By Ngozi Onyeakusi —National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has said that the adoption and effective implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS 9) will provide basis for comparison among local and foreign quoted companies.

Speaking to the newsmen on IFRS 9 in Lagos, the Deputy Commissioner (Technical), Mr. Sunday Thomas, said equally that adoption of IFRS 9 will ultimately enhance transparency in financial transactions in the insurance industry in country.

According to him, given the peculiar nature of insurance business, it took fifteen years to meticulously develop the IFRS 9 adding that IFRS 9 did not emanate from NAICOM but its practiced all over the world to serve as basis of comparison with companies.

The Commission, he said has already issued a guideline on IFRS 9 to operators in the insurance market and is waiting for their feedback on the measure. Adding that NAICOM also had one-on-one dialogue with operators as well as engaging the Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in the sector in terms of implementation of the financial model.

The NAICOM Deputy Commissioner said: “Operators need to do more to incorporate the tenets of IFRS 9 into their annual financial returns. And because of late adoption of the measure, we have reached out to The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) for one month extension on behalf of quoted insurance companies in terms of financial fillings to avoid fines.”