Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.
In developments this week, the International Accounting Standards Board has issued the latest edition of its newsletter 'Investor Update', which profiles recently introduced IFRS Standards and other changes that are in the pipeline as well as how those changes may affect companies and performance and the European Securities and Markets Authority has released a public statement on the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on half-yearly financial reports.
Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.
Auditing
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has released non-authoritative guidance, The Fraud Lens – Interactions Between ISA 240 and Other ISAs. The guidance illustrates the relationship and linkages between International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 240, The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements and other ISAs when planning and performing an audit engagement and reporting thereon.
The Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) has published its 2021 Annual Audit Programme and Activity Report which summarises the activities performed during 2021 to oversee the audit profession in Ireland.
Financial Reporting
Chartered Accountants Ireland are looking forward to welcoming members of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to Chartered Accountants House on 16 June for a free in-person event. This event will include addresses from members of the Accounting and Reporting Policy team as well as the FRC Lab and will provide attendees with an update on topical financial reporting issues in 2022 and the FRC Lab’s recent and current projects. Members who wish to attend can sign up here.
The IASB has issued the latest edition of its newsletter 'Investor Update', which profiles recently introduced IFRS Standards and other changes that are in the pipeline as well as how those changes may affect companies and performance.
ESMA has issued a Public Statement on the transparency of disclosures on the adoption of IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts.
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) is holding a series of educational sessions jointly for the EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board (SRB) and the EFRAG Sustainability Reporting TEG (SR TEG) on the draft ESRS Exposure Drafts (EDs) issued for public consultation on 29 April. Recordings of previous sessions and registration for upcoming sessions are available on EFRAG’s website.
In its recent announcement, the International Sustainability Standards Board have outlined the necessary steps required to establish a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures.
In IFAC’s recent podcast called The Fast Future with IFAC, some issues relevant to small & medium practices worldwide were discussed including technology, cybersecurity & workplace culture.
The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has announced that it has approved the adoption of the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts for use by UK companies.
The FRC has published a thematic review of discount rates.
The European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) has issued a statement on the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on half-yearly financial reports.
Reminder- Have your say on the FRC’s periodic review of UK and Ireland accounting standards. As part of the FRC’s periodic review of UK and Ireland Accounting Standards, a series of roundtable events are being held in May and June to allow stakeholders to have a say on specific topics. The schedule of roundtables, as well as details of how to register, can be obtained from the FRC website.
Insolvency
The Dáil and Seanad recently approved Ireland’s opt into a regulation amending the Annexes to the European Insolvency Regulation, 2015/848 (EIR Recast). Regulation 2021/2260 (Amending Regulation) which replaces Annex A and B to EIR Recast came into force in January 2022. EIR Recast provides for the recognition and enforcement of cross border insolvency proceedings between EU member states.
Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions
The Institute has this week launched webpages providing information and resources to members in the area of anti-money laundering. The pages are located on the Institute’s technical hub (please click here to access) and cover both the Republic of Ireland and the UK on areas such as legislation, supervision, reporting requirements, red flags -know the signs and other resources which we hope members will find useful. This builds on the information provided by the CCAB-I working group in the recent update of the CCAB-I Anti Money Laundering Guidance for members TR01/2019 (updated March 2022) and we hope that the information will prove to be valuable to members.
The Egmont group has recently made public a report on Financial Intelligence Unit’s role in the fight against money laundering of corruption proceeds within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Various FIUs across the Egmont Group (EG) membership contributed. FIUs provided detailed information, including detected corruption-related risks and associated mitigating measures, relevant case examples and lessons learned, and emerging best practices and future challenges. You can access the report here .
The UK National Crime Agency has recently published its Annual Plan 2022-23. Read here the strategic priorities for the Agency and you can download a copy of the plan here.
The NCA publishes a bulletin called SARs in Action. You can access it by going to this page and searching in the description box by title. Click here to access the March 2022 edition.
Other Areas of Interest
The Minister for Finance and the Minister of State for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance recently hosted the Retail Banking Review Dialogue, an important event on the future of retail banking in Ireland. You can read details about it by following the link.
Also, this week the Dept. of Finance has launched a public consultation seeking stakeholder views on the Retail Banking Review. The focus of the review and consultation is on retail banking services. You can register on the government’s portal to respond. The consultation runs until 8 July 2022.
President von der Leyen recently gave details of the Commission's proposals regarding REPowerEU, the EU plan to replace Russian fossil fuels, its investment in defence to address capability gaps and the relief and reconstruction of Ukraine with a proposal to top up the significant short-term relief provided until now to Ukraine with a new exceptional macro-financial assistance .
The Pensions Authority has this week issued a reminder of the compliance deadline of 1 July 2022 for master trusts, one-member arrangements set up on or after 22 April 2021 and new schemes.
It has also recently provided an information update in several areas. These are the pension benefit statement, the annual compliance statement, the 2022 EIOPA stress test, the interpretation of the regulated markets requirement and the use of electronic communications provided for under the Pensions Act 1990, as amended. You can read further information on their website.
The National Standards Authority of Ireland reports that the UK has introduced a new domestic regulatory regime to ensure consumers are protected from unsafe and non-compliant goods. Manufacturers of goods previously subject to the EU’s CE marking will need to start using the UK Conformity Assessment Marking (UKCA) marking if they are placing goods on the market in Great Britain. There are also new requirements for placing goods on the market in Northern Ireland. Businesses need to start preparing now to ensure they are compliant by 1 January 2023.The UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) have organised a webinar to explain the rules and requirements, and what steps businesses need to take to use the UKCA marking and the UKNI marking for Northern Ireland. The webinar will take place from 11.00 – 12.00 Monday 30th May and you can go to this page to register.
The Dept of Public Expenditure and Reform has recently published “An Evaluation of the Impacts of Remote Working “. The publication evaluates the impacts of remote working to the Irish economy and society. It finds that overall, remote working is likely to have a positive impact on the Irish economy and society. You can download a copy of the publication from this page.
For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.
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