The eighth annual conference of EV Greece, Financial Reporting Insights, was held online on Friday, December 10, with the participation of senior executives and executives of Greek and multinational companies. The conference, in the wake of the UN COP26 Conference on Climate Change, focused on the growing focus on environment, society and governance (ESG) issues and the ongoing impact of climate change and the pandemic on financial and non-financial corporate reporting.
New supervisory priorities of European and American regulators, the latest developments in the establishment of international standards for sustainability and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as well as corporate governance issues were also discussed.
The issues were covered with presentations by executives of EY Greece and EY Cyprus, but also through discussions and exchange of views coordinated by Ms. Christiana Panagidou, Partner, Audit Services of EY Greece and Head of EY for IFRS issues in the region of Central, Eastern, South Europe and Central Asia (CESA). Participating were Ms. Sofia Kalomenidou, Partner, Audit Services of EY Greece and Head of Capital Markets and Public Registration Services of EY in the CESA area, Mr. Vassilis Tzifas, Partner, Audit Services, EY of Greece, Ms. Kiagia Partner, Of Sustainable Development, EY Greece, Mr. Panos Houtris, Senior Manager, Audit Services, EY Cyprus, and the team of CESA IFRS Desk: Mr. Pantelis Pavlou, Director, EY Cyprus, Ms. Georgia Kalpakli, Senior Manager, EY Greece, Mr. Stelios Douris , Senior Manager, EY Greece, Ms. Konstantina Charalambidou, Senior Manager, EY Cyprus, and Ms. Georgia Verri, Manager, EY Greece. In addition, Mr. Enrico Evink, Associate Partner, EY Netherlands, contributed his experience from the implementation of ESEF (European Single Electronic Format) in 2020.
The first section of the web conference analyzed political and legislative developments on sustainability reporting and ESG, such as the recent Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the impact of climate change on corporate reporting, and European and international efforts. establishing common standards of sustainability. In addition, the priorities of the supervisory authorities in relation to climate change were analyzed.
In the light of these developments, the executives who attended the conference were asked to respond via online voting on how prepared their businesses are for the requirements of the CSRD Directive. Two in five (40%) estimate that CSRD is not currently their business. Among the rest, 32% said they were partially ready, monitoring the issue systematically and have started a preliminary study, 17% that they have not yet started analyzing its impact and only 11% that they have implementation programs already in place.
Participants were also asked if they had considered incorporating disclosures about the impact of climate change on their financial or non-financial statements for 2021. Most participants (40%) said they would incorporate the disclosures only into the non-financial statements. Respectively, 20% will partially integrate them in both situations, 10% systematically in both, while almost one in three participants (30%) will not include them in either of the two situations of their business.
At the same time, the impact of COVID-19 is still the top accounting issue on the business agenda, according to one in two (47%) executives who attended the online conference of EV, while lower percentages reported the expected credit losses (12%), issues related to climate change (15%), and IFRS 17 / insurance policies (7%).
During the second part of the conference, the speakers presented the priorities of the European and American regulators (ESMA and SEC), including the impact of COVID-19, issues related to expected credit losses, and the specific actions taken. Supervisors have taken on the application of IFRS to the financial statements they have reviewed.
Then, in the third section, followed by an update on the latest technical developments regarding IFRS, with emphasis on the amendments that will be implemented in the year 2021, as well as the upcoming changes based on the program of the International Accounting Standards Board.
Asked whether they had assessed the possible impact of the IFRS Interpretation Committee on the “allocation of benefits over time” in accordance with IAS 19, 18% of respondents said they had completed and one in three (34%) said they were in the process of analyzing the impact, 22% said they had not yet done an analysis, and one in five (21%) said that This change does not concern his business.
The last section of the conference focused on developments in corporate governance, and, in particular, on the need to evaluate the internal control system of listed companies, while a brief presentation was made of the requirements of the uniform electronic reporting format ESEF, according to which listed companies must prepare the financial statements of 2021, as well as the experiences of EV and practical issues from its implementation in some countries in 2020.
In conclusion, Ms. Panagidou noted that “in addition to the impact of the pandemic, this year it is worth paying attention to the impact that climate change and sustainability can have on the financial statements of companies”, while, adding that “the financial directors of companies will they must take into account the growing importance of this information to their stakeholders “, stressing that” transparency and consistent communication are, in any case, the key “.
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Source From: Capital
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