Welcome to the latest edition of Technical Roundup.
In developments since the last edition, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has issued five videos that capture the key themes from a recent panel discussion on the implications of artificial intelligence on business and the accountancy profession. IAASA has published its observations on Wave 1 Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) reporting summarising key findings from their supervisory work during the first year of CSRD implementation in Ireland.
Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.
Financial Reporting
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published its feedback statement on its discussion paper “The Statement of Cash Flows-Objectives, Usages and Issues”.
EFRAG has published its November 2025 Update.
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has issued its December 2025 update and podcast.
The IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) has issued its November 2025 Update.
The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has adopted IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements for use in the UK. The standard was issued by the IASB in April 2024 and replaces IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements. The standard is effective for periods commencing on or after 1 January 2027, with early application permitted.
In their 10 December Episode of the Financial Reporting Council's In Conversation podcast series, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, is joined by Anthony Barrett, Executive Director of Supervision, and Jamie Symington, Deputy Executive Counsel, to discuss the progress of the FRC's consultation on proposed amendments to the Audit Enforcement Procedure which launched in October 2025.
Auditing and Assurance
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued a consultation on its draft plan and budget for 2026-27 which sets out its priorities and resources for the year ahead.
Accountancy Europe has published a paper setting out principles and good practices to support more effective and coherent audit supervision in the EU, particularly for PIE and cross-border audits where multiple national authorities are involved.
Sustainability
In the EU, Omnibus I concluded on 16 December 2025 when the European Parliament (EP) approved a provisional agreement to simplify and reduce the scope of sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements for companies. Only EU companies with over 1,000 employees on average and a net annual turnover exceeding €450 million will be in scope for the CSRD. The CSDDD will apply only to EU companies with over 5,000 employees and a net annual turnover above €1.5 billion. Please see the final text of the proposal which provides further details.
Accountancy Europe has shared some of its views in relation to the political compromise on the Sustainability Omnibus Proposals.
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has issued targeted amendments to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disclosure requirements in IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures in response to specific application challenges that were identified as companies started to apply the Standard.
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the German Standard-Setter (ASCG) are jointly hosting the second Sustainability Standards Conference in Frankfurt on 18 May 2026.
The ISSB has published its December 2025 update and podcast.
IAASA has published its observations on Wave 1 CSRD reporting, summarising key findings from their supervisory work during the first year of CSRD implementation in Ireland.
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published three guides to help SMEs report on disclosures identified as particularly challenging in the public consultation and field test on VSME.
EFRAG has also published its report into the VSME Market Acceptance. This explores the level of awareness in relation to the VSME, as well as its acceptance as a voluntary sustainability reporting tool.
GRI, the Global Reporting Initiative, has conducted research into the value of sustainability reporting. In 22 of the 30 studies reviewed by GRI, a positive correlation was found between companies who disclose their sustainability impacts and improved financial performance.
Anti-money laundering and sanctions
Chartered Accountants Ireland, the Central Bank of Ireland, and the EU Sanctions Helpdesk will hold an online webinar on 20th January at 10.30am, which will provide practical compliance support and guide participants through the essentials of EU sanctions compliance, the support available to Irish businesses, and how the EU Sanctions Helpdesk assists SMEs. Through real-world case studies, participants will gain valuable insights into how to navigate due diligence challenges. There will be a Q&A with the panel. Registration is available at the following link.
The European Commission announced planned changes to the list of high-risk jurisdictions including adding Russia to the list in order to strengthen the international fight against financial crime. In addition, updates were also announced for the high-risk jurisdictions list following the decisions taken at the FATF and its list of ‘Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring’ (‘grey list’), following the FATF Plenaries of June and October 2025. For further information regarding the planned changes to the list of high-risk jurisdictions, please refer to the following details recently published by European Commission. These changes will not enter into force until published in the Official Journal.
Chartered Accountants Ireland announced the issuance of a Technical Alert (TA 05/2025) covering an outline of selected changes under the European Union 6th Anti Money Laundering Package (AMLD6). A copy of the TA is available at the following link.
The HM Treasury in the UK published its Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Supervision Report providing information about the activities of AML and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) supervisors (including accountancy Professional Body Supervisors (PBSs)) for the 2024-2025 financial year. This fulfils HM Treasury’s obligation, under Regulation 51 of the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), to publish an annual report on supervision activity using information requested from supervisors.
The Central Bank of Ireland published the first edition of its Financial Crime Bulletin. The purpose of this biannual bulletin is to provide an update on key regulatory and supervisory developments in the areas of AML, Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), Financial Sanctions (FS), and Fraud.
FATF published results regarding Belgium's recent Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) outlining an assessment of the measures used to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
Accountancy Europe published a recap summarising the stakeholder dialogue roundtable, which was held in November to discuss ‘Shaping the future of AML standards’. It was hosted by Accountancy Europe, together with FSR - Danish Auditors. The roundtable included representatives from the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), the European Commission, the Danish EU Presidency, and non-financial sector entities, including auditors, accountants, tax advisers, lawyers, and notaries. The AMLA slide presentation is also available at the following link.
AMLA announced the steps it is currently taking to harmonise EU AML supervision and the supporting instruments it will use to assess risks and how AMLA will select the entities it will directly supervise. In this context, AMLA published the draft RTS on risk assessments, which specifies data points and criteria that national supervisors will use to assess the entities they supervise. The draft RTS on selection was also published, which will apply these same data points and criteria to set out how AMLA will assess risks for the purposes of selecting entities for direct supervision. As part of its preparation for direct supervision, AMLA also launched a public consultation on draft implementing technical standards that set out how AMLA and national financial supervisors will cooperate during the selection process and when transferring supervisory powers for institutions or groups that will be directly supervised by AMLA. Stakeholders are invited to provide input through the public consultation by 27 January 2026.
AMLA also published a public statement outlining its approach regarding the public consultation process.
Fraud
The UK Government announced its new UK Anti-Corruption Strategy covering its approach to stopping corruption at home and abroad. It builds on the 2017 to 2022 strategy and reflects the evolving nature of the threats posed by corruption to the UK’s economy, security and democracy.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) and European Central Bank (ECB) published a report regarding the 2025 edition of their joint report on payment fraud. The report covers the semi-annual data for 2022 to 2024 and confirms that the legal requirement for strong customer authentication (SCA) introduced in 2020 has contributed to reducing fraud levels. However, it also highlights the need for continued vigilance and for security measures to be adapted to combat new emerging types of fraud.
The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA - ESAs) published key tips to help consumers detect, prevent, and act on online frauds and scams. The tips including details on how to stay alert are outlined in two factsheets regarding crypto frauds and associated scams and online financial frauds and scams in an AI world.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the UK announced that almost one billion attempts to access malicious sites were blocked (in less than a year) by a new government cyber tool. The Share and Defend service developed by experts at NCSC works to disrupt online crime and fraud by sharing near real-time data on known fraudulent and malicious websites with internet service providers, which can then prevent customers from clicking through.
Central Bank of Ireland (CBI)
The CBI launched a public consultation on the implementation of the CBI's new responsibilities under the Access to Cash legislation. The public consultation covers two parts of the new Access to Cash regime including the identification of local deficiencies in the cash infrastructure and setting minimum ATM service standards and notifications requirements for firms operating ATMs.
The CBI's Governor Gabriel Makhlouf delivered a speech to the eighth meeting of the Climate Risk and Sustainable Finance Forum covering climate risk and sustainable finance in Ireland and the EU, and the progress that has been made to date, highlighting the need to ensure climate action remains a priority for the financial sector. The speech also emphasised the Central Bank’s focus on climate risk and sustainable finance and continued encouragement to promote a collaborative approach to how the financial sector supports the transition and adaptation to net-zero.
The CBI published a report regarding the roadmap to deliver a more effective and efficient regulatory framework building on the work of the CBI in terms of the integrated supervisory approach. The report outlines how the Central Bank will, in line with initiatives across Europe, enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of its supervision and domestic regulatory framework, improve gatekeeping processes, and deliver a more integrated and less burdensome reporting and data framework.
The CBI announced a consultation regarding the application of the Consumer Protection Code 2025 (CPC 2025) to all regulated credit union activities. The consultation paper sets out the rationale for this position and outlines the proposed approach for applying CPC 2025 to all regulated credit union activities.
The CBI's Governor Gabriel Makhlouf delivered a speech to The Royal Irish Academy covering economic resilience and priorities needed in this area in the context of Ireland, Europe, and at an international level.
The CBI released the first edition of its Payment and E-Money Newsletter. The purpose of the newsletter is to provide updates on key regulatory developments in the Payment and E-Money sector and to signpost relevant upcoming changes.
The CBI published its fourth and final Quarterly Bulletin of 2025. The bulletin noted that the outlook for the Irish economy in the medium term is being shaped by differing sectoral performances, ongoing structural change, geopolitical tensions and policy actions both at home and abroad.
The CBI published its quarterly Insurance Newsletter covering supervisory insights and updates for the insurance sector.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has issued five videos that capture the key themes from a recent panel discussion on the implications of artificial intelligence on business and the accountancy profession.
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence announced the issuance of its First Interim Report, which includes 85 recommendations on Ireland’s approach to the development, deployment, regulation, and ethical considerations of AI, and on the means of ensuring that the approach supports economic growth, innovation, public trust, and societal benefit while safeguarding rights and mitigating risks. The First Interim Report is available at the following link.
The NCSC in the UK published an alert on the "dangerous” misunderstanding of emergent class of vulnerability (AI prompt injection) in generative AI applications. The NCSC has shared critical insights cautioning cyber security professionals against comparing prompt injection and more classical application vulnerabilities classed as Structured Query Language (SQL) injection. It suggests efforts should turn to reducing the risk and impact of prompt injection and driving up resilience across AI supply chains. Full details are available at the following link.
Cybersecurity
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) published the annual NIS Investments report, which presents the findings of a survey conducted by ENISA to explore how cybersecurity policy translates into practice across organisations in the EU and its effects on their investments, resources, and operations. The report calls out key highlights noting that investment focus is shifting from people to technology and outsourcing, and the fact that supply chain risk is still prevalent.
ENISA organised a webinar to discuss the latest developments and considerations on engineering personal data protection in the Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) era. For details regarding this webinar including related slides, please refer to the following link.
The NCSC in the UK published a 'Cyber Essentials Supply Chain Playbook' providing a guide that will help companies protect their business from cyber-attacks through support with embedding cyber essentials in the supply chain.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in Ireland published an alert regarding critical vulnerabilities in React server components. The NCSC strongly recommends installing updates for vulnerable systems with the highest priority, after thorough testing. Affected organisations should review the latest release notes and install the relevant updates.
Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)
The CEAOB responded to the European Commission in the context of the DORA review clause (Article 58(3)) to assess the applicability and possible extension of DORA to statutory auditors and audit firms.
Other news
The European Commission announced the market integration package, which aims to fully integrate EU financial markets and it is designed to remove barriers and unlock the full potential of the EU single market for financial services. This package is a central component of the European Savings and Investments Union (SIU) strategy. The proposals must now be negotiated and approved by the European Parliament and the Council. Please see attached factsheet regarding this package.
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published various updates including recommendations to make online shopping more respectful of users’ privacy as part of an ongoing public consultation. It also released details of a preliminary discussion regarding the Digital Omnibus proposal.
The ECB published a blog regarding the digital Euro outlining how the ECB plans to prepare for the potential issuance of the digital euro by 2029, assuming the European co-legislators adopt the necessary regulation by 2026. Preparatory steps, including pilot exercises and initial transactions, could begin as early as mid-2027.
The ECB published a press release regarding the Governing Council proposal for simplification of the EU banking rules.
Cathy Shivnan, the Corporate Enforcement Authority’s (CEA) Director of Insolvency Supervision, recently featured in the All-Ireland Business Foundation's Entrepreneur Times discussing the CEA's public protection role when it comes to insolvency supervision and director accountability and responsibilities. For further details, please read the full piece here.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK published its ‘Regulatory Initiatives Grid’, which sets out the regulatory pipeline over the next two years. This document provides an overview for the financial services industry and other stakeholders to understand and plan for the timing of regulatory initiatives that may have a significant operational impact on them.
The Professional Standards Department (PSD) of Chartered Accountants Ireland published Issue 43 of the Regulatory Bulletin providing key updates and reminders for members’ attention in various areas including Audit and Assurance, Quality Assurance, and AML.
Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke TD, and Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD recently announced funding of almost €39 million for seven additional projects under Call 7 of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) to foster innovation and collaboration between SMEs, multinationals, and research institutions.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) published the ‘State of Competition Report’, which assesses how competitive conditions have evolved in Ireland’s non-financial services sector over a 15-year period (2008-2022) and the barriers that most affect entry and expansion in 2025. For further details regarding this report, please see the following link. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment also welcomed the publication of this report.
For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.
- The next edition of Technical Roundup will issue on Friday, 9 January 2026 -
Wishing all of our members a very Happy Christmas
and best wishes for 2026
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