Critical Accounting Policies

 

The Bank’s accounting policies are essential to understanding its results of operations and financial condition. A summary of the Bank’s significant accounting policies is presented in Note 1 of the Bank’s Consolidated Financial Statements beginning on page 59 of this Annual Report. Some of the Bank’s policies require subjective, complex judgements and estimates as they relate to matters that are inherently uncertain. Changes in these judgements or estimates could have a significant impact on the Bank’s financial statements. The Bank has established procedures to ensure that accounting policies are applied consistently and that the processes for changing methodologies are well controlled and occur in an appropriate and systematic manner. In addition, the Bank’s critical accounting policies are reviewed with the Audit Committee on a periodic basis. Critical accounting policies that require management’s judgements and estimates include accounting for loan losses, accounting for the fair value of financial instruments held in trading portfolios, accounting for income taxes, the valuation of investment securities, accounting for securitizations, the valuation of goodwill and intangible assets and the accounting for pensions and post-retirement benefits.

Accounting for loan losses

Accounting for loan losses is an area of importance given the significant size of the Bank’s loan portfolio. The Bank has three types of allowances against loan losses – specific, general and sectoral. Loan impairment is recognized when the timely collection of all contractually due interest and principal payments is no longer assured. Significant judgement is required as to the timing of designating a loan as impaired and the amount of the required specific allowance. Reviews by regulators in Canada and the U.S. bring a measure of uniformity to specific allowances recorded by banks. Sectoral allowances require ongoing judgement as to draw downs from sectorals to specific loss and the amount of periodic sectoral allowances required. General allowances also require judgement given that the level of general allowances depends upon an assessment of business and economic conditions, historical and expected loss experience, loan portfolio composition and other relevant indicators. Note 1(h) of the Bank’s Consolidated Financial Statements provides more details.

Accounting for the fair value of financial instruments held in trading portfolios

The Bank’s trading securities and trading derivatives are carried at fair value on the Consolidated Balance Sheet with the resulting realized and unrealized gains or losses recognized immediately in other income. The fair value of exchange traded financial instruments is based on quoted market rates plus or minus daily margin settlements. If listed prices or quotes are not available, then the Bank’s management applies judgement in the determination of the fair values by using valuation models that incorporate prevailing market rates and prices on underlying instruments with similar maturities and characteristics, and takes into account factors such as counterparty credit quality, liquidity and concentration concerns. Imprecision in estimating these factors can impact the amount of revenue or loss recorded for a particular position. Notwithstanding the judgement required in fair valuing the Bank’s financial instruments, the Bank believes its estimates of fair value are reasonable given the Bank’s process for obtaining external market prices, internal model review, consistent application of approach from period to period and the validation of estimates through the actual settlement of contracts.

Accounting for income taxes

Accounting for current income taxes requires the Bank to exercise judgement for issues relating to certain complex transactions, known issues under discussion with tax authorities or transactions yet to be settled in court. As a result, the Bank maintains a tax provision for contingencies and regularly assesses the adequacy of this tax provision.

Future income taxes are recorded to account for the effects of future taxes on transactions occurring in the current period. The accounting for future income taxes also requires judgement in the following key situations:

• Future tax assets are assessed for recoverability. The Bank records a valuation allowance when it believes based on all available evidence, that it is not more likely than not that all of the future tax assets recognized will be realized prior to their expiration. The amount of the future income tax asset recognized and considered realizable could, however, be reduced in the near term if projected income is not achieved due to various factors such as unfavourable business conditions.
• Future tax assets are calculated based on tax rates to be applied in future periods. Previously recorded tax assets and liabilities need to be adjusted when the expected date of the future event is revised based on current information.
• The Bank has not recognized a future income tax liability for undistributed earnings of certain international operations as it does not plan to repatriate them. Estimated taxes payable on such earnings in the event of repatriation would be $206 million at October 31, 2003.

Valuation of investment securities

Under Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), investment securities are carried at cost or amortized cost and are adjusted to net realizable value to recognize other than temporary impairment. The determination of whether or not other than temporary impairment exists is a matter of judgement. The Bank’s management reviews these investment securities regularly for possible other than temporary impairment and this review typically includes an analysis of the facts and circumstances of each investment and the expectations for that investment’s performance. Specifically, impairment of the value of an investment may be indicated by conditions such as a prolonged period during which the quoted market value of the investment is less than its carrying value, severe losses by the investee in the current year or current and prior years, continued losses by the investee for a period of years, suspension of trading in the securities, liquidity or going concern problems of the investee or a current fair value of the investment that is less than its carrying value. When a condition indicating an impairment in value for an investment has persisted for a period of three to four years, there is a general presumption that there has been a loss that is other than temporary in nature. This presumption can only be rebutted by persuasive evidence to the contrary.

Accounting for securitizations

There are two key determinations relating to the accounting for securitizations. For bank-originated securitized assets, a decision must be made as to whether the securitization should be considered a sale under Canadian GAAP. Canadian GAAP requires that specific criteria be met for the Bank to have surrendered control of the assets and thus recognize a gain on sale. For instance, the securitized assets must be isolated from the Bank and put beyond the reach of the Bank and its creditors, even in bankruptcy or other receivership. The second key determination is whether the special purpose entity (SPE) should be consolidated into the Bank’s financial statements. Current Canadian GAAP requires consolidation of SPEs only when the Bank retains substantially all the residual risks and rewards of the SPE. In addition, if the SPE’s activities are sufficiently restricted to meet certain accounting requirements, the SPE should not be consolidated by the Bank. Under current Canadian GAAP, all of the Bank-originated assets transferred to SPEs meet the criteria for sale treatment and non-consolidation. However, it should be noted that the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) has issued a new accounting guideline entitled the Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities (VIEs). The guideline introduces a new consolidation model which determines control (and consolidation) based on the potential variability of gains and losses of the entity being evaluated. The guideline is effective for the Bank beginning in fiscal 2005 and may result in the consolidation of certain VIEs. See Note 26 of the Bank’s Consolidated Financial Statements for more details.

Valuation of goodwill and intangible assets

Under Canadian GAAP, goodwill is not amortized, but is instead assessed for impairment at the reporting unit level on at least an annual basis. Goodwill is assessed for impairment using a two step approach with the first step being to assess whether the fair value of the reporting unit to which the goodwill is associated is less than its carrying value. When the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying value, a second impairment test is performed. The second test requires a comparison of the fair value of goodwill to its carrying amount. If the fair value of goodwill is less than its carrying value, goodwill is considered impaired and a charge for impairment must be recognized immediately. The fair value of the Bank’s reporting units are determined from internally developed valuation models that consider various factors such as normalized and projected earnings, price earnings multiples and discount rates. The Bank’s management uses judgement in estimating the fair value of reporting units and imprecision in estimates can affect the valuation of goodwill.

Intangible assets that derive their value from contractual customer relationships or that can be separated and sold, and have a finite useful life are amortized over their estimated useful life. Determining the estimated useful life of these finite life intangible assets requires an analysis of the circumstances and judgement by the Bank’s management. Finite life intangible assets are tested for impairment whenever circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. See Note 5 to the Bank’s Consolidated Financial Statements for more details.

Accounting for pensions and post-retirement benefits

The Bank’s pension and post-retirement benefits obligation and expense is dependent on the assumptions used in calculating these amounts. The actuarial assumptions are determined by management and are reviewed annually by management and the Bank’s actuaries. These assumptions include the discount rate, the rate of compensation increase, the overall health care cost trend rate and the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets. Differences between actual experience and the assumptions will result in increases or decreases in the Bank’s pension and post-retirement benefits expense in future years. See Note 14 to the Bank’s Consolidated Financial Statements for more details.