Financial assets
Financial assets are classified into the following specified categories: financial assets ‘at fair value through profit or loss’ (“FVTPL”) and ‘available- for-sale’ (“AFS”) financial assets and ‘loans and receivables’. The classification depends on the nature and purpose of the financial assets and is determined at the time of initial recognition. All regular way purchases or sales of financial assets are recognized and derecognized on a trade date basis. Regular way purchases or sales are purchases or sales of financial assets that require delivery of assets within the time frame established by regulation or convention in the marketplace.
Effective interest method
The effective interest method is a method of calculating the amortized cost of a debt instrument and of allocating interest income over the relevant period. The effective interest rate is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts (including all fees and points paid or received that form an integral part of the effective interest rate, transaction costs and other premiums or discounts) through the expected life of the debt instrument, or, where appropriate, a shorter period, to the net carrying amount on initial recognition.
Income is recognized on an effective interest basis for debt instruments other than those financial assets classified as at FVTPL.
Financial assets at FVTPL
Financial assets are classified as at FVTPL when the financial asset is held for trading. A financial asset is classified as held for trading if:
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it has been acquired principally for the purpose of selling in the near term; or |
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it is a part of a portfolio of identified financial instruments that the Group manages together and has a recent actual pattern of short-term profit-taking; or |
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it is a derivative that is not designated and effective as a hedging instrument. |
Financial assets at FVTPL (including foreign currency forward contracts and financial products sold by banks) are stated at fair value, with any gains or losses arising on remeasurement recognized in profit or loss. The net gain or loss recognized in profit or loss incorporates any dividend or interest earned on the financial asset and is included in the ‘other gains and losses’ line item.
Available-for-sale financial assets (AFS financial assets)
AFS financial assets are non-derivatives that are either designated as AFS or are not classified as (a) loans and receivables, (b) held-to-maturity investments or (c) financial assets at fair value through profit or loss.
AFS financial assets are initially recognized at fair value plus transaction costs and subsequently carried at fair value, with changes in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income.
When securities classified as available for sale are sold or impaired, the accumulated fair value adjustments recognized in equity are include in the income statement as “other gains and losses”.
Interest on available-for-sale securities calculated using the effective interest method is recognized in the income statement as part of “other income”.
Dividends on AFS equity instruments are recognized in profit or loss when the Group’s right to receive the dividends is established.
Loans and receivables
Loans and receivables are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market. Loans and receivables including trade and other receivables, and cash and bank balances and restricted cash are measured at amortized cost using the effective interest method, less any impairment loss.
Interest income is recognized by applying the effective interest rate, except for short-term receivables when the effect of discounting is immaterial.
Impairment of financial assets
Financial assets, other than those at FVTPL, are assessed for indicators of impairment at the end of each reporting period. Financial assets are considered to be impaired when there is objective evidence that, as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the financial asset, the estimated future cash flows of the investment have been affected.
For all other financial assets, objective evidence of impairment could include:
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significant financial difficulty of the issuer or counterparty; or |
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breach of contract, such as a default or delinquency in interest or principal payments; or |
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it becoming probable that the borrower will enter bankruptcy or financial re-organization. |
For certain categories of financial assets, such as trade receivables, assets are assessed for impairment on a collective basis even if they were assessed not to be impaired individually. Objective evidence of impairment for a portfolio of receivables could include the Group’s past experience of collecting payments, an increase in the number of delayed payments in the portfolio past the average credit period, as well as observable changes in national or local economic conditions that correlate with default on receivables.
For financial assets carried at amortized cost, the amount of the impairment loss recognized is the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the present value of estimated future cash flows, discounted at the financial asset’s original effective interest rate.
For financial assets measured at amortized cost, if, in a subsequent period, the amount of the impairment loss decreases and the decrease can be related objectively to an event occurring after the impairment was recognized, the previously recognized impairment loss is reversed through profit or loss to the extent that the carrying amount of the investment at the date the impairment is reversed does not exceed what the amortized cost would have been had the impairment not been recognized.
For assets classified as available for sale, it is assessed at the end of each reporting period whether there is objective evidence that a financial asset or a group of financial assets is impaired.
For debt securities, if any such evidence exists the cumulative loss — measured as the difference between the acquisition cost and the current fair value, less any impairment loss on that financial asset previously recognized in profit or loss — is removed from equity and recognized in profit or loss. If, in a subsequent period, the fair value of a debt instrument classified as available for sale increases and the increase can be objectively related to an event occurring after the impairment loss was recognized in profit or loss, the impairment loss is reversed through the consolidated statement of profit or loss.
For equity investments, a significant or prolonged decline in the fair value of the security below its cost is also evidence that the assets are impaired. If any such evidence exists the cumulative loss — measured as the difference between the acquisition cost and the current fair value, less any impairment loss on that financial asset previously recognized in profit or loss — is removed from equity and recognized in profit or loss. Impairment losses recognized in the consolidated statement of profit or loss on equity instruments are not reversed through the consolidated statement of profit or loss.
The carrying amount of the financial asset is reduced by the impairment loss directly for all financial assets with the exception of trade receivables, where the carrying amount is reduced through the use of an allowance account. When a trade receivable is considered uncollectible, it is written off against the allowance account. Subsequent recoveries of amounts previously written off are credited to profit or loss.
Derecognition of financial assets
The Group derecognizes a financial asset only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire, or when it transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of the asset to another party. If the Group neither transfers nor retains substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership and continues to control the transferred asset, the Group recognizes its retained interest in the asset and an associated liability for amounts it may have to pay. If the Group retains substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of a transferred financial asset, the Group continues to recognize the financial asset and also recognizes a collateralized borrowing for the proceeds received.
On derecognition of a financial asset in its entirety the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the sum of the consideration received and receivable and the cumulative gain or loss that had been recognized in other comprehensive income and accumulated in equity is recognized in profit or loss.