The country's apex accounting body Indian Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has asked companies to report losses in foreign currency derivatives for the current fiscal that ends on Monday and the practice must continue.

"With new accounting norms in place, the real quantum of losses of the corporate sector in derivatives will now be found out in a transparent manner," ICAI President Ved Jain said.

The decision in this regard was taken by the ICAI in its meeting on Saturday.

It has also asked its members to consider appropriate "disclosures in their reports" if they are not made by the companies in balance sheets.

Initially, the norms to disclose losses in derivatives would be recommendatory from April 1, 2009 and would become mandatory from April 1, 2011, he said.

ICAI had earlier issued an Accounting Standard, AS 30-Financial Instruments, spelling out method for accounting for derivatives.

It said these (derivatives) exposures may translate into heavy losses due to fluctuations in the foreign exchange rates. However, most companies are reluctant to disclose their exposure and possible losses.

Some companies such as L&T and Amtek Auto have informed the stock exchanges about the losses they have suffered due to positions in commodity or currency derivatives.

The institute said if the companies were following AS 30 standards, they could disclose the losses in the financial statement, otherwise they could be disclosed separately.