Prudential FD slams 'pointless' life standards
The finance director of Prudential has launched a blistering attack on the ASB's new accounting standards for life assurers, which were released in draft form last week.
Link: Life firms face ‘tall order’ as standards rushed in
Philip Broadley said the changes were ‘pointless’, that they would confuse shareholders and not reach policyholders, the Daily Telegraph reported.
‘We have also got the international accountancy standard changes coming through in 2005, so there will be two sets of changes,’ Broadley said as the firm announced interim profits up 42% to £563m.
‘Shareholders are not going to welcome that because they will not be able to compare our accounts year by year. The whole thing is being rushed through at a ridiculous pace.’
Last week Britain’s biggest insurance group, Aviva, told Accountancy Age that the new changes would create ‘confusion’ and that rushing the changes through so quickly would be ‘unwise’.
The changes are a result of recommendations in the Penrose Report into the debacle at life assurance firm Equitable Life.