As part of its project to develop new actuarial standards, the Board for Actuarial Standards (BAS) has today published an exposure draft of a standard for reporting.

The exposure draft follows the recent consultation papers on proposed standards for data and modelling. The proposed standard for reporting will be the first of the BAS’s standards, and is expected to come into force in April 2010. It will be principles-based, and will be one of the BAS’s generic standards, applying across many areas of actuarial work.

Paul Seymour, Chairman of the BAS, commented:

“The proposed standard will play an important role in ensuring that the users of actuarial information can place a high degree of reliance on its relevance, transparency of assumptions, completeness and comprehensibility.”

At the same time the BAS is consulting on a proposed change to the scope of its generic standards, in order to apply them from their commencement date to all work that is reserved to actuaries.

The consultation period for the exposure draft ends on 29 May 2009. Copies can be downloaded from the BAS’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/bas/publications/pub1883.html.

1. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting confidence in corporate reporting and governance. Its functions are exercised principally by its operating bodies (the Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing Practices Board, the Board for Actuarial Standards, the Financial Reporting Review Panel, the Professional Oversight Board and the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board) and by the FRC Board. The Committee on Corporate Governance assists the Board in its work on corporate governance.
2. The Board for Actuarial Standards has a primary objective of promoting competence and transparency of actuarial practice by establishing and improving actuarial technical standards and ensuring that they are coherent, consistent and comprehensive.
3.  All media enquiries should be addressed to Louise Pryor, Director of the Board for Actuarial Standards, 020 7492 2328 or email at l.pryor@frc.org.uk.