Take, for instance, the growing importance of intangible and non-marketable assets, such as intellectual property rights or goodwill. Another example is the valuation of long-term flows of income or expenditure, such as pension liabilities, which are inherently difficult to predict. In addition, complex instruments for risk transfer and new corporate structures test the limits of existing measurement and valuation techniques.
In essence, accounting standards have to be frequently adapted in response to developments in corporate practices and financial markets. These are moving targets! The second issue is the fundamental dilemma in the formulation of accounting standards, namely having to choose between rules-based and principles-based standards, in other words between detailed standards or standards in more general terms.