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AM BestTV: IFRS 17 Will Present a Clearer View of Insurers, Says AM Best Associate Director


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - JANUARY 29, 2020 01:20 PM (EST)
In this episode of AMBestTV, Tony Silverman, associate director, AM Best, said the change to IFRS 17 from IFRS 4 accounting standards is not expected to have a near-term impact on insurers’ credit ratings. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ifrs170120 to view the entire program.

Silverman highlighted how IFRS 17 improves upon current standards.

“IFRS 17 is an accounting standard promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board and is a new accounting standard for insurance contracts,” said Silverman. “It is meant to solve the reporting inconsistence of IFRS 4, and consistency is something that users of financial reporting value.”

“The all-encompassing motivating factor for IFRS 17 was that the previous reporting was viewed to be bad for the public image of the insurance sector in financial markets because arguably, you have to be too much of a specialist to get a reasonable picture of an insurer’s performance and circumstances. That was not sufficiently communicated by previous financial reporting.”

Silverman added that insurers have not objected to implementation delays as they work through the large-scale changes.

“There are many difficulties associated with implementation. Part of the reason for the way financial reporting was previously done is that the framework was part of a system that was for the convenience of the companies. IFRS 17, in meeting the challenges that it was created to do, does involve new records, new data, as well as new systems and the implementation amounts to quite a chasm for the companies to cross.”

IFRS 17 is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

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  • Interest Rates, Economy Drive Negative Outlook of Brazil’s Reinsurance Sector, Says AM Best Senior Financial Analyst: Guy Simoes, senior financial analyst, AM Best, said that despite a negative market segment outlook, Brazil’s reinsurers are still growing and operating in a relatively underpenetrated market: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=brazilre120 .

  • Climate Change, Interest Rates, Social Inflation Challenge Insurers: At the Insurance Information Institute’s Joint Industry Forum in New York, executives discuss what they view as the leading challenges insurers will face in 2020 and beyond, including the impact of rising jury verdicts and closing the protection gap: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=pcjf1120 .

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AM BestTV covers exclusive AM Best and insurance industry information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the insurance, reinsurance and related sectors daily. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html . View AM BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv .

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City.