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After 20 years of discussions, the new standard IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts was published in May 2017 to remedy the transparency and comparability issues of the interim standard IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts. As the implementation period started at the beginning of the year, insurers have quite a basic knowledge about the new requirements and their implications on the insurance business. In addition, the focus seems mainly to be on the insurance part of the standard while the reinsurance approach is qualified by various authors as the forgotten area. In that respect, those have underlined the urgent need to look into the challenges and mismatches pertaining to reinsurance contracts held. It is in this context that the present thesis is viewed as a useful source of information. The main objective is to inform the actors of the insurance industry about the reinsurance-related requirements and the potential challenges the insurers may face by 2021. 

After having explored the reinsurance requirements in comparison to the insurance approach, the thesis summarizes the progress of the current discussions about the expected issues. The main sources of information are the publications of the IFRS 17 Transition Resource Group and the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group. The discussions particularly explore the potential issues relating to the requirements on the level of aggregation, the contract boundary, the profitability and the valuation of the reinsurance contracts held, and the treatment of the day one gains and losses on purchasing reinsurance. Field feedbacks based on six interviews carried out with Belgian insurance professionals supplement the research. 

The results obtained are summarized in the paper and enhanced by some authors’ opinion on the subject. These authors emphasize the importance of making reinsurance a priority in the IFRS 17 implementation planning. The implications of the new approach to reinsurance would impact the operational and commercial sides, as well as the insurers’ decision-making process. A fundamental need of restructuring the reinsurance portfolios could emerge to fit the IFRS 17 requirements with as much transparency as possible. In addition, the specificities of the Belgian reinsurance sector need to be considered. While the actors of the insurance industry look forward to clarifications from the IASB, a multi-disciplinary approach is already viewed as an essential key to tackle the issues.

IFRS 17 --- Reinsurance --- Reinsurance contracts held --- Reinsurance ceded --- Mismatches --- Challenges --- Sciences économiques & de gestion > Comptabilité & audit