Faisal Saleh Al Mannai (centre), Head of Supervision and Control of Banks and other Financial Institutions Department at Qatar Central Bank (QCB), with other officials at the opening of the workshop organised by the QCB at Sharq Village and Spa in Doha ye
Doha: Qatar Central Bank (QCB), the banking and financial market regulator, is hosting a specialised workshop involving key stakeholders, including all local banks, on ‘Regulatory Treatment of Accounting Provisions: IFRS9 and Beyond’.
The three-day event, which is being organised in collaboration with the Union of Arab Banks, at Sharq Village and Spa Hotel, aims to discuss important issues and challenges with regard to advanced and practical implementation of the of “impairment” provisions under the newly-promulgated International Financial Reporting Standard ‘IFRS9’ from 2018.
IFRS 9 is a revised financial reporting practice replacing the earlier version of IFRS (IAS 39). After the 2008 financial crisis, the US-based International Accounting Standards Board, decided to revise their accounting standards for financial instruments to address perceived deficiencies which were believed to have contributed to the magnitude of the crisis.
“The main objective of hosting this important workshop is to find out the future course of action after the implementation of the IFRS9 provisions,” Faisal Saleh Al Mannai, Head of Supervision & Control of Banks and other Financial Institutions Department at the QCB, told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the event, yesterday.
Al Mannai added: “QCB had already issued guidelines for the implementation of IFRS 9 way back in early last year, and we hope to see all banks (conventional as well as shariah-compliant lenders) to comply with the instructions issued.”
He said that the workshop also aims to discuss the various challenges banks are facing in the process of implementing the new reporting standards under IFRS 9. It will also shed light on the role of the central bank in this regard.
Asked whether non-banking financial institutions will also be required to comply with IFRS 9, Al Mannai said that the first-draft for the implementation of IFRS 9 is only for the banks. However, the regulator is in the process to find out if these (new financial reporting) standards are also applicable for the institutions that grant credit facilities.
Commenting about some of the major challenges faced by the banks with regard to IFRS 9, he said that the main concerns of the banks are to find out exactly the ways to calculate perceived deficiencies as per each portions of the new provisions for each customer from the beginning of the credit facilities granted.
“But we have already addressed these challenges by issuing appropriate and clear guidelines that all banks are complying with.”
Some banking experts say that with the implementation of IFRS 9 standards, the health of Qatari banks will get strengthened further, as well as more prudent and stringent lending and investing conditions will further boost investor’s confidence.
