UBF reviews progress on SMEs

Abu Dhabi - The CEO Advisory Council of the UAE Banks Federation on Tuesday held its second regular meeting for this year

The CEO Advisory Council of the UAE Banks Federation, the professional body representing 49 banks in the UAE, on Tuesday held its second regular meeting for this year in Abu Dhabi.
Chaired by the its chairman Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, the meeting reviewed progress made on "Modus Operandi", the initiative for SMEs and corporates recently launched by the UBF to rescue and support SMEs and corporates in debt.
CEOs also reviewed progress made on adoption of the latest iteration of International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS 9, governing accounting standards to be applied on a globally consistent basis. Since it was formally launched in March, Modus Operandi has been activated on a number of occasions when a borrower has met the required criteria to allow its lending banks to collaborate on finding new ways to help it to meet its financial commitments.
The council was given an update on cases so far handled, and reaffirmed its full commitment to the scheme by reviewing results and progress on a regular basis. During the meeting, Jamal Saleh, deputy general manager and head of risk management at Commercial Bank of Dubai and a member of the federation's risk management committee, presented a progress report on IFRS 9 that was introduced in 2014, and provided an update on discussions with the Central Bank of the UAE on the proposed risk standards and guidelines. IFRS 9 includes a logical model for classification and measurement, a single forward-looking "expected loss" impairment model and a substantially-reformed approach to hedge accounting. IFRS 9 will be effective for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2018.
- business@khaleejtimes.com