New International Financial Reporting Standards Will Change How Banks Report Financial Results

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 10, 2011) - As Canada moves to new International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2011, there will be a number of changes to how banks and other publicly-traded companies report their quarterly and annual financial results. It is important that analysts and investors understand the changes and, to help them do so, the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) today hosted an IFRS Investor Education Event in Toronto.

IFRS is being implemented in Canada to provide a set of global, high-quality accounting standards, replacing Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for all publicly accountable and government business enterprises. IFRS has been adopted by over 100 countries, including those in the European Union and much of the Pacific Rim.

"Banks in Canada have been working on their IFRS transition plans for several years now and will be ready to comply with the new requirements," said Linda Mezon, Chief Accountant, Royal Bank of Canada and Chair of the CBA's Chief Accountants Specialists Group. "Moving to IFRS is a significant undertaking for banks and other businesses and it is important that analysts, investors and other groups looking at bank financial statements understand the changes before the banks begin IFRS reporting."

At the IFRS Investor Education Event, Jason Boggs, a partner and an IFRS specialist at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, outlined the timing of IFRS transition and some of the more significant changes to the financial statement account balances, formats and notes that analysts and investors will soon see on bank financial statements. 

In his presentation, Mr. Boggs stressed that the impact of IFRS changes will affect individual banks in different ways, depending on their operations and business mix. Among the accounting areas commonly expected to be most affected by the IFRS transition are securitization, consolidation of off-balance sheet vehicles and pension and acquisition accounting. 

Following Mr. Boggs' presentation, senior finance executives from Canada's largest banks participated in a panel discussion and provided their views on IFRS related topics including the efforts of Canadian banks in preparing for transition, stakeholder communication strategies and the impact IFRS will have from accounting, business operations and regulatory capital perspectives.

Accessing IFRS Investor Education Event Materials

The slide deck of the IFRS Investor Education Event presentation is available on the CBA website at the following link: www.cba.ca/ifrs-event. An audio file and a transcript of the event will also be posted at this link as soon as they are available.

The Canadian Bankers Association works on behalf of 51 domestic banks, foreign bank subsidiaries and foreign bank branches operating in Canada and their 260,000 employees. The CBA advocates for effective public policies that contribute to a sound, successful banking system that benefits Canadians and Canada's economy. The Association also promotes financial literacy to help Canadians make informed financial decisions. www.cba.ca.

Follow the CBA on Twitter: @CdnBankers.