RBC to change presentation of certain financial information related to IFRS 9 accounting rules

TORONTO, Feb. 9, 2018 /CNW/ - Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) released today a proposed template of our Supplemental Financial Information package, reflecting the impact of the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standard 9, Financial Instruments (IFRS 9).

This proposed template is available on our Investor Relations website to help readers better understand our financial disclosure regarding the impact of these accounting rule changes.

As previously disclosed in our 2017 Annual Report, RBC adopted IFRS 9 on November 1, 2017. Under transition provisions of IFRS 9, RBC elected not to restate comparative period results. Accordingly, all comparative period information will be presented in accordance with its previous accounting policies under IAS 39, as described in the 2017 Annual Report (Note 2).

It is possible that the Supplemental Financial Information package for the first quarter of 2018 may reflect further refinements. RBC expects to provide more information on the impact of IFRS 9 in its Report to Shareholders for the first quarter of 2018, which will be available on February 23.

ABOUT RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 80,000+ employees who bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 16 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 35 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, including the "safe harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable Canadian securities legislation. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Bank's transition to IFRS 9. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "foresee", "forecast", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "goal", "plan" and "project" and similar expressions of future or conditional verbs such as "will", "may", "should", "could" or "would".

By their very nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, which give rise to the possibility that our predictions, forecasts, projections, expectations or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that our assumptions may not be correct and that our forward-looking statements, including statements with respect to RBC's transition to IFRS 9, will not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of risk factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors – many of which are beyond our control and the effects of which can be difficult to predict – include: credit, market, liquidity and funding, insurance, operational, regulatory compliance, strategic, reputation, legal and regulatory environment, competitive and systemic risks and other risks discussed in the risk sections of our 2017 Annual Report; including global uncertainty and volatility, elevated Canadian housing prices and household indebtedness, information technology and cyber risk, regulatory change, technological innovation and new entrants, global environmental policy and climate change, changes in consumer behavior, the end of quantitative easing, the business and economic conditions in the geographic regions in which we operate, the effects of changes in government fiscal, monetary and other policies, tax risk and transparency and environmental and social risk.

We caution that the foregoing list of risk factors is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect our results. When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to us, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Material economic assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are set out in the Economic, market and regulatory review and outlook section and for each business segment under the 2017 Operating environment, Strategic priorities and Outlook headings in our 2017 Annual Report. Except as required by law, we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement contained in this press release.

SOURCE Royal Bank of Canada