In September the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) published an amendment in the due process to the adoption of IFRS 9, Financial Instruments. This follows the first milestone when EFRAG approved the adoption of IFRS 9 in the EU. It is still expected that the final legislation will pass before the end of the year.

But at September’s International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) board meeting there was plenty of discussion on finding a way out of the complexities of full adoption. In that respect, IFRS 9 for banks seems to be, at least from the standard setters’ point of view, a done deal. For insurers, however, it is another story.

The insurance project does not have the same effective date as the IFRS 9 project. This results in some challenges as insurers could have to contend with two major changes in a short timeframe.