The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published a thematic review of companies’ first-time application of IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts, a new and fundamental change in accounting rules.

This follows a review of the interim financial statements of 10 companies and overall was pleased with the quality of IFRS 17 disclosures.

The review aims to provide examples of better practice and details the FRC’s expectations for companies ahead of their more extensive, year-end disclosures.

While IFRS 17 introduces more consistency and comparability in accounting for insurance contracts, the FRC said that ‘the quality of disclosure varied, particularly in areas such as the choice of transition method, the determination of risk adjustment and discount rates, where the standard is not prescriptive.