Insurance Europe's response to the Discussion Paper on amortization of goodwill

01 December 2014

Insurance Europe welcomes that the paper analyses various aspects of existing and potential disclosure requirements on goodwill impairment.

Insurance Europe commented on the Discussion Paper “Should Goodwill still not be amortised? Accounting and Disclosure for Goodwill” issued by the EFRAG, the ASBJ and the OIC on 22 July 2014.

In particular, Insurance Europe appreciates the efforts undertaken by the EFRAG to investigate whether the current accounting treatment for goodwill purchased in a business combination (IFRS 3) should be fundamentally revised by the IASB. While Insurance Europe has not yet reached a single conclusion on this complex topic, they would greatly appreciate if further education and research on this matter becomes available.

Insurance Europe believes analysing various aspects of existing and potential disclosure requirements on goodwill impairment is in line with the objective of the Disclosure Initiative undertaken by the IASB which Insurance Europe supports. As a general principle, Insurance Europe also does not believe that just adding new disclosure requirements to IAS 36 would make the financial statements automatically more effective.

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