The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued an Exposure Draft that proposes to extend the application period of requirements that cover the accounting treatment of temporary rent concessions occurring as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic by one year. The FRC note that FRED 78, ‘Draft amendments to FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland and FRS 105 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the Micro-entities Regime - COVID-19-related rent concessions beyond 30 June 2021’, proposes that requirements originally introduced into FRS 102 and FRS 105 in October 2020 apply to rent concessions that reduce only lease payments originally due on or before 30 June 2022, provided the other conditions for applying the requirements are met. Issuing the proposed amendments, the FRC says that ‘As pandemic restrictions continue, extending the existing time condition is considered necessary to ensure these concessions are accounted for consistently and in a way that best reflects their substance.’ The amendments are proposed to be effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2021, with early application permitted. Comments on FRED 78 are invited by 11 May 2021. The FRC expects to finalise these amendments in the first half of the year.

Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.  In developments this week, the Institute has published an article ‘Accounting and disclosure considerations for Covid-19-related Government Supports under FRS 102’; and IAASA has published its Transparency Reporting – Thematic Review.  The Charity Commission in England and Wales has published guidance to help with running a charity during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This includes information on government financial support for charities, fundraising and SORP guidance.   Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below. Financial Reporting The Institute has published an article ‘Accounting and disclosure considerations for Covid-19-related Government Supports under FRS 102’. In view of the supports being made available to business by Governments in both the UK and Ireland to help them cope with the pandemic, the purpose of this article is to remind members of the requirements of FRS 102 on accounting for and disclosing government grants and disclosing government assistance. The IFRS Interpretations Committee has posted the agenda and papers for its next meeting, which will be held on 20 April 2021. The IFRS Foundation has introduced a substantial update to its website. They note that the update includes an improved search function and advanced options for customising how to search and receive information, including a new IFRS Standards Navigator. They have also refreshed their ‘Follows’ tool, which enables users to decide what type of alerts they will receive and how often. The recording of the inaugural UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) meeting, which was held on 26 March 2021, the agenda, and the papers are now available. The topics discussed included adoption of the Terms of Reference and approval of Delegation of Authority to UKEB Chair. A recording of the 30 March 2021 webinar the UKEB secretariat held on the UK endorsement of IFRS 17 is also available. They note that the webinar, aimed primarily at users of accounts, featured a presentation by IASB Board member Nick Anderson on how IFRS 17 works and some key improvements it introduces, and also included initial views from equity analyst and ratings agency perspectives on how the standard could impact their analysis of insurance business. EFRAG has published its draft comment letter on the IASB Exposure Draft ED/2021/1 Regulatory Assets and Regulatory Liabilities and seeks constituents' views on the proposals by 28 July 2021. Also from EFRAG, is a podcast series in which EFRAG Secretariat and experts discuss the issues addressed in the Discussion Paper on Accounting for Crypto-Assets (Liabilities) published by EFRAG in July 2020, and related topics. Auditing IAASA has published its Transparency Reporting – Thematic Review. The objective of this thematic review was to assess the effectiveness of transparency reporting by PIE audit firms in Ireland, to share areas of good practice and other reporting innovations, and to highlight areas where firms need to make improvements. Insolvency At their video conference on 16 April 2021 Eurogroup, an informal body where the ministers of the euro area member states discuss matters relating to their shared responsibilities, will hold a thematic discussion on insolvency frameworks based on a technical note prepared by the European Commission. Other areas of interest Two  new statutory instruments ,entitled Rules of the Superior Courts (Affidavits) 2021 and the District Court (Affidavits)  Rules 2021 came into force recently allowing for the remote swearing of affidavits in circumstances where it is not practicable for the deponent to physically attend for the purposes of the swearing .The statutory instruments set out the rules around such a swearing. The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment has published its monthly newsletter for April which includes  information about recent developments on the right to disconnect, the Small Business Assistance Scheme for COVID (SBASC) (closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday, 21 April 2021) and the Government’s agreement to  extend the €2bn Credit Guarantee Scheme. It will remain open for applications until the end of 2021. Following publication of  the BEIS Consultation Document Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance  the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will be holding a series of webinars and roundtables to provide stakeholders with further insight into key aspects of the consultation and to hear your views on the government’s proposals. You can find out more about the FRC’s extensive outreach programme and register to attend any of the webinars here.   The Charity Commission in England and Wales has published guidance to help with running a charity during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This includes information on government financial support for charities,  fundraising and SORP guidance.  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-the-charity-sector Trinity College Law school is hosting a series of webinars some of which may be of interest to members. See  Trinity Law School Spring Series .The  webinars are on the topics of 100 Day of Brexit. (Tuesday 20 April, 6pm) and Time to Get SEARious – the proposed Senior Executive Accountability Regime (Tuesday 11 May, 6pm).There are also webinars on  the topics of The Gig Economy ( Tuesday 4 May, 6pm) and  Assessing the Future of Irish Defamation Law (Tuesday 27 April, 6pm)  .The webinars are free but registration is required .Click the above link for registration details. For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub and the Covid-19 Hub on the Institute website.   

The Institute has published an article ‘Accounting and disclosure considerations for Covid-19-related Government Supports under FRS 102’ (14 April 2021). In view of the supports being made available to business by Governments in both the UK and Ireland to help them cope with the pandemic, the purpose of this article is to remind members of the requirements of FRS 102 on accounting for and disclosing government grants and disclosing government assistance.

Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.  In developments this week, EFRAG has submitted its endorsement advice regarding Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions beyond 30 June 2021 (Amendment to IFRS 16) and on IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts to the European Commission; , the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) published Non-Authoritative Guidance on Applying ISAE 3000 (Revised) to Extended External Reporting (EER) Assurance Engagements; and the Central Bank has issued its quarterly bulletin for Q2-2021 dealing with matters such as the Irish economy and the international economic outlook, the year of the pandemic , trade flows in the early aftermath of Brexit and fiscal outlook 2020-2022. Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below. Financial Reporting The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has completed its due process regarding Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions beyond 30 June 2021 (Amendment to IFRS 16) (‘the Amendment’) and has submitted its Endorsement Advice Letter to the European Commission. EFRAG assesses that the Amendment meets the technical endorsement criteria of the IAS Regulation and is conducive to the European public good. It therefore recommends its endorsement. EFRAG has also finalised its due process around IFRS 17 and has submitted its Final Endorsement Advice on IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts including the June 2020 Amendments to the European Commission. The Final Endorsement Advice includes the assessment of IFRS 17 against the ‘True and Fair View’-criteria and the assessment of whether IFRS 17 is conducive to the European public good. The final endorsement advice provides conclusions on a number of specific issues that the European Commission and/or the European Parliament considered in their request for endorsement of IFRS 17. It is available here. In other news from EFRAG, the March 2021 edition of the EFRAG Update, summarising public technical discussions held and decisions taken during that month, has been published, and a reminder that EFRAG is seeking members for its financial instruments working group. The Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) has noted the issuing of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) Public Statement “Brexit: Clarifications on the application of the TD requirements by UK issuers with securities admitted to trading on regulated markets in the EU” concerning the application of transparency requirements by UK issuers with securities admitted to trading on regulated markets in the EU under Article 4 of the Transparency Directive (Directive 2004/109/EC) (TD). ESMA notes that the aim of the statement is to ensure a common supervisory approach by all National Competent Authorities concerning the application of the accounting frameworks used by UK issuers, in relation to consolidated and individual financial statements of single and group entities. IAASA has also noted the publishing by ESMA of its report “Enforcement and regulatory activities of European enforcers in 2020”. The Report provides an overview of the 2020 activities of ESMA and of European accounting enforcers when examining compliance of financial and non-financial statements of European issuers. It presents further activities contributing to supervisory convergence and to development of a single rulebook in the area of corporate reporting. The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) secretariat has launched its survey on IASB Discussion Paper DP/2020/2 Business Combinations Under Common Control (BCUCC). The UKEB is seeking views on the proposals in the Discussion Paper, as well as information about past experiences with BCUCC.To partake in the survey, contact the UKEB. The March 2021 monthly news summary, a brief summary of news and events from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the IFRS Foundation over the past month is available. The IASB’s user advisory groups, the Capital Markets Advisory Committee, and the Global Preparers Forum met recently and the summary recordings of the meeting discussions, agendas and other related papers are available. The April 2021 IFRS Advisory Council agenda and agenda papers are also available. Sustainability / Non-Financial Reporting Marking a significant step forward in supporting assurance for non-financial reporting, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) published Non-Authoritative Guidance on Applying ISAE 3000 (Revised) to Extended External Reporting (EER) Assurance Engagements. The Guidance responds to ten key stakeholder-identified challenges commonly encountered in applying International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised), Assurance Engagements Other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information. Anti-Money Laundering The Egmont Centre of FIU Excellence and Leadership (ECOFEL) is a body of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) andprovides a platform for the secure exchange of expertise and financial intelligence to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. It recently published its Egmontgroup ecofel-covid-19-best-practices-public-summary .The paper makes observations from FATF, Europol, Interpol and others about emerging risks in the pandemic, why COVID 19 is producing emerging risks, what are the emerging risks seen by FIUs: fraud, cybercrime and corruption and what FIUs are doing about those risks .The paper includes some recommendations for FIUs. The Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight in the UK Financial Conduct Authority recently gave a speech on anti-money laundering controls –“The importance of purposeful anti-money laundering controls”. In it he refers among other things to two very large sanctions imposed for failure to address financial crime and anti-money laundering risks . Both cases highlighted inadequate systems and controls and failure to assess relevant risk factors. He also referred to emerging risks including risks from cryptocurrency firms. Other areas of interest The Central Bank has issued its quarterly bulletin for Q2-2021 dealing with matters such as the Irish economy and the international economic outlook ,the year of the pandemic, trade flows in the early aftermath of Brexit and fiscal outlook 2020-2022. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has produced short podcasts on the key corporate governance proposals, enforcement proposals, and quality and competition proposals included in the UK Government’s Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance consultation. Further, the FRC will be holding a series of webinars and roundtables to provide stakeholders with further insight into key aspects of the consultation and to hear your views on the government’s proposals. Find out more about the FRC’s outreach programme and opportunities to hear more about the consultation and to get involved and share your views on the proposals here. The FRC has also published its Strategy for 2021/22 after a period of consultation. Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment has in the last weekbrought in a new code of practice which was developed by the Workplace Relations Commission entitled the WRC code of practice on the right to disconnect .The right to disconnect gives employees the right to switch off from work outside of normal working hours, including the right to not respond immediately to emails, telephone calls or other messages. He is also inviting views on his plans to put the right to ask for remote working into law. You will find more information here on how to make a submission .Closing date for submissions is 7 May 2021. The Independent Review Panel of Charity Regulation seeks views on how well the charities regulatory framework, which is administered by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, is working and what could work better. A series of seminars are being held for more details see: https://www.nicva.org/article/independent-review-of-charity-regulation-engagement-meetings The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), has updated its Questions and Answers regarding market structures issues under the Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Regulation (MiFIR). The purpose of ESMA’s Q&As on market structures issues is to promote common supervisory approaches and practices in the application of MiFID II and MiFIR. Read more here. For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub and the Covid-19 Hub on the Institute website.   

Updated guidance has been released this month in the form of a new Technical Alert. The alert offers guidance to insolvency practitioners on meeting of creditors during Covid-19 pandemic in compliance with the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Covid-19) Act 2020. This Technical Alert replaces TA 01-2020, which has been withdrawn. The new Technical Alert can be found here.

Under Irish money laundering legislation, a “designated person” (which includes an auditor, external accountant or tax adviser and a trust or company service provider) who knows or suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that another person has been or is engaged in an offence of money laundering or terrorist financing, is obliged to make a suspicious transaction report (STR) of that knowledge or suspicion or those reasonable grounds. There is a dual reporting obligation of STRs to both An Garda Síochána and the Irish Revenue Commissioners. What is goAML? Ireland’s Financial Intelligence Unit, FIU Ireland, is responsible for receiving and analysing suspicious transaction reports and other information relevant to money laundering or terrorist financing. FIU Ireland is a division of an Garda Síochána, the Irish police. goAML is an online software solution used by an Garda Síochána since June 2017 for designated persons to submit money laundering suspicion reports to the FIU Ireland. Previously accepted paper reporting is no longer possible. Members are encouraged to get set up and registered on the on goAML system. Below is some guidance as to how you can do this. Who must and how do you register for goAML? Prior to being able to submit an STR for the first time to the FIU the designated person must be registered for go AML. FIU Ireland has published guidance as to how to register which should be consulted. This includes  the  Reporting Entity registration guide and a useful FAQ Document. to consult. Entities registered on  go AML will in addition to receipt of acknowledgment of an STR, receive alerts and dissemination of trends and typologies from the FIU and it is  recommended that the message board is checked regularly. Additional Mandatory reporting of STRs to the Irish Revenue Commissioners STRs must also be reported to the Irish Revenue Commissioners. Since September 2020 reporting to the Revenue Commissioners must be online - see  Revenue reporting guidelines . The designated person must be registered for Revenue Online Service (ROS) to submit an STR to Revenue. ROS login in details and a valid ROS digital certificate is required. More Detailed information is available as to how to register and complete STR reporting to the Revenue Commissioners. The Revenue Commissioners also have a ‘Quick Guide to Submitting STRs Online’ available on the Revenue website. The FIU and Revenue have also jointly produced GoAML - Guide to Generating XML Reports which users will find useful.