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Last month the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) proposed to delay, for a year, the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 17 amid calls from various groups not to go ahead with the original 2021 schedule. However, several insurance bodies stand by their conviction that anything less than two years is just not enough of an extension.
“While we welcome the board’s decision to delay the effective dates of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9, we continue to be of a strong view that a two-year deferral is required to both fix the problems with IFRS 17 and to give insurers enough time to have a successful global implementation of the standard,” 11 associations told IASB chair Hans Hoogervorst in a letter seen by Insurance Business.
“A successful global implementation is critical to deliver the quality, decision-useful information that investors, analysts, and other users are expecting. It is important that the IASB take the time necessary to consider potential amendments to the standard.”
Signatories include Tim Grafton, chief executive of the Insurance Council of New Zealand; Robert Whelan, executive director & CEO, Insurance Council of Australia; Olav Jones, deputy director general, Insurance Europe; Shin Yong-Kil, chair & CEO, Korea Life Insurance Association; Jonathan Rodgers, financial regulatory manager, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies; and Viviene Pearson, CEO, South African Insurance Association.
“In addition, the significant operational concerns raised by the industry, which were supported by detailed, fact-based industry analysis, should be taken into account,” they wrote, highlighting information from the likes of the EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) case study exercise.
“As stated before, there is no expectation that a two-year delay would stop or slow down implementation projects but would rather allow companies to cope with operational and, where relevant, regulatory impacts.”
The letter was also signed by Leon Campher, CEO, Association for Savings and Investment South Africa; Stephen Frank, president & CEO, Canadian Life & Health Insurance Association; Richard Klipin, CEO, Financial Service Council of New Zealand; Yong-Duk Kim, chair & CEO, General Insurance Association of Korea; and Don Forgeron, ICD.D, president & CEO, Insurance Bureau of Canada.
