Accounting rules must be neutral and "not just another financial rudder to be pulled" in times of economic distress, said Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox.

The banking industry has pressed the SEC to suspend so-called "mark-to-market" rules. They require banks to value the assets on their balance sheets at current market prices even if they plan to hold them for years.

Cox's remarks to an accounting industry audience signal that the agency is unlikely to suspend the rules, but he said refinements appear to be in order. A study by the SEC has found most investors agree the rules provide a meaningful way to measure assets.

Cox acknowledged the extraordinary nature of the credit and financial crises that have plunged economies around the globe into distress, but said "the more serious the stresses on the market, the more important it is" to maintain neutral, independent accounting standards.

The SEC study, to be issued by Jan. 2, was mandated by Congress as part of the $700 billion financial bailout package enacted in early October. The law also affirms the SEC's authority to suspend mark-to-market accounting - a change won by the industry's Republican allies in Congress.

The study includes an examination of the rule's effect on bank failures this year. There have been 23 bank failures this year through Friday, up from three in 2007.

Cox said the SEC study had found a consensus among the majority of investors that mark-to market, or fair value, accounting is a meaningful measure of companies' assets.

Still, accounting standards "have to keep pace with the real world," so that modifications to the current rules may be needed, he said.

Proponents of the mark-to-market requirements, including analysts and investor advocates, argue that suspending them would weaken transparency in companies' financial statements, hurting investors and the capital markets.

It has appeared for some weeks that the SEC was unlikely to suspend the requirement. Some banking industry representatives have consequently shifted their focus to seeking changes they say would more fairly reflect the value of soured assets and the prices they could potentially fetch later, after mortgage markets rebound.