The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its Activity Report on IFRS Enforcement in the European Economic Area in 2011. The report provides an overview of the monitoring of compliance of financial information with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and enforcement action taken in the European Economic Area (EEA) in 2011. The report is based on the activities of the European Enforcers Coordination Sessions (EECS) and of the accounting enforcers in the EEA (European enforcers).  This operates under ESMA's oversight and its main objective is to coordinate the enforcement activities of Member States in order to increase convergence amongst European enforcer's activities which should contribute to fostering investor confidence. Its main functions include coordination of enforcement activities through the exchange of views on particular accounting matters, providing feedback to the International Accounting Standards Board on issues related to the application of the IFRS and work on dedicated projects identified as key priorities. This report: provides an overview of enforcement activities in the EEA and the coordination of enforcement through EECS; presents the outcome and some tentative conclusions relating to the enforcement of IFRS; and provides a summary of EECS engagement with third country accounting enforcers. The report is based on the activities of EECS and the European enforcers during 2011 relating to: Activities undertaken or coordinated at European level; Issues brought to the attention of the standard setter; Ex-ante activities incurred as part of the preparation of the annual review process; Findings in respect of reviews conducted in 2011; Actions taken to improve the quality of future financial reporting; and Decisions and emerging issues discussed during EECS meetings in the year.

Steven Maijoor keynote at the European Financial Forum in Dublin

EU-Asia Financial Dialogue/ASIFMA Conference, Tokyo 10 October