2.8 Guarantee Obligations

55-23 An entity’s guarantee of the value of an asset, liability, or equity security of another entity may require or permit settlement in the entity’s equity shares. For example, an entity may guarantee that the value of a counterparty’s equity investment in another entity will not fall below a specified level. The guarantee contract requires that the guarantor stand ready to issue a variable number of its shares whose fair value equals the deficiency, if any, on a specified date between the guaranteed value of the investment and its current fair value. Upon issuance, unless the guarantee is accounted for as a derivative instrument, the obligation to stand ready to perform is a liability addressed by Topic 460. If, during the period the contract is outstanding, the fair value of the guaranteed investment falls below the specified level, absent an increase in value, the guarantor will be required to issue its equity shares. At that point in time, the liability recognized in accordance with that Topic would be subject to the requirements of Topic 450. This Subtopic establishes that, even though the loss contingency is settleable in equity shares, the obligation under that Topic is a liability under paragraph 480-10-25-14(b) until the guarantor settles the obligation by issuing its shares. That is because the guarantor’s conditional obligation to issue shares is based on the value of the counterparty’s equity investment in another entity and not on changes in the fair value of the guarantor’s equity instruments.