It is an asset that is owned by a utility, but is controlled or regulated by a government regulatory agency.
Go To List of IFRIC Issues. Issue Description: The fundamental issue is whether a rate-regulated entity using IFRSs should recognise as assets and liabilities costs and obligations that arise from the rate-regulation process (regulatory assets and liabilities). The staff presented the IFRIC with its recommendation on regulatory assets and liabilities based on the background information research it undertook. The IFRIC agreed by a majority vote tentatively not to add the item to the agenda and not to recommend that the item be referred to the IASB. In nations where a regulatory asset may be carried by a utility, most often an electrical or power company, the regulatory agency for that country determines the criteria that the asset must meet to qualify for this type of exemption from inclusion on the income statement. By recording a regulatory asset on the company balance sheet, there is no opportunity for the asset to be overlooked or omitted from the overall accounting process. Watch the Did-You-Know slideshow. DEFINITION of 'Regulatory Asset'. Specific costs or revenues that a regulatory agency permits a U.S. public utility (usually an energy company) to defer to its balance sheet. These amounts would otherwise be required to appear on the company's income statement and would be charged against current expenses or revenues. The accounting methods used to disclose regulatory assets may cause differences in how an electric utility company's financial condition is reported. For example, under U.K. GAAP, these assets are currently recorded on the balance sheet. A regulatory asset is an asset that is owned by a utility, but is controlled or regulated by a government regulatory agency. In most instances, the agency grants the utility the privilege of deferring the costs or revenues associated with the asset to the company’s balance sheet. By recording a regulatory asset on the company balance sheet, there is no opportunity for the asset to be overlooked or omitted from the overall accounting process. Watch the Did-You-Know slideshow. DEFINITION of 'Regulatory Accounting Principles-RAP'. A comprehensive set of rules and regulations for accounting that were introduced by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. Regulatory accounting principles were created to assist low net-worth savings and loan associations with meeting capital requirements. Tabular disclosure of assets that are created when regulatory agencies permit public utilities to defer certain costs included in rate-setting to the balance sheet. Description of a specific regulatory liability pertaining to public utilities. Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Other Disclosures. text. Description of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities. text. Describes a general nature of regulatory assets and l Some commissions do not allow a return on regulatory assets and others allow some sort of return on a case-by-case basis. For those that do allow a return, some use the approved ROE, others use a lower rate based on utility borrowing costs or other some other rate.  Definition. Specific costs or revenues that a utility is allowed to defer to its balance sheet, rather than reporting them on the company's income statement. Instead of being treated as income or expenditures in a single year, these items are booked as assets and do not need to be reported for tax purposes. URL to this page: http://www.investorwords.com/18488/regulatory_asset.html. Copyright © 2015 by WebFinance, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction of all or part of this glossary, in any format, without the written consent of WebFinance, Inc. is prohibited. Capital requirement (also known as regulatory capital or capital adequacy) is the amount of capital a bank or other financial institution has to hold as required by its financial regulator. This is usually expressed as a capital adequacy ratio of equity that must be held as a percentage of risk-weighted assets. 
http://www.iasplus.com/en/projects/completed/other/project156 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-regulatory-asset.htm http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/regulatoryasset.asp http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-regulatory-asset.htm http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/regulatory-accounting-principles.asp http://www.readyratios.com/usgaap/RegulatedOperations/15410.html http://www.bpa.gov/power/pl/regionaldialogue/implementation/Previous-meeting-materials/Documents/2007/10_October/2007-10-16_Regulatory-Assets-and-Liabilities-for-Feedback.pdf http://www.investorwords.com/18488/regulatory_asset.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_requirement
regulatory asset definition