Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup
In developments this week, the FRC has published its thematic review of deferred assets and IOSCO welcomes the work of the international audit and assurance standard setters – the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) – on assurance of sustainability-related corporate reporting.
Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.
Financial Reporting
FRC review of companies' deferred tax asset disclosures
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published its thematic review of deferred tax assets. The review considers the basis of recognition of, and disclosure in relation to, deferred tax assets in the light of the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on companies’ profitability. It follows the FRC's previous tax thematic review, issued in October 2016.
The IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) has issued its September 2022 update. This summarises the decisions reached by the committee in its public meetings.
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), in coordination with the IASB will conduct roundtable discussions with preparers focused on a selection of tentative decisions made by the IASB. These will take place on 24 October and 2 November. Participants who wish to attend can register on the EFRAG website.
Auditing and Assurance
IAASB and IESBA welcome IOSCO statement of support for developing standards relating to assurance of sustainability-related information
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) welcome the announcement from the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) of its support and encouragement for the IAASB’s and IESBA’s work on developing standards relating to assurance of sustainability-related information. The IAASB and IESBA acknowledge that stakeholders are increasingly seeking assurance of sustainability-related information and that it is important to respond to market demands with robust standards applicable to all sustainability assurance providers. The IAASB and IESBA will continue to closely collaborate with IOSCO and other regulatory and standard-setting bodies to inform the development of robust standards that foster independent, high-quality engagements and globally consistent practices.
Insolvency
Readers may find of interest the recent judgment of Butler J in the Irish High Court in the case of Bayview Hotel (Waterville) Limited (the “Company “) and the Companies Act 2014. The judgment considered winding up on the grounds contained in the Companies Act ,2014 and gave some consideration to the exercise of discretion by the court. You can click here for an Institute news item and a link to the judgment.
Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions
The European Commissioner spoke recently at a European court of auditors seminar on the new EU AML-CTF supervision model: expectations vs feasibility' She outlined an overview of the proposal – with a particular focus on the new EU AML Authority. There will be a two-tier system, one tier of European direct supervision, and another tier of national supervision with more coordination at a European level. She said there will be Joint Supervisory Teams involving national supervisors, similar to how the Single Supervisory Mechanism supervises banks. You can read the full speech by following the link above.
The Egmont Group (EG) , a body of 166 Financial Intelligence Units, has issued its 2022-2027 Egmont Group Strategic Plan entitled “Turning Aspirations into Outcomes”. EG will focus on four thematic areas of action with strategic goals to fulfil its aspirations over the next five years: to enhance the framework for effective information exchange between FIUs, to strengthen cooperation with international partner organizations, to develop and promote knowledge of new or emerging AML/CFT methods and trends, best practices, and EG requirements and to enhance EG support for members and candidate FIUs.
Please click here to access a very interesting webinar held recently on recent developments in UK sanctions .The speakers were Michael O’Kane ,senior partner at Peters & Peters LLP Maya Lester QC and Giles Thompson Director of OFSI.
Other
Autumn legislative programme 2022
Government Chief Whip Jack Chambers recently published the autumn legislative programme for the forthcoming autumn Oireachtas session. Click here for the press release and you can follow the links to the programme .Since our last report in May on the summer legislative programme, heads have been approved on the Work-life Balance bill, the Assisted Decision Making Capacity (Amendment) Bill and Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill are making their way through the Oireachtas while pre legislative scrutiny has taken place on the Right to Request Remote Work Bill. Heads are in preparation of a Credit Union (Amendment) Bill to give effect to the outcome of the review of policy framework of credit unions. Pre legislative scrutiny is ongoing on the Charities (Amendment) Bill which was also on the summer legislative programme. There is no change in status on the Cybersecurity Bill and the Cybercrime bills. Work is still underway on both bills.
In the summer programme, work was underway on a Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill to provide for miscellaneous amendments to the Companies Act 2014. This seems to have given way to a Companies (Administrative, Governance & Insolvency Amendment) Bill on which work is underway and which is stated to give effect to outstanding Programme for Government commitments on rights of workers as creditors; trading entities splitting operations; and transactional avoidance. One final bill which may be of interest is Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill on which heads are in preparation and which is stated to be to comprehensively review and update the legislation governing the protection of employees during their employer’s insolvency.
Women in Finance Charter officially launched in April 2022 and is part of the government’s Ireland for Finance Strategy. The Charter is an industry-led, government-supported measure to encourage gender diversity in the financial services industry in Ireland. The Minister of State in the Department of Finance recently appointed Financial Services Ireland director Patricia Callan as chairperson of the steering group. Interested readers can find out more in the press release here and more about the initiative and how to participate on the Better Balance website.
For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.
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