BC1 The previous IFRS Standard on insurance contracts, IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts, allowed entities to use a wide variety of accounting practices for insurance contracts, reflecting national accounting requirements and variations in those requirements. The differences in accounting treatment across jurisdictions and products made it difficult for investors and analysts to understand and compare insurers' results. Most stakeholders, including insurers, agreed on the need for a common global insurance accounting standard even though opinions varied as to what it should be. Long‑duration and complex insurance risks are difficult to reflect in the measurement of insurance contracts. In addition, insurance contracts are not typically traded in markets and may include a significant investment component, posing further measurement challenges. Some previous insurance accounting practices permitted under IFRS 4 did not adequately reflect the true underlying financial positions or performance arising from these insurance contracts. To address these issues, the Board undertook a project to make insurers' financial statements more useful and insurance accounting practices consistent across jurisdictions. IFRS 17 completes this project.