On 24 July 2014, the International Accounting Standards Board published International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9 Financial Instruments (IFRS 9). IFRS 9 aims to improve the financial reporting of financial instruments by addressing concerns that arose in that area during the financial crisis. In particular, IFRS 9 responds to the G20’s call to move to a more forward-looking model for the recognition of expected credit losses on financial assets. In relation to the recognition of expected credit losses on financial assets it replaces International Accounting Standard (IAS) 39.
(2)
The Commission adopted IFRS 9 through Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/2067 (4). In accordance with that Regulation, credit institutions and investment firms (‘institutions’) that use IFRS to prepare their financial statements are required to apply IFRS 9 as of the starting date of their first financial year starting on or after 1 January 2018.
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The application of IFRS 9 may lead to a sudden significant increase in expected credit loss provisions and consequently to a sudden decrease in institutions’ Common Equity Tier 1 capital. While the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is currently considering the longer-term regulatory treatment of expected credit loss provisions, transitional arrangements should be introduced in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) to mitigate that potentially significant negative impact on Common Equity Tier 1 capital arising from expected credit loss accounting.
(4)
In its resolution of 6 October 2016 on International Financial Reporting Standards: IFRS 9 (6), the European Parliament called for a progressive phase-in regime that would mitigate the impact of the new impairment model of IFRS 9.
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Where an institution’s opening balance sheet on the day that it first applies IFRS 9 reflects a decrease in Common Equity Tier 1 capital as a result of increased expected credit loss provisions, including the loss allowance for lifetime expected credit losses for financial assets that are credit-impaired, as defined in Appendix A to IFRS 9 as set out in the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 (7) (‘Annex relating to IFRS 9’), compared to the closing balance sheet on the previous day, the institution should be allowed to include in its Common Equity Tier 1 capital a portion of the increased expected credit loss provisions for a transitional period. That transitional period should have a maximum duration of 5 years and should start in 2018. The portion of expected credit loss provisions that can be included in Common Equity Tier 1 capital should decrease over time down to zero to ensure the full implementation of IFRS 9 on the day immediately after the end of the transitional period. The impact of the expected credit loss provisions on Common Equity Tier 1 capital should not be fully neutralised during the transitional period.
(6)
Institutions should decide whether to apply those transitional arrangements and inform the competent authority accordingly. During the transitional period, an institution should have the possibility to reverse once its initial decision, subject to the prior permission of the competent authority which should ensure that such decision is not motivated by considerations of regulatory arbitrage.
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As expected credit loss provisions incurred after the day that an institution first applies IFRS 9 could rise unexpectedly due to a worsening macroeconomic outlook, institutions should be granted additional relief in such cases.
(8)
Institutions that decide to apply transitional arrangements should be required to adjust the calculation of regulatory items which are directly affected by expected credit loss provisions to ensure that they do not receive inappropriate capital relief. For example, the specific credit risk adjustments by which the exposure value is reduced under the Standardised Approach for credit risk should be reduced by a factor which has the effect of increasing the exposure value. This would ensure that an institution would not benefit from both an increase in its Common Equity Tier 1 capital due to transitional arrangements as well as a reduced exposure value.
(9)
Institutions that decide to apply the IFRS 9 transitional arrangements specified in this Regulation should publicly disclose their own funds, capital ratios and leverage ratios both with and without the application of those arrangements in order to enable the public to determine the impact of those arrangements.
(10)
It is also appropriate to provide for transitional arrangements for the exemption from the large exposure limit available for exposures to certain public sector debt of Member States denominated in the domestic currency of any Member State. The transitional period should have a duration of 3 years starting from 1 January 2018 for exposures of this type incurred on or after 12 December 2017, whilst exposures of this type incurred before that date should be grandfathered and should continue to benefit from the large exposures exemption.
(11)
In order to enable the transitional arrangements provided for in this Regulation to be applied from 1 January 2018, this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
(12)
Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly,
