IFRS 17 in Denmark: Konsekvenser som IFRS 17 bringer den danske livsforsikringsbranche og IFRS 17’s påvirkning af årsregnskabets nytteværdi

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the impact that IFRS 17 will have on the Danish life insurers and whether it will enhance the usefulness of the financial reports. The analysis has been made by comparing IFRS 17 with the effective accounting standard, IFRS 4, and the Danish Financial Business Act governing insurance companies in relation to the recognition and measurement criteria of IFRS 4. This has been combined with public discussions about IFRS 17, stakeholder analyses and with five interviews with specialists with great knowledge about the industry and the financial statements of life insurers. The analysis shows a great difference between the GAAPs, where IFRS 17 provides greater insight into the performance mechanisms, with greater transparency and comparability to financial statements of other insurers and businesses in other sector. This has the potential of giving investors and loan providers better financial information for the economic decisions at less analysis costs. IFRS 17 will impact the Danish life insurers with benefit such as the opportunity for better and cheaper access to capital, as their financial reports better reflect their performance and value creation. IFRS 17 has not yet been approved by the European Union and is not without complication which the insurers and the IASB have yet to figure out. The implantation of IFRS 17 will result in high implementation costs but the analysis shows that the benefits outweigh the costs.