Notice on the postponement of the deadline for the implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 17 “Insurance Contracts”

The Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo (CBK) notifies insurers, legal audit companies and all involved stakeholders, regarding the postponement of the deadline for the implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 17 “Insurance Contracts” in the Republic of Kosovo. This announcement is based on the decision of the Kosovo Council for Financial Reporting (KCFR), dated 07.12.2023.

The implementation of IFRS 17 “Insurance Contracts” will be effective for the annual reporting period starting on 1 January 2026. However, the preparatory phase and action plan by insurers should include concrete activities and actions starting from 2024, towards the preparation for the full implementation of this standard by the end of 2025.

IFRS 17 is an advanced financial reporting standard applied by insurers and similar financial institutions, with a material effect on ensuring transparency and reliable information for the market and other users of financial information and as such has a large and significant impact in the way insurance contracts are measured, recognized and reported.

IFRS 17 replaces IFRS 4 or the previous standard that regulated insurance contracts.

The CBK within its supervisory mandate based on Law No. 03/L-209 on the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo and Law No. 05/L -045 on Insurances considers the complexity of implementing the requirements of IFRS 17 “Insurance contracts”, the expected implications, and the need for preparation by insurers. In this regard, it is estimated that ensuring the quality implementation of IFRS 17 is essential and has a lasting effect in ensuring a transparent, stable, efficient and competitive system of the insurance sector.

In this function, the issue of the implementation of IFRS 17 “Insurance contracts” has been reviewed and addressed in the spirit of the existing capacities of insurers towards the need and obligation of the quality implementation of this standard, the effects on the existing supervisory processes and resources, from which it was concluded that there is a reasonable basis for the proposal and request for the postponement of the deadline for the implementation of IFRS 17 for three years, respectively to be effective for the annual reporting periods that begin on 1 January 2026.

The process of postponing the implementation of IFRS 17 was concluded after the harmonization of the positions between the CBK and the Kosovo Council for Financial Reporting (KCFR) for the postponement of the implementation of IFRS 17 “Insurance Contracts” in the Republic of Kosovo.