An IAG reference document - Consolidation and corporate groups: an overview of methodological and practical issues
This reference document builds on the outcome of the workshop organised in 2011 by the IAG and the Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics (IFC) on “Residency/local and nationality/global views of financial positions” (IFC (2012)). It is divided into eight sections.
Section 1 describes how data collected in the residency-based SNA context can be usefully complemented by a nationality-based approach, as developed in particular by the BIS. Section 2 presents a framework for assessing financial positions on such a so-called “nationality basis”, ie at a globally consolidated level. Section 3 reviews how economic units can be classified by sector and nationality. Section 4 discusses the concept of control between two economic units, focusing on the various existing business accounting, supervisory and statistical standards and practices. Section 5 analyses the concept of a corporate group. Section 6 reviews the scope for consolidating exposures for global entities, especially those related to cross-border and cross-sector positions. Section 7 provides examples of data sets presented on a consolidated basis and highlights some of the challenges related to consolidation. Section 8 makes some recommendations for the future.
