Disclosure of fair value measurement techniques of financial instruments: study applied to the portuguese banking Sector according to IFRS 13
IASB has defined in IFRS 7 ―Financial Instruments: Disclosures" and in IFRS 13 "Fair Value Measurement", the set of disclosures that a company must make regarding the fair value measurement techniques used. The fair value hierarchy concept, introduced in IFRS 7 in 2009, classifies the data used in the measurement according to three levels, of which two levels introduce some subjectivity in the measurement. IFRS 7 has been amended several times with the clear intention to improve the disclosure requirements about financial instruments. IFRS 13 defines fair value, sets out a single framework for measuring fair value and requires disclosures about fair value measurements. Hence, this research aims to study the disclosure of fair value measurement techniques of the financial instruments, required by IFRS 13, of companies operating in the banking sector in Portugal from 2013 to 2015. Its purpose is to understand whether those financial instruments duly applied the accounting standards that define the required disclosures and analyse the fair value measurement techniques used for financial instruments. The results of the study allow us to conclude that companies operating in the banking sector in Portugal have not generally disclosed information on fair value measurement techniques of the financial instruments required by IFRS 13. It was also concluded that most financial instruments measured at fair value are classified at level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, which limits the degree of certainty about their values.