2019 Universal registration document and annual financial report - BNP PARIBAS170

4 Consolidated finanCial statements for the year ended 31 deCemBer 2019

4

Notes to the financial statements

Assets and liabilities measured or disclosed at fair value are categorised into the three following levels of the fair value hierarchy:

■ Level 1: fair values are determined using directly quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities. Characteristics of an active market include the existence of a sufficient frequency and volume of activity and of readily available prices;

■ Level 2: fair values are determined based on valuation techniques for which significant inputs are observable market data, either directly or indirectly. These techniques are regularly calibrated and the inputs are corroborated with information from active markets;

■ Level 3: fair values are determined using valuation techniques for which significant inputs are unobservable or cannot be corroborated by market-based observations, due for instance to illiquidity of the instrument and significant model risk. An unobservable input is a parameter for which there are no market data available and that is therefore derived from proprietary assumptions about what other market participants would consider when assessing fair value. The assessment of whether a product is illiquid or subject to significant model risks is a matter of judgment.

The level in the fair value hierarchy within which the asset or liability is categorised in its entirety is based upon the lowest level input that is significant to the entire fair value.

For financial instruments disclosed in Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy, and marginally some instruments disclosed in Level 2, a difference between the transaction price and the fair value may arise at initial recognition. This Day One Profit is deferred and released to the profit and loss account over the period during which the valuation parameters are expected to remain non-observable. When parameters that were originally non-observable become observable, or when the valuation can be substantiated in comparison with recent similar transactions in an active market, the unrecognised portion of the day one profit is released to the profit and loss account.

1.e.11 Derecognition of financial assets and financial liabilities

Derecognition of financial assets The Group derecognises all or part of a financial asset either when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or when the Group transfers the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of the asset. Unless these conditions are fulfilled, the Group retains the asset in its balance sheet and recognises a liability for the obligation created as a result of the transfer of the asset.

Derecognition of financial liabilities The Group derecognises all or part of a financial liability when the liability is extinguished in full or in part.

Repurchase agreements and securities lending/borrowing Securities temporarily sold under repurchase agreements continue to be recognised in the Group s balance sheet in the category of securities to which they belong. The corresponding liability is recognised at amortised cost under the appropriate Financial liabilities at amortised cost category on the balance sheet, except in the case of repurchase agreements contracted for trading purposes, for which the corresponding liability is recognised in Financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss .

Securities temporarily acquired under reverse repurchase agreements are not recognised in the Group s balance sheet. The corresponding receivable is recognised at amortised cost under the appropriate Financial assets at amortised cost category in the balance sheet, except in the case of reverse repurchase agreements contracted for trading purposes, for which the corresponding receivable is recognised in Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss .

Securities lending transactions do not result in derecognition of the lent securities, and securities borrowing transactions do not result in recognition of the borrowed securities on the balance sheet. In cases where the borrowed securities are subsequently sold by the Group, the obligation to deliver the borrowed securities on maturity is recognised on the balance sheet under financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss .

1.e.12 Offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities

A financial asset and a financial liability are offset and the net amount presented in the balance sheet if, and only if, the Group has a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts, and intends either to settle on a net basis, or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Repurchase agreements and derivatives that meet the two criteria set out in the accounting standard are offset in the balance sheet.

1.f ACCOUNTING STANDARDS SPECIFIC TO INSURANCE ACTIVITIES

The specific accounting policies relating to assets and liabilities generated by insurance contracts and financial contracts with a discretionary participation feature written by fully consolidated insurance companies are retained for the purposes of the consolidated financial statements. These policies comply with IFRS 4.

The amendment to IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts : Applying IFRS 9 Financial Instruments with IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts adopted by the European Union on 3 November 2017 provides the option for entities that predominantly undertake insurance activities to defer the effective date of IFRS 9(1) until 1 January 2021. The effect of such a deferral is that those entities may continue to report their financial statements under the existing standard IAS 39.

(1) On 26 June 2019, the IASB published an exposure draft Amendments to IFRS 17 including in particular the deferral of the mandatory initial application of IFRS 17 as well as the deferral of the expiry date for the temporary exemption from IFRS 9 to 1 January 2022.