Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.
Andreas Barckow, Chair of the International Accounting Standards Board, delivered a keynote speech at the International Corporate Governance Network’s (ICGN) Global Sustainability Standards: Convergence and the Future event on 16 March 2022. He discussed what the IASB already has in place on accounting for sustainability-related matters in the financial statements and where the IASB may go in the future and the Irish Pensions Authority recently published its summary of regulatory activity for 2021 which is available on its website.
Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.
Financial Reporting
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) is seeking input from stakeholders on its academic study on the effects of IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The study will be important for EFRAG's work related to the IASB's Post-implementation Review of IFRS 15. Stakeholders wishing to contribute can complete this online survey.
Andreas Barckow, Chair of the International Accounting Standards Board, delivered a keynote speech at the International Corporate Governance Network’s (ICGN) Global Sustainability Standards: Convergence and the Future event on 16 March 2022. He discussed what the IASB already has in place on accounting for sustainability-related matters in the financial statements and where the IASB may go in the future.
The IFRS Foundation has announced its annual IFRS Foundation conference, which is to be held on 23–24 June 2022. The conference will include discussions and speeches on both, IASB and ISSB developments. It will be held in a hybrid format.
Auditing
The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) released for public comment the Exposure Draft Proposed Revisions to the Code Relating to the Definition of Engagement Team and Group Audits.
The proposed revisions establish provisions that comprehensively address independence considerations for firms and individuals involved in an engagement to perform an audit of group financial statements. The proposals also address the independence implications of the change in the definition of an engagement team―a concept central to an audit of financial statements―in the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s (IAASB) International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 220, Quality Management for an Audit of Financial Statements. Comments are requested by May 31, 2022.
Sustainability
The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a proposed rule, 'The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors'. The proposal would require “registrants to include certain climate-related disclosures in their registration statements and periodic reports, including information about climate-related risks that are reasonably likely to have a material impact on their business, results of operations, or financial condition, and certain climate-related financial statement metrics in a note to their audited financial statements.”
Anti-Money Laundering, Economic Crime
The ECON and LIBE Committees of the European Parliament recently held a public hearing on the new anti-money laundering package, which encompasses different legislative proposals presented by the Commission on 20 July 2021 External experts were invited to this public hearing, including the President of the Financial Action Task Force, the Heads of the French and Latvian FIUs, and representatives from Refinitiv, the Council of Bars and Law Societies in Europe and Transparency International. They highlighted the outstanding elements of the package from their perspective, before engaging in a question-and-answer sessions with the members. You can click here to go to the press release and to watch a recording of the hearing and please see here for a draft program and related material.
FATF has this week issued its report on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing risks arising from migrant smuggling. It analyses the money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with migrant smuggling and identifies the most common methods to transfer and launder the proceeds of migrant smuggling. You can read more about the report here and download the report here.
Readers are reminded that information on financial sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus in response to the crisis in Ukraine can be found on the Institute’s dedicated sanctions page .The page is currently being updated regularly.
UK financial regulatory authorities issued a joint statement on sanctions and the cryptoasset sector on 11 March 2022 reiterating that all UK financial services firms, including the cryptoasset sector, are expected to play their part in ensuring that sanctions are complied with. You can read details of the joint statement on the Financial Conduct Authority website.
UK Parliament has recently passed the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022. Its long title describes it as a Bill to set up a register of overseas entities and their beneficial owners and require overseas entities who own land to register in certain circumstances; to make provision about unexplained wealth orders; and to make provision about sanctions. You can access the details of the legislation here.
In relation to suspicious activity reporting, a new SAR Glossary Code has been launched relating to suspicious activity consistent with money laundering and linked to entities sanctioned by the UK, US, EU and other overseas jurisdictions. Details and the code (XXSNEXX) can be found in the recent note available on the National Crime Agency website.
Central Bank of Ireland
The Central Bank has issued its 2021 Innovation Hub update. It shares detail on the nature of enquiries and trends observed via the Innovation Hub. The Innovation Hub helps the Central Bank of Ireland to stay open and engaged with stakeholders and it was noted that continued growth in enquiry numbers was seen in 2021.
The Central Bank recently issued a fresh warning on the risks of investing in crypto assets, as part of a European-wide campaign by the European Supervisory Authorities .It emphasised that crypto assets are highly risky and speculative, and may not be suitable for retail customers. Click here for the press release and here for a plain English explainer for consumers on cryptocurrencies.
The Central Bank in partnership with the Economic and Social Research Institute and the European Investment Bank, recently hosted an event, “Business Finance & Investment: Recovering from the Pandemic, Preparing for Future Challenges.” You can read the press release and get links to further information here. The event featured four presentations –
“Corporate investment in the wake of Covid-19 – perspectives from the EIB Investment Survey” – Deborah Revoltella, EIB Group;
“SME Investment Trends in Ireland: Covid-19 and the Barriers” – Conor O’Toole, ESRI;
“The Department of Finance SME Credit Demand Survey: Some Insights Ten Years On” – Leona Cantillon, Department of Finance;
“Credit supply and demand in the pandemic recovery” – Niall McGeever, Central Bank of Ireland.
Click here for the opening remarks by the Central Bank governor and here for closing remarks by deputy Central Bank governor.
Other Areas of Interest
The Pensions Authority recently published its summary of regulatory activity for 2021. The summary is available on its website which you can read here. Also from the Pensions Authority, it recently published a link to the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors' (IOPS) set of good practices for designing presenting and supervising pension projections. The information can be found on the IOPS website.
The Tánaiste spoke at a webinar this week held by the Institute of International and European Affairs on the future of Ireland’s industrial policy. He referred to Government approval to develop a new White Paper on Enterprise Policy which will be published later this year, setting out a vision for Ireland’s enterprise policy to 2030 and beyond. He also spoke about climate, digital transition, supporting companies to innovate and scale and investing in people. You can read the full content of the speech here.
IFAC have released the second episode of their podcast series entitled “The Fast Future”. This podcast discusses some pressing issues that small to medium practitioners worldwide are faced with and focuses on pricing models used by practitioners.
For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.
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