Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.
In developments this week, Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently awarded €10.7m to research projects tackling the climate crisis. 42 projects have now been selected including projects on greenhouse gas emissions, ozone levels, radon, human biomonitoring and earth observation; HM Treasury in the UK has recently issued a consultation and call for evidence on future financial services regulatory regime for crypto assets.
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 issued its January 2023 update which summarises its activities during the month, including publications, public technical discussions held and decisions taken during the month.
The FRC plan on holding a Roundtable on FRED 82 - Draft amendments to FRS 102 during March. These sessions will cover both subject-specific topics (such as Revenue and Leasing) and general requirements. Members who wish to attend can register for these on the FRC website.
Auditing
The Technology Consultation Group of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) today released non-authoritative support material to help address certain frequently asked questions about investigating exceptions and the concept of performance materiality when performing audit procedures using automated tools & techniques (ATT). While not unique to ATT, questions on these topics have become more prevalent with the increasing use of ATT, which enable analyzing data sets with large volumes of information. Other technology-related publications are available on the IAASB’s Technology web page
Sustainability
Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently awarded €10.7m to research projects tackling the climate crisis. 42 projects have now been selected including projects on greenhouse gas emissions, ozone levels, radon, human biomonitoring and earth observation. You can read more about the projects and funding here.
Insolvency
On 7 December 2022, the European Commission published its draft Proposal for a Directive on harmonising certain aspects of national insolvency laws. The proposal would affect Irish company insolvency law, personal insolvency law and bankruptcy law as currently drafted. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, together with the Department of Justice and the Department of Finance, has issued a call for views from stakeholders on the proposal for a directive. The deadline for submission is 24 February 2023.
Anti-money laundering
The UK National Crime Agency (NCA) recently published its first modern slavery statement which it says sets out its commitments to reduce the risk of modern slavery in the supply chain and builds on its strategic priority to tackle Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. The NCA will be reporting on its commitments on an annual basis and will use this opportunity to work with partners to continue to raise awareness, make it easier to report incidences of modern slavery and support victims.
Other Areas of Interest
Some readers might be interested in the call by the Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment for Expressions of Interest for Members of the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council. Please see here on the DETE website and click here to go to the stateboard's website for more information. They are looking for applicants with research expertise relevant to competitiveness and productivity issues in an international context, or business sector expertise with recent experience of engagement with the policy process. In particular, business sector expertise in the manufacturing sector would be welcome. The closing date for receipt of applications is 3:00pm on 24 February 2023.
HM Treasury in the UK has recently issued a consultation and call for evidence on Future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets. Click here to access the document. Topics covered include cryptoassets and the current regulatory landscape, the definition of cryptoassets and legislative approach and an overview of the current regulatory landscape for cryptoassets.
Please click here for the European Commission Banking and Finance Newsletter which contains items on topics such as EU Finance news in brief, the European capital markets union and Sustainable finance: guidance on reporting under the EU Taxonomy.
For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.