The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) published a Special Report today that addresses the most frequently asked questions about FASB Statement No. 140, Accounting for Transfers and Servicing of Financial Assets and Extinguishments of Liabilities.

The report is designed as an aid in understanding and implementing Statement 140, which is effective for the transfer and servicing of financial assets and extinguishments of liabilities occurring after March 31, 2001. The Special Report is a cumulative document, incorporating new questions and answers as well as those that have been updated from the first, second, and third editions of the FASB Special Report, A Guide to Implementation of Statement 125 on Accounting for Transfers and Servicing of Financial Assets and Extinguishments of Liabilities.

In commenting on this most recent document, Halsey G. Bullen, Senior Project Manager, said "While most of the questions are unchanged from the previous Special Report, many of the answers are newly updated, reflecting changes made by Statement 140. The new questions focus on the effects of various kinds of call options on sale treatment and the application of the expected cash flow technique to the measurement of the fair value of retained interests in securitizations." Those topics also are discussed on the FASB Web site at www.fasb.org.

Copies of the Special Report are available from the FASB Order Department, 401 Merritt 7, PO Box 5116, Norwalk, CT 06856-5116, telephone (800) 748-0659. The cost of the report is $12.75.