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ACCA welcomes the launch of the EC public consultation on Non-Financial Reporting (NFR) guidelines

Date

19 Jan 2016

Sections

Euro & Finance

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) welcomes the publication of the long-awaited European Commission’s Consultation on the non-binding guidelines on methodology for reporting non-financial information. However the global accountancy body also hopes that these guidelines will be ready before the end of the transposition period of the related NFR Directive.

The consultation on  Non-Financial Reporting guidelines was already announced in article 2 of Directive 2014/95/EU on disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups , the so –called Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), which EU Member States are required to transpose into their national legislation by 6 December 2016.

Richard Martin, Head of Corporate Reporting at ACCA says : “ACCA is looking forward to taking part in this consultation. It is an important exercise, which we will consider carefully, because it will be the basis of the Commission‘s non-binding guidelines on methodology and non-financial key performance indicators”.

Richard Martin explains, “if well designed, in a simple, though sufficiently detailed way, these guidelines have the potential to play a central tool to assist large EU public interest companies in the disclosure of relevant, useful and comparable non-financial information. It is for example very important to determine the concrete nature of the required disclosures, or what are the features that make a piece of information material for the purposes of the non-financial statement. It is also important to define how the guidelines should relate to the – numerous-  already  existing national, international or other EU-based frameworks”.

A comparable implementation of the NFRD across Europe would be highly desirable to ensure a level-playing field, and the guidelines will hopefully help playing a  part in that process. The NFR guidelines are primarily aimed at undertakings, however, guidance would also be useful to help Member States in their implementation exercise. Of course the European Commission organised implementation workshops for national authorities, but given that member states shall transpose the NFRD by December 2016, we hope that the guidelines will be ready sufficiently beforehand to be useful to effectively help member States in their implementation choices”, Richard Martin concludes.

 

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For further information:

Cecile Bonino , tel: +32 (0) 2 286 11 37or cecile.bonino@accaglobal.com

Notes to Editors

About ACCA

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. It offers business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.

ACCA supports its 178,000 members and 455,000 students in 181 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. ACCA works through a network of 95 offices and centres and more than 7,110 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through its public interest remit, ACCA promotes appropriate regulation of accounting and conducts relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.

Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. It believes that accountants bring value to economies in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. ACCA’s core values are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and it ensures that through its range of qualifications, it prepares accountants for business. ACCA seeks to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and remove artificial barriers, innovating its qualifications and delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their employers. More information is here: www.accaglobal.com

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