Summary of Statement No. 97

Accounting and Reporting by Insurance Enterprises for Certain Long-Duration Contracts and for Realized Gains and Losses from the Sale of Investments (Issued 12/87)

Summary

This Statement establishes standards of accounting for certain long-duration contracts issued by insurance enterprises, referred to in this Statement as universal life-type contracts, that were not addressed by FASB Statement No. 60, Accounting and Reporting by Insurance Enterprises. The Statement also establishes standards of accounting for limited-payment long-duration insurance contracts and investment contracts and amends Statement 60 to change the reporting of realized gains and losses on investments.

New life insurance contracts have evolved since the development of specialized insurance industry accounting principles and practices in the early 1970s. Many of those new life insurance contracts have different provisions than do the life insurance contracts to which Statement 60 applies. Those new life insurance contracts are characterized by flexibility and discretion granted to one or both parties to the contract. Statement 60 identifies but does not address those contracts, noting that the accounting was under study by the insurance industry and the accounting and actuarial professions.

This Statement requires that the retrospective deposit method be used to account for universal life-type contracts. That accounting method establishes a liability for policy benefits at an amount determined by the account or contract balance that accrues to the benefit of the policyholder. Premium receipts are not reported as revenues when the retrospective deposit method is used. The Statement also requires that capitalized acquisition costs associated with universal life-type contracts be amortized based on a constant percentage of the present value of estimated gross profit amounts from the operation of a "book" of those contracts. Any gain or loss resulting from a policyholder's replacement of other life insurance contracts with universal life-type contracts is recognized in income of the period in which the replacement occurs.

This Statement requires that long-duration contracts issued by insurance enterprises that do not subject the enterprise to risks arising from policyholder mortality or morbidity (investment contracts) be accounted for in a manner consistent with the accounting for interest-bearing or other financial instruments. Payments received on those contracts are not reported as revenue.

This Statement also addresses limited-payment contracts that subject the insurance enterprise to mortality or morbidity risk over a period that extends beyond the period or periods in which premiums are collected and that have terms that are fixed and guaranteed. This Statement requires that revenue and income from limited-payment contracts be recognized over the period that benefits are provided rather than on collection of premiums.

This Statement amends the reporting by insurance enterprises of realized gains and losses on investments. Statement 60 previously required that realized gains and losses be reported in the statement of earnings on a separate line below operating income and net of applicable income taxes. This Statement requires that realized gains and losses now be reported on a pretax basis as a component of other income and precludes the deferral of realized gains and losses to future periods.

This Statement is effective for financial statements for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 1988. Accounting changes to adopt the Statement should be applied retroactively through restatement of all previously issued financial statements presented, or if restatement of all years presented is not practicable, the cumulative effect of applying this Statement is to be included in net income of the year of adoption.