General (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

a) Basis of presentation

Chubb Limited is a holding company incorporated in Zurich, Switzerland. Chubb Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides a broad range of insurance and reinsurance products to insureds worldwide. Chubb operates through the following business segments: North America Commercial P&C Insurance, North America Personal P&C Insurance, North America Agricultural Insurance, Overseas General Insurance, Global Reinsurance, and Life Insurance. Refer to Note 10 for additional information.

The interim unaudited consolidated financial statements, which include the accounts of Chubb Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively, Chubb, we, us, or our), have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments (consisting of normally recurring accruals) necessary for a fair statement of the results and financial position for such periods. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions, including internal reinsurance transactions, have been eliminated.

The results of operations and cash flows for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results for the full year. These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in our 2017 Form 10-K.

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block]

b) Restricted cash

Effective January 1, 2018, we retrospectively adopted guidance on "Restricted Cash" that clarified the presentation of restricted cash on the consolidated statement of cash flows. As a result, we revised the statement of cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2017 to include restricted cash in the beginning and ending cash balances. In addition, we reclassified $123 million of Restricted cash from Other assets to a separate line in the balance sheet as of December 31, 2017.

Restricted cash in the consolidated balance sheets represents amounts held for the benefit of third parties and is legally or contractually restricted as to withdrawal or usage. Amounts include deposits with U.S. and non-U.S. regulatory authorities, trust funds set up for the benefit of ceding companies, and amounts pledged as collateral to meet financing arrangements.

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash and restricted cash reported within the consolidated balance sheets that total to the amounts shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows:



	June 30		December 31
(in millions of U.S. dollars)	2018		2017
Cash	$	1,000	$	728
Restricted cash	101		123
Total cash and restricted cash shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows	$	1,101	$	851

Accounting guidance adopted in 2018

d) Accounting guidance adopted in 2018

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

In May 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standard that supersedes most existing revenue recognition guidance. The standard excludes from its scope the accounting for insurance contracts, leases, financial instruments, and certain other agreements that are governed under other GAAP guidance, but could affect the revenue recognition for certain of our claims management and risk control services. The updated guidance requires an entity to recognize revenue as performance obligations are met, in order to reflect the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration the entity is entitled to receive for those goods or services. This guidance was effective for us on January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations given that the majority of our business is outside the scope of this guidance.

Financial Instruments – Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities

Effective January 2018, we adopted new accounting guidance on "Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities" on a modified-retrospective basis. The guidance requires equity investments, other than those accounted for under the equity method of accounting, to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized through net income. The guidance impacts our public equities and cost-method private equities. As a result, we recorded a cumulative-effect adjustment to increase beginning Retained earnings by $417 million after tax ($454 million pre-tax), representing the unrealized appreciation on our equity investments with an offsetting adjustment to decrease Accumulated other comprehensive income. All subsequent changes in fair value of our equity investments are recognized within realized gains (losses) on the consolidated statement of operations. Prior period amounts have not been adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with the previous accounting guidance.

Income Taxes

Effective January 2018, we adopted new accounting guidance on “Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory” on a modified-retrospective basis. Under the new guidance, we will no longer defer taxes on intra-company asset transfers and will recognize any related income tax expense (benefit) immediately through the consolidated statement of operations. As a result, we recorded a cumulative-effect adjustment to decrease beginning Retained earnings by $7 million representing the removal of the deferred tax asset for previous intra-company asset transfer transactions not yet recognized through earnings.

Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017 Tax Act) was signed into legislation in December 2017. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (SAB 118), Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which provides guidance for the application of the 2017 Tax Act. The income tax guidance allows for the transition impact of the 2017 Tax Act to be recorded as 1) complete with all accounting implications identified, 2) provisional based on a reasonable estimate, or 3) not recorded as no reasonable estimate was determinable.

In December 2017, we recorded a $450 million income tax benefit which was our estimate of the tax effects of the 2017 Tax Act. This amount was recorded as provisional under SAB 118. There were no changes determined to this estimate for the current period as we continue to analyze the impact of the 2017 Tax Act. We will continue to monitor this area as new regulations and interpretive guidance are released and will update as appropriate.

Accounting guidance not yet adopted

Refer to the 2017 Form 10-K for information on other accounting guidance not yet adopted.