SBP-SG-CIRCULAR-2026-0107: Adoption of IFRS 18 (Annex)

October 15, 2026
SBP-SG-CIRCULAR-2026-0107

To:
General Manager
E. S. D.

Reference: Adoption of IFRS 18

Dear General Manager:

Through Agreement No. 006-2012 of December 18, 2012, modified by Agreement No. 009-2019 of September 24, 2019, this Superintendence established that the technical accounting standards used in the preparation of accounting records and the presentation of financial statements of regulated entities are exclusively the IFRS Accounting Standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). These IFRS Accounting Standards include IAS 1 "Presentation of Financial Statements," which will be replaced by IFRS 18 "Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements." The application of IFRS 18 will be mandatory for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2027, as provided in Appendix C of IFRS 18.

Considering that the adoption of IFRS 18 has a significant impact on the presentation of the income statement, this Superintendence has determined it convenient to issue a model of the income statement that all banks and banking groups must use in their interim and annual financial statements, in accordance with the effective date of this Standard.

This model was previously shared with the external audit firms that audit the banks and banking groups of the banking system with the objective of receiving their comments and suggestions.

Attached to this Circular, you will find an Annex containing the income statement model under IFRS 18.

For the adoption of this Income Statement model, you must consider the following:

• This model has been prepared by this Superintendence under the assumption that the bank or banking group has identified as principal business activities the two activities specified in paragraph 49 of IFRS 18, which are: investment in certain types of assets and provision of financing to customers. Each bank and banking group must make its own evaluation and document it in accordance with IFRS 18, considering that this evaluation may differ depending on the reporting entity (refer to paragraph B37 of IFRS 18). If you determine that you have only one specified principal business activity, you are requested to inform this Superintendence in advance of the arguments for this evaluation and whether this decision has been discussed with your external auditors. This communication must be made no later than December 31, 2026.

• The subtotals and lines included in the model are mandatory. However, in case you require greater levels of disaggregation, or if some of the lines included in the model do not apply to you, you may make the necessary adjustments to the model to adapt it to the specific nature of your operations. Consequently, you may incorporate additional items, subtotals, and levels of disaggregation when necessary to meet the presentation requirements of IFRS 18, maintaining the subtotals required by the Standard and by this Superintendence. In case the identified changes do not allow compliance with the subtotals required in this Circular and in the attached model, prior mandatory and written consultation with this Superintendence is required.

The objective of this model is to ensure the uniform adoption of IFRS 18 in the banking system, without relieving each entity of the obligation to evaluate, substantiate, and document the presentation that is appropriate in accordance with IFRS 18, considering the nature of their operations, their principal business activities, and the materiality of the information.

Through the email address superbancos@superbancos.gob.pa, we remain at your disposal to receive any queries that may arise, citing the reference of this circular and including the name, position, email address, and phone number of the person making the query.

We thank you, General Manager, for issuing the pertinent instructions to your staff for the compliance with the present.

Sincerely,

Milton Ayón Wong
Superintendent

Attachment: As indicated
KS/mv