Accounting for Derivatives. Ramirez Juan

can be prepaid at fair value (the defined nominal amount is EUR 100 million).

      Items Not Eligible for Designation as Hedged Items

      A derivative alone cannot be designated as a hedged item. The only exception is an embedded purchased option that is hedged with a written option.

      An entity's own equity instrument cannot be a hedged item because it does not expose the entity to a particular risk that could impact profit or loss. Similarly, a forecast dividend payment by the entity cannot be a hedged item as its distribution to equity holders is debited directly to equity and therefore does not impact profit or loss.

      A firm commitment to acquire a business in a business combination cannot be a hedged item, except for foreign currency risk, because the other risks being hedged cannot be specifically identified and measured. Those other risks are general business risks.

      An equity method investment cannot be a hedged item in a fair value hedge. This is because the equity method recognises in profit or loss the investor's share of the investee's profit or loss, rather than changes in the investment's fair value.

      An investment in a consolidated subsidiary cannot be a hedged item in a fair value hedge. This is because consolidation recognises in profit or loss the subsidiary's profit or loss, rather than changes in the investment's fair value. A hedge of a net investment in a foreign operation is different because it is a hedge of the foreign currency exposure, not a fair value hedge of the change in the value of the investment.

      A layer component that includes a prepayment option is not eligible to be designated as a hedged item in a fair value hedge if the prepayment option's fair value is affected by changes in the hedged risk, unless the designated layer includes the effect of the related prepayment option when determining the change in the fair value of the hedged item.

      Other Restrictions

      IFRS 9 imposes the following restrictions or conditions regarding the hedge item:

      • The hedged item must be reliably measurable.

      • The party to the hedged item has to be external to the reporting entity. Hedge accounting can be applied to transactions between entities in the same group only in the individual or separate financial statements of those entities and not in the consolidated financial statements of the group, except for the consolidated financial statements of an investment entity, as defined in IFRS 10, where transactions between an investment entity and its subsidiaries measured at fair value through profit or loss will not be eliminated in the consolidated financial statements. The only exceptions to this external condition are the intragroup transactions mentioned above.

2.3.2 Forecast Transaction versus Firm Commitment

Commonly, a transaction before becoming a firm commitment is a forecast transaction. A forecast transaction itself typically is expected to occur before it becomes highly expected to occur, as shown in Figure 2.5.

      • A forecast transaction is an anticipated transaction that is not yet legally committed. In assessing “highly probable” the entity must consider, among other things, the frequency of similar past transactions.

      • A firm commitment is a legally binding agreement for the exchange of a specified quantity of resources at a specified price on a specified future date or dates.

Figure 2.5 Scale of probability of a forecasted transaction.

      2.4 HEDGING INSTRUMENT CANDIDATES

      The following can be designated as hedging instruments:

      • A derivative that involves an external party (i.e., external to the reporting entity). A written option does not qualify as a hedging instrument unless it is designated as an offset to a purchased option, including one that is embedded in another financial instrument (e.g., a call option sold to hedge a callable liability). Derivatives that are embedded in hybrid contracts, but that are not separately accounted for, cannot be designated as separate hedging instruments.

      • The intrinsic value element of an option contract (i.e., excluding the time value element).

      • The spot element of a forward contract (i.e., excluding the forward element)

      • The elements of a contract excluding its foreign currency basis spread (e.g., a cross-currency swap, excluding its basis).

      • An external non-derivative financial asset or an external non-derivative liability measured at FVTPL unless it is a financial liability designated as at FVTPL for which the amount of its change in fair value that is attributable to changes in the credit risk of that liability is presented in OCI. For hedges other than hedges of foreign currency risk, an entity may only designate the non-derivative financial instrument in its entirety or a proportion of it.

      • The foreign currency risk component of an external non-derivative financial asset or an external non-derivative financial liability in a hedge of foreign currency risk provided that it is not an equity instrument investment at FVOCI. The foreign currency risk component of a non-derivative financial instrument is determined in accordance with IAS 21.

      • A proportion of the entire hedging instrument. The proportion must be a percentage of the entire derivative (e.g., 40 % of the notional). It is not possible to designate a hedging instrument only for a portion of its life.

      • Two or more derivatives, or proportions of their nominal, can be viewed in combination as the hedging instrument only if, in combination, they are not, in effect, a net written option at the time of designation.

      • Any combination of the following (including those circumstances in which the risk or risks arising from some hedging instruments offset those arising from others): (i) derivatives or a proportion of them; and (ii) non-derivatives or a proportion of them.

      • A single hedging instrument may be designated as a hedging instrument of more than one type of risk, provided that there is a specific designation (i) of the hedging instrument and (ii) of the different risk positions as hedged items. Those hedged items can be in different hedging relationships.

      • An entity's own equity instruments are not financial assets or financial liabilities of the entity and therefore cannot be designated as hedging instruments.

      2.5 HEDGING RELATIONSHIP DOCUMENTATION

      One of the three requirements for a hedging relationship to qualify for hedge accounting is that “at the inception of the hedging relationship there is formal designation and documentation of the hedging relationship and the entity's risk management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedge”. The formal documentation must include the following:

      • The entity's risk management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedge: an explanation of the rationale for contracting the hedge. This should include evidence that the hedge is consistent with the entity's risk management objectives and strategies.

      • The type of hedge: fair value, cash flow, or net investment hedge.

      • The nature of the risk being hedged: foreign exchange risk, interest rate risk, inflation risk, equity price risk or commodity price risk.

      • The identification of the hedging instrument: its terms and how it will be fair valued.

      • The identification of the hedged item: a sufficiently detailed explanation of the hedged item.

      • For fair value hedges, the document must include the method for recognising in earnings the gains or losses in the fair value of the hedged item.

      • If the hedged item is a forecasted transaction, the documentation should also include reference to the timing (i.e., the estimated date), the nature, and amount of the forecasted transaction. It also should include the rationale for the forecasted transaction being highly probable to occur and the method for reclassifying into profit or loss amounts deferred in equity (if the hedged item is other