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The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) today published for public comment an exposure draft of improvements to the accounting for insurance contracts. The exposure draft proposes a single International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) that all insurers, in all jurisdictions, could 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 IASB introduced IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts as an interim standard that permitted many existing international accounting practices to be retained, whilst beginning a more comprehensive review of insurance accounting as a second phase of the project. The proposals published today are the result of that review.

The IASB launched its public consultation when it published a discussion paper, Preliminary Views on Insurance Contracts, in 2007. In developing the proposals released today, the IASB considered more than 160 comment letters received on the discussion paper, as well as feedback from interested parties through an extensive outreach programme, including interaction with the IASB’s Insurance Working Group and a targeted field test with preparers. The IASB will undertake further outreach during the exposure draft’s comment period, including a second round of field tests, to ensure that the IASB considers the views of all interested parties before it issues an IFRS.

"The proposed standard better reflects the economics of insurance contracts, and would result in more relevant, understandable and comparable information being available to investors," says Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the IASB.
 

The exposure draft is open for comment until 30 November 2010.

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