The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today published its report “Enforcement and regulatory activities of European enforcers in 2019” which sets out the enforcement and regulatory activities undertaken in 2019 by European Union (EU) accounting enforcers.
In 2019 EU accounting enforcers examined around 950 financial statements drawn up under IFRS, covering some 17% of issuers listed on EU regulated markets. These examinations resulted in enforcement actions against 299 issuers to address material departures from IFRS, representing an action rate of 33%.
Throughout the year, ESMA’s efforts to increase supervisory convergence focused on harmonising the enforcement of the application of the new accounting standards (i.e. IFRS 9 Financial Instruments, IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers and IFRS 16 Leases) in line with the announcement in the 2018 European common enforcement priorities.
IAASA is an active participant in the ESMA-sponsored European Enforcers’ Co-ordination Sessions (EECS). The objective of EECS is to co-ordinate European enforcement activities in order to increase convergence amongst European national accounting enforcers and contribute to fostering investor confidence.
ESMA’s report can be accessed here.