HMAJ/WDPL
We have audited the financial statements of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (“the Bank”) and the consolidated financial statements of the Bank and its subsidiaries (“the Group”), which comprise the statement of financial position as at December 31, 2020, and the income statement, statement of profit or loss, other comprehensive income, statement of changes in equity and statement of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies.
In our opinion, the accompanying financial statements of the Bank and the Group gives a true and fair view of the financial position of the Bank and the Group as at December 31, 2020, and of its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with Sri Lanka Accounting Standards.
We conducted our audit in accordance with Sri Lanka Auditing Standards (SLAuSs). Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Group in accordance with the Code of Ethics issued by CA Sri Lanka (Code of Ethics) and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of the audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters. For each matter below, our description of how our audit addressed the matter is provided in that context.
We have fulfilled the responsibilities described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report, including in relation to these matters. Accordingly, our audit included the performance of procedures designed to respond to our assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements. The results of our audit procedures, including the procedures performed to address the matters below, provide the basis for our audit opinion on the accompanying financial statements.
Key audit matter | How our audit addressed the key audit matter |
Impairment allowance for Loans and advances to other customers. Loans and advances amounting to Rs. 909,829 Mn. (Note 34), net of impairment allowance of Rs. 52,030 Mn. (Note 34) and represents 52% of total assets of the Group as at December 31, 2020.
As described in Note 7.1.12, impairment allowance on such financial assets carried at amortised cost is determined in accordance with Sri Lanka Accounting Standard – SLFRS 9 Financial Instruments (SLFRS 9). This was a key audit matter due to:
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We assessed the alignment of the Group’s impairment computations and underlying methodology with the requirements of SLFRS 9 with consideration of COVID-19 impacts and related industry responses based on the best available information up to the date of our report. Our audit procedures included amongst others the following:
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Bank’s financial reporting process and related IT systems and controls The Bank uses multiple IT systems in its operations. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the Bank to adapt various operating processes and procedures including modification of relevant controls to mitigate the resulting risks.
IT systems and controls relevant to financial reporting was a key audit matter due to:
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Our audit procedures included the following, amongst others:
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Other information consists of the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Management is responsible for the other information.
Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.
Management is responsible for the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with Sri Lanka Accounting Standards, and for such internal control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, management is responsible for assessing the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate the Group or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.
Those charged with governance are responsible for overseeing the Bank’s and the Group’s financial reporting process.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with SLAuSs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
As part of an audit in accordance with SLAuSs, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.
We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with ethical requirements in accordance with the Code of Ethics regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.
From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our auditor’s report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.
As required by section 163 (2) of the Companies Act No. 07 of 2007, we have obtained all the information and explanations that were required for the audit and, as far as appears from our examination, proper accounting records have been kept by the Bank.
CA Sri Lanka membership number of the engagement partner responsible for signing this independent auditor’s report is 1884.
Chartered Accountants
February 24, 2021
Colombo