Beyond the GAAP - May 2017 Issue

IFRS 17 – Insurance Contracts has been in the pipeline for more than ten years, and finally made its appearance during the night of 16 to 17 May 2017. On 17 May, the IASB hosted two interactive webinars on the standard, and launched a dedicated webpage to support implementation. IFRS 17 will replace the interim standard IFRS 4 from 2021, meaning insurers will no longer be able to use local accounting frameworks for insurance contracts. The new standard is therefore likely to cause substantial upheaval, with impacts varying significantly from one company to another.
On the maintenance side, the IASB has also launched the Post-implementation Review of IFRS 13, which relates to fair value measurement (although it does not cover the circumstances in which fair value applies). Finally, our traditional summary of applicable standards and interpretations shows that there have been few changes in the first half of the year.