The fair value option provides an option to elect fair value as an alternative measurement for selected financial assets, financial liabilities, unrecognized firm commitments, and written loan commitments not previously carried at fair value.

Elections

Elections were made by the Firm to:


•	Mitigate income statement volatility caused by the differences in the measurement basis of elected instruments (for example, certain instruments elected were previously accounted for on an accrual basis) while the associated risk management arrangements are accounted for on a fair value basis;


•	Eliminate the complexities of applying certain accounting models (e.g., hedge accounting or bifurcation accounting for hybrid instruments); and/or


•	Better reflect those instruments that are managed on a fair value basis.

Elections include the following:


•	Loans purchased or originated as part of securitization warehousing activity, subject to bifurcation accounting, or managed on a fair value basis.


•	Securities financing arrangements with an embedded derivative and/or a maturity of greater than one year.


•	Owned beneficial interests in securitized financial assets that contain embedded credit derivatives, which would otherwise be required to be separately accounted for as a derivative instrument.


•	Certain investments that receive tax credits and other equity investments acquired as part of the Washington Mutual transaction.


•	Structured notes issued as part of CIB’s client-driven activities. (Structured notes are financial instruments that contain embedded derivatives.)


•	Long-term beneficial interests issued by CIB’s consolidated securitization trusts where the underlying assets are carried at fair value.