The five-year reprieve that allowed banks to avoid making provisions for some loans has come to an end, with the lenders now set to disclose full compliance with higher capital requirements brought by a more conservative accounting standard that was introduced in 2018.
The adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards 9 (IFRS 9) on January 1, 2018, required banks to provide for expected loan losses rather than those already incurred, reducing their profitability and eroding their capital base.
