Two draft insurance accounting standards released this year contain differences that will hamper investor comparisons and which fall short of achieving global consistency, according to Moody’s.

Proposals from the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the UK International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) will lead to closer alignment between the two but not full convergence, the ratings agency says in a report.

“At this point it appears the boards will not arrive at the same place on many issues.”

The draft proposals are part of long-running efforts to develop globally consistent accounting standards. But Moody’s says they differ in “meaningful ways” and there is significant opposition to changing US generally accepted accounting principles, particularly from the property and casualty sector.

Even without full convergence, the final standards should require disclosures to help users bridge the gap, according to the report.

“Financial statements of insurers are difficult to compare even when prepared under the same set of accounting principles, and inconsistency in accounting and reporting standards used by insurers globally has long made a hard task even more frustrating.”

The overall framework common to the FASB and IASB proposals is “conceptually reasonable”, Moody’s says.