FEE Round Table on good governance in the public sector: 55 Participants from 13 Member States attended the FEE Roundtable on good governance in the public sector organised on 9 November in FEE offices. Presentations and other material are available on the FEE website. View

 

FEE letter to GRI on G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines: FEE has submitted its feedback on the issues presented in the GRI online survey, as part of its contribution to the first Public Comment Period for the development of G4 sustainability reporting guidelines. FEE supports the involvement of an external body based on international, multi-stakeholder consultation to guarantee the development of a common platform (framework) for defining the methodology which organisations should apply in deciding the topics which can be reported on, including defining a standard set of indicators supplemented by sector specific indicators. The reliability of the information should be an important consideration in the guidelines. With a more advanced common and robust framework for reporting on which professional accountants base their opinion, assurance could be provided on the indicators but also on the reporting being fairly stated in accordance with the G4 reporting criteria, when these are sufficiently developed. View

 

ESMA Consultation Paper on considerations of materiality in financial reporting: A recurring theme of discussions at the European Enforcers Coordination Sessions is the apparent differing views regarding the practical application of the concept of materiality amongst preparers, auditors, possibly users of the financial reports and, in some instances, accounting enforcers. The purpose of this consultation paper is to seek comments from interested parties on their understanding of various aspects of materiality in an effort to contribute to a consistent application of this important concept in financial reporting. The ESMA deadline for comment is Wednesday 29 February 2012. View

 

IFAC Updates Audit Implementation Guide for SMPs: The Small and Medium Practices Committee of IFAC released the third edition of its Guide to Using International Standards on Auditing in the Audits of Small- and Medium-Sized Entities (ISA Guide). Intended to help practitioners understand and efficiently apply the clarified ISAs to audits of small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs), the updated guide features a number of refinements to the technical content and presentation. View

 

IASB and FASB publish revised proposal for revenue recognition: The boards decided to re-expose the proposals because of the importance of the financial reporting of revenue to all entities and the boards’ desire to avoid unintended consequences arising from the final standard. The core principle of this revised proposed standard is the same as that of the 2010 exposure draft: that an entity would recognise revenue from contracts with customers when it transfers promised goods or services to the customer. The exposure draft is open for comment until 13 March 2012. View

 

Review of European enforcers on the implementation of IFRS 8 – Operating Segments: On the basis of this review, the overall conclusion reached by European enforcers is that (i) the implementation of IFRS 8 resulted in a fairly similar level of information compared to its predecessor IAS 14, and that (ii) there is homogeneity in the issues faced by European enforcers when enforcing this standard. This stems from a combination of weaknesses in the standard and a failure to fully comply with its requirements by issuers. View

 

ESMA details future rules for alternative investment fund managers: ESMA published its final advice (ESMA/2011/379) on the detailed rules underlying the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). The rules proposed by ESMA will establish a comprehensive framework for alternative investment funds, their managers and depositaries. They are also designed to help achieve the AIFMD’s objective of increased transparency and tackling systemic risk, ultimately contributing to a more sound protection of investors. ESMA’s advice follows a 2010 request by the Commission, originally sent to ESMA’s predecessor, CESR, asking ESMA to deliver its final advice by 16 November 2011.

 

The final report is accompanied by a press release. ESMA also publishes the letters to the EU institutions which accompanied the report.

• Letter to Michel Barnier

• Letter to Sharon Bowles

• Letter to Jonathan Faull