IFRS takes another step towards uniform insurance standards

Uniform accounting standards for insurance contracts have taken
another step towards becoming a reality with publication by the
International
Accounting Standards Board (IASB) of Insurance
Contracts, an exposure draft of improvements for
comment.

The object of the IASB’s effort is
to set a standard that all insurers in all jurisdictions can apply
to all contract types on a consistent basis.

When the IASB was established in
2001 there were no international financial reporting requirements
for insurance contracts. In 2004, the accounting body introduced
IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts as an interim standard that permitted
many existing international accounting practices to be retained,
while beginning a more comprehensive review of insurance accounting
as a second phase of the project.

That review, Preliminary Views
on Insurance Contracts, was launched in 2007 and the proposals
now published in Insurance Contracts by the IFRS are the
result of that review, which garnered 160 comment letters.

Insurance Contracts is
open for comment until 30 November.

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