hedgers had smoother earnings than SFAS133-Compliant Hedgers due to derivative use but did not take advantage of the differential treatment of cash flow hedges to manipulate earnings. This study suggests that hedge accounting rules under SFAS 133 fully determined the hedging behavior of SFAS-Accounting Hedgers. To ascertain the implementation of effective hedges SFAS-Accounting Hedgers captured the benefits of hedge accounting while compromised the economic benefits of hedging in an attempt to manage any associated accounting volatility and smooth earnings. Research limitations/implications- This study extends prior research on corporate risk management activities of BHCs and impacts social change by presenting new evidence on the effects of SFAS 133 cash-flow hedges on earnings smoothing. Practical implications- The evidence suggests that corporate governance mechanisms affect earnings management since BHCs withhold discretion with respect to the realization of gains and losses from derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges. This is an indication that BHCs with an intent to achieve smoother earnings as a leading corporate risk management strategy, have a comparative advantage  compared to non-financial institutions to apply hedge accounting since they regularly use derivatives and are more experienced with the implementation of SFAS 133. Originality/value- Although prior studies typically considered derivatives and accruals as substitute proxies in managing reported earnings, the paper’s results suggest that the most significant determinant of earnings smoothing is derivative use for SFAS-Accounting Hedgers and information asymmetry for SFAS133- Compliant Hedgers.

Suggested Citation

  • Veliota Drakopoulou, 2016. "The Earnings Smoothing Management Philosophy of BHCs in the SFAS -133 Framework," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 5(3), pages 1-64, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:jfr:afr111:v:5:y:2016:i:3:p:64
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/afr/article/download/9868/5998
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/afr/article/view/9868
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huang, Pinghsun & Zhang, Yan & Deis, Donald R. & Moffitt, Jacquelyn S., 2009. "Do artificial income smoothing and real income smoothing contribute to firm value equivalently?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 224-233, February.
    2. Zhang, Haiwen, 2009. "Effect of derivative accounting rules on corporate risk-management behavior," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 244-264, June.
    3. Anand Mohan Goel, 2003. "Why Do Firms Smooth Earnings?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(1), pages 151-192, January.
    4. Cornett, Marcia Millon & McNutt, Jamie John & Tehranian, Hassan, 2009. "Corporate governance and earnings management at large U.S. bank holding companies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 412-430, September.
    5. Allayannis, George & Weston, James P, 2001. "The Use of Foreign Currency Derivatives and Firm Market Value," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(1), pages 243-276.
    6. Hirshleifer, David & Teoh, Siew Hong, 2003. "Limited attention, information disclosure, and financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-3), pages 337-386, December.
    7. Allayannis, George & Ofek, Eli, 2001. "Exchange rate exposure, hedging, and the use of foreign currency derivatives," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 273-296, April.
    8. Lee C. Adkins & David A. Carter & W. Gary Simpson, 2007. "Managerial Incentives And The Use Of Foreign‐Exchange Derivatives By Banks," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 30(3), pages 399-413, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hsin, Chin-Wen & Chang, Feng-Yi & Shiah-Hou, Shin-Rong, 2024. "Performance of financial hedging and earnings management under diverse corporate information quality," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 782-810.
    2. Affaf Asghar Butt & Main Sajid Nazir & Hamera Arshad & Aamer Shahzad, 2018. "Corporate Derivatives and Ownership Concentration: Empirical Evidence of Non-Financial Firms Listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Zeidan, Rodrigo & Müllner, Jakob, 2015. "Firm, market and top management antecedents of speculation: Lessons for corporate governance," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 32, pages 42-58.
    4. Allayannis, George & Lel, Ugur & Miller, Darius P., 2012. "The use of foreign currency derivatives, corporate governance, and firm value around the world," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 65-79.
    5. Deng, Saiying & Elyasiani, Elyas & Mao, Connie X., 2017. "Derivatives-hedging, risk allocation and the cost of debt: Evidence from bank holding companies," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 114-127.
    6. Ching-Lung Chen & Hung-Shu Fan & Ya-Ming Yang, 2014. "The effects of corporate governance and accounting rule changes on derivatives usage," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 323-353, October.
    7. Linda Hughen, 2010. "When Do Accounting Earnings Matter More than Economic Earnings? Evidence from Hedge Accounting Restatements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(9‐10), pages 1027-1056, November.
    8. Chaudhry, Neeru & Gupta, Aastha, 2024. "Impact of using derivatives on stock market liquidity," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    9. Huimin Guo & Zheyao Pan & Gary Gang Tian, 2021. "State ownership and the risk‐reducing effect of corporate derivative use: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5-6), pages 1092-1133, May.
    10. Han Jin & Beverly B. Marshall, 2024. "Shedding light on foreign currency cash flow hedges: transparency and the hedging decision," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 397-432, August.
    11. Yidi Sun & Bruce Morley, 2021. "The Dynamics of Foreign Exchange Derivative Use in China," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, June.
    12. Sriya Anbil & Alessio Saretto & Heather Tookes, 2016. "Does Hedging with Derivatives Reduce the Market's Perception of Credit Risk?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2016-100, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    13. Mihaela Brindusa Tudose & Valentina Diana Rusu, 2018. "Analysis Of The Effects Of Financing And Risk Management On The Value Of Firms Listed On The Bucharest Stock Exchange," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 2, pages 44-58, April.
    14. Timo Korkeamaki & Danielle Xu, 2015. "Institutional Investors and Foreign Exchange Risk," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(03), pages 1-33, September.
    15. Minton, Bernadette A. & Schrand, Catherine, 2016. "Institutional investments in pure play stocks and implications for hedging decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 132-151.
    16. Bartram, Söhnke M. & Brown, Gregory W. & Conrad, Jennifer, 2011. "The Effects of Derivatives on Firm Risk and Value," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(4), pages 967-999, August.
    17. Manhwa Wu & Paoyu Huang & Yensen Ni, 2020. "The Impact of Institutional Shareholdings on Price Limits," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 27(3), pages 343-361, September.
    18. Sara Faedfar & Mustafa Özyeşil & Mustafa Çıkrıkçı & Esin Benhür Aktürk, 2022. "Effective Risk Management and Sustainable Corporate Performance Integrating Innovation and Intellectual Capital: An Application on Istanbul Exchange Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-13, September.
    19. Roy Stein, 2016. "Review of the Reference Rate in Israel: Telbor and Makam Markets," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2016.12, Bank of Israel.
    20. Monda, Barbara & Giorgino, Marco & Modolin, Ileana, 2013. "Rationales for Corporate Risk Management - A Critical Literature Review," MPRA Paper 45420, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jfr:afr111:v:5:y:2016:i:3:p:64. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sciedu Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.