BANKING & FINANCE - April 15, 1994

More Disclosure of Derivatives Urged: The Financial Accounting Standards Board proposed rules that would require investors in the $7.5-trillion derivatives market to disclose their holdings and their relative risk. “The disclosures will give investors better information about the nature of positions a particular company or not-for-profit organization is taking,” said Halsey Bullen, a project manager for the standard-setting panel. The release of the proposal comes just two days after Procter & Gamble Co. said it would take a $102-million charge to exit two interest-rate swaps it bought from Bankers Trust New York Corp. Derivatives are financial contracts whose value is linked to the price of another asset, such as a stock or bond.