RE: Very solid1 Apr 2022 13:43
What people need to understand is that the accountancy concept of profit and loss is almost totally meaningless for banks and insurance companies. What really matters is the capital surplus as this determines how much the company can return to shareholders or invest into the business. In banks the figures that matter are the CET1 (Common Equity Tier 1) and the CET1 ratio, in insurance companies it is the Solvency II capital and the Solvency II coverage ratio.
There are many things which can have a big effect on the profitability of a bank or insurance company, deferred tax assets, fair valuation of own funds and goodwill, to name just three which have absolutely no impact on the capital position.
The best example I can think of to illustrate the disconnect between profitability and capital is the final dividend payment made by RBS (now Natwest) on its Dividend Access Share. After eight consecutive years of losses which total over £50bn, the PRA allowed RBS to pay out a £1.2bn dividend on the share in 2016. The PRA were happy for the distribution to be made because of the exceedingly high CET1 ratio RBS had at the time.
The accounting rules for insurance companies are changing to IFRS 17 from January 2023 and the initial impact will be that reported profits will be lower, or losses greater, than under the current standard. However the changes have no impact at all on the capital position so the amount the companies will have for investment or shareholder distributions will not be affected.