The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria is expected to implement International Financial Reporting
Standard 17 (IFRS) on or before January 2023. This follows the amendment of the standard on June 25, 2020.
This was disclosed by the Head, Directorate of Accounting Standards Public Sector, FRC, Dr. Iheanyi Anyahara, during a Stakeholders interactive forum with FRC and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) webinar recently.
Nigeria adopted the IFRS as part of measures to improve transparency, reporting practices and full disclosures.
Having adopted the IFRS by the Council, Anyahara explained that all amendments to existing standards alongside the new standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) must be implemented by all reporting entities in Nigeria.
According to him, the Council is aware that implementing IFRS 17 commands a radical departure from current accounting standards and produces complex operational challenges.
He said, “That is why we are organizing this programme and many more in collaboration with IASB to guide the users of the standards both in application and implementation.
“The Council will be organizing more events in financial reporting, auditing and corporate governance in order to sensitize the general public and lessen the knowledge gap in IFRS standards in Nigeria in collaboration with relevant agencies and organisations.”
Back story:
Last July, Nairametrics reported when FRC released guidelines for reporting in compliance with the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance. (NCCG 2018).
In a statement posted on its website, the Council explained that it had been engaging with all regulators of sectors for the purpose of developing sectoral guidelines of corporate governance on specific requirements relevant to each sector, which are not covered under NCCG 2018.
If the public is being sensitized I think you should have explained what is IFRS 17 or what the standard entails
The IFRS 117 accounting standard replaces the current accounting standard for Insurance contracts IFRS 4.
It defines what an insurance contract is and outlines the requirements for the measurement, reporting, and disclosure of insurance contracts.
This new standard will have significant implications to how insurance companies measure the performance and related liabilities from the policies they cover and also changes how this performance will be reported.
All insurance companies both life and non-life will be impacted and it is expected that a lot of time, effort, and planning to implement the new standard before the implementation date will be required.