Financial reporting update: Corporate governance and digital innovation
Here’s a roundup of recent developments in financial reporting.UK Corporate Governance Code review
The UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published its consultation on a review of the UK Corporate Governance Code. The review follows a political debate within the UK on the importance of governance, business trust, and perceived inequality. The consultation makes changes to the code and aims to make the test more readable by streamlining content. There is a focus on corporate culture and setting the right tone from the top in terms of values and strategy. The comment period for the consultation ends on 28 February. Comments can be sent to codereview@frc.org.uk.
Towards a digital future
The FRC’s Financial Reporting Lab has published its finding on a digital future. The report looked into how stakeholders see reporting developments merging into technology platforms. It also contains insight into how the sector can adapt technological innovation.
End-of-year improvement standards
At the end of each year, the International Accounting Standards Board publishes a number of improvements to its standards to keep them relevant and up to date. The improvements were published on 12 December and cover IFRS 3, IFRS 11, IAS 12, and IAS 23.
New single electronic format requirements
One of the requirements of the amended European Transparency Directive is that issuers listed on regulated markets in the EU must prepare their annual financial reports in a European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) from 1 January 2020. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has now published the final regulatory technical standards (RTS) on the ESEF together with other guidance.
David Hackett is technical policy manager at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.