Just two months ago, Sue Lloyd, a member of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), reminded the world that there is little time to waste for financial institutions to be compliant with IFRS 9 Financial Instruments. There is a well-documented worry that achieving this deadline will be a stretch for many banks, with many yet to start implementation.

But what is the deal for insurance firms? As long as the insurer meets some criteria it can, in fact, be exempted from the 2018 deadline to implement IFRS 9 by using the deferral or overlay approach. This criteria was the subject of the most recent board discussion in April.