Corona expected credit losses

26 maart 2020

ESMA en CEAOB over de corona pandemie en financiele verslaglegging en accountantscontrole.

De European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) en de Committee of European Audit Oversight Bodies (CEAOB) hebben verklaringen uitgebracht over financiële verslaglegging en de accountantscontrole in het licht van de Covid-19-uitbraak.

Berekening voorziening verwachte kredietverliezen

Na overleg in ESMA-verband hebben de Europese financiële toezichthouders een gezamenlijke verklaring uitgebracht over de gevolgen van de Covid-19-uitbraak voor de berekening van de voorziening voor verwachte kredietverliezen (expected credit losses). De bepalingen staan in de verslaggevingsregels van IFRS 9.

CEAOB benadrukt belang kwaliteit van accountantscontrole

In CEAOB-verband benadrukken de Europese toezichthouders dat het voor de kwaliteit van accountantscontroles van groot belang is dat er blijvende aandacht is voor de continuïteit, gebeurtenissen na balansdatum en communicatie na de Covid-19 uitbraak.

Uit de ESMA verklaring:

“The Expected Credit Loss (ECL) model in IFRS 9 requires issuers to measure expected losses and consider forward-looking information, by reflecting “an unbiased and probability-weighted amount that is determined by evaluating a range of possible outcomes” and taking into account “reasonable and supportable information that is available without undue cost or effort at that date about past events, current conditions and forecasts of future economic conditions” [IFRS 9, paragraph 5.5.17].

Issuers should assess the extent to which, amongst other facts, the high degree of uncertainty and any sudden changes in the short-term economic outlook are expected to result in impacts over the entire expected life of the financial instrument. Such considerations are integral to the functioning of the ECL model under IFRS 9 and ESMA highlights that the Standard does not envisage any automatism as to how such contextual factors should impact on the loan loss provisioning.

In particular, given the scarcity of available and reliable information in the current context, issuers will face problems in generating reasonable and supportable short-term economic forecasts. In this context,ESMA highlights the recent ECB supervisory measures taken in reaction to the coronavirus in this area (i.e. the recommendation that, given the current state of uncertainty linked to the COVID-19 outbreak, within the framework provided by IFRS, issuers give a greater weight to long-term stable outlook as evidenced by past experience and take into account the relief measures granted by public authorities –such as payment moratoria).

Finally, in ESMA’s view, when making forecasts, issuers should consider the nature of this economic shock (i.e. whether the COVID-19 effect is expected to be temporary) and the impact that the economic support and relief measures (including debt moratoria) will have on the credit risk over the expected life of the instruments, which include, depending on the instruments’ maturities, longer-term estimates.”

(bron: AFM)

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