Definitions of four categories of financial instruments

A financial asset or financial liability at fair value through profit or loss is a financial asset or financial liability that meets either of the following conditions. It is classified as held for trading. A financial asset or financial liability is classified as held for trading if it is: acquired or incurred principally for the purpose of selling or repurchasing it in the near term; part of a portfolio of identified financial instruments that are managed together and for which there is evidence of a recent actual pattern of short-term profit-taking; or a derivative (except for a derivative that is a financial guarantee contract or a designated and effective hedging instrument). Upon initial recognition it is designated by the entity as at fair value through profit or loss. An entity may use this designation only when permitted by paragraph 11A, or when doing so results in more relevant information, because either: In IFRS 7, paragraphs 9-11 and B4 require the entity to provide disclosures about financial assets and financial liabilities it has designated as at fair value through profit or loss, including how it has satisfied these conditions. For instruments qualifying in accordance with (ii) above, that disclosure includes a narrative description of how designation as at fair value through profit or loss is consistent with the entity's documented risk management or investment strategy. Investments in equity instruments that do not have a quoted market price in an active market, and whose fair value cannot be reliably measured (see paragraph 46(c) and Appendix A paragraphs AG80 and AG81), shall not be designated as at fair value through profit or loss. It should be noted that paragraphs 48, 48A, 49 and Appendix A paragraphs AG69-AG82, which set out requirements for determining a reliable measure of the fair value of a financial asset or financial liability, apply equally to all items that are measured at fair value, whether by designation or otherwise, or whose fair value is disclosed. it eliminates or significantly reduces a measurement or recognition inconsistency (sometimes referred to as ‘an accounting mismatch’) that would otherwise arise from measuring assets or liabilities or recognising the gains and losses on them on different bases; or a group of financial assets, financial liabilities or both is managed and its performance is evaluated on a fair value basis, in accordance with a documented risk management or investment strategy, and information about the group is provided internally on that basis to the entity's key management personnel (as defined in IAS 24 Related party disclosures (as revised in 2003)), for example the entity's board of directors and chief executive officer. Held-to-maturity investments are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments and fixed maturity that an entity has the positive intention and ability to hold to maturity (see Appendix A paragraphs AG16-AG25) other than: those that the entity upon initial recognition designates as at fair value through profit or loss; those that the entity designates as available for sale; and those that meet the definition of loans and receivables. An entity shall not classify any financial assets as held to maturity if the entity has, during the current financial year or during the two preceding financial years, sold or reclassified more than an insignificant amount of held-to-maturity investments before maturity (more than insignificant in relation to the total amount of held-to-maturity investments) other than sales or reclassifications that: are so close to maturity or the financial asset's call date (for example, less than three months before maturity) that changes in the market rate of interest would not have a significant effect on the financial asset's fair value; occur after the entity has collected substantially all of the financial asset's original principal through scheduled payments or prepayments; or are attributable to an isolated event that is beyond the entity's control, is non-recurring and could not have been reasonably anticipated by the entity. Loans and receivables are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market, other than: those that the entity intends to sell immediately or in the near term, which shall be classified as held for trading, and those that the entity upon initial recognition designates as at fair value through profit or loss; those that the entity upon initial recognition designates as available for sale; or those for which the holder may not recover substantially all of its initial investment, other than because of credit deterioration, which shall be classified as available for sale. An interest acquired in a pool of assets that are not loans or receivables (for example, an interest in a mutual fund or a similar fund) is not a loan or receivable. Available-for-sale financial assets are those non-derivative financial assets that are designated as available for sale or are not classified as (a) loans and receivables, (b) held-to-maturity investments or (c) financial assets at fair value through profit or loss.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-08 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.