IFRS: Are Indian banks ready?

While regulators, standard setters and law makers sit together to rollout the road map for implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards Standards (IFRS) in India, a wide section of the industry is already debating the impact and the implementation challenges of transitioning into IFRS.

A remarkable and important element of smooth transition into IFRS is the convergence of RBI guidelines with the principles laid down in IFRS. In other words, the successful adoption of IFRS is based on flexibility and acceptability of IFRS by RBI.

Banks will have to soon adjust to accounting changes that are enforced by IFRS. The Following are a few areas of impact:

Loan / Investment impairment :

Currently, banks consider provisions on loans based on RBI guidelines, which are very prescriptive and require limited use of judgment. However, IFRS require a case by case assessment (for significant exposures) of the facts and circumstances surrounding the recoverability and timing of future cash flows relating to the credit exposure. For investments, fair value is also considered as an input in addition to the financial / credit standing of the issuer.

Fair Value :

Under IFRS, a significant percentage of the balance sheet would have to be fair valued compared to the current practice of carrying it at historical cost /lower than the cost or fair value. Accordingly, fair value methodologies and practices would need to be re-examined to ensure that they are current, up to date and are validated and back tested in current market conditions.

Derivatives and hedge accounting :

Application of hedge accounting would bring down reducing income statement volatility. However, this will entail onerous and stringent documentation requirements, mandatory effectiveness tests and determination of fair value based on observable inputs. This will also call for a much heightened awareness of rules for hedge relationships and certain processes and system changes.

De-recognition of financial assets :

Under IFRS, de-recognition of financial assets is a complex, multi-layered area that follows the principle of transfer of risks and rewards. In the Indian context, this will impact mainly the securitisation activity. Securitsation transactions — where credit collaterals are provided or guarantee is provided to cover credit losses in excess of the losses inherent in the portfolio of assets securitised — may not meet the de-recognition principles enunciated in IAS 39. This will result in failure of de-recognition test under IFRS and lead to collapse of securitisation vehicles into the transferor’s balance sheets. Banks will need to assess the impact and consider the potential impact on capital adequacy and ratios such as return on assets.

Consolidation :

Under IFRS, consolidation is not driven purely by the ownership structure of an entity but will have to focus on the power to control an entity to obtain economic benefit. IFRS provides more rigorous consolidation tests and in practice can result in the consolidation of a larger number of entities as compared to under Indian GAAP. Banks will need to perform consolidation assessments as early as possible, particularly for non-shareholding related factors that impact consolidation, to assess its impact.

Are banks ready ?

Convergence to IFRS is likely to pose significant challenges for banks, as shown by global experience. Certain large Indian banks, which have the benefit of going through the process of international GAAP such as US GAAP in the past, have recognised the challenges of convergence and have already started planning their detailed roadmap to achieve a smooth convergence. It is time for other banks to take the cue and follow suit. Critical to the successful implementation of IFRS in the Indian context would be the level of regulatory sponsorship, the appropriate level of investment in systems and processes and consistency in market practices for areas where judgment is critical. A move to IFRS can be a compared to the mountain peak which can certainly be scaled if well planned and appropriately executed!!

Source: Article by Mr. Manoj Kumar Vijai , a renowed Chartered Accountant, article earlier appeared in the Economic Times, a famous financial daily.