IFAC releases revisions to Policy Position Paper 2; promoting a single set of auditing standards for all audits, including of small- and medium-sized entities: IFAC reaffirms its view that a single set of auditing standards that can be applied to all audits is in the public interest. A key objective of financial reporting is to provide users with relevant and reliable information for decision making; a single set of standards gives users confidence that audits - whether small or large, simple or complex - have been performed to the same high standards. View

 

EC launches public consultation on factual examples and possible ways to tackle double non-taxation cases: The consultation runs until 30 May 2012. Anonymous contributions will be accepted. The results of the consultation will be used to identify and develop the appropriate policy response before the end of 2012. View

 

Adoption of the revised FATF Recommendations: The International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism & Proliferation: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard-setter in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, has published the revised Recommendations. The revisions, made with input from stakeholders (including from FEE), shall provide authorities with a stronger framework to act against criminals and address new threats to the international financial system. The FATF will hold its next Private Sector Consultative Forum on 3 and 4 April 2012 in Paris, France and has invited FEE to participate.  

 

Corporate social responsibility 'makes business sense': There is a strong business case for companies to develop corporate social responsibility strategies ahead of the Rio +20 summit on sustainable development, a roundtable debate has heard. Hosted by Richard Howitt, parliament's rapporteur on corporate social responsibility (CSR), the Parliament Magazine discussion brought together commission officials, business representatives, NGOs and other stakeholders to discuss sustainability reporting ahead of the Rio +20 Earth summit in June. View

 

ESMA advises EC on Prospectus Directive’s overhaul: ESMA publishes the second part of its final advice on possible delegated acts for the Prospectus Directive (PD). The advice was submitted to the EC on 29 February 2012. In its advice, ESMA proposes how to use a prospectus in a retail cascade and provides input on how to review the provisions of the Prospectus Regulation concerning tax information, indices, auditor’s report on profit forecasts and estimates and audited historical financial information. Today’s advice follows a public consultation started on 13 December 2011. View

 

European Supervisory Authorities publish a joint Discussion Paper on Draft Regulatory Technical Standards foreseen by the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR): EBA, EIOPA and ESMA (the ESAs) invite market participants and all interested stakeholders to provide their feedback on planned regulatory technical standards covering risk mitigation techniques for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives not cleared by central counterparties. The comment deadline is 2 April 2012. View

 

 

FEE Roundtable: Joining forces to better fight money laundering: Recognising the public interest, FEE and the accountancy profession have always been particularly committed to support the fight against money laundering. In the context of t he ongoing reviews of the Third EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive and the FATF Standards FEE's next step is to organise a Round Table on 18 April 2012, creating a forum for genuine dialogue between relevant stakeholders. Participation is by invitation only – for expressions of interest please contact petra.weymuller@fee.be.

 

IFAC Seminar “The Sovereign Debt Crisis, a Matter of Urgency - from Lessons to Reform” 19-20 March 2012: IFAC’s global seminar will bring together accounting leaders from around the world to discuss public sector financial reporting and the current crisis—which represents the greatest current threat to global economic stability. Reducing economic uncertainty and the fallout of unmanageable debt must be prioritized by all governments, national leaders, and public officials; it is critical that necessary steps are taken now toward establishing significant reform. View

 

Networking for better CSR advice to SMEs: The EC will host a Networking Event for people who advise SMEs on CSR on the 12-13 June 2012 in Berlin. This international event, held in English, will bring together about 100 European experts and practitioners in the field, to actively engage in peer-to-peer learning and share best practices across Europe. View