Welcome to this week’s Technical Roundup.
In developments this week, the CCAB-I Insolvency Committee has recently made a submission to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on their call for views in response to the proposal for an EU directive harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law; the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, held its plenary meeting on 22/24 February and has now published the outcomes on its website.
Read more on these and other developments that may be of interest to members below.
Audit and Assurance
The Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) has published its 2021 Annual Audit Programme and Activity Report. This report provides a summary of the activities performed by IAASA during 2021 to oversee the audit profession in Ireland. The report outlines the outcome of IAASA’s quality assurance review of auditors of public–interest entities as well as IAASA’s oversight of the recognised accountancy bodies who supervise auditors of other Irish entities.
Insolvency
The CCAB-I Insolvency Committee has recently made a submission to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on their call for views in response to the proposal for an EU directive harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law. This submission which is available to read here was generally supportive of further harmonisation of existing avoidance actions across the EU.
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 Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published a thematic review on the Big 4 audit firms’ methodology around IFRS 9, focussing on the audit of Expected Credit Losses for larger banks.
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has released a report with the key messages and discussion points covered at the January 2023 IFASS (International Forum of Accounting Standard Setters) meeting.
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has issued its February 2023 update and monthly podcast.
The IFRS Foundation has released its February 2023 monthly news summary which includes details of meetings held, decisions made and activities during the month.
The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has issued a draft comment letter on the IASB’s exposure draft International Tax Reform – Pillar Two Model Rules. Comments are welcome by the UKEB until close of business on 3 March 2023.
Sustainability
Momentum builds for corporate ESG disclosure and assurance, yet reporting inconsistencies linger. The largest global companies continue to show momentum on corporate reporting and related assurance involving environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, according to a new report from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and AICPA & CIMA. Significant hurdles remain, however, when it comes to providing consistent, comparable and high-quality sustainability information for investors and lenders.
CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) Ireland has published its Annual Report 2022 "Alignment of Climate, ESG & Financial Disclosures: Global Sustainability Standards and Regulations align to Provide Greater ESG Transparency and Focus". The report is available at https://lnkd.in/eUr4tsrH and provides insights into how Irish companies are addressing ESG topics. CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts.
In Accountancy Europe’s latest article from their ‘Insights from SME accountants’ series, Anton Schmidl and Thomas Wallner from Crowe SOT in Austria discuss how they support SMEs with their sustainable transition, including what auditors and accountants can so to help SMEs.
Anti-Money laundering/Sanctions
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, held its plenary meeting on 22/24 February and has now published the outcomes which can be accessed on its website here. These include suspension of Russia's membership of FATF, strategic initiatives on beneficial ownership and dealing with High-risk and other monitored jurisdictions.
The European Commission welcomes the Council's adoption of a 10th package of sanctions against Russia and those that support it in its illegal aggression against Ukraine. 24 February marks one year since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and 9 years since the beginning of Russia's illegal invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory. This package is turning up the pressure in response to Putin's brutal war, including viciously targeting civilians and critical infrastructure.
Other Areas of Interest
Decision Support Service
It has recently been confirmed that a full commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 will take place on 26 April 2023. The full operationalisation of the Decision Support Service will then take place when people can interact with the new service. The DSS teams are available to answer any queries in advance of its commencement on 01 2119750 or queries@decisionsupportservice.ie.
NI Charity Consultation
The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland is developing a new strategic plan alongside a new engagement strategy, both of which are being undertaken following the Independent Review of Charity Regulation commissioned by the Minister for Communities in January 2021.
The European Commission published on 15 February a Handbook of good practices in the fight against corruption. The goal of this handbook is to map a variety of anti-corruption practices in EU Member States (MS) that have proved to be useful in solving problems related to corruption, and which can inspire similar initiatives elsewhere. For this purpose, one good anti-corruption practice either established or innovative, with positive impact aspirations in each EU Member State was selected, and clustered into eight types of anti-corruption approaches.
Readers may recall our news piece on the publication by the Law Reform Commission of a consultation paper on liability of clubs, societies and other unincorporated associations. As the consultation paper has generated considerable interest, and to facilitate as many consultees as possible making submissions in response to the questions posed in the consultation paper, the Commission has decided to extend the submission deadline from March 2023 to 15 May 2023.
Accountancy Europe has released a factsheet highlighting the main provisions in the OECD Pillar Two GloBE (Global Anti-Base Erosion Rules) proposals.
For further technical information and updates please visit the Technical Hub on the Institute website.
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