Insurance and International Financial Reporting Standards

The development of an international standard for the accounting of insurance contracts is a challenging project. The goal of this standard is to accomplish high transparency and decision usefulness for participants in the capital markets. The paper gives an overview on the actual development status of this accounting standard for insurance contracts. Beyond a description of the actual status, possible consequences and problems for the business model of insurance companies are elaborated. Furthermore, the article gives an outlook on phase II of the insurance project and outlines the possible relationship between IFRS and the Solvency II project. Keywords: fair value accounting; International Financial Reporting Standards; IAS 32/39; Solvency II