Legal, Regulatory, Accounting, and Tax Framework of Securities Portfolios Held by Moroccan Banks (International Journal of Strategic Management and Economic Studies (IJSMES))

Summary

• The article offers a documentary and comparative analysis of the Moroccan accounting framework for credit institutions and IFRS as applied to bank securities portfolios.p.2
• IFRS 9 uses three categories for financial assets: amortised cost, fair value through other comprehensive income and fair value through profit or loss.p.6
• The IFRS 9 expected credit loss model applies notably to debt instruments measured at amortised cost or at fair value through OCI, not to all securities.p.8
• Credit institutions subject to the rate in article 19-I-C are taxed at a corporate income tax rate of 40% for financial years opened from 1 January 2026.p.11
• Commissions on securities transactions that fall under article 99-B-1° of the tax code are subject to VAT at 10%, subject to specific exemptions.p.12
• Under IAS 12, differences between carrying amount and tax base of securities may give rise to deferred tax in consolidated IFRS accounts.p.13

Key insights

1. Management objectives are similar across the Moroccan and IFRS frameworks, but classification criteria, subsequent measurement, impairment and presentation of value changes differ.p.2
2. IFRS 9 classifies a debt instrument on two criteria: the business model and the nature of the contractual cash flows.p.6
3. The main gap between the frameworks lies less in the names of portfolios than in the criteria that set the category and their effect on presentation of value changes.p.7
4. Under the Moroccan chart of accounts, trading securities are measured at market price and provisions are set for unrealised losses on placement securities.p.8
5. The accounting classification of income does not by itself determine its tax treatment.p.10
6. Booking a loss or provision is not enough to make it tax deductible.p.12
7. Prudential and accounting rules do not have the same function even when they apply to the same instruments.p.4