European Parliament adopts resolution on IFRS 17

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04 Oct, 2018

At its current sitting in Strasbourg, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution on IFRS 17 'Insurance Contracts' introduced by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON).

As reported earlier, the resolution notes the benefits that IFRS 17 will bring about but also states that ECON members have several concerns regarding the standard.

The motion for a resolution was discussed in the plenary session of the EP on 1 October 2018. During the plenary session, the European Comission (EC) representative and the EP members:

  • noted that IFRSs are essential and costs are inevitable in changing to a new environment;
  • stressed that the benefits from IFRS 17 are clear as it will bring comparability and clarity to an industry that is currently not transparent;
  • noted that in order to be endorsed, IFRS 17 should comply with the EU policy in relation to sustainability, European public good, climate change and long-term investments;
  • noted the importance of assessing the impact of IFRS 17 on financial stability;
  • recalled that the EC has no possibility of changing IFRSs during endorsement;
  • noted that EFRAG has identified six issues to be considered by the IASB again;
  • noted that the IASB is going to discuss in October potential amendments to IFRS 17 and a possible delay of the timeline;
  • called for the industry to be realistic regarding the solutions it is asking of the IASB;
  • noted that standards do and should evolve over time; and
  • noted that the EC will continue to monitor the work on IFRS 17 ensuring it is in line with the European public good and puts no undue strain on the insurance industry.

The resulotion was adopted by show of hand by the EP on 3 October 2018.

The following additional information is available on the EP website:

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