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.

This report includes a Review of Greek Government Bonds accounting practices in the IFRS Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2011.

Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), delivered the keynote speech at the Ernst & Young Financial Reporting Outlook Conference in London.

This report evaluates the consistency of application of key requirements of IFRS 3 - Business Combinations and how compliant and entity-specific IFRS 3 disclosures are in the 2012 annual IFRS financial statements of a sample of 56 issuers in the European Union (EU). It also includes other IFRS 3 issues identified as part of the enforcement experience of European national enforcers (European Enforcers) that participate in the European Enforcers Coordination Sessions (EECS).

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its final Guidelines on the enforcement of financial information published by listed entities in the European Union (EU). The aim of the guidelines is to strengthen and promote greater supervisory convergence in existing enforcement practices amongst EU accounting enforcers. The Guidelines set out the principles to be followed by accounting enforcers throughout the enforcement process by defining the objectives, the characteristics of the enforcers, and some common elements in the enforcement process.

Article 7(5) of MAR provides that the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) shall issue guidelines to establish a non-exhaustive indicative list of information which is reasonably expected or is required to be disclosed in accordance with legal or regulatory provisions in Union or national law, market rules, contract, practice or custom, on the relevant commodity derivatives markets or spot markets as referred to in Article 7(1)(b) of MAR. This final report follows the Consultation Paper (CP) issued on March 2016.

Contents

Section 2 contains information on the background and mandate, while Section 3 sets out ESMA’s feedback to the CP responses in relation to the scope of the guidelines, the financial instruments and products covered by the examples of information relating directly and indirectly to commodity derivatives and information directly relating to a spot market contract. It also indicates whether and where ESMA has changed the guidelines following the consultation.

Annex I lists questions raised in the CP. Annex 2 provides the legislative mandate on the basis of which ESMA is issuing these guidelines. Annex 3 sets out ESMA’s view on the costs and benefits associated with these guidelines. Annex 4 contains the text of the guidelines.

Next steps

The guidelines in Annex 4 will be translated into the official languages of the European Union and published on the ESMA’s website. Within 2 months of the issuance of the translations, each national competent authority will have to confirm whether it complies or intends to comply with those guidelines. In the event that a national competent authority does not comply or does not intend to comply, it will have to inform ESMA, stating its reasons. ESMA will publish the fact that a national competent authority does not comply or does not intend to comply with those guidelines.