Quoted insurance companies have been granted a month regulatory forbearance for submission of their 2018 financial results to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
With the one month grace period, insurance companies are now expected to submit their 2018 financial result at the end of April instead of March 31 as statutorily demanded by the Exchange.
The request was granted the insurance industry based on the plea by its regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) owing to the late adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) which took effect from January 2018.
Deputy Commissioner (Technical), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr Sunday Thomas, explained at a workshop to enlighten media on the industry’s transition from IFRS 4 to IFRS 9 and preparation for full adoption of IFRS 17 in 2022.
He said because of the late adoption the Commission has reached out to other sister regulators such as the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) to grant all the quoted insurance companies a month period of grace for filing their financial results.
According to him, “We recognize the fact that because of the late adoption of IFRS 9; I called it late adoption because IFRS 9 supposed to have commenced since 2018.
“Because of late adoption, we have reached out to sister regulators, such as Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Stock Exchange Commission (NSE) to grant our regulated entities what we called Regulatory Forbearance with regards to late submission of returns.
“We have spoken with them and we have also written to them to grant our regulated entities one-month extension for filling their financial returns late.
“So, what it means is that quoted companies that are not able to file their financial report in IFRS format at the end of March will not be penalized until one month after”
Mr. Sunday expressed optimism that most insurance companies if not all should have put their acts together to meet the requirements.
He said “As a Commission, we have tried as much as possible to make it a lot easy for the market and our doors are well open for people who may want to make enquiries.
“In house, as a Commission, we are repositioning for enhanced efficiency because we believe that there is nothing that is static. This we do in order to meet the challenges of the market. We will continue to look at our system and those things we need to move, we will definitely move them to their proper places so that we will be able to meet the challenges of the market.
“It is also important for us to mention here that while pursuing the implementation of FIRS Nine, we are learning from the gaps that have been existed and by the time we get to the adoption of IFRS 17 which has given us a longer period for adoption which is 2022, we would have been able to perfect the act so that there will be a seamless flow via the market.
“Of course, since 2008 world financial crisis, relevant institutions and regulators have been concerned about accounting for transactions within the financial services. As a result of that so many financial accounting boards have come up with some standards that will be simple for a layman’s understanding and comparability of financial statements through the adoption of those standards.
“Of course, as far as insurance industry is concerned, remember the adoption of IFRS Four some years back and now with the setting of new standards IFRS Nine which essentially relates to classification and measurement of financial instruments.
“As far as the transit is concerned these are areas of concern and these are things that we need to understand. Of course, beyond the classifications and measurements of financial instruments, hedging is part of the things that has been dealt with in FIRS Nine.
