ESMA announces 2024 European Common Enforcement Priorities for corporate reporting

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued its annual European Common Enforcement Priorities (ECEP) Statement for 2024 corporate reporting. The statement outlines the key areas of focus for ESMA and European enforcers in 2025, including International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) financial statements, sustainability statements, and European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) digital reporting. Specifically, enforcers will focus on liquidity considerations, accounting policies, and significant estimates in IFRS financial statements. For sustainability statements, they will examine materiality considerations, scope, and structure, as well as disclosures related to the Taxonomy Regulation. In ESEF digital reporting, common filing errors in the Statement of Financial Position will be addressed. The ECEP statement highlights the importance of connectivity between financial and non-financial information, referencing recent ESMA publications. The statement sets out expectations for the enforcement and supervision of annual financial reports of issuers on European Economic Area regulated markets. Issuers, auditors, and supervisory bodies should consider the topics and recommendations in the document when preparing, auditing, and supervising 2024 annual financial reports. The recommendations should be contemplated in the context of materiality and relevance for the issuer's operations and annual financial report.