The programme of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union focuses on enhanced economic governance and policy coordination, creating a stronger and more effective Economic and Monetary Union, strengthening financial regulation and supervision as well as progress in tax coordination. more...

 

The debate on audit policy continues. The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) held a hearing on 22 January 2013. Compromise amendments to its draft report are expected in February 2013 and the vote in JURI may take place in March 2013. The vote on the opinion of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) has been postponed and is now expected for February 2013. FEE will continue contributing to the debate.
 

The European Commission’s assessment of IPSAS for implementation in EU Member States will raise a broader discussion. The results of DG Eurostat’s public consultation, to which FEE had contributed, more..., show that stakeholders are not fully convinced that IPSAS in their current state could be simply implemented in EU Member States. DG Eurostat plans to publish a report with conclusions in February 2013. They might see a need for harmonised accruals-based public sector accounts and thus a need to develop European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS). The FEE Public Sector Committee will analyse the report and contribute to the debate.
 

Helping to fight money laundering, auditors, external accountants and tax advisors are obliged to comply with a number of provisions, in particular customer due diligence measures, reporting and record keeping obligations, establishing internal procedures as well as raising awareness, training and supervising their staff.
 

These provisions come from the Third EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive. In the context of the review of this Directive (see FEE comments, more...), the European Commission’s proposal for a Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive is expected for 5 February 2013, more...
 

FEE Members are strongly encouraged to contribute to the debate in the next meeting of the FEE Anti-Money Laundering Working Party foreseen for 7 February 2013 and at further meetings and discussions which will take place over next few months. Participation via conference call is possible, written contributions are also welcome, please contact anastasia.chalkidou@fee.be. 
 

FEE CEO Olivier Boutellis-Taft is invited to speak at the forthcoming European Commission’s Public Conference “The Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive” which will be held in Brussels on 15 March 2013.
 

Enhanced cooperation for a Financial Transaction Tax gets green light: The Council of the EU adopted on 22 January 2013 a decision authorising 11 Member States to proceed with the introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax through “enhanced cooperation”  more Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta welcomed the agreement as a milestone in EU tax policy and in global tax history more... The European Commission’s proposal for the related legislative act is expected for mid-February. FEE had contributed to the debate more...
 

Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) back on the agenda? On 14 May 2013, the ECOFIN Council may have CCCTB on the agenda for an orientation debate.
 

The consultation procedure on the proposed amendment of the VAT Directive for a Quick Reaction Mechanism against VAT fraud is ongoing. The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) of the European Parliament on 22 January 2013 adopted its draft report with amendments. The vote in the European Parliament’s plenary is tabled for 5 February 2013. Debates in Council may take place in March and May 2013, however, it appears that a number of Member States may have concerns regarding tax sovereignty. FEE had expressed its views on the proposal more...
 

New studies published by the European Commission address effective tax levels more... and VAT in the public sector more...
 

FEE will hold its next FEE Tax Day in October 2013.
 

Recognition of Professional Qualifications: On 23 January 2013 the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) adopted the draft report with compromise amendments on the proposed amending Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications more... The indicative plenary sitting date in the European Parliament is 22 May 2013. The proposed amending Directive is a priority for the Irish Presidency. FEE had contributed to the debate more...

 

Data Protection: The European Commission’s proposed data protection reform package, which aims to strengthen individual rights and tackle the challenges of globalisation and new technologies, is in the legislative process more... Discussions in the responsible European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) could have an impact on SMPs: According to the European Commission’s proposal, enterprises with 250 or more employees should have a data protection officer, which would exempt many SMPs from the obligation to nominate a data protection officer. A data protection officer is involved in all issues which relate to the protection of personal data. However, an amendment proposed in the draft report of LIBE says that a data protection officer shall be designated when the processing is carried out by a legal person and relates to more than 500 data subjects per year more... A data subject means an identified natural person – therefore, accountancy firms with clients involving more than 500 natural persons would need to appoint a data protection officer. The European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) proposes in its opinion that the appointment of a Data Protection Officer should be encouraged but not mandatory more...

 

COSME: The European Commission’s proposed new Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME) should run from 2014 to 2020, with a planned budget of 2.5 billion Euros. Its objectives are to facilitate access to finance for SMEs view FEE’s previous activities in this regard and increasing the sustainable competitiveness of EU companies more...
 

Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan: One of the action pillars of the European Commission’s Communication aimed at reigniting the entrepreneurial spirit in Europe is to create an environment where entrepreneurs can flourish and grow. Making business transfers easier is one of the key areas where action is needed. To this effect, the Commission is organising an expert working group with Member States representatives, which in 2013 will aim at performing a stock-taking and analysis of the reasons for remaining barriers in this area and proposing recommendations and support measures addressing these barriers more… FEE had already in 2002 published a guide to one of the most stressful events a small or medium enterprise can undertake: “How to Prepare the Successful Sale of an Established Family Business” more...

 

 

IAASB consultation on audit quality: The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) seeks input to develop a Framework for Audit Quality that describes the input and output factors that contribute to audit quality at the engagement, audit firm and national levels more... Deadline 15 May 2013. FEE will respond to the consultation.
 

Global survey of audit inspection findings: The International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) survey indicates that audit firms need to do more to improve the consistency of performance on individual audit engagements, including remediating the inspection findings and determining the possible root causes underlying these findings more...

 

IFAC’s Good Practice Guidance on Principles for Effective Business Reporting Processes highlights key issues that professional accountants in business need to address when implementing effective reporting processes in their organisation to produce high-quality reports more...

 

Conceptual Framework for General Purpose Financial Reporting by Public Sector Entities: The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) has issued the first four chapters its Conceptual Framework, addressing Role and Authority of the Conceptual Framework, Objectives and Users of General Purpose Financial Reporting, Qualitative Characteristics and Reporting Entity more... FEE’s Public Sector Committee closely following the IPSASB activities and contributes where appropriate.
 

Small and medium-sized practices (SMPs): The IFAC quarterly SMP Quick Poll carried out by IFAC’s SMP Committee takes a snapshot of the key issues confronting SMPs and their SME clients. The outcome of the November/December 2012 poll will indicate that – as far as Europe is concerned – the biggest challenge for SMPs is keeping up with new regulation, the fastest growing source of revenue is accounting and compilation and revenue from new clients is the main driver of growth.

 

Journal of Accountancy - “Exciting and challenging times” coming for auditors: International auditing standards appear set for a period of substantial change as investors seek more information, new forms of reporting emerge, and companies look to provide assurance on additional items more...

 

Journal of Accountancy – “New mechanisms eyed by FASB, IASB in long march toward global comparability”: The mechanisms for continuing to facilitate global comparability in accounting standards will change over the next few years more...

 

 

In January, the newly appointed FEE Board had its first meeting under the leadership of the newly elected FEE President André Kilesse. The Board took a number of decisions related to governance and representation and approved several FEE publications which are featured in the section “Recent FEE Publications”.

Further to the FEE Governance Reform approved by its General Assembly in December 2012, FEE will hold its first Members’ Assembly in March. It will take place in Dublin, the capital of the current EU Presidency. In addition to governance items, audit policy and the future of corporate reporting will be high on the agenda. Furthermore, the Members’ Assembly will hold its first strategic forum aimed at starting a strategic review of FEE activities.

 

In January, FEE met BusinessEurope and welcomed the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) in the FEE offices for its European annual seminar. Richard Howitt, Member of the European Parliament, came to FEE for a meeting with representatives of several FEE Working Parties. The FEE CEO was invited to contribute to a Round Table in the European Parliament organised by the think tank “tomorrow’s company”.
 

The FEE Chairs’ Day on 21 January 2013 was dedicated to role of the different segments of the profession and of the EU Institutions around issues like “Getting out of the fiscal crisis and moving toward sustainable public finances”, “Improving trust in markets to promote investment and entrepreneurship” and “Transitioning towards a more transparent, stable and sustainable economy”.
 

The first meeting of the new FEE Corporate Reporting Policy Group takes place on 31 January 2013. Main objective of the new Group is to drive thought leadership and provide strategic input in the field of corporate reporting, in particular its future development and help advance public policies in this and other related fields.
 

The kick off meeting of the new FEE SMP Forum will be held on 20 February 2013. Aim of the new structure is to ensure that SMPs issues are well considered and their voice is better heard in the public policy debate on EU level.
 

Corporate Governance Working Party: FEE is collaborating with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and the Center for Audit Quality in the United States on outreach to the global audit committee community. Three roundtables are organised in New York City, Brussels and Hong Kong. The Brussels dinner debate on 4 February 2013 will be facilitated by Mr Eddy Wymeersch, Chair of the Public Interest Oversight Board. FEE will publish a summary report.
 

The FEE Auditing Working Party will launch a new project to develop a guide on the selection of the auditor.
 

The FEE Auditing Working Party Subgroup on IAASB (and PCAOB) Exposure Drafts welcomes its new Chair, David Isherwood from ICAEW.