Most of FRS 4, other than material relating to measurement of debt and gains and losses on the repurchase of debt, is withdrawn on implementation of FRS 25 (IAS 32) 'Financial Instruments: Disclsoure and Presentation'.  The remainder of FRS 4 is withdrawn on implementation of FRS 26 (IAS 39) 'Financial Instruments: Measurement'.

The objective of FRS 4 is to ensure that financial statements provide a clear, coherent and consistent treatment of capital instruments, in particular as regards the classification of instruments as debt, non-equity shares or equity shares; that costs associated with capital instruments are dealt with in a manner consistent with their classification, and, for redeemable instruments, allocated to accounting periods on a fair basis over the period the instrument is in issue; and that financial statements provide relevant information concerning the nature and amount of the entity's sources of finance and the associated costs, commitments and potential commitments.

FRS 4 requires capital instruments to be presented in financial statements in a way that reflects the obligations of the issuer. The standard prescribes the methods to be used to determine the amounts to be ascribed to capital instruments and their associated costs and specifies relevant disclosures.

The amount of shareholders' funds attributable to equity interests, non-equity interests and (for consolidated financial statements) minority interests is to be disclosed. The key distinctions may be summarised as: