Year ended 31 December 2014
6
These Notes are integral to the financial statements. The consolidated financial statements for the year
ended 31 December 2014 were authorised for issue by the Directors on 9 February 2015.
1 Domicile and Activities
DBS Bank Ltd the Bank is incorporated and domiciled in the Republic of Singapore and has its registered
office at 12 Marina Boulevard, Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower Three, Singapore 018982. It is a wholly-
owned subsidiary of DBS Group Holdings Ltd DBSH. The Bank is principally engaged in a range of
commercial banking and financial services, principally in Asia.
The financial statements relate to the Bank and its subsidiaries the Grou
p and the Group’s interests in associates and joint venture.
2 Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
2.1 Basis of preparation
Compliance with Singapore Financial Reporting Standards FRS
The financial statements of the Bank and the consolidated financial statements of the Group are
prepared in accordance with Singapore Financial Reporting Standards FRS and related Interpretations
promulgated by the Accounting Standards Council ASC. In accordance with Section 20119 of the
Companies Act the Act, the requirements of FRS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement
in respect of loan loss provisioning are modified by the
requirements of Notice to Banks No. 612 “Credit Files, Grading and Provisioning” MAS Notice 612 issued by
the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The financial statements are presented in Singapore
dollars and rounded to the nearest million, unless otherwise stated.
Differences between International Financial Reporting Standards IFRS and FRS
Beyond the above modification to FRS related to MAS Notice 612, there are no significant differences
between IFRS and FRS in terms of their application to the Group. The consolidated financial statements and
the notes thereon satisfy all necessary disclosures under IFRS and FRS.
2.2 Significant estimates and judgement
The preparation of financial statements requires management to exercise judgement, use estimates and
make assumptions in the application of policies and in reporting the amounts in the financial statements.
Although these estimates are based on management’s best knowledge of current events and actions, actual
results may differ from these estimates. Critical accounting estimates and assumptions used that are
significant to the financial statements, and areas involving a higher degree of judgem ent and complexity,
are disclosed in Note 3. 2.3
Adoption of new and revised accounting standards
On 1 January 2014, the Group adopted the following new or revised FRS that are issued by the ASC and
relevant for the Group. The adoption of these FRS has no significant impact on the financial statements of the
Group. Amendments to FRS 32: Offsetting Financial
Assets and Financial Liabilities The amendments to FRS 32 clarify the offsetting
criteria in FRS 32 by explaining when an entity currently has a legally enforceable right to set off and
when gross settlement is equivalent to net settlement.
FRS 110: Consolidated Financial Statements FRS 110 introduces a new control model that focuses
on whether the Group has power over an investee, exposure or rights to variable returns from its
involvement with the investee, and the ability to use its power to affect those returns.
FRS 111: Joint Arrangements FRS 111 focuses on the rights and obligations of the
parties to the arrangement rather than its legal form. The two types of joint arrangements are joint
operations in which the investors have rights to the assets and obligations for the liabilities of an
arrangement and joint ventures in which the investors have rights to the net assets of the arrangement.
FRS 112: Disclosures of Interests in Other Entities FRS 112 includes the disclosure requirements for all
forms of interests in other entities, including joint arrangements, associates, structured entities and other
off balance sheet vehicles. INT FRS 121: Levies
INT FRS 121 sets out the accounting for an obligation to pay a levy that is not income tax.
Year ended 31 December 2014
7
In addition to the above, a number of new standards and amendments to standards are effective for annual
periods beginning after 1 January 2014. The Group has not applied these standards or amended standards in
preparing these financial statements. None of them is expected to have a significant effect on the financial
statements of the Group and the Bank other than FRS 109.
FRS 109: Financial Instruments FRS 109 replaces the existing guidance in FRS 39
Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement. It includes revised guidance on the classification and
measurement of financial instruments, and introduces a new expected credit loss model for impairment of
financial assets as well as new requirements for general hedge accounting. The standard is effective for
annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018. Early adoption is permitted.
A summary of the most significant group accounting policies is described further below starting with those
relating to the entire financial statements followed by those relating to the income statement, the balance
sheet and other specific topics. This does not reflect the relative importance of these policies to the Group.
A General Accounting Policies 2.4
Group Accounting Subsidiaries
Subsidiaries are entities including structured entities over which the Group has control. The Group controls
an entity when it is exposed to, or has rights to, variable returns from its involvement with the entity and
has the ability to affect those returns through its power over the entity.
Subsidiaries are consolidated from the date control is transferred to the Group to the date control ceases.
The acquisition method is used to account for business
combinations. Refer to Note 2.12 for the Group’s accounting policy on goodwill.
All intra-group transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation.
Joint ventures Joint ventures are arrangements over which the Group
has joint control. The Group has rights to the net assets of the arrangement, rather than rights to its assets and
obligations for its liabilities. Investments in joint ventures are accounted for using the equity method.
Associates Associates are entities over which the Group has
significant influence, but no control, where the Group generally holds a shareholding of between and
including 20 and 50 of the voting rights. Investments in associates are accounted for using the
equity method.
2.5 Foreign currency treatment
