Auditors’ management of insurers’ transition to IFRS 17 has been “an interesting journey”, with actuarial teams more actively involved, and disclosures taking on a more important role than previously.
This summarised the key conclusions from insurance experts ahead of InsuranceERM’s conference next Monday (18 March) at Grocers Hall in London on The Future of Financial Reporting for Insurers: IFRS 17 and beyond.
The conference will examine the impact of IFRS 17 on insurers' fiscal year 2023; how investors and analysts have responded to the first year of reporting under IFRS 17; and engage in discussions on best practices for integrating sustainability-related disclosures into financial reporting.
Tensions between insurers preparing their accounts under the IFRS 17 standard, and the auditors tasked with auditing them, were revealed at InsuranceERM's IFRS 17 conference in March 2023.
One year later and in preparation for next week’s conference, panellists were asked how auditors were coping with their first full year IFRS 17 audits – and where have the main pain points been?
One expert who will speak at the conference next week said: “Disclosures is the key observation. Now it is a full year since IFRS 17 and there is a full set of accounts. Less attention was previously paid to disclosures during the standard setting, but not so now. In terms of making the auditing process smoother, it is all about all about planning and getting things agreed in advance and looking at disclosures in advance.”
"Another expert said a challenge for the market is that Lloyd’s syndicates are sticking with UK GAAP, but at the group level Lloyd's adheres to the IFRS 17 insurance accounting standard."
The expert said this has involved a big change. “The data is the same, but you have to treat it a different way and have different audit teams look at it in a different way.”
“It’s been an interesting journey for us, and also the auditors as well, and they have coped. Going forward into 2024, you have the Financial Reporting Council’s thematic reviews and they will give guidance on good practice,” added the panellist.
To register for The Future of Financial Reporting for Insurers: IFRS 17 and Beyond and read the agenda, click here.