Allstate, Assurant Would Benefit From Accounting Tweak

Insurance companies that recently sold off their life, annuity, or other long-term insurance business lines wouldn’t have to retroactively comply with major new insurance accounting rules that go live next year under a released Thursday by US accounting rulemakers.

Publicly traded insurers that write long-duration policies must follow the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s new rules in 2023, but the rules apply to contracts that were in force as of Jan. 1, 2021. That nuance means some insurers, including Allstate Insurance Co. and Assurant Inc., which sold their long-term insurance business lines in 2021, would be caught up. The ...