Leading Saudi Banks —
IFRS 9 Impairment Model
Development & Validation
Umair Ahmed led the IFRS 9 Impairment Modeling stream for Deloitte’s engagements with major banks in Saudi Arabia, covering end-to-end model development and validation for both wholesale and retail portfolios. The work formed part of the broader IFRS 9 adoption programmes underway across the Middle East, where banks were required to transition to an expected credit loss framework. Umair’s role centred on model concept design, methodology development, and ensuring that impairment models met both regulatory expectations and the banks’ internal governance standards.
As major banks across Saudi Arabia prepared for IFRS 9 adoption, the shift from an incurred loss to an expected credit loss (ECL) model represented a fundamental change in how credit risk was measured, reported, and governed. Deloitte was engaged to lead the model development and validation programmes at several major Saudi institutions. Umair Ahmed headed the impairment modeling stream, bringing specialist expertise in ECL methodology, credit risk modeling, and regulatory alignment across both wholesale and retail asset classes.
- Led the IFRS 9 impairment modeling stream as part of Deloitte’s engagements with major Saudi banks
- Managed the end-to-end model development and validation programme, from methodology design through to model sign-off
- Coordinated with client risk, finance, and technology teams to align model outputs with reporting and regulatory requirements
- Provided oversight of the modeling team, ensuring consistency of methodology and quality of outputs across all portfolios
- Developed model concept designs for wholesale portfolio impairment — covering corporate, SME, and institutional exposures
- Designed retail portfolio impairment frameworks — covering consumer lending, mortgages, and other retail credit products
- Defined PD, LGD, and EAD estimation approaches tailored to each portfolio’s data characteristics and regulatory context
- Designed staging criteria and significant increase in credit risk (SICR) frameworks aligned to IFRS 9 Stage 1, 2, and 3 classifications
- Incorporated forward-looking macroeconomic scenarios into ECL estimation methodology
- Oversaw development of ECL models across both wholesale and retail portfolios to production-ready standard
- Ensured model validation processes were aligned to IFRS 9 requirements and the banks’ internal model risk frameworks
- Provided advisory on model documentation standards, validation scope, and governance requirements for regulatory submission
- Supported client teams in embedding models within their reporting infrastructure and ongoing monitoring processes
- IFRS 9 ECL models developed and validated across wholesale and retail portfolios at multiple major Saudi banks
- Model concept designs produced for all key asset classes, providing a durable methodology foundation for ongoing impairment estimation
- Staging and SICR frameworks implemented, enabling IFRS 9-compliant classification of credit exposures
- Forward-looking macroeconomic scenario integration incorporated into ECL calculations across all portfolios
- Client banks equipped with documented, validated, and governance-approved models ahead of IFRS 9 adoption deadlines
Umair Ahmed led the Deloitte IFRS 9 impairment modeling stream across engagements with major banks in Saudi Arabia, combining deep expertise in credit risk methodology with practical experience in IFRS 9 implementation at scale. His responsibilities spanned team leadership, methodology design, client advisory, and quality assurance across the full model development and validation lifecycle.
This engagement demonstrates Asteriqx’s specialist capability in IFRS 9 model development — from concept design and ECL methodology through to regulatory-grade model validation and governance — across both wholesale and retail credit portfolios in the Middle East.
The engagements delivered fully developed and validated IFRS 9 impairment models across wholesale and retail portfolios for major Saudi banks — providing the methodology, documentation, and governance infrastructure required for IFRS 9 adoption across one of the most significant regulatory transitions in Middle East banking.