TO THE MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL BANK LIMITEDREPORT ON THE AUDIT OF THE STANDALONE FINANCIAL STATEMENTSOPINION
We have audited the accompanying standalone financial
statements of The Federal Bank Limited ('the Bank'), which comprise the standalone Balance Sheet as at March 31, 2023, the standalone Profit and Loss Account, the standalone Cash Flow statement for the year then ended and notes to the standalone financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.
In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the aforesaid standalone financial statements give the information required by the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 as well as the Companies Act, 2013 ('the Act') in the manner so required for banking companies and give a true and fair view in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in India, of the state of affairs of the Bank as at March 31,2023, and its profit and its cash flows for the year ended on that date.
BASIS FOR OPINION
We conducted our audit of the standalone financial statements in accordance with the Standards on Auditing ('SAs') specified
under section 143(10) of the Act. Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the 'Auditors' Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements' section of our report. We are independent of the Bank in accordance with the “Code of Ethics" issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India together with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the standalone financial statements under the provisions of the Act and the Rules thereunder, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion on the standalone financial statements.
KEY AUDIT MATTERS
Key Audit Matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the standalone financial statements for the financial year ended March 31, 2023. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the standalone 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.
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DESCRIPTION OF KEY AUDIT MATTERS
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key Audit Matters
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How our audit addressed the key Audit Matters
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(i)
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classification of Advances, Identification of Non-Performing Advances, Income Recognition and Provision on Advances (Schedule 9 read with Note 4.2 of Schedule 17 and Note 1.4 and Note 1.14.5 of Schedule 18 to the standalone financial statements)
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Advances include Bills purchased and discounted, Cash credits, Overdrafts, Loans repayable on demand and Term loans. These are further categorised as secured by
Tangible assets (including advances against Book Debts), covered by Bank/Government Guarantees and Unsecured advances.
The Reserve Bank of India ('RBI') has prescribed the 'Prudential Norms on Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning' in respect of advances for banks ('IRACP Norms') for the identification and classification of non-performing assets ('NPA') and the minimum provision required for such assets.
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Our audit approach / procedures towards Classification of Advances, Identification of Non-performing Advances, Income Recognition and Provision on Advances included the following:
- Understanding and considering the Bank's accounting policies for NPA identification and provisioning and assessing compliance with the prudential norms prescribed by the RBI (IRACP Norms).
- Understanding, evaluation and testing the design and operating effectiveness of key controls (including system based automated controls) for identification and provisioning
of impaired accounts based on the extant guidelines on IRACP laid down by the RBI.
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key Audit Matters
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How our audit addressed the key Audit Matters
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The identification of performing and non-performing advances (including advances restructured under applicable IRACP Norms) involves establishment of proper mechanism and the Bank is required to apply significant degree of judgement to identify and determine the amount of provision required against each advance applying both quantitative as well as qualitative factors prescribed by the regulations.
Significant judgements and estimates for NPA identification and provisioning could give rise to material misstatements on:
- Completeness and timing of recognition of nonperforming assets in accordance with criteria as per IRACP norms;
- Measurement of the provision for non-performing assets based on loan exposure, ageing and classification of the loan, realizable value of security;
- Appropriate reversal of unrealized income on the NPAs.
Since the classification of advances, identification of NPAs and creation of provision on advances (including additional provisions on restructured advances under applicable IRACP Norms) and income recognition on advances:
- Requires proper control mechanism and significant level of estimation by the Bank;
- Has significant impact on the overall financial statements of the Bank;
we have ascertained this area as a Key Audit Matter.
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- Performing other procedures including substantive audit
procedures covering the identification of NPAs by the Bank.
These procedures included:
(a) Considering testing of the exception reports generated from the application systems where the advances have been recorded.
(b) Considering the accounts reported by the Bank and other banks as Special Mention Accounts ("SMA") in RBI's central repository of information on large credits (CRILC) to identify stress.
(c) Reviewing account statements, drawing power calculation, security and other related information of the borrowers selected based on quantitative and qualitative risk factors.
(d) Reading of minutes of management committee and credit committee meetings and performing inquiries with the credit and risk departments to ascertain if there were indicators of stress or an occurrence of an event of default in a loan account or any product.
(e) Considering key observations arising out of Internal Audits, Systems Audits, Credit Audits and Concurrent Audits conducted as per the policies and procedures of the Bank.
(f) Considering the RBI Annual Financial Inspection report on the Bank, the Bank's response to the observations and other communication with RBI during the year.
(g) Examination of advances including stressed/ restructured advances on a sample basis with respect to compliance with the RBI Master Circulars / Guidelines.
(h) Seeking independent confirmation of account balances for sample borrowers.
(i) Visits to branches/offices and examination of documentation and other records relating to advances.
For Non- performing advances identified, we, based on factors including stressed sectors and account materiality, tested on a sample basis the asset classification dates, reversal of unrealized interest, value of available security and provisioning as per IRACP norms. We recomputed the provision for NPA on such samples after considering the key input factors and compared our measurement outcome to that prepared by management.
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(ii)
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Valuation of Investments, Identification of and provisioning for Non-Performing Investments (Schedule 8 read with Note 4.1 of Schedule 17 and Note 1.2 and Note 1.14.5 of Schedule 18 to the standalone financial statements)
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Investments include investments made by the Bank in various Government Securities, Bonds, Debentures, Shares, Security receipts and other approved securities. RBI Circulars and directives, inter-alia, cover valuation of investments, classification of investments, identification of non-performing investments('NPI'), non-recognition of income and provisioning against non-performing investments.
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Our audit approach/procedures towards Investments with reference to the RBI Circulars/directives included the understanding of internal controls and substantive audit procedures in relation to valuation, classification, identification of non-performing investments (NPIs) and provisioning/depreciation related to Investments. In particular -
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key Audit Matters
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How our audit addressed the key Audit Matters
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The valuation of each category (type) of the aforesaid securities is to be done as per the method prescribed in circulars and directives issued by the RBI which involves collection of data/information from various sources such as FIMMDA rates, rates quoted on BSE/NSE, financial statements of unlisted companies etc.
We identified valuation of investments and identification of NPI as a Key Audit Matter because of the management judgement involved in determining the value of certain investments (Bonds and Debentures, Pass-through certificates) based on applicable Regulatory guidelines and the Bank's policies, impairment assessment for HTM book based on management judgement, the degree of regulatory focus and the overall significance to the financial results of the Bank.
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- We evaluated and understood the Bank's internal control system to comply with relevant RBI guidelines regarding valuation, classification, identification of NPIs, reversal of income on NPIs and provisioning/ depreciation related to investments;
- We assessed and evaluated the process adopted for collection of information from various sources for determining market value of these investments;
- For the selected sample of investments in hand, we tested accuracy and compliance with the RBI Master Circulars and directions by re-performing valuation for each category of the security;
- We carried out substantive audit procedures to recompute independently the provision to be maintained in accordance with the circulars and directives of the RBI. Accordingly, we selected samples from the investments of each category and tested for NPIs as per the RBI guidelines and recomputed the provision to be maintained and if accrual of income is in accordance with the RBI Circular for those selected sample of NPIs;
- We tested the mapping of investments between the Investment application software and the financial statement preparation software to ensure compliance with the presentation and disclosure requirements as per the aforesaid RBI Circular/directions.
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(iii)
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Information Technology ('IT') Systems and Controls for financial reporting
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The Bank uses several systems for its overall financial reporting and there is a large volume of transactions being recorded at multiple locations daily. In addition, there are increasing challenges to protect the integrity of the Bank's systems and data since cyber security has become a more significant risk in recent periods.
Due to the pervasive nature and complexity of the IT environment as well as its importance in relation to accurate and timely financial reporting, we have identified this area as a Key Audit Matter.
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As a part of our audit procedures for review of the Bank's IT
systems and related controls for financial reporting:
- We tested the design and operating effectiveness of the Bank's IT access controls over the information systems that are critical to financial reporting.
- We tested sample IT general controls (logical access, changes management and aspects of IT operational controls). This included testing that requests for access to systems were reviewed and authorised. We inspected requests of changes to systems for approval and authorisation. We considered the control environment relating to various interfaces, configuration and other application layer controls identified as key to our audit.
- We reviewed the Bank's controls over opening and unauthorized operations in internal/ office accounts.
- We reviewed key observations arising out of audits conducted on the Bank's IT systems during the year.
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key Audit Matters
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How our audit addressed the key Audit Matters
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- In addition to the above, we tested the design and operating effectiveness of certain automated controls that were considered as key internal financial controls over financial reporting. Where deficiencies were identified, we sought explanations regarding compensating controls or performed alternate audit procedures. In addition, we understood where relevant, changes made to the IT landscape during the audit period and tested those changes that had a significant impact on financial reporting.
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(iv)
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Assessment of Provisions and Contingent Liabilities (Schedule 5 and 12 read with Notes 4.13 & 4.21 of Schedule 17 to the standalone financial statements)
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Assessment of Provisions and Contingent liabilities in respect of certain litigations including Direct and Indirect Taxes, various claims filed by other parties not acknowledged as debt (Schedule 12 to the standalone financial statements) and various employee benefits schemes (Schedule 5 to the standalone financial statements) was identified as a significant audit area. There is high level of judgement involved in estimating the level of provisioning required as well as in the disclosure of both Provisions and Contingent Liabilities in respect of tax matters and other legal claims. The Bank's assessment is supported by the facts of matter, their own judgment, past experience, and advice from independent legal / tax consultants wherever considered necessary. Accordingly, unexpected adverse outcomes may significantly impact the Bank's reported profit and state of affairs presented in the Balance Sheet.
The valuations of the employee benefit liabilities are calculated with reference to multiple actuarial assumptions and inputs including discount rate, rate of inflation and mortality rates. The valuation of funded assets in respect of the same is also sensitive to changes in the assumptions.
We determined the above area as a Key Audit Matter in view of associated uncertainty relating to the outcome of the matters which requires application of judgment in interpretation of law, circumstances of each case and estimates involved.
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Our audit approach / procedures involved:
- Obtaining an understanding of internal controls relevant to the identification of litigations and legal cases to be reported;
- Understanding the current status of the litigations/tax assessments;
- Examining recent orders and/or communication received from various tax authorities/ judicial forums and follow up action thereon;
- Evaluating the merit of the subject matters identified as significant, with reference to the grounds presented therein and available independent legal / tax advice including opinion
of the Bank's tax consultants;
- Review and evaluation of the contentions of the Bank through
discussions, collection of details of the subject matter under consideration, the likely outcome and consequent potential
outflows on those issues;
- Testing the design and operating effectiveness of key controls over the completeness and accuracy of the data, the measurement of the fair value of the schemes' assets, understanding the judgements made in determining the assumptions used by management to value the employee liabilities with specific schemes and market practice;
- Our audit procedures included an assessment of the assumptions used by the actuary by comparing life expectancy assumptions with relevant mortality tables, benchmarking inflation and discount rates against external market data. We verified the value of plan assets to the statements provided by asset management companies managing the plan assets and
- Verification of disclosures related to significant litigations, taxation matters and Employee benefits liabilities in the standalone financial statements.
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INFORMATION OTHER THAN THE STANDALONE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND AUDITORS' REPORT THEREON
The Bank's Board of Directors is responsible for the other information. The Other Information comprises the information in Basel III - Pillar 3 disclosures which we obtained prior to the date of this auditors' report, and Annual Report, which is expected to be made available to us after that date (but does not include the standalone financial statements, consolidated financial statements and our auditors' reports thereon).
Our opinion on the standalone 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 standalone financial
statements, our responsibility is to read the other information identified above and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the standalone financial statements, or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If, based on the work we have performed on the other information that we obtained prior to the date of this auditor's report, 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.
When we read the Annual Report, if we conclude that there is a material misstatement therein, we are required to communicate the matter to those charged with governance under SA 720 'The Auditor's responsibilities Relating to Other Information.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF MANAGEMENT AND THOSE CHARGED WITH GOVERNANCE FOR THE STANDALONE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The Bank's Board of Directors is responsible for the matters stated in section 134(5) of the Act, with respect to the preparation of these standalone financial statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of the Bank in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in India, including the Accounting Standards specified under section 133 of the Act, read with relevant rules issued thereunder, provisions of Section 29 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and circulars and guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India ('RBI') from time to time. This responsibility also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding of the assets of the Bank and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selection and application of appropriate accounting policies; making judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and design, implementation and maintenance of adequate internal financial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant to the preparation and presentation of the standalone financial statements that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the standalone financial statements, Management and Board of Directors are responsible for assessing the Bank'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 Bank or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.
Those Board of Directors are also responsible for overseeing the Bank's financial reporting process.
AUDITORS' RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE STANDALONE FINANcIAL STATEMENTS
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the standalone financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditors' 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 SAs 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 standalone financial statements.
As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:
• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the standalone financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. Under section 143(3)(i) of the Act, we are also responsible for expressing our opinion on whether the Bank has adequate internal financial controls system with reference to standalone financial statements in place and the operating effectiveness of such controls.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures in the standalone financial statements made by management.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of management's use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Bank's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditors' report to the related disclosures in the standalone financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditors' report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Bank to cease to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the standalone financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the standalone financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
Materiality is the magnitude of the misstatements in the standalone financial statements that, individually or aggregate, makes it probable that the economic decisions of a reasonably knowledgeable user of the financial statements may be influenced. We consider quantitative materiality and qualitative factors in (i) planning of the scope of our audit work and evaluating the results of our work; and (ii) to evaluate the effect of any identified misstatement in the financial statements.
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 relevant ethical requirements 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 standalone financial statements for the financial year ended March 31, 2023 and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our auditors' 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.
REPORT ON OTHER LEGAL AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
The standalone Balance Sheet and the standalone Profit and Loss Account have been drawn up in accordance with the provisions of Section 29 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949
and Section 133 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with relevant rules issued thereunder.
As required by sub-section (3) of section 30 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, we report that:
(a) we have obtained all the information and explanations which, to the best of our knowledge and belief, were necessary for the purpose of our audit and have found them to be satisfactory;
(b) the transactions of the Bank, which have come to our notice, have been within the powers of the Bank; and
(c) the profit and loss account shows a true balance of profit for the year then ended.
Further, as required by section 143(3) of the Act, we report that:
a) We have sought and obtained all the information and
explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purpose of our audit;
b) In our opinion, proper books of account as required by law have been kept by the Bank so far as it appears from our examination of those books
c) The standalone Balance Sheet, the standalone Profit and Loss Account, the standalone Cash Flow Statement dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the books of account;
d) In our opinion, the aforesaid standalone financial statements comply with the Accounting Standards specified under Section 133 of the Act, read with relevant rules issued thereunder to the extent they are not inconsistent with the accounting policies prescribed by RBI;
e) On the basis of written representations received from the directors as on March 31,2023 and taken on record by the Board of Directors, none of the directors is disqualified as on March 31, 2023 from being appointed as a director in terms of Section 164(2) of the Act;
f) With respect to the adequacy of the internal financial controls over financial reporting of the Bank with reference to these standalone financial statements and the operating effectiveness of such controls, refer to our separate Report in "Annexure A" to this report;
g) With regard to matters to be included in the Auditor's Report in accordance with the requirements of Section 197(16) of the Act, in our opinion, the entity being a banking company, the remuneration to its directors during the year ended March 31,2023 has been paid/provided by the Bank in accordance with the provisions of section 35B (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and;
h) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditors' Report in accordance with Rule 11 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014, as amended, in our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us:
i. The Bank has disclosed the impact of pending litigations on its financial position in its standalone financial statements - Refer Schedule 12 and Note No 3.6 under Schedule 18 to the standalone financial statements;
ii. The Bank has made provision, as required under the applicable law or accounting standards, for material foreseeable losses, if any, on long term contracts including derivative contracts - Refer Note 3.8 under Schedule 18 to the standalone financial statements; and
iii. There has been no delay in transferring amounts, required to be transferred, to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Bank - Refer Note 3.10 under Schedule 18 to the standalone financial
statements.
iv. a) The Management has represented that, to the
best of its knowledge and belief, as disclosed in Note No.3.12 under Schedule 18 to the standalone financial statements, no funds (which are material either individually or in the aggregate) have been advanced or loaned or invested (either from borrowed funds or share premium or any other sources or kind of funds) by the Bank to or in any other person or entity, including foreign entity ('Intermediaries'), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Intermediary shall, whether, directly or indirectly lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the
Bank ('Ultimate Beneficiaries') or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries;
b) The Management has represented, that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, as disclosed in Note No.3.12 under Schedule 18 to the standalone financial statements, no funds (which are material either individually or in the aggregate) have been received by the Bank from any person or entity, including foreign entity ('Funding Parties'), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Bank shall, whether, directly or indirectly, lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Funding Party ('Ultimate Beneficiaries') or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries;
c) Based on the audit procedures performed that have been considered reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances, nothing has come to our notice that has caused us to believe that the representations under sub-clause (i) and (ii) of Rule 11(e), as provided under (a) and (b) above, contain any material misstatement; and
v. The dividend declared and paid by the Bank is in accordance with sec.123 of the Act.
vi. Proviso to Rule 3(1) of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 is applicable to the Bank with effect from April 1, 2023, and accordingly, reporting under Rule 11(g) of Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 is not applicable for the financial year ended March 31,2023.
For Varma & Varma For Borkar & Muzumdar
Chartered Accountants Chartered Accountants
FRN:004532S FRN:101569W
Vijay Narayan Govind kaushal Muzumdar
Partner Partner
M. No.203094 M. No. 100938
UDIN: 23203094BGXYMB9748 UDIN: 23100938BGQQRH2390
Kochi Kochi
05th May, 2023 05th May, 2023
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