The International Accounting Standards Board yesterday unveiled a new standard covering financial instruments, IFRS 9, which replaces the contentious IAS 39 and aims to streamline the classification of instruments into amortised cost or fair value.Speaking on a webcast from London, IASB director of capital markets, Gavin Francis, said the board's aim was to reduce the complexity of accounting for financial instruments.Francis said: "IAS 39 had many classification categories. IFRS 9 has one approach to determine whether a financial asset is measured at amortised cost or fair value."IFRS 9 is based on how an entity manages its financial instruments - its business model. If the objective is to collect contractual cashflows it will be measured at amortised cost. If it is a structured product it will be measured at fair value.Francis said: "The more risk the more likely that it will be measured at fair value. If the instrument has predictable cash flows it is more likely to be measured at amortised cost."The new standard will be available for use by companies producing December 2009 financial year financial statements and will be mandatory from 2013.Francis said: "A big question will be whether the new standard will mean more or less assets measured at fair value. The objective is not to cause more assets to be measured at fair value. "It will depend on what institutions have in their portfolios and their business models."A significant departure from the IASB's exposure draft on the standard is that liabilities have not been included. The new standard covers only the measurement of financial assets. Francis said: "The board wanted more time to address the issue of profit and loss volatility produced by own credit before producing a standard on liabilities."