Roundup 11 November 2022
Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.
In developments this week, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has issued its October 2022 edition of the EFRAG Update. This summarises public technical discussions held and decisions taken during the month; the Irish Pensions Authority published information this week for group pension schemes that are subject to the 1 January 2023 compliance deadline where these pension schemes must meet the full requirements of the Pensions Act, 1990, as amended, including the new requirements of the IORP II Directive, from 1 January 2023 onwards.
Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.
Auditing
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched a consultation on its draft proposal for a minimum standard for audit committees. This follows the UK Government's Response to its consultation on Restoring Trust in Audit and Corporate Governance, which set out its intention to give ARGA statutory powers to mandate minimum standards for audit committees in their role on the external audit.
The FRC are holding a webinar entitled “Effective and Transparent Regulating” on 24 November. This will provide an update of the work of the FRC in 2022 and a look ahead to 2023.
Financial Reporting
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has issued its October 2022 edition of the EFRAG Update. This summarises public technical discussions held and decisions taken during the month.
EFRAG and the IASB are holding a joint online roundtable for preparers, users and auditors on Primary Financial Statements on Tuesday 15 November.
The International Forum of Accounting Standard Setters (IFASS) have released a report with their key messages from their September 2022 meeting.
The IASB has published a user feedback newsletter on the IFRS for SMEs Accounting standard update. This newsletter explains how the IASB has responded to feedback from users of SMEs’ financial statements and describes the proposals the IASB published in its recent Exposure Draft.
On 7 December 2022, EFRAG will hold its conference "Where is Corporate Reporting heading?" in Brussels to celebrate its 21-year anniversary and discuss EFRAG's major accomplishments, past and future. It will be an occasion to debate the new trends in corporate reporting following the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) revolution and the connectivity with financial reporting.
Insolvency
The Institute is hosting a webinar on SCARP – what we know so far now scheduled for Thursday, 1 December 2022 at 10am. Des Gibney of McStay Luby and Hilary Larkin of Mazars along with Laura-Michelle Moore from Chartered Accountants Ireland will discuss the SCARP process, how to prepare for it, what to look out for and key matters to be aware of when considering it. We will explore some practical issues including how SCARP is working in practice, dealing with creditors and what your balance sheet may look like before entering the process versus afterwards. This is a free event and open to all to attend.
Sustainability
The European Parliament has this week adopted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) with 525 votes in favour, 60 votes against and 28 abstentions. The CSRD was originally proposed by the European Commission in April 2021, and it will make companies more accountable by obliging them to disclose information on their societal and environmental impact. This will now go forward to the Council of the European Union for adoption of the proposal on 28 November 2022. The first new sustainability reporting standards will be adopted by the Commission in 2023 with these becoming mandatory over the next few years, beginning in 2024 for the very large companies.
Please see the press release and the text of the CSRD adopted by the EU Parliament for further information.
CDP, the not-for-profit which runs the global environmental disclosure platform for corporations, and the IFRS Foundation have announced that CDP will incorporate the International Sustainability Standard Board’s (ISSB) IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures Standard [IFRS S2] into its global environmental disclosure platform, in a major step towards delivering a comprehensive global baseline for capital markets through the adoption of ISSB standards.
The ISSB have also made some other announcements in the past week, including;
The Irish government this week launched a report outlining the skills required by the domestic retail financial services sector to finance Ireland’s net zero transition. You can read the press release here. The report highlights how education and training in sustainable finance to date has concentrated on the financial and capital markets, such as green bonds, regulatory developments, and sustainable investment funds, with a greater focus on the Irish retail financial services sector talent development a next key step. Click here for a copy of the report.
In its recently released report “Getting to Net Zero: A Global Review of Corporate Disclosures” the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) have highlighted the inconsistency and incomparability of target disclosures and have highlighted that COP27 is the perfect time to dig into what is being disclosed and to explore how emission disclosures can become more decision-useful.
Anti-money laundering
The latest edition of the UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU)'s SARs Reporter Booklet is now available on the NCA website and can be accessed here. It is a product for reporters of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and readers are reminded that if you are making a SARs report you must use a glossary code, details of which are set out in the booklet.
Chartered Accountants Ireland Professional Standards has recently issued the UK AML Supervision Report 2021/2022 in accordance with Reg 46A of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (as amended). The report reflects the significant efforts of Chartered Accountants Ireland in meeting its anti-money laundering (AML) supervisory obligations for the year to 5 April 2022. It also provides details of firm inspection activity for the year and the results arising from this. Readers can access a copy of the report here .
Other news
A reminder to readers that Charity Trustees’ Week is taking place from 14 - 18 November 2022.It is hosted in partnership by the Charities Regulator, Boardmatch Ireland, Carmichael, Charities Institute Ireland, Dóchas, Pobal, The Wheel, and Volunteer Ireland. The Charities Regulator has put up a calendar of events on its website and you can click here to get further information on those events.
The Pensions Authority published information this week for group pension schemes that are subject to the 1 January 2023 compliance deadline where these pension schemes must meet the full requirements of the Pensions Act, 1990, as amended, including the new requirements of the IORP II Directive, from 1 January 2023 onwards. Please click here to see the press release on the Authority’s website.
The Irish government recently amended the Work Life Balance Bill and approved the integration of the right to request remote work for all workers into the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill. This bill is expected to be delivered by the end of the year. Under the new legislation employees will have a legal right to request remote working from their employer. In addition, employers will now be required to have regard to a code of practice when considering requests. The principal differences in the integrated Bill compared with the original Right to Request Remote Working Bill are in the grounds for refusal and the right to redress. Readers can find out further information on this development in the press release here .
The latest blog from the Governor of the Central Bank may be of interest to some readers. It discusses the sector of non -banks, their growth, vulnerabilities, and the need for well-developed macroprudential policy for non-banks. You can read the blog here.
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform this week issued interim guidance for public bodies and prescribed persons on the Protected Disclosures Act. Amending legislation will commence on 1 January 2023.The interim guidance has been prepared to assist public sector employers and prescribed persons in implementing the new requirements of the amended legislation as regards the establishment and operation of internal and external reporting channels. Following commencement, this interim Guidance will be issued as formal Statutory Guidance. Please click here for the press release and click here and scroll to bottom of the page for a copy of the interim guidance.
The UK FCA Chief Data, Information and Intelligence Officer, spoke recently on the area of regulation and risk management of Artificial Intelligence in financial services. Topics included the central role of the governance framework for AI and the key question for financial services of whether AI can be managed through fine-tuning the existing regulatory framework, or whether a new approach is needed. Here she made reference to the FCA and Bank of England’s AI Discussion Paper which can be accessed from within the speech. Access to the contents of the speech can be found here.
The UK Charity Commission have provided some guidance on their new way of engaging with charities via their “My Charities Commission Account”.
The Charity Commission in Northern Ireland has released a report on its Independent Review of Charity Regulation. The report contains 93 recommendations on changes that could be considered to improve the delivery of services and the operation of the regulatory framework.
For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.
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