The National Crime Agency in the UK has recently issued its April 2023 edition (Issue 19) of SARs IN ACTION. It contains items such as a summary of the 2022 SARs Annual Report (which can be accessed in full here), which features statistics covering the years 2020-21 and 2021-22, an article on modern slavery and human trafficking, and looks at SARs related to cryptocurrency and  trust or company service providers. It also has some information on the new SARs portal and on two new podcast episodes on Evolving Payments and Banking Firms and the UK Fraud Communications Toolkit.

Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.   In developments this week, the Financial Reporting Council has issued a new web page providing conversation starters to help promote better engagement between investors and audit committees; the European Securities and Markets Authority has published the third edition of its Data Quality Report under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) and the Securitised Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) reporting regimes. Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.  Financial Reporting The FRS 102 & FRS 105 Periodic Review Consultation (FRED 82) closes on 30 April. Individuals and organisations wishing to contribute to the future direction of Irish and UK accounting standards can submit a response to this. Details of the questions raised by the FRC and how to respond are contained in the “Invitation to comment” section of FRED 82. A summary of the changes proposed in FRED 82 can be found in our recent event with the FRC. The IASB have issued their Supplementary Update April 2023.  This Update highlights preliminary decisions of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Projects affected by these decisions can be found on the work plan. The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has published the 2023 IFRS Standards on behalf of the UK Government. Audit and Assurance  IAASA has published its annual Profile of the Profession for 2022. This contains statistical data provided by the six Prescribed Accountancy Bodies (‘PABs’) within IAASA’s supervisory remit. The Profile of the Profession presents an overview of the PABs’ members and students and includes statistics about the PABs’ regulatory and monitoring activities. The FRC has issued a new web page providing conversation starters to help promote better engagement between investors and audit committees. The goal of this is to facilitate better understanding of companies and their approach to financial reporting and internal control. Sustainability The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) will shortly be seeking feedback on its future priorities for the next two years. In May 2023, the ISSB plans to publish a request for information about its agenda priorities with a comment period of 120 days. Anti money laundering, terrorist financing The National Crime Agency in the UK has recently issued its April 2023 edition (Issue 19) of SARs IN ACTION. It contains items such as a summary of the 2022 SARs Annual Report (which can be accessed in full here), which features statistics covering the years 2020-21 and 2021-22, an article on modern slavery and human trafficking, and looks at SARs related to cryptocurrency and  trust or company service providers. It also has some information on the new SARs portal and on two new podcast episodes on Evolving Payments and Banking Firms and the UK Fraud Communications Toolkit. Other Areas of Interest   Accountancy Europe’s latest online blog ‘Beyond the books: soft skills as important for accountants as technical knowledge’ by Jens Poll, AE Deputy President, discusses how, if the profession wants to be a part of the transition and accompany clients through it, we must adapt and be open to change. Soft skills and openness help build long-lasting client relationships based on mutual communication. With time and trust, our advice becomes more diverse and personal. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, has published the third edition of its Data Quality Report under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) and the Securitised Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) reporting regimes.  The report highlights the increased use of transaction data by EU financial regulatory authorities in their day-to-day supervision and identifies significant quality improvements following a new approach to data monitoring. The Dept. of Enterprise Trade & Employment has published its April 2023 Enterprise newsletter. It includes details on a couple of consultations, one on the EU proposal for a directive on liability for defective products and a consultation on guidelines for the export of cyber-surveillance items. It also includes the latest round of the Online Retail Scheme where retailers can access up to €25,000 in grant funding to strengthen their ecommerce capabilities. Details of application requirements including provision of statutory accounts can be found in the link in the newsletter and submissions should be made by 3rd May 2023 at 12.00pm (noon). The Companies Registration Office has delayed the implementation of the CRO PPSN project which was due to go live on April 23rd. The CRO have indicted that it is a short delay and we will keep you updated. In the meantime, members are advised to continue to prepare for the new requirements. We are pleased to have recently launched new webpages providing information and resources to members in the area of protected disclosures legislation. The pages are located on the Institute’s technical hub. Click here for the protected disclosures landing page. The pages cover both the Republic of Ireland and the UK and deal with areas such as updates to Irish legislation since the commencement of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022 earlier this year. For example, an expanded definition of worker, wrongdoing and penalisation. The pages also deal with reporting requirements including the new internal reporting channel and procedures required under the 2022 Act. The pages also collate some of the many resources available on the topic. We hope members will find the new resource useful. For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.         

Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.   In developments this week, the World Council of Credit Unions has recently released its 2023 International Advocacy Sustainable Finance Report, ‘What Credit Unions should know about Sustainable Finance’ which highlights important issues, trends, and recommendations to promote sustainability in the global financial sector; the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published its March 2023 update which summarises public technical discussions held and decisions taken during the month. Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.  Audit and Assurance  The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) has released final revisions to the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) to further increase the Code’s robustness and expand its relevance in a world being fundamentally reshaped by rapid technological advancements and accelerating digitalization. Financial Reporting The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published its March 2023 update. This summarises public technical discussions held and decisions taken during the month including the publication of its final comment letter in response to the IASB’s Exposure Draft 2023/1 International Tax Reform – Pillar Two Model Rules (Proposed Amendments to IAS 12). EFRAG has completed its due process regarding the Amendments to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements and has submitted its Endorsement Advice Letter to the European Commission. The amendments to IAS 1, which EFRAG has endorsed, include; Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current (January 2020); Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current - Deferral of Effective Date (July 2020); and Presentation of Financial Statements: Non-current Liabilities with Covenants (October 2022). Accountancy Europe has issued its response to the IAASB’s consultation on its proposed strategy and work plan for 2024-2027. The IFRS Foundation has published its 2022 Annual Report. The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has issued its supplementary April 2023 update which highlights preliminary decisions of the ISSB in the month. The IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) has issued its Q1 2023 podcast. The topics discussed include Definition of a Lease—Substitution Rights (IFRS 16 Leases) and a question relating to Premiums Receivable from an Intermediary (IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts and IFRS 9 Financial Instruments). The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has decided to finalise amendments to IAS 12 Income Taxes following the Pillar Two model rules published by the OECD. The amendments will provide temporary relief for companies from having to account for deferred taxes arising from the implementation of the Pillar Two model rules and will introduce targeted disclosures for affected companies. Separately, the FRC has released FRED 83 which proposes a similar exception to be included in FRS 102. Other Areas of Interest   With effect from 23 April 2023, company directors will be required to provide their PPS numbers in order to file certain documents with the Companies Registration Office. One purpose of this important step is to reduce the incidence of companies being incorporated based on false director details. Failure to comply, without just cause, will be a criminal offence. Given the reasons underlying this requirement, the CEA will, as appropriate, take prosecutions where non-compliance comes to our attention. In order to assist company directors in understanding their new obligations, the CEA has prepared an Information Note. The UK Department for Business and Trade have conducted a review to consider how the whistleblowing framework currently operates, including Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) and subsequent legislative and non-legislative interventions.  It is expected that the research will be concluded by Autumn 2023. The World Council of Credit Unions has recently released its 2023 International Advocacy Sustainable Finance Report, ‘What Credit Unions should know about Sustainable Finance’ which highlights important issues, trends and recommendations to promote sustainability in the global financial sector. The report acknowledges the efforts by regulatory and standard-setting bodies in addressing climate-related financial risks and promoting sustainable finance, emphasizing the importance of proportionality language in regulatory frameworks and considering the unique benefits of the cooperative model of credit unions. The Irish Dept of the Environment Climate and Communications has opened registration for its next sustainable development goals national stakeholder forum in the Aviva Stadium on April 25th. This is a hybrid event. The meeting will focus on Ireland’s 2023 Voluntary National Review (VNR) which is a progress report reviewing a country’s progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Go to this page for registration and an agenda will  be posted shortly. Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary TD, will later this month launch a public consultation on proposals to enhance the Companies Act 2014.  The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment will seek views on a proposed Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Bill which will focus primarily on four areas of company law - corporate governance, enforcement, administration and insolvency. The Minister for Finance Michael McGrath today has published the terms of reference for the Department of Finance to conduct a review of Ireland’s funds sector and produce a report ‘Funds Sector 2030: A Framework for Open, Resilient & Developing Markets.’ This body of work will seek to ensure that Ireland maintains its leading position in asset management and funds servicing and that we continue to see support for our national and regional economies. For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.     

The Financial Reporting Council has released FRED 83-Draft amendments to FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland – International tax reform – Pillar Two model rules. This FRED proposes to introduce a temporary exception to the accounting for deferred taxes arising from the implementation of the Pillar Two model rules, alongside targeted disclosure requirements. A small amount of FRS 102 preparers are likely to be impacted by the Pillar Two model rules and FRED 83 is based on a similar proposal issued by the IASB relating to IAS 12. The shorter than normal consultation period remains open until 24 May, with the FRC planning to finalise any resulting amendments in summer 2023.

Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.  In developments this week, the Financial Reporting Council has published its latest 3-Year Plan, outlining its priorities and objectives for the period 2023-2026; the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK has recently published a useful page on Cryptoasset AML/CTF regime: feedback on good and poor quality applications under money laundering regulations. Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.  Audit and Assurance  The FRC Technology & Digital Hub provides an overview of the FRC's work in this area, including how that work fits into the wider FRC strategy, links to publications and information on how you can get involved in their work.  The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) and International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) welcome the report released today by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on developing a global assurance framework for sustainability-related corporate reporting. The IOSCO report reflects extensive research and feedback from key stakeholders. The report calls for timely development of ethics and assurance standards for sustainability reporting by the IESBA and the IAASB, respectively.    Accountancy Europe has published a briefing paper which aims to contribute to the debate focusing on the aspect of auditor choice in the PIE market.  Accounting  IAASA has published a paper entitled “IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement – information requests”. The purpose of this publication is to provide preparers, auditors, and users of financial statements with information to encourage discussion and stimulate debate as to whether or not issuers have adequately considered the requirements of IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement in preparing periodic financial statements. In this paper, IAASA has published a selection of the IFRS 13 information requests that it has made to issuers during previous financial statement examination cycles.  The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has approved the composition of the ESRS Digital Reporting Consultative Forum and Digital Reporting Community. The Consultative Forum will discuss digital reporting aspects of sustainability reporting.  Commissioner Mairead McGuinness has publicly called on EFRAG to prioritise its efforts on capacity building for the implementation of the first set of ESRS over the preparatory work for the draft sector-specific standards.  The March 2023 IASB podcast is now available.  This month's edition includes topics on: initial discussions on a new project added to the work plan about Climate-related Risks in the Financial Statements; progress in developing a Request for Information on the Post-implementation Review of IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers.  The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has published its 2023/24 regulatory strategy. This sets out year two of the UKEB’s three year strategy. The UKEB have noted that their focus for the forthcoming year will be “to maintain the momentum of the past year’s achievements in influencing the development of high-quality international accounting standards that promote the UK public good by ensuring transparency and comparability of financial information thereby underpinning confidence in the UK’s capital markets”.  The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published its latest 3-Year Plan, outlining its priorities and objectives for the period 2023-2026. It gives detailed breakdown of intended expenditure for 2023-24 and a summary of the expected trajectory of overall costs and headcount for the following two years.  Anti-Money laundering/Sanctions  The Irish Minister for Finance announced this week that Ireland will declare its interest in hosting the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (“AMLA”). According to the latest information, Ireland joins nine other EU Member States which have already declared an interest in hosting AMLA – Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Spain. A final decision on location is expected later this year. The AMLA will be a significant EU institution, tasked with supervision – either directly or jointly with national supervisors – of entities in the financial services sector in the first instance, but eventually also in the non-financial sector. The supervision will be in respect of the entities’ compliance with anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism rules and standards (AMLCFT). You can read more from the Minister’s press announcement here.  In light of the rapid advance in Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Europol’s Innovation Lab recently organised a number of workshops with subject matter experts from across the organisation to explore how criminals can abuse LLMs, as well as how it may assist investigators in their daily work. It produced the Tech Watch Flash report which readers may find interesting. The report analyses the findings of the sessions and includes key information for law enforcement as they continue to scan for new and emerging technologies that affect their work. It outlines the safety features in ChatGPT but adds that the safeguards, however, can be circumvented fairly easily. It also outlines how it can be used for criminal purposes in fraud, impersonation, and social engineering and cybercrime.  We reported a few weeks ago on the UK Government’s economic crime levy (ECL) to fund the fight against economic crime and that the Financial Conduct Authority has recently announced that it will collect Treasury’s economic crime levy (Anti-Money Laundering) from July 2023. An allocation of £300 million between 2023/24-2025/26 generated from the ECL was confirmed in the House of Lords on 27 March 2023. The funding will be allocated for services such as state of the art technology to analyse and share data on threats, hire of new investigators and training of existing ones, new specialist intelligence teams, officers and new financial investigators to analyse suspicious activity reports and a dedicated team to reform the AML supervisory regime. Also, £20 million will be invested in Companies House and the Insolvency Service to fund the creation of two new intelligence teams and £600,000 to deploy UK experts overseas to raise the global standards on beneficial ownership.  The UK Government recently published its Economic crime plan 2023 to 2026.It is stated to set out what the public and private sectors should do to continue to transform the UK’s response to economic crime. It focuses on achieving tangible outcomes and commits to reducing money laundering and recovering more criminal assets, combatting kleptocracy and driving down sanctions evasion and cutting fraud. You can read the Economic Crime Plan here.   Central Bank of Ireland (CBI)   The Central Bank of Ireland recently published its Service Standards Performance Report for H2 2022. CBI says this report sets out its performance against agreed service standards in respect of authorisation of funds and financial service providers and processing of fitness and probity applications. You can see their useful infographic here and  read the report in full here.  Also this week the CBI published its ninth edition of Financial Conditions of Credit Unions, 2022. You can read the press release here  and the report here. The report provides an update on the financial performance and position of credit unions for the financial year ended 30 September 2022. It also provides sectoral data and commentary and aims to inform credit union boards in carrying out their strategic analysis and decision-making. Remarks by Elaine Byrne, Registrar of Credit Unions, to the CUMA 2023 Spring Conference including remarks on the report, can be read here.   Other Areas of Interest   The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)  in the UK has recently published a useful page on Cryptoasset AML / CTF regime: feedback on good and poor quality applications under money laundering regulations. It suggests that applicants should read this feedback to help prepare an application for registration.  Ian Drennan, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA), has recently said that once the CRO’s strike-off programme resumes, the CEA’s programme of seeking the disqualification of company directors who have allowed companies owing debts to be struck off will, similarly, resume. Disqualification prohibits a person from acting as a company director or secretary, and from acting in the management of a company. Breach of a disqualification is a criminal offence, and the CEA prosecutes people who do that. So, he says, it’s better not to allow a company to be struck off in the first place.  In Companies Office latest news: although we do not yet have sight of the statutory instrument bringing section 35 of the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 into force, the Companies Office latest news states that from 23 April 2023, when filing Forms A1, B1, B10 and B69, company directors will be required to provide their PPS numbers. The Companies Office invites readers to  visit PPSN - FAQ (cro.ie) for more information on this topic. It also includes some information on what to do when a director does not have an Irish PPSN.   For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.       

Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.  In developments this week, the Corporate & Insolvency Bar Association is hosting its inaugural annual conference on Friday, 31 March with a drinks reception and dinner taking place after the conference; the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has sent a letter to the European Parliament and Council raising concerns with proposed changes to the insider list regime in the Markets Abuse Regulation. Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below. Audit and Assurance The FRC has issued guidance for audit firms on eligibility criteria in the context of the firm’s system of quality management and the performance of engagements. ISQM (UK) 1 and ISQM (UK) 2 have been reissued with updated footnotes to reflect this guidance. Insolvency The Revenue Commissioners has recently updated Revenue eBrief No. 69/23 on Examinership Caseworking Guidelines. The updates have been made to reflect recent changes to the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) (COVID-19) Act 2020 and the European Union (Preventative Restructuring) Regulations 2022. From 17 April 2023, new creditor winding up petitions may be issued in Northern Ireland for the first time since restrictions were imposed in March 2020.  The following new conditions, which did not exist prior to the pandemic, must now be met – (a) the petition must be in the new standard form; (b) the debt must be based on a Court Judgment; and (c) the statutory demand must be made after 13 March 2023. The Corporate & Insolvency Bar Association is hosting its inaugural annual conference on Friday, 31 March. There will be a drinks reception and dinner taking place after the conference. The conference schedule and booking details are available here. Financial Reporting The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has released its March 2023 IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard Update. The IFRS Interpretations Committee has also released its March 2023 update. The IASB has published an exposure draft proposing amendments to the classification and measurement requirements in IFRS 9 Financial Instruments. The proposed amendments respond to feedback received from a post-implementation review of the classification and measurement requirements in IFRS 9, which concluded in December 2022. The comment period will remain open until 19 July 2023. The IASB has added a project to its work plan to explore whether and how companies can provide better information about climate-related risks in their financial statements. The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has released its March 2023 update and podcast. The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has published a report ‘Accounting for Intangibles: UK Stakeholders’ Views’. It sets out stakeholder views on the accounting for intangibles under international Accounting Standards within the context of the wider economic impact of intangibles in the UK. Sustainability Correspondence in September 2022 from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to benchmark administrators in the UK highlighted the risk of poor disclosures for ESG benchmarks. The FCA said that high quality ESG benchmarks are important to support trust in the market for ESG products and the transition to a net zero economy. The FCA has completed a preliminary review on ESG benchmarks which found that the overall quality of ESG-related disclosures made by benchmark administrators was poor and it has sent a further letter to administrators outlining the issues identified. These include not enough detail on the ESG factors considered in benchmark methodologies and not fully implementing ESG disclosure requirements.  You can read the follow-on correspondence which details the issues here. The FCA has also indicated that it supports regulation of ESG ratings and is  working closely with Government on this. Anti-Money laundering/Sanctions The UK FIU writes that it has updated and redesigned it's 'Requesting A Defence Under POCA and TACT' guidance document, available on the National Crime Agency (NCA) website. This document is intended to inform of the approach when reporters, through submitting a SAR, seek a defence (or ‘consent’) from the NCA to a principal money laundering offence or terrorist financing offence. The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) recently updated its guidance on monetary penalties and enforcement (the “Guidance”) to set out its enforcement approach in cases involving ownership and control by designated persons. You can read more here. Other Areas of Interest The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, has sent a letter to the European Parliament and Council raising concerns with proposed changes to the insider list regime in the Markets Abuse Regulation. The Department for Communities has  launched a public consultation on a prospective Scheme of Delegation for decisions of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.  This consultation is accordance with the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, which allows that the Department may make a Scheme of Delegation to permit some of the Commission’s decision-making functions to be delegated to staff, as they are in other jurisdictions. Enterprise Ireland is running a series of webinars focusing on competitiveness. They are running from now until October and will cover a range of issues critical to competitiveness including supply chain management, raising finance and digital adoption. There are also three in-person workshops focused on attracting and retaining talent. Click here for more details in Enterprise Ireland press release and here for full details of the webinar series and workshops . The Central Bank (CBI) spoke at a recent event about its 2023 regulatory and supervisory priorities which include continuing to remain vigilant in assessing and managing the financial and operational resilience of firms and enhancing the Bank’s regulatory and supervisory approaches to mitigate risks from the changing financial system .It also referred to continuing vigilance of the financial system, supervising firms’ compliance with anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing  obligations, detecting and sanctioning market abuse, and enforcing financial sanctions working closely with An Garda Síochána and other relevant bodies in all these areas. CBI recently published its Innovation Hub 2022 update. Established in 2018 it writes; the Innovation Hub gives firms operating in the fintech sector a way to engage with CBI outside of existing formal regulator/firm engagement processes. The crypto/ blockchain sector accounted for 33% of enquiries received last year. You can access the 2022 Innovation Update here. For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.