Description: A review of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including a review of the need for life and health insurance actuaries to review and, in most cases, substantially strengthen their internal controls over financial reporting.

Description: This article provides a discussion of the manner in which actuaries have implemented the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2010-26, Accounting for Costs Associated With Acquiring or Renewing Insurance Contracts, for purposes of disclosure statements in conjunction with the Dec. 31, 2011 US GAAP financial statements

Description: Column from section chairperson describing upcoming events pertinent to the Financial Reporting Section.

Description: Pandemic impact on continuing education. Financial Reporting Section and Community Engagement. US GAAP textbook update for LDTI. IFRI textbook update for amendments.

Description: The article summarizes implications of rising interest rates on U.S. GAAP and statutory financial reporting for life insurers, highlighting potential tailwinds from steady increases and headwinds from sharp increases. We further provide insights into how insurers can leverage ALM programs and interest rate risk hedging practices to favorably position themselves in a rising rate environment

Description: Under the leadership of recent and current Section chairs, your Council has committed to creating a new textbook on U.S. GAAP for life insurance company actuaries.

Description: A discussion of a possible replacement of FASB Statement No. 141 SFAS 141. The exposure draft was referred to in this article as “141R.” “141R” provides guidance for application of the acquisition method, which was previously called the purchase method in the case of business combinations. The draft requires that all business combinations including the merger of mutual insurance companies be accounted for by the acquisition method.

Description: Presents a practical solution to some of the distortion caused by a typical application of the retrospective assumption update (unlocking) method.

Description: Update on research projects sponsored by the Financial Reporting Section.

Description: This is the first in a series of articles about accounting for reinsurance under GAAP Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts (LDTI). It provides an introduction to the topic, giving an overview of what has and hasn't changed. Changes include a few that directly address reinsurance and others that indirectly result from changes to direct accounting and the existing ties between reinsurance and direct accounting.