EUROPEAN UNION: ESMA Postpones to 2024 the Annual IFRS Amendment of ESEF

Monday May 15 2023

On 10^th May 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) decided to postpone to 2024 the amendment of the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) Regulatory Technical Standard (RTS). This decision is in part due to the limited changes in 2023 update to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Taxonomy.

ESMA has decided on this postponement in view of:

• The limited changes to the 2023 IFRS Taxonomy;
• The added value of increased monitoring of the ESEF implementation; and
• The impact of a system update on preparers and software vendors.

During 2023, ESMA will increase the monitoring of the implementation of the ESEF requirements, as well as assess potential improvements to the electronic reporting process. Additionally, ESMA will perform the preparatory work of start developing the ESEF sustainability reporting taxonomy and related reporting requirements based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards Taxonomy, which is being developed by EFRAG.

The ESEF Taxonomy used for the single electronic reporting format of the IFRS consolidated financial statements is based on, and extends from, the IFRS Taxonomy. The IFRS Foundation annually updates the IFRS Taxonomy to reflect, amongst other developments, the issuance of new IFRSs, the amendment of existing IFRSs, the analysis of disclosures commonly reported in practice, and improvements to general content or technology of the IFRS Taxonomy. ESMA accordingly amends the ESEF RTS to reflect the annual update of the IFRS Taxonomy.

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