Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the effect of implementing IFRS 17 in the UK on the reported capital of insurance companies, and (2) the financial effect of implementing IFRS 17 for the 10 largest insurance companies in the UK; and, if they have made no such assessments, why not.

While the responsibility for adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) sits with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the UK Endorsement Board secretariat has been tasked with assessing IFRS 17 (the new accounting standard relating to insurance contracts) against the adoption criteria set out in the International Accounting Standards and European Public Limited-Liability Company (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

Planning for the work required to assess the standard against those criteria is underway. It is expected to include outreach with representatives from stakeholder groups across the UK’s insurance sector, including preparers of financial statements. It will also encompass an Impact Assessment of the standard which will include consideration of the financial effect of implementing IFRS 17, including on capital included in the accounts, for those entities that apply IFRS. These include the largest insurance companies in the UK. The results of the assessment of IFRS 17 against the adoption criteria will be published ahead of any adoption of the standard.