‘Time extension for submitting audited reports to give some relief to banks’

The time extension for banks to submit their audited financial statements along with the market disclosure information will give them some relief, experts say.

They now have to submit their documents by February after the end of a financial year on 31 December, according to the newly issued circular by the Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday.

If any bank needs additional time, they will get two more months – March and April – to submit the documents.

The banks must submit their audited financial statements before this deadline ends.

The country's banks, as per section 40 of the Company Act 1991, will be responsible for submitting their market disclosure information within seven working days after the completion of their audited financial statements, the circular added.

As per this law, the banks have to submit their market disclosure information to the central bank within next two months after conducting their last board meeting at the end of a financial year.

Earlier, according to the guidelines on Risk Based Capital Adequacy (Revised Regulatory Capital Framework for Banks in line with Basel III), the banks whose annual statements were prepared taking the 31 December as the last date of year, they had to submit their audited financial statements by 31 March.

On the other hand, whose annual statements were done based on 30 June, had to submit the same documents by 30 September.

A Bangladesh Bank official with knowledge of the matter on condition of anonymity told The Business Standard that many banks sought extended time for submitting their audited financial statements.

Taking all the relevant issues into consideration, the new timeframe has been set. Here, no banks will not be allowed to intentionally extend the submission date of their documents, he said.

Contacted, a Chartered Accountant seeking anonymity told The Business Standard, that it is not a major change. He thinks that banks will have some extra times in hands to submit their documents.

The banks, as per this new guideline, will be released from extra pressures during the ongoing Covid-19 time, said Muhammad Farooq, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh.