Accountancy Europe, ecoDa and ECIIA issued a document that aims to help boards with embedding sustainability – and specifically environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors – into company strategy and business models, and to ensure that proper governance supports this. 

The document sets out practical questions to consider in the efforts on ESG, sustainability transition planning, delivery on sustainability objectives and limiting greenwashing risks.

Read more.

EFRAG released the second set of Explanations to respond to stakeholders' technical questions on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). These responses are provided as part of EFRAG's role as technical advisor to the European Commission and are expected to provide a practical and timely support for preparers and others in the implementation of ESRS. The 12 Explanations are grouped in chapters according to their nature (cross-cutting, environment, social, and governance).

The first set of explanations is available here.

Read more.

To address the gap in the IPSAS literature on accounting for natural resources, the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) issued a Consultation Paper (CP) in May 2022. The IPSASB continues to develop principles for the recognition and measurement of natural resources, with the targeted publication of an Exposure Draft (ED) in the second half of 2024. However, following feedback received on the CP concerning the lack of guidance on specific activities related to mineral resources, this is being addressed first with the release of ED 86 and ED 87 for public comment:

• ED 86, Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources; and
• ED 87, Stripping costs in the Production Phase of a Surface Mine (Amendments to IPSAS 12).

ED 86 proposes a standard on accounting for the costs incurred in the exploration and evaluation of mineral resources, based on the selection of an accounting policy specifying which expenditure should be recognized as exploration and evaluation assets. ED 86 is aligned with the private sector requirements in IFRS 6, Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Resources, with limited changes for the public sector context.

ED 87 proposes adding an authoritative appendix to IPSAS 12, Inventories. The proposed guidance clarifies when to capitalize or expense costs incurred to remove waste material in surface mining operations. ED 87 is aligned with the guidance in IFRIC 20, Stripping costs in the Production Phase of a Surface Mine, with limited changes for the public sector context.

Refence is being made to the scope of the provision under Article 11 of Council Regulation (EU) No. 833/2014, on the basis of which no claims in connection with any contract or transaction, the performance of which has been affected by the sectorial measures imposed under the aforementioned Regulation, shall be satisfied, if they are made by Russian person, entity or body (article 11, point b).

Specifically, the issue being discussed in this Guidance concerns a specific scenario hereunder where:

An EU economic operator (hereafter, supplier) signed a supply agreement with a Russian counterpart (hereafter, buyer) prior to the entry into force of the sectorial measures, with the delivery of goods to be executed at a later stage. At the time of the conclusion of the contract, the buyer made an advance payment to the supplier. However, before the goods could be delivered, they were included in Annex XXIII, and therefore the transfer of the goods became prohibited, based on Article 3k of Regulation (EU) No. 833/2014. Here, given the entry into force of this prohibition, the supplier could not fulfil the obligations under the contract and hence, the buyer terminates the same contract and asks for the reimbursement of the above-mentioned advance payment.

It is the opinion of the Sanctions Monitoring Board that the repayment of advance payments in this case would constitute a violation of the “no claims” clause as envisaged in Article 11 of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, even if that advance payment concerned goods whose export was not restricted at the time when such advanced payment was made.

Read more.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, EFRAG launched its ESRS Q&A Platform to collect and answer technical questions, supporting preparers and other stakeholders with the implementation of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) issued as Delegated Act.

EFRAG has recently released the first set of Explanations to respond to questions received. These responses are provided as part of its role of technical advisor to the European Commission and are expected to provide a practical and timely support for preparers and others in the implementation of ESRS.

Explanations cover cases in which the content of ESRS already provides an appropriate answer. In these cases, the Explanation issued by EFRAG shows where in the ESRS the content is provided and how to navigate the ESRS accordingly.

Read more.

Through this Circular, MFSA notifies that the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched a public consultation on its draft Opinion on sustainability claims and greenwashing in order to seek feedback from insurance entities and pension firms with regards to greenwashing in the insurance and occupational pension sectors.

The principles within the draft Opinion aim to pave the way for a more effective and harmonized supervision of sustainability claims across Europe and thereby limit the risk of greenwashing in the insurance and occupational pensions sectors.

This draft Opinion, presented for public consultation, sets out four principles that should be observed when providers make sustainability claims. To make the proposed principles more concrete and to demonstrate how greenwashing can occur in practice, EIOPA has compiled examples of good and bad practices for each principle.

• Principle 1: Sustainability claims made by a provider should be accurate, precise, and consistent with the provider’s overall profile and business model, or the profile of its product(s).
• Principle 2: Sustainability claims should be kept up to date, and any changes should be disclosed in a timely manner and with a clear rationale.
• Principle 3: Sustainability claims should be substantiated with clear reasoning and facts.
• Principle 4: Sustainability claims and their substantiation should be accessible by the targeted stakeholders.

Read Circular here.

MIA would like to invite its members to contribute to this consultation process by sending their feedback to technical@miamalta.org by 23 February 2024. Comments received will be taken into consideration when drawing up MIA’s consolidated feedback.

This Circular provides further clarification to Investment Services Licence Holders regarding the submission of the EBA XBRL Returns.

MFSA reminds Licence Holders that the submissions are to be correctly inputted and must be free of any errors. Upon submitting the EBA XBRL returns, Licence Holders are to ensure that:

• the status of the submission is accepted by the EBA; and
• any warnings highlighted in the EBA validation report are duly checked and rectified accordingly, even in situations when the uploads are accepted. Further information in relation to this can be found on Reporting frameworks | European Banking Authority.

Licence Holders are also encouraged to refer to the Circulars issued to date by the Authority in relation to the submission of the returns.

Based on the above, MFSA is requesting Licence Holders to re-submit any previously submitted returns which included errors.

For any queries, please contact investmentfirms@mfsa.mt.

Read Circular here.

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) has announced the launch of two Exposure Drafts (EDs):

• International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance ED (IESSA), which includes revisions to the existing Code related to sustainability reporting. The goal of these standards is to mitigate greenwashing and elevate the quality of sustainability information, thereby fostering greater public and institutional trust in sustainability reporting and assurance. and
• Using the Work of an External Expert ED. This proposes an ethical framework that will provide guidance when evaluating whether an external expert has the necessary competence, capabilities and objectivity in order to use that expert’s work for the intended purposes. The proposals also include provisions to aid in applying the Code’s conceptual framework when using the work of an external expert.

Read more.

MIA would like to invite its members to contribute to this consultation process by sending their feedback to technical@miamalta.org by 29 March 2024. Comments received will be taken into consideration when drawing up MIA’s consolidated feedback.

EFRAG has launched the public consultation on the Exposure Draft ESRS for listed SMEs (ESRS LSME ED) and the Exposure Draft for the voluntary reporting standard for non-listed SMEs (VSME ED).

MIA would like to invite its members to contribute to this consultation process by sending their feedback to technical@miamalta.org by 29 March 2024. Comments received will be taken into consideration when drawing up MIA’s consolidated feedback.

Read more.