It will be a calmer year for certain accounting risks, but other risks remain, says Fitch Raings.

The rating agency says that it expects the coming year will be calmer in terms of financial restatements and accounting risks as companies, standard setters, and their auditors aim to improve implementation of new requirements. “That said, in terms of flexible interpretation of accounting standards and potential accounting risk, a number of specific issues remain,” it notes.

Those issues include accounting rules for pensions and other post-employment benefits, stock options, interpretation of cash flow statements, merger and acquisition accounting; derivative and hedge accounting and securitization accounting; and impairment charges and lease accounting-related issues, Fitch says.

Outside the U.S. wide-scale reporting under international standards for the first time, “will inevitably throw out different interpretations of the standards, which will be ironed out over time, leading to restatements in the future”, it predicts.