KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) has issued a slight amendment to the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS) 17 for insurance contracts, which comes into effect for annual reporting periods beginning on, or after, Jan 1, 2023.

       According to MASB, it is a “narrow-scope amendment” and the aim of the amendment is to improve the usefulness of comparative information for investors on the initial application of MFRS 17.

       MASB said the amendment is a word-for-word initial application of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 17-Comparative Information (Amendment to IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.

       “The amendment relates to the transition requirements of MFRS 17 only and does not affect any other requirements of the standard,” it said in a statement yesterday.

       MASB said there are different transition requirements in MFRS 17 and MFRS 9 Financial Instruments.

       The MFRS 9 came into effect on Jan 1, 2018, whereas MFRS 17 – including this slight amendment – will be effective Jan 1, 2023.

       “In view of the different transition requirements, this can cause temporary accounting mismatches between financial assets and insurance contract liabilities in the comparative information when insurers applying MFRS 17 and MFRS 9 for the first time.

       “Therefore, the amendment will help insurers to avoid these temporary accounting mismatches by providing insurers with an option for the presentation of comparative information about financial assets as if the classification and measurement requirements of MFRS 9 had been applied to that financial asset,” it added. — Bernama