News story

IFRS 17 - not just for insurance companies

We are helping clients make sense of new reporting requirements ahead of the introduction of the IFRS 17, a new accounting standard for insurance contracts.

Businessman Examines Finance Tax

皇冠体育app Government Actuary鈥檚 Department (GAD) is helping government departments and public sector clients make sense of new reporting requirements.

皇冠体育app is the new accounting standard for insurance contracts. It will be effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. 皇冠体育app exact date of adoption in the public sector is subject to confirmation.

皇冠体育app underlying aim of IFRS 17 is to make risk transfer contracts more comparable between different entities.

Scope and data

GAD鈥檚 range of services includes helping departments place a value on risks which are difficult to quantify. This type of calculation is likely to be required even more for IFRS 17, so GAD has been working through the requirements.

We have already engaged with some government departments and arm鈥檚-length bodies to help consider scope and potential data requirements for the new style of calculations.

International Financial Reporting Standards Regulation

Important development

Actuary Nick Clitheroe is GAD鈥檚 lead on IFRS 17. Commenting on the development he said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just insurance companies that will be affected. Potentially any significant transfer of risk between 2 parties could also be in scope.

鈥淚t鈥檚 worth organisations looking through existing liabilities and even remote contingent liabilities to consider if these involve a contractual transfer of risk.

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp new rules could affect, for example, a government department agreeing to take on potential future liabilities from employed contractors.鈥�

Planned webinar

It鈥檚 anticipated that IFRS 17 will involve considerable actuarial input. This will be around the assessment of probability weighted cashflows, and new concepts such as the contractual service margin and risk adjustments.

GAD plans to run a webinar later this year to introduce IFRS 17, and the calculations and concepts involved.

Updates to this page

Published 9 June 2022