Structured investment funds — for investing in credit rights (FIDCs), private equity (FIPs), real estate (FIIs) and companies (FMIEs) — will have to adapt to the International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS. The FIDC family will go first. A working group in the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) is preparing a series of instructions to address the matter and is planning to provide rules for this category before the end of the semester.

Today, FIDCs follow the rules provided by the National Financial System Institutions Accounting Plan (Cosif), published by the Brazilian Central Bank. Instruction 356, which regulates credit rights portfolios, mandates that the Cosif be applied until a specific standard is created for this type of fund. "The intention is to standardize fund financial statements and address some sensitive issues", says Osvaldo Zanetti, an analyst with the CVM's department of accounting standards.

Despite using the Cosif as a template, the accounting reports provided by different FIDCs are not easily comparable. "Information is available, but each fund provides it differently. With the instruction, that’s going to change", says Flávia Mouta, an inspector with the CVM's department for the improvement of standards. The "sensitive issues" such as asset write-offs will be addressed by implementing the IAS 39 standard, which has been countersigned by the Accounting Pronouncements Committee (CPC) 08.

Subsequently, the CVM intends to release the accounting standards applicable to FIIs. FIPs and FMIEs are at the end of the line because their accounting is already similar to corporate accounting, i.e. more investor-friendly. Only the portions of those portfolios that are invested in financial assets follow the Cosif's rules.