Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.
In developments this week, the CCAB-I Insolvency Committee have published Technical Alert 01/2023 Help sheet for Insolvency Practitioners on the impact of Sanctions. This provides information on the legal obligation not to transfer funds or make funds or economic resources available, directly, or indirectly, to any person or entity that has been sanctioned under EU financial sanctions. In addition, the International Accounting Standards Board has concluded its project on improving its approach to developing and drafting disclosure requirements.
Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.
Audit and Assurance
IAASA has published the 2022 quality assurance review reports in respect of seven firms that perform statutory audits of public-interest entities. In Ireland, public-interest entities include listed companies and companies that operate in the banking and insurance sectors. The reports can be accessed here.
Insolvency
The CCAB-I Insolvency Committee published Technical Alert 01/2023 Help sheet for Insolvency Practitioners on the impact of Sanctions yesterday. This help sheet provides information on the legal obligation not to transfer funds or make funds or economic resources available, directly, or indirectly, to any person or entity that has been sanctioned under EU financial sanctions. It also provides some examples of exposure risks for Insolvency Practitioners and how to mitigate such risks.
The Insolvency Technical Committee – Northern Ireland has recently responded to the Financial Conduct Authority’s consultation entitled CP23/5: Debt packagers: feedback on CP21/30 and further consultation on new rules and perimeter guidance. We are broadly supportive of the FCA’s efforts with regards to ensuring that over indebted individuals receive appropriate advice with regards to available debt solutions although we do have some concerns with regards to the proposals in CP21/30 which are outlined in our response.
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 European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has issued its User Update which providers users of financial and sustainability statements with information about EFRAG's main publications, discussions held and decisions taken since the previous update on corporate reporting. EFRAG has also issued its February 2023 update to inform constituents about due process publications, public technical discussions held and decisions taken during the month.
EFRAG has issued a series of educational videos dedicated to the first set of draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRSs). There are 20 videos released in this series, which include short “glimpse” videos providing an overview of the standards as well as longer “Educational Sessions” which cover the draft standards in more detail.
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has concluded its project on improving its approach to developing and drafting disclosure requirements. The improved approach is summarised in guidance and a project summary and feedback statement.
On 8 March, the comment period for the Second Comprehensive Review of the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard closed. The Financial Reporting Technical Committee of the Institute issued a response to this consultation.
Sustainability
On 17 February, more than 1,000 people from 45 countries convened in Montreal and online to discuss what’s next for investor-focused sustainability disclosure. Businesses, investors, policymakers, regulators and other stakeholders engaged in meaningful discussion about the forthcoming standards from the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Seven Key Takeaways from this event have now been published online.
The Institute has recently responded to the consultation issued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the transposition of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. The response can be found here.
Anti-Money laundering/Sanctions
In February 2023 the UK government updated its guidance on supplying professional and business services to a person connected with Russia. Readers will recall that during 2022 legislation was passed outlawing the direct or indirect provision of accounting services and audit services to a person connected with Russia. The guidance outlines the two exceptions to the ban on audit services and if an audit firm signed an audit engagement letter prior to 16 December 2022, the firm has until 31 May 2023 to complete the audit. However, the firm must notify the Secretary of State that they will be completing the work by 15 March 2023.While the guidance has a caveat that individual firms must take their own legal advice as to whether their activity falls within scope of the sanctions it also gives guidance on some common audit scenarios.
The Minister for Justice has invited expressions of interest for consideration for appointment as an ordinary member, with experience as a representative of civil society, of the Advisory Council against Economic Crime and Corruption. You can read more details in the press release here and the short booklet here. Closing Date: 5pm on Tuesday 4 April 2023.
Readers may recall the UK Government’s introduction of an economic crime levy (ECL) to fund the fight against economic crime. The Financial Conduct Authority has recently announced that it will collect Treasury’s economic crime levy (Anti-Money Laundering) from July 2023 .
Other Areas of Interest
The Charities Regulator has issued its latest e newsletter recently. In it there are links to several news items including news of a new look Charity Services webpage and a Charities Regulator stakeholder forum. Anyone wishing to nominate a charity trustee to the forum can do so by 5pm on Thursday, 23rd March 2023. The newsletter also has a link contains new guidance on public benefit.
The Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill, following completion of Report Stage in Seanad Éireann on 22 February 2023, was signed into law by the President this week. The legislation will introduce, amongst other matters, a Senior Executive Accountability Regime (SEAR) which will place obligations on certain customer-facing firms and senior individuals within them to set out clearly where responsibility and decision-making lies. It is expected that the Central Bank will shortly issue regulations and guidance on the areas which will be enforced immediately. It will also expected that they will launch a consultation process around the implementation of the SEAR to provide those who will be subject to the new rules an opportunity to express views about how it should be implemented.
The latest European Commission Finance newsletter can be accessed here. It includes among the topics and news an interview with David O Sullivan, newly appointed international special envoy for the implementation of EU sanctions, Commissioner McGuinness’s opening remarks at the European Parliament plenary debate on the Green Deal Industrial Plan and a study on feasibility, minimum standards and transparency requirements of an EU ESG Benchmark label.
ESMA (European Securities & Markets Authority) is seeking stakeholder views on proposed changes to the RTS on authorisation and registration. The objective is to safeguard equal treatment between EU and non-EU Benchmarks administrators by aligning the information requested in applications from EU administrators with the information requested in recognition applications from non-EU administrators. ESMA will consider all comments received by 9 March 2023.
The Central Bank of Ireland has recently issued its quarterly bulletin, the first one of 2023. Please also click here for the press release titled “inflation easing but expected to remain elevated” .
The Irish Pensions Authority reported recently that the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched a public consultation on its draft technical advice to the European Commission on the upcoming review of the IORP II Directive. You can read more about the consultation including the paper here. Stakeholders are invited to respond to EIOPA by 25 May 2023. Responses will be published on the EIOPA website unless marked confidential.
Ibec Global has recently issued its fourth edition of Divergence Watch. This is a quarterly publication which looks at the shifting relationship between the EU and the UK and in this issue the focus is on EU and UK divergence and cooperation in the area of energy. It looks at EU and UK policy developments regarding renewable energy and electricity market design. Please click here to access the webpage for further information and to access the publication.
For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.