IFRS 16 Incremental Borrowing Rate: Comparability Issues and a Methodology Proposal for Loss Given Default Adjustment

Abstract Under the IFRS 16 capitalization model for lessees, entities should measure both the lease liability and the ‘right of use’ (the lease asset) by discounting future lease payments over the lease term. For the most part, entities are using the Incremental Borrowing Rate (IBR) to perform said discounting. IFRS 16 establishes that the IBR must consider the underlying leased asset as collateral, and therefore the yield to be used should reflect a Loss Given Default (LGD) which may vary according to the estimated recovery rate of the asset, be it machinery, real estate, vehicles, etc. The previous literature has shown that the use of discount rates in IFRS is inconsistent across firms, and also that it is arbitrary. Through an empirical analysis using information from European quoted entities, we find that most companies do not disclose IBR details, thus affecting financial statement comparability. None of them disclose how the IBR is adjusted in order to reflect the LGD. Furthermore, there is a lack of accounting and finance literature analyzing this aspect. Within this context, we propose a model that is able to adjust the standard IBR (obtained from unsecured bonds/loans yields) in order to reflect a recovery rate in line with IFRS principles. The proposed model uses Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) quoted information as a basis for introducing the adjustment to the standard IBR. More precisely, it analyzes the change in the CDS spread in response to changes in the recovery rate, and applies this change to the initial IBR.