Philippines:Insurers to shift to new accounting rules by 2025

Insurers in the Philippines will shift to a more transparent accounting system by 2025 - a change that will require operations, financial reports and actuarial calculations to be reassessed, according to the industry regulator, the Insurance Commission (IC).

During an online forum, IC deputy commissioner Ferdinand George Florendo said that insurance companies might start the shift to Philippine Financial Reporting Standard (PFRS) 17—from the current PFRS 4—starting in January 2023 in time for industry-wide application in 2025, reported Inquirer.net. He also explained that insurers are given enough time to complete the transition.

The main difference between the currently used PFRS 4 and the succeeding PFRS 17 is that the latter set of rules uses an accounting approach that will provide more transparent and consonant information for managers, decision makers, and the investing public.

“The industry will transition from using different sets of accounting policies for insurance contracts to one common policy and allow insurance companies across countries to become better comparable,” SGV & Co partner Charisse Rossielin Cruz said.

Source: Asia insurance review