UBF examines reporting standards

Dubai: The CEO Advisory Council of the UAE Banks Federation (UBF), the professional body representing 49 banks in the UAE, on Tuesday reviewed progress made on adoption of the latest iteration of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS 9) governing accounting standards to be applied on a globally consistent basis.

The meeting, chaired by Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of the Federation, also evaluated the progress made on the “Modus Operandi”, the initiative recently launched by UBF to rescue and support SMEs and corporates indebt.

Since it was formally launched in March, the Federation’s initiative for SMEs and Corporates, called “Modus Operandi”, has been activated on a number of occasions when a borrower has met the required criteria to allow its lending banks to collaborate on finding new ways to help it to meet its financial commitments. The CEO Advisory Council was given an update on cases so far handled, and reaffirmed its full commitment to the scheme by reviewing results and progress on a regular basis.

During the meeting, Jamal Saleh, Deputy General Manager — Head of Risk Management, Commercial Bank of Dubai and a member of the Federation’s risk management committee presented a progress report on IFRS 9 which was introduced in 2014, and provided an update on discussions with the UAE Central Bank on the proposed Risk Standards and Guidelines. IFRS 9 includes a logical model for classification and measurement, a single forward-looking ‘expected loss’ impairment model and a substantially reformed approach to hedge accounting. IFRS 9 will be effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018.