Article 4 Annual financial reports

1. The issuer shall make public its annual financial report at the latest four months after the end of each financial year and shall ensure that it remains publicly available for at least 10 years.

2. The annual financial report shall comprise:

(a) the audited financial statements;

(b) the management report; and

(c) statements made by the persons responsible within the issuer, whose names and functions shall be clearly indicated, to the effect that, to the best of their knowledge, the financial statements prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the issuer and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole and that the management report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the issuer and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face and, where appropriate, that it is prepared in accordance with sustainability reporting standards referred to in Article 29b of Directive 2013/34/EU and with the specifications adopted pursuant to Article 8(4) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council

3. Where the issuer is required to prepare consolidated accounts according to the Seventh Council Directive 83/349/EEC of 13 June 1983 on consolidated accounts ( 16 ), the audited financial statements shall comprise such consolidated accounts drawn up in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 and the annual accounts of the parent company drawn up in accordance with the national law of the Member State in which the parent company is incorporated.

Where the issuer is not required to prepare consolidated accounts, the audited financial statements shall comprise the accounts prepared in accordance with the national law of the Member State in which the company is incorporated.

4. The financial statements shall be audited in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 34(1) and Article 34(2) of Directive 2013/34/EU.

The statutory auditor shall deliver the opinion and statement on the management report referred to in points (a) and (b) of the second subparagraph of Article 34(1) and in Article 34(2) of Directive 2013/34/EU.

The audit report, referred to in Article 28 of Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( ^*25 ), signed by the person or persons responsible for carrying out the work set out in Article 34(1) and (2) of Directive 2013/34/EU shall be disclosed in full to the public together with the annual financial report.

Where applicable, an assurance opinion on sustainability reporting shall be provided in accordance with point (aa) of the second subparagraph of Article 34(1) and Article 34(2) to (5) of Directive 2013/34/EU.

The assurance report on sustainability reporting referred to in Article 28a of Directive 2006/43/EC shall be disclosed in full to the public together with the annual financial report.

5. The management report shall be drawn up in accordance with Articles 19, 19a and 20, and Article 29d(1) of Directive 2013/34/EU, and shall include the specifications adopted pursuant to Article 8(4) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, when drawn up by undertakings referred to in those provisions.

Where the issuer is required to prepare consolidated accounts, the consolidated management report shall be drawn up in accordance with Articles 29 and 29a and Article 29d(2) of Directive 2013/34/EU and shall include the specifications adopted pursuant to Article 8(4) of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, when drawn up by undertakings referred to in those provisions.

6. The Commission shall, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 27(2), adopt implementing measures in order to take account of technical developments in financial markets and to ensure the uniform application of paragraph 1. The Commission shall in particular specify the technical conditions under which a published annual financial report, including the audit report, is to remain available to the public. Where appropriate, the Commission may also adapt the five-year period referred to in paragraph 1.

RTS

7. For financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2020, all annual financial reports shall be prepared in a single electronic reporting format provided that a cost-benefit analysis has been undertaken by the European Supervisory Authority (European Securities and Markets Authority) (ESMA) established by Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( ¹¹ ). However, a Member State may allow issuers to apply that reporting requirement for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2021, provided that that Member State notifies the Commission of its intention to allow such a delay by 19 March 2021, and that its intention is duly justified.

ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify the electronic reporting format, with due reference to current and future technological options. Before the adoption of the draft regulatory technical standards, ESMA shall carry out an adequate assessment of possible electronic reporting formats and conduct appropriate field tests. ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission at the latest by 31 December 2016.

Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the second subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.