The Board and Senior Management are responsible for ensuring that financial statements are:
prepared in accordance with accounting policies and practices that are widely accepted internationally;
supported by record keeping systems; and
issued annually to the public together with an independent External Auditor’s opinion.
The Board audit committee must oversee the financial reporting process and the establishment or amendment of significant accounting policies and practices.
Banks must prepare their financial statements in accordance with the IFRS and the instructions of the Central Bank.
Banks must use valuation practices consistent with IFRS and subject the fair value estimation framework, structure and processes to independent verification and validation.
The Board must ensure adequate governance structures and control processes for all financial instruments that are measured at fair value for risk management and financial reporting purposes.
Banks must avoid taking any action in whatever form, which may disclose or reveal their intentions regarding distribution or repatriation of profits, retained earnings, reserves, or other component of regulatory capital, unless they have obtained the prior written no-objection from the Central Bank.
Banks must submit their audited financial statements together with the independent External Auditor’s opinion to the Central Bank no less than three weeks prior to the meeting of the general assembly and no more than three months after the financial year-end.
Banks must not make any distribution or repatriation of profits, retained earnings, reserves, or other component of regulatory capital, unless they have obtained the prior written no-objection from the Central Bank.
Banks must not present their audited financial statements at the meeting of the general assembly, or otherwise make public such statements, unless they have obtained the prior written no-objection from the Central Bank.
Banks must publish on their website their audited financial statements together with the independent External Auditor’s opinion no more than four months after the financial year-end. They must also be published in the Banks’ annual report.
Banks must make available upon request a printed or electronic copy of their most recent published audited financial statements together with the independent External Auditor’s opinion to any shareholder or customer of the Bank.