Welcome to the latest edition of Technical Roundup.
In developments since the last edition, the final omnibus directive, which amends the audit directive, the accounting directive, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) has been published in the EU Official Journal. In the UK, the government has published the final UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) for voluntary use in the UK and are based on IFRS S1 and IFRS S2. The Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) has recently highlighted its Information Note on circumstances leading to disqualification under the Companies Act 2014 and the associated consequences.
Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.
Financial Reporting
In the fourth episode of its “IAASA Insights” podcast series, IAASA explore the key themes from their recent 2025 Corporate Reporting Observations Document. Themes covered are economic uncertainty and its impact on financial reporting, new sustainability reporting requirements under CSRD & ESRS, and financial reporting topics including financial instruments.
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has issued its February 2026 update. The update covers preliminary decisions of the Board at its recent meeting on the following issues:
Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity
Post-implementation Review of IFRS 16 - Leases
Amortised Cost Measurement
Equity Method
Post-implementation Review of IFRS 9 -Hedge Accounting
Provisions
The IASB has issued some videos which explain the aims of the proposed Risk Mitigation Accounting model. These videos support the ongoing consultation which is open for comment until 31 July 2026.
The IASB has released a webcast to provide an overview of the upcoming standard IFRS 20 Regulatory Assets and Regulatory Liabilities. The new standard is expected to be issued in the second quarter of 2026 and will be effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2029.
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has issued its final endorsement advice letter to the European Commission on the proposed EU adoption of Amendments to IAS 21 Translation to a Hyperinflationary Presentation Currency, and has recommended adoption of the amendments. In light of this, EFRAG has also updated its Endorsement Status Report.
EFRAG has issued a draft comment letter on the IASB's Exposure Draft ‘Amendments to the Fair Value Option for Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures- Proposed amendments to IAS 28’.
The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has published its draft comment letter on the same Exposure Draft and has also issued its updated Work Plan.
EFRAG has published the December 2025 and January 2026 update reports and podcasts. These summarise public technical discussions and decisions taken at EFRAG as well as open consultations, future events and vacancies.
Auditing and Assurance
The IAASB published an invite for stakeholders worldwide to participate in its public consultation survey as part of its post-implementation review of International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 540 (Revised), Auditing Accounting Estimates and Related Disclosures. The survey is open until 15 June 2026.
Accountancy Europe has published its March 2026 Audit Policy Update.
Insolvency
The Institute held three in-person events this week in Cork, Galway and Dublin. These well attended events provided a comprehensive overview of the Creditors Voluntary Liquidation Handbook published last year to assist Liquidators in complying with legislative and Statement of Insolvency Practice (SIP) requirements when conducting statutory meetings, reporting to creditors and approval of remuneration. The sessions also covered compliance matters and potential issues and problems that can arise and how to avoid or best navigate these. Sarah Jane O’Keeffe, Partner in Azets, and Derek Wilson, former inspector in the Institute presented at the events and provided attendees with great practical examples.
A recent High Court decision regarding the recognition and enforcement of an Individual Voluntary Agreement in Northern Ireland is noted as being significant in the post-Brexit landscape. This is a practical example of the development cross-border insolvency in Ireland. Philip Lee Solicitors have more information available here.
The Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) has recently highlighted its Information Note on circumstances leading to disqualification under the Companies Act 2014 and the associated consequences. The Information Note is available to read in full here.
Sustainability
The final omnibus directive, which amends the audit directive, the accounting directive, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) has been published in the EU Official Journal. It will take effect 20 days after publication, with Member States required to transpose its provisions into national law within 12 months. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment will be responsible for transposing the Directive in Ireland.
The UK government has published the final UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) for voluntary use in the UK. The standards are based on IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has published a Jurisdictional Readiness Assessment Guide for the adoption or other use of ISSB Standards.
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has released a podcast hosted by ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber and ISSB Vice-Chair Sue Lloyd discussing the latest developments around the ISSB.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has published a report that analyses the pollution disclosure practices of 1,000 publicly listed companies across high-emitting sectors.
Accountancy Europe published a statement regarding the revised ESRS highlighting that stability is needed in the reporting ecosystem calling on the European Commission to keep the standard-setting process technical and avoid subjecting it to political pressures.
Accountancy Europe published a briefing paper regarding 'Preventing Greenwashing' and the importance of corporate ecosystem roles'. The publication highlights that mitigating greenwashing risks requires a systemic approach and examines how different actors in the corporate ecosystem (across the three lines of defence) can identify and mitigate greenwashing risks, clarifying how each contributes to safeguarding the integrity of sustainability disclosures.
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) announced the findings of the second phase of SME Sustainability Research – Wave 2 noting that 85% of businesses say sustainability is important to their business on a day-to-day basis. DETE commissioned Amárach to conduct research among Irish SMEs in relation to sustainability and wider trends.
In its response to the public consultation of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol on the proposed changes to Scope 2 Guidance, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has called for a balanced and cost effective approach to the proposed changes, whilst also raising some strong concerns regarding the complexity of some of the proposals.
EFRAG has released an updated version of the VSME digital template. The template now includes language support in Irish.
Anti-money laundering
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published its Annual Report 2024-2025 outlining the work by the FATF during the first year of the Mexican Presidency.
FATF published a 'Cyber-Enabled Fraud - Digitalisation and Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Financing Risks' paper. The paper examines the evolving threat of cyber-enabled fraud and how jurisdictions can harness the FATF Standards to combat it. This is in the context of cyber-enabled fraud now being one of the most widespread and damaging profit-motivated forms of crime, generating large volumes of illicit proceeds through the exploitation of victims around the world.
The UK's HM Treasury has published guidance regarding Using digital identities with the Money Laundering Regulations - GOV.UK. This guidance has been created to provide information on how the UK digital verification services trust framework and the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs) interact. It is approved guidance for the purposes of compliance with the MLRs. The Using digital identities with the Money Laundering Regulations Guidance sets out how entities regulated under the Money Laundering Regulations can use digital verification services for customer due diligence checks.
The European Commission proposes new measures to prevent and counter terrorism. A factsheet was also published to support this proposal.
HM Treasury is collecting data from UK AML supervised firms to prepare for the UK’s upcoming FATF Mutual Evaluation and the update of the Proliferation Financing National Risk Assessment (PF NRA). Chartered Accountants Ireland encourages firms to take part. The survey closes on 31 March 2026. Chartered Accountants Ireland also published a recent news item regarding the FATF and Proliferation Financing Survey.
Central Bank of Ireland (CBI)
The CBI published its 'Regulatory and Supervisory Outlook (RSO)' report, which sets out its latest assessment of the risk landscape facing the financial sector and the supervisory work it will undertake in response. The report includes an overview of the global macro environment, major trends and drivers of risk, assessment of the key risks facing the entities regulated by the CBI, overarching supervisory priorities, and key areas of supervisory focus and planned activities for financial services' sectors. The RSO also features three articles addressing specific topics in more detail including a supervisory perspective on artificial intelligence, the importance of operational resilience in service provision, and the approach for supporting better outcomes for consumers and investors.
The CBI's Governor Gabriel Makhlouf published his latest blog 'Reflections on Building Resilience and Anchoring Stability'. The blog covers several areas including responding to change, strengthening resilience, access to cash and safeguarding a foundational service, the importance of the Central Bank's independence, and the CBI's 2026 work programme.
The CBI published its first quarterly access to cash report. The Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Act 2025 has put in place a framework to ensure sufficient and effective access to cash across the State. The report uses newly collected data to show the number, location and opening hours of ATMs and cash service points across eight geographical regions in Ireland, as of 31 December 2025. The Minister for Finance set the access to cash criteria in November 2025. The Central Bank monitors whether these criteria are met. From July onwards, people can make a submission to the Central Bank if they believe there is a local deficiency in relation to access to cash.
Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland Colm Kincaid welcomed the publication of the OECD's Consumer Finance Risk Monitor 2026, which is a comprehensive global assessment examining consumer protection challenges across 60 international jurisdictions. The Consumer Finance Risk Monitor 2026 examines trends, issues, and risks across the banking and payments, consumer credit, insurance, investments, and pensions sectors. The 2026 report highlights that 85% of responding jurisdictions report that financial scams and frauds are a top risk facing consumers.
The CBI published details regarding the International Women’s Day event hosted by the European Central Bank (ECB) on 2 March 2026, where President Christine Lagarde and several guest speakers discussed the gender gap in financial literacy. The event also provided an opportunity to reflect on the progress made regarding the financial literacy commitments agreed upon by the President and central bank Governors in 2025, and to reinforce the importance of further coordinated action across the Eurosystem. During the event, the ECB, together with Central Bank of Ireland and other participating central banks, launched the “EuroSteps Walking Challenge”. For further details, please refer to CBI's 'EuroSteps Challenge for Financial Literacy' webpage.
The CBI published a Discussion Paper examining the potential role of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and tokenisation in the financial system. An associated press release was also published regarding the discussion paper.
The CBI’s CP166 consultation regarding Prohibition Notices Under the Fitness and Probity Regime is currently open. The CBI is planning to provide additional guidance regarding Prohibition Notice procedures (the Supplemental Guidance) and is seeking stakeholders’ views regarding the Supplemental Guidance. The consultation closes on 25 March 2026. The CBI is hosting a webinar on 11 March which will provide an overview of CP166 Consultation on Prohibition Notices under the Fitness & Probity Regime.
Artificial Intelligence
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment announced that as part of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026, Ireland will host the International AI Summit, opening European AI innovation Month, in partnership with the European Commission. This event, taking place on 14 October 2026 in Dublin, will bring together over a thousand EU & global leaders, Heads of Government, CEOs, investors, innovators and academics, under the theme: Enabling AI to Power European Growth.
Cybersecurity
The National Cyber Security Centre in the UK advises UK organisation to take action following conflict in the Middle East and is advising organisations to review their cyber security posture.
Internal Audit
The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) in the UK published a blog regarding 'What does professional judgement mean in practice?'. The blog highlights that professional judgement comes at the start of the internal audit process - when an internal audit plan is developed. It continues through the middle of the process – when the Internal Audit team identifies what is important and at the end of the process - when the Internal Audit team selects where and how to communicate conclusions and whether any challenge is needed.
The Chartered IIA in the UK released a survey regarding its ‘Risk in Focus 2026/27’ report. The survey is open to Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) and Heads of Internal Audit until 27 March 2026. This leading annual poll of CAEs across Europe identifies the top risks their organisations face as they prepare their audit plans for the year ahead.
Data Protection
The Data Protection Commission (DPC) published a statement welcoming the publication of the European Data Protection Board’s (EDPB) report on the implementation of its Coordinated Enforcement Framework (CEF) action on the right to be forgotten.
Financial returns for childcare core funding
Core Funding is a grant scheme provided directly to Early Learning and Childcare service providers administered by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (the Department). Under the Core Funding Partner Service Agreement, all service providers that had an active core funding contract during the 1 September 2024 - 31 August 2025 programme year (Year 3) must engage a qualified professional accountant to submit a financial return. The returns must be submitted by 31 March 2026. The Department requires that these financial returns must be submitted by a qualified professional accountant.
The accountant can be an employee of the provider (if certain conditions are met) or an independent qualified accountant who holds a Practising Certificate (PC) and professional indemnity insurance. Accountants linked to childcare service providers received a letter (attached) from the Department at the end of February outlining the steps to complete for submitting the financial returns. Please refer to the Chartered Accountants Ireland news item and a dedicated webpage for further details regarding financial returns for childcare core funding.
Other News
Minister for State for European Affairs [Thomas Byrne] strongly encourages eligible applicants to apply for the Communicating Europe Initiative to foster an ongoing nationwide conversation about the benefits of Ireland’s EU membership and the upcoming EU Presidency.
Communicating Europe Initiative grant applications opened by Minister McEntee and Minister Byrne.
The Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Jack Chambers, announced the establishment of a new Regulatory Simplification Unit to support faster delivery of critical infrastructure projects.
Accountancy Europe responded to the European Commission’s public consultation on professional qualifications for regulated and third country professions. Accountancy Europe noted in its response that it welcomes efforts to enhance transparency and digitalisation of qualifications across the EU, while stressing that quality, proportionality, and simplification must remain central to any future EU action.
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) released new global research analysing the rapid growth of private equity (PE) investment in professional accountancy firms and its potential implications for the future of the profession. The analysis includes thirteen key take-aways to help accountancy professionals understand, assess and guide PE investment decisions.
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade published the First Progress Report on the Government’s Action Plan on Market Diversification. A commitment was made to publish a progress report on the actions contained within the Government Action Plan on Market Diversification after six months (following the publication of the action plan in August 2025).
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