Swiss GAAP FER: Financial instruments

The Swiss GAAP FER standards focus on small and medium-sized entities and groups with a national reach, they are however also applied by larger groups with international operations. The increased use of Swiss GAAP FER, in particular by groups with a global reach, together with the accounting challenges arising from ever increasing complexity in business transactions and financial instruments, has led to more questions on how to apply the standards in practice – for example in relation to the accounting for financial instruments.

This brochure provides answers to questions that, in our experience, arise frequently when preparing financial statements in accordance with Swiss GAAP FER. The examples provided and the practice observations shared within this publication focus on the accounting for financial instruments by nonfinancial institutions (corporate entities), as from our experience, those are the primary preparers of Swiss GAAP FER financial statements.