Bahamas - FirstCaribbean International Bank

FIRSTCARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL BANK (BAHAMAS) LIMITEDNotes to Consolidated Financial StatementsOctober 31, 2002(expressed in thousands of Bahamian dollars)2 Summary of significant accounting policiesBasis of presentationThese consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with International AccountingStandards, under the historical cost convention as modified by the revaluation of available-for saleinvestment securities, financial assets and financial liabilities held for trading and all derivativecontracts.ConsolidationSubsidiary undertakings, which are those companies in which the company directly or indirectly hasan interest of more than one half of the voting rights or otherwise has power to exercise control overthe operations, have been fully consolidated.Subsidiaries are consolidated from the date on which the effective control is transferred to the Bankand are no longer consolidated from the date of disposal. All inter-company transactions, balances andunrealized surpluses and deficits on transactions and balances have been eliminated. Where necessary,the accounting policies used by subsidiaries have been changed to ensure consistency with the policiesadopted by the Bank.In the prior year Barclays Bahamas was not a group as defined in International Accounting Standard27, since there was no separate parent company. Accordingly, the consolidated financial statementswere prepared by aggregating the assets, liabilities, results of operations and cash flows of thoseBarclays Bank PLC branches and wholly owned entities that were transferred into FirstCaribbeanInternational Bank (Bahamas) Limited.EstimatesPreparation of financial statements in conformity with International Accounting Standards requiresmanagement to make estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported in the financialstatements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates.Cash and cash equivalentsFor the purposes of the cash flow statement, cash and cash equivalents comprise balances with lessthan 90 days maturity from the date of acquisition including cash balances, deposits with CentralBanks, and amounts due from other banks.54