Technical Roundup 23 July

Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.  

In developments this week, IAASA has published a Consultation Paper on its proposals to issue a revised version of ISA (Ireland) 240 which covers auditor’s responsibilities relating to fraud; IAASA has decided to revoke the recognition of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales as a prescribed body in Ireland following an application by ICAEW and Accountancy Europe have released a podcast A 360 view on Sustainable Corporate Governance.

Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.

Auditing

IAASA has published a Consultation Paper on its proposals to issue a revised version of ISA (Ireland) 240, The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements. The purpose of this consultation paper is to obtain the views of stakeholders with regard to IAASA’s proposals to issue revised standard and conforming amendments. Read more here.

IAASA has decided to revoke the recognition of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (‘ICAEW’) granted under S.930 of the Act with effect from 21 July 2021. This means that ICAEW may no longer authorise individuals or firms as statutory auditors or public auditors in Ireland or undertake any audit related regulatory functions. This decision follows the application by the ICAEW to IAASA for revocation of its recognition. As a result of this revocation, ICAEW is no longer a prescribed accountancy body under the Act and therefore, no longer comes under the remit of IAASA. Read more.

The International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) established the Internationally Relevant Developments in Audit Markets Task Force to monitor developments in IFIAR Member jurisdictions, focusing on developments relevant to the audits of public interest entities. To do so, the task force conducted an extensive survey amongst IFIAR Members in the beginning of 2020 and the report issued by IFIAR this week summarizes these observations.

Financial Reporting

The Accounting Reg­u­la­tory Committee (ARC) voted in favour of endorsing IFRS 17 'Insurance Contracts' (including the amend­ments to IFRS 17 issued in June 2020) for use in the EU. Final endorsement is currently expected in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The European Se­cu­ri­ties and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published further extracts from its con­fi­den­tial database of en­force­ment decisions taken by European national enforcers. This batch deals with decisions in relation to IFRS 9 (three decisions), IFRS 16 (two decisions), IFRS 9/IFRS 7, IAS 1, IAS 1/IAS 34, IAS 1/IFRS 7 and IAS 7.

Sustainability

A summary of the The IFRS Foun­da­tion Trustees’ meeting on 13 July 2021 is now available. During the meeting progress and next steps to establish a new board focused on sus­tain­abil­ity-re­lated dis­clo­sure standards was discussed. An update was also provided in relation to a recent meeting of some of the Trustees with the Monitoring Board that allowed the Trustees to provide a detailed update on progress and next steps in their work to establish the proposed International Sustainability Standards Board. The Chair of the Trustees reported on his participation in a policy panel on regulations, disclosures, financial risk and private financing for the green economy as part of the recent International Conference on Climate Change. The Trustees also noted the G20 support for the IFRS Foundation’s work to establish a new board.

Accountancy Europe have released a podcast A 360 view on Sustainable Corporate Governance. The podcast features European Parliament Vice-President Heidi Hautala and Olivier Boutellis-Taft, CEO of Accountancy Europe.

Other areas of interest

The Pensions Authority has this week published a draft code of practice for trustees of occupational pension schemes and trust RACs.

IFAC has released an article Greater Transparency and Accountability in the Public Sector. The article explores the need for strong governance and public financial management, so that governments and public sector entities around the world can make informed, data-driven decisions for people, the planet, and the economy. It also outlines how the accountancy profession, with its public interest mandate, can support the public sector in achieving long-term financial sustainability and resilience, to help create a better world with stronger economies and fairer societies.