ESMA – non-financial reporting

As reported last month, ESMA recently released its annual report1 for 2018 which gives an overview of enforcement activities across Europe. In addition to compliance with IFRS, the European enforcers reviewed compliance with the new requirements for reporting on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. At an aggregate level 51 actions were taken in relation to 819 issuers for breaches in compliance. Notwithstanding this outcome, the report contains an unequivocal warning to companies: “ESMA expects that the quality of the disclosures provided will be significantly improved in the subsequent reporting periods.” This article looks at the issues that arose and what companies need to do better to meet ESMA’s expectations.