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The Impact of Debt-Equity Reporting Classifications on the Firm's Decision to Issue Hybrid Securities

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  • Shai Levi
  • Benjamin Segal

Abstract

We test the influence of classification of securities into liabilities and equity on firms' financing choices, using as our setting the change in reporting classification of hybrid securities following SFAS 150. We find that this change affected the decision of firms to issue mandatorily redeemable preferred shares (MRPS). Following the requirement that firms classify the debt-like hybrid security MRPS as a liability, the share of MRPS issuances in firms' new financing declined. Characteristics of firms issuing MRPS also changed. While prior to SFAS 150 firms with higher levels of debt and lower coverage ratios chose to issue MRPS and not debt, after its adoption, the decision to issue MRPS is no longer related to firms' pre-existing debt and coverage levels. Furthermore, our results indicate that before SFAS 150 managers were willing to bear the higher issuance fees of MRPS and chose to issue these debt-like hybrid securities over cheaper debt. The requirement to classify debt-like hybrids as a liability took away the reporting incentives for issuance and made these securities a less popular financing vehicle.

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  • Shai Levi & Benjamin Segal, 2015. "The Impact of Debt-Equity Reporting Classifications on the Firm's Decision to Issue Hybrid Securities," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 801-822, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:24:y:2015:i:4:p:801-822
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2014.909290
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    3. Dean Hanlon, 2019. "Mandatory accounting change and debt covenant violation: Additional evidence from SFAS 150," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 44(3), pages 355-387, August.
    4. Pascal Barneto & Stéphane Ouvrard & Yves Rannou, 2019. "Les titres hybrides : de leur émission à leur classement comptable. Un enjeu de contrôle ?," Post-Print hal-02311469, HAL.
    5. Shai Levi & Benjamin Segal & Dan Segal, 2021. "Does fiduciary duty to creditors reduce debt covenant violation avoidance behavior?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5-6), pages 929-953, May.
    6. Ali Gungoraydinoglu & Özde Öztekin, 2021. "Financial Leverage and Debt Maturity Targeting: International Evidence," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-36, September.
    7. Neil Fargher & Baljit K. Sidhu & Ann Tarca & Warrick van Zyl, 2019. "Accounting for financial instruments with characteristics of debt and equity: finding a way forward," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 59(1), pages 7-58, March.

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