NAVIGATION

Institute Workshop on HKEX's Enhanced Climate-Related Disclosures

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEX) has recently issued enhanced climate-related disclosures under its environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework and an accompanying “Implementation Guidance for Climate Disclosures under HKEX ESG reporting framework” (IG).

The Institute is now holding a face-to-face workshop on 8 August, during which the speakers will provide a brief introduction of the revised requirements and use case studies to cover:

practical application of the revised disclosure requirements and its implementation reliefs; and
considerations for better preparation regarding the revised disclosure requirements and the IG with respect to more challenging or judgmental requirements.

Invitation to comment

The Institute is seeking comments by 19 July on the tentative agenda decision Classification of Cash Flows related to Variation Margin Calls on "Collateralised-to-Market" Contracts (IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows) published by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Interpretations Committee.

Complexity in focus—keynote address by the IASB Chair

Andreas Barckow, Chair of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), delivered a keynote speech at the IFRS Foundation Conference 2024 highlighting the reasons behind the complexity of today’s financial reporting landscape and how the IASB is managing this challenge.

June 2024 IASB and joint IASB-FASB update and podcast

The IASB podcast, highlighting the tentative decisions reached at the IASB June meeting, and a summary of the meeting, are now available. In addition, the IASB held a joint meeting with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on 21 June and the joint Update from that meeting has been released.

IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard June Update

The IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard June Update is now available.

IFRS Interpretations Committee June 2024 Update

The IFRS Interpretations Committee Update provides a summary of discussions at its June meeting.

Setting and reinforcing tone at the top to achieve quality audit

This publication by the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) emphasizes the importance of an audit firm’s leadership in setting and reinforcing a tone at the top that fosters a culture of ethical behaviour, integrity, and commitment to audit quality. This helps minimize illegal or unethical activities in the firm, thereby promoting audit quality and talent development. It emphasizes that a consistent tone between an audit firm’s leadership and its engagement team will ensure audit staff follow and reflect it in their audit work.

Roundtable discussion on audit quality and climate-integrated audits in Hong Kong

The AFRC’s report summarizes insights gathered from roundtable discussions with investors, members of audit committees and auditors of listed companies. The discussions focused on the audit quality of Hong Kong listed companies, the threat posed to them by stagnation of audit fees and opportunistic changes of auditors, current limitations of climate-integrated financial reporting and audit in Hong Kong and the need for independent assurance of sustainability reporting.

Recent publications from IFAC

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has published a number of new resources that may be of interest to its members.

IFAC’s vision for high-quality sustainability assurance

IFAC emphasizes in this publication that in order to be trusted, sustainability disclosure must be subject to high-quality, independent, external assurance, and best practices are founded on high-quality standards. The publication also highlights the IFAC’s vision for high-quality sustainability assurance which addresses the importance of global standards and regulation that supports decision-useful disclosure, and the value of an interconnected approach to sustainability and financial information reporting and assurance.

Sustainability assurance: What to expect

This publication provides updates regarding efforts by policymakers and regulators around the world to introduce essential requirements for sustainability reporting and assurance. It mentions that many jurisdictions are opting for a phased approach to both reporting and assurance requirements, and that users of sustainability disclosures should expect, depending on jurisdiction-specific requirements or market practices, that assurance engagements may initially cover only some sustainability topics and will seek to deliver a different level of assurance (i.e., limited assurance) than financial statements audits (i.e., reasonable assurance).

Rising to the challenges of sustainability: New opportunities for supporting small businesses

IFAC highlights in this article the critical role of small- and medium-sized practices (SMPs) play in shaping the transformation to a sustainable future, and key challenges and opportunities for the accountancy profession.

Audit sampling and how to improve it

Based on the thematic review of audit sampling, this article by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) explores what the findings mean for smaller firms and highlight some opportunities to enhance audit sampling.

Navigating the Gen AI revolution: Implications for the accounting profession

This IFAC’s article highlights how Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) is transformative and consequential. It discusses the advent of AI and its capabilities, its benefits and risks, as well as its implications for the accounting profession, particularly from the ethics angle.

HKICPA resource centre

Access resources and publications at the Institute’s Resource Centre to the Code which will keep you updated on the latest ethics pronouncements.

ISSB delivers further harmonization of the sustainability disclosure landscape as it embarks on new work plan

At the IFRS Foundation Conference 2024, Emmanuel Faber, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Chair, announced further harmonization of the sustainability reporting landscape as the ISSB embarked on its new two-year work plan and published the Feedback Statement on that work plan.

ISSB June podcast and update

Featuring its chair and vice-chair, the ISSB podcast discusses the key takeaways from the June meeting and recent activities. In addition, a summary of the June meeting is now available.

Announcements by the HKEX

Members may wish to be aware of the following matters:

The launch of the Expansion of Eligible ETFs on Stock Connect on 22 July 2024
The HKEX publishes Consultation Paper on Reduction of Minimum Spreads in the Hong Kong Securities Market

Inland Revenue Department and other tax-related announcements

Members may wish to be aware of the following matters:

Announcements by the government

Members may wish to be aware of the following matters:

Anti-money laundering (AML) notices and news

AML notices:

The United Nations Sanctions (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—Iran) (Amendment) Regulation 2024 was gazetted on 28 June.
For the current lists of terrorists, terrorist associates and relevant persons/ entities under United Nations sanctions, members should refer regularly to the Institute's AML webpage. Other useful documents and guidance can also be found on the same page.

Publications from other organizations:

Take this radical approach to customer retention to boost employee morale - and your profit from Entrepreneur.com
How finance leaders are championing emerging technology to create new value from Financial Management
AI benefits may take time; CFOs should still push for investment from CFO.com
Parting thought from engage: don't let tech changes overwhelm you from Journal of Accountancy

Disclaimer: Some sections contain information from outside sources. We endeavour to link to reputable sources but the Institute is not responsible for the accuracy of the content and the content does not necessarily represent the views of the Institute.

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