News Release November 2017
With the official acceptance of IFRS 17 (see below); it is anticipated that the Insurance Contracts will categorically require changes in order to convey the newly required information to the customer. There is always a risk whenever changes are made to high volume customer facing documents. The hope is that only the expected changes exist and that no other changes get created as a result of opening up the composition template of the document. Our experience has shown that inserting new information or even changing existing information can result in a cascading affect. Often this appears as line endings change, paragraph endings change and even spill over into new pages.
It is important that these new documents be tested thoroughly in order to preserve complete document and data integrity. CDP has been providing these solutions to the Insurance community for over a decade.
To assist in the transition to IFRS 17, CDP will be offering a rental program and discounts specific to the Insurance community for STREAMdiff and DocDiff licenses. We will also be providing training and on-site services to assist in this transition to the new standards.
The International Accounting Standards Board (the Board)has today issued IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts. This first truly international IFRS Standard for insurance contracts will help investors and others better understand insurers’ risk exposure, profitability and financial position.
IFRS 17 replaces IFRS 4, which was brought in as an interim Standard in 2004. IFRS 4 has given companies dispensation to carry on accounting for insurance contracts using national accounting standards, resulting in a multitude of different approaches. As a consequence, it is difficult for investors to compare and contrast the financial performance of otherwise similar companies.
The Financial Stability Board noted in September 2015 the importance of the Board completing the project to replace IFRS 4 with a new Standard [1].
IFRS 17 solves the comparison problems created by IFRS 4 by requiring all insurance contracts to be accounted for in a consistent manner, benefiting both investors and insurance companies. Insurance obligations will be accounted for using current values – instead of historical cost. The information will be updated regularly, providing more useful information to users of financial statements.
IFRS 17 has an effective date of 1 January 2021 but companies can apply it earlier.
For further information on how we can assist, please contact us