This document contains an update of the CESR recommendations.

BG  - Преводът е предоставен от Центъра за преводи за органите на Европейския съюз.CS - Tento překlad vypracovalo Překladatelské středisko pro instituce Evropské unie.DA - Denne oversættelse er udarbejdet af Oversættelsescentret for Den Europæiske Unions Organer.DE - Die Übersetzung erfolgte durch das Übersetzungszentrum für die Einrichtungen der Europäischen Union.EL - Η παρούσα μετάφραση έγινε από το Μεταφραστικό Κέντρο των Οργάνων της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης.ES - Texto traducido por el Centro de Traducción de los Órganos de la Unión Europea ET - Selle tõlke tegi Euroopa Liidu Asutuste Tõlkekeskus.FI - Euroopan unionin elinten käännöskeskus on tehnyt tämän käännöksen.FR - La présente traduction a été fournie par le Centre de traduction des organes de l’Union européenne. HR - Za prijevod se pobrinuo Prevoditeljski centar za tijela Europske unije.HU - Ezt a fordítást az Európai UnióIT - La presente traduzione è stata fornita dal Centro di traduzione degli organismi dell’Unione europea.LT - Šį tekstą išvertė Europos Sąjungos įstaigų vertimo centras.LV - Šo tulkojumu ir nodrošinājis Eiropas Savienības iestāžu Tulkošanas centrs.MT - Din it-traduzzjoni ġiet ipprovduta  miċ-Ċentru tat-Traduzzjoni għall-Korpi tal-Unjoni Ewropea.NL - Deze vertaling is verzorgd door het Vertaalbureau voor de organen van de Europese Unie.PL - Tłumaczenie wykonane przez Centrum Tłumaczeń dla Organów Unii Europejskiej.PT - Esta tradução foi fornecida pelo Centro de Tradução dos Organismos da União Europeia.RO - Această traducere a fost asigurată de Centrul de Traduceri pentru Organismele Uniunii Europene.SK - Preklad vyhotovilo Prekladateľské stredisko pre orgány Európskej únie.SL - Prevod je zagotovil Prevajalski center za organe Evropske unije.SV - Den här översättningen har utförts av Översättningscentrum för Europeiska unionens organ.

BG  - Преводът е предоставен от Центъра за преводи за органите на Европейския съюз.
CS - Tento překlad vypracovalo Překladatelské středisko pro instituce Evropské unie.
DA - Denne oversættelse er udarbejdet af Oversættelsescentret for Den Europæiske Unions Organer.
DE - Die Übersetzung erfolgte durch das Übersetzungszentrum für die Einrichtungen der Europäischen Union.
EL - Η παρούσα μετάφραση έγινε από το Μεταφραστικό Κέντρο των Οργάνων της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης.
ES - Texto traducido por el Centro de Traducción de los Órganos de la Unión Europea
ET - Selle tõlke tegi Euroopa Liidu Asutuste Tõlkekeskus.
FI - Euroopan unionin elinten käännöskeskus on tehnyt tämän käännöksen.
FR - La présente traduction a été fournie par le Centre de traduction des organes de l’Union européenne.
HR - Za prijevod se pobrinuo Prevoditeljski centar za tijela Europske unije.
HU - Ezt a fordítást az Európai Unió
IT - La presente traduzione è stata fornita dal Centro di traduzione degli organismi dell’Unione europea.
LT - Šį tekstą išvertė Europos Sąjungos įstaigų vertimo centras.
LV - Šo tulkojumu ir nodrošinājis Eiropas Savienības iestāžu Tulkošanas centrs.
MT - Din it-traduzzjoni ġiet ipprovduta  miċ-Ċentru tat-Traduzzjoni għall-Korpi tal-Unjoni Ewropea.
NL - Deze vertaling is verzorgd door het Vertaalbureau voor de organen van de Europese Unie.
PL - Tłumaczenie wykonane przez Centrum Tłumaczeń dla Organów Unii Europejskiej.
PT - Esta tradução foi fornecida pelo Centro de Tradução dos Organismos da União Europeia.
RO - Această traducere a fost asigurată de Centrul de Traduceri pentru Organismele Uniunii Europene.
SK - Preklad vyhotovilo Prekladateľské stredisko pre orgány Európskej únie.
SL - Prevod je zagotovil Prevajalski center za organe Evropske unije.
SV - Den här översättningen har utförts av Översättningscentrum för Europeiska unionens organ.

Executive Summary

This report provides an overview of the activities of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the accounting enforcers in the European Economic Area (EEA), thereafter, ‘European enforcers’, when examining compliance of financial information provided by issuers listed on regulated markets with the applicable financial reporting framework in 2015. It also provides an overview of the main activities performed at European level, quantitative information on enforcement activities in Europe as well as ESMA’s contribution to the development of the single rule book in the area of financial reporting. In addition, it also outlines ESMA’s activities for 2016 in the area of corporate reporting following its Supervisory Convergence Work Programme.

Supervisory Convergence

Following the implementation of the ESMA Guidelines on enforcement of financial information (hereafter the Guidelines on enforcement), ESMA and European enforcers have further strengthened supervisory convergence in the area of enforcement of financial information. The Guidelines on enforcement significantly contributed to the alignment of supervisory approaches/procedures through the use of harmonised key concepts for examinations, of a common set of enforcement priorities, of common rules for enforcement actions and of a single set of criteria for identifying accounting matters for which coordination at European level within ESMA is needed. In the last area, the number of accounting issues discussed by the enforcers before taking enforcement decisions increased significantly (65 emerging issues in 2015 vs 47 in 2014) and contributed to enhancing supervisory convergence as enforcers should take into account the outcome of these discussions when taking decisions .

In 2015 ESMA and European enforcers evaluated the level of compliance with IFRS in the areas identified as common enforcement priorities for the 2014 annual financial statements on a sample of 189 issuers. This assessment resulted in 40 enforcement actions being taken on shortcomings in the disclosures of assumptions and judgements supporting the recognition of deferred tax assets arising from tax losses, when assessing control or classifying joint arrangements.

As in previous years, ESMA together with European enforcers identified and included in their supervisory practices a set of common enforcement priorities significant for European issuers when preparing their 2015 IFRS financial statements. These priorities include the impact of the financial markets’ conditions in IFRS financial statements, presentation of the statement of cash flows and related disclosures as well as the fair value measurement of non-financial assets and related disclosures. Specific references to some of the 2014 common priorities and to the new IFRS requirements, notably on IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers are also part of these priorities.

As a response to increased concerns in the markets, ESMA issued Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures (hereafter the Guidelines on APMs) which are aimed at contributing to the publication of transparent, unbiased and comparable information by European issuers on their financial performance. The Guidelines on APMs will apply to APMs disclosed by issuers when publishing regulated information or persons responsible for the prospectus. European enforcers had to adapt their supervisory procedures and declare their compliance to these guidelines.

Also as part of the supervisory convergence activities, ESMA issued an Opinion on the application of the IFRS requirements on the cash contributions to Deposit Guarantee Schemes (DGS) in order to address the divergence in the application and enforcement in the accounting treatment applicable to these contributions and to prevent it from becoming widespread.

ESMA published a Statement referring to principles relevant for improving the quality of disclosures as a response to concerns expressed by users on the overload, lack of completeness or relevance of the information provided in the financial statements.

Finally, European enforcers examined the interim or annual financial statements of approximately 1,200 issuers representing an average examination rate of 20% of all IFRS issuers with securities listed on regulated markets, out of which 14% related to unlimited scope examinations and 6% to focused examinations. As a result of these activities, European enforcers took actions addressing material departures against 273 issuers, representing around 25% of the selected sample. The main deficiencies were identified in the areas of financial statements presentation, impairment of non-financial assets and accounting for financial instruments.

Single Rule Book

ESMA actively participated to the accounting standard setting process by providing European enforcers’ positions on all major new standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and by contributing to the discussions in the EFRAG Board and the Technical Expert Group (EFRAG TEG) meetings. Notably, ESMA provided specific input to the due process and endorsement advices on IFRS 9, in aspects related to investor protection and financial stability as well as on its interaction with IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts. In addition, ESMA also contributed to the consistent application of IFRS by engaging with the IASB and the IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRS IC) when relevant issues were identified by enforcers and where a lack of clarity in IFRS could contribute to their divergent application.

In accordance with its mandate under the Transparency Directive, ESMA has submitted to the European Commission for endorsement the draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the European Electronic Access Point (EEAP) and published the consultation paper on the draft RTS on European Single Electronic Format (ESEF).

Next Steps

ESMA published its Supervisory Convergence Work Programme which covers, among other topics, the activities of accounting enforcers. In addition to the regular activities, ESMA envisages to start carrying out peer reviews on some of the ESMA Guidelines on enforcement, to publish statements on the implementation of new major IFRS and to develop supervisory briefings to align procedures of European enforcers when monitoring and enforcing the Guidelines on APMs and disclosures in the financial statements.