by Brianna Crandall — February 1, 2017 — The International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC), a global standard-setter for valuation practice and the valuation profession, has just launched IVS 2017, marking an important milestone towards harmonizing valuation practice across the globe.
International Valuation Standards (IVS) 2017 will serve as the key guidance for valuation professionals globally and will underpin consistency, transparency and confidence in valuations, which are key to investment decisions as well as financial reporting.
The launch is the latest step in IVSC’s mission to raise standards of international valuation practice as a core part of the financial system, for the benefit of capital markets and the public interest.
The Standards were created following an extensive consultation process from April to October 2016, with over 100 official comment letters on the initial drafts from a range of stakeholders, including valuation profession organizations such as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and individual professionals and academics.
Ben Elder, RICS director of Valuation, commented:
RICS is a member organization of IVS, and as such we have played an active role in developing the revised IVS. We are actively updating the RICS’s Red Book to incorporate the new standards. We hope this will be completed by July 1st 2017, which is the proposed implementation date for IVS 2017. We believe that continued wide adoption of IVS will boost the transparency of, and confidence in, valuations for the benefit of business and the public.
IVS 2017 comprises five General Standards and six Asset Standards. The General Standards set requirements for the conduct of all valuation assignments including establishing the terms of a valuation engagement, bases of value, valuation approaches and methods, and reporting.
The Asset Standards include requirements related to specific types of assets, including background information on the characteristics of each asset type that influence value and additional asset-specific requirements regarding common valuation approaches and methods used.
The latest version of the Standards bring greater depth to IVS, as was requested by members, including the major accountancy firms and other stakeholders, notes IVSC.
RICS professionals can view and download the International Valuation Standards (IVS) 2017 for free. IVS 2017 is also available for purchase from the IVS Bookstore.
