Sponsorships and Speaking Engagements | 28 April 2020

Hogan Lovells Restructuring partner part of webinar discussing how central banks and regulators can alleviate the financial and economic impact of COVID-19

Hogan Lovells Business Restructuring & Insolvency partner Jonathan Leitch was a panellist at a joint webinar organised by the South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on IFRS 9 and non-performing loans (NPLs) titled "Suggested Actions for Central Banks, Regulators and Banks" on 28 April 2020.

Governments and banks in many jurisdictions have introduced extraordinary measures to alleviate the financial and economic impact of COVID-19. These include a range of government guarantees, central bank liquidity measures and payment moratoriums. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has agreed that the risk-reducing effects of the support measures should be fully recognised in banks’ risk-based capital requirements and on the expected credit losses (ECLs) of banks calculated as part of IFRS 9.

In this webinar, Jonathan alongside a group of well-renowned panellists, explored how these measures can best be applied in the calculation of ECLs and provisions as part of IFRS 9 calculations, what types of forbearance are appropriate and the key issues and risks regulators and banks need to be aware of.

The various measures on IFRS 9 that have already been taken by Central Banks so far were also discussed, as well as the major concern of NPLs that had been building up across Asia even before COVID-19 and potential ways to deal with this.

The other panellists included, Peter Rosenkranz, Economist at Asian Development Bank (ADB), David Gruenberger, Head of Prudential Regulations and Accounting Section at the European Central Bank, and Ron Thompson, Managing Director of the Asia Restructuring Practice at Alvarez & Marsal in Hong Kong.

The organisers from the Research & Training Centre at SEACEN were Aziz Durrani and Glenn Tasky. SEACEN members and associate members consist of the 35 central banks in Asia.